Life with TDI swap # 1 (Page 1/11)
CoolBlue87GT JUL 02, 06:54 AM
Life with TDI swap # 1

I've kept a log of the days leading up to possibly getting another car. I didn't want to let the cat out of the bag until I knew for sure it was going to happen.

May 28 2013: Hmm, saw a car on eBay, looks interesting. It has the verious things I've been looking for in this type of car. Maybe I'll put a bid in, who knows, I might win it.

May 30 2013: Saw on-line a couple of forums talking about this car. I'm not alone watching this one. Fingers crossed.

June 2 2013: Feel like a kid before christmas, hoping my present will come. Oh, the agony of waiting.

June 4 2013: Alright ! I just just got off the Internet, I won the eBay auction, I'm proud owner of another car. I'm excited.

June 5 2013: Contacted seller, sounds like the car is just what I wanted. Can't wait to see it. Seller is in another state, making plans to pick it up, not sure yet if I'll take my truck & trailer to get it, it should fit inside.

June 9 2013: Decided to fly to sellers location & drive the car back. Put in my vacation plans at work, I need to give them two weeks warning on my request. It's for June 22 to 25th. I need to be back to work for a managers meeting on the 26th.

June 21 2013: My boss finally gave permisson for time off. Well, long story short, I had to cancel the trip, no way I could get tickets last
second w/o spending nearly twice as normal rates. I told him that last statement, he replied, he'd been busy with other things. Oh I'm upset.

June 22 2013: I made new plans, going to fly out July 7, I made sure the boss approved this right away. After I pick up the car, will drive to Virgina and take the autotrain back to Florida. I did this once before with another Fiero I bought in 2005.

June 26 2013: Just purchased airplane tickets and tickets for the autotrain. Getting really excited. One thing I like about this new car is it's an automatic, I am so tired of shifting, my last few cars were manual, when I drive a car with automatic, I find it so relaxing can't wait to get this one and start enjoying it.

June 27 2013: Seller sent title, took to Florida DMV to get registered. They wanted the vin number verified, since the car is out of state, they gave me a form to send to seller, and to have him get a police officer to come over and verify the vin. This is the 1st time I've ever heard of this. I faxed the form to seller, he had an officer fill out the paper work, now seller is Fed-exing the form back to me. Glad I didn't wait for the last day.

July 1 2013: Got the paperwork back, went to DMV, now have it registered and have tags.

If you made it this far, I'm sure you all have guessed the car I'm talking about is bmwguru's Fiero TDI swap # 1.






Yep, I'm the one that bought it. I've been talking with Dave for the past few months about this car. I've owned a few diesels in the past, a VW Rabbit & a Jetta. I absolutely loved those cars, putting many hundreds of thousands of miles on them.

I've always thought this combination would be a great match, good performance and great mileage. Proud to own this creation by the wizzard bmwguru !

I'll be documenting the performance of the car. Dave has been doing great work on this car and has added some modifications that I've requested.

Here's the detail's of the car from the seller.


What you are bidding on here is a mid engine turbo diesel Fiero built by ASE Certified Advanced Master technicians that only work on German cars and Fieros (as our hobby, see hausofguru.com ).

We started with a 2000 Volkswagen Jetta TDI and a 1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula and blended them together into the ultimate 55+ mile per gallon commuter car. It uses the Volkswagen drive train including transmission and instrument cluster. The diagnostic capabilities and wiring are retained, so that a Volkswagen mechanic can easily work on this car. Here are some features:

New drilled and slotted brake rotors and brake pads  front and rear
Powder coated calipers and new rear brake calipers
Stainless braided brake hoses
Brand new KYB front shocks
Rodney Dickman 88 front 1" lowering ball joints
Brand new custom “TDI Fiero” axles
C6 Corvette exhaust tips, with high-flow custom exhaust
Brand new Timing belt, waterpump & thermostat.
New fuel filter
Optima Red Top battery
Brand new starter
Brand new Garrett turbocharger
Brand new glow plugs
New belt tensioner, idler pulley & belt
Transmission just serviced
Brand factory VW engine mounts
K&N air filter
Rodney Dickman deck-lid strut
Ice cold just serviced Air Conditioning
New Fiero heater core
NO RUST on entire car
Fiero logo spare tire cover
Clean factory 88 rims, tires with 10/32 tread
Brand new inner and outer Dew wipes
VW Jetta Instrument cluster fitted into fiero dash. Mileage programmed to match the fiero for registration purposes. 100k on drivetrain.
New wiper arms and blades
All bulbs in working order inside and out
Fresh alignment
Modified rear trunk and carpet
POR 15’ed engine bay
The paint is great for a 1988 car, but not show quality. This is a one of a kind car.

[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 02-03-2018).]

Fierofreak00 JUL 02, 08:24 AM
Man, does this scenario sound familiar! Too bad I won't be able to pick you up at the airport! Congratulations, I'm glad someone on here got it, that way we can keep tabs on where it is. -Jason
bmwguru JUL 02, 11:11 AM
I really want to get a good video before it leaves, but it has been raining every day for the past long while now.....it has been making me want to throw a kitten at a baby....or pack up and move to the desert.
Dave
nitroheadz28 JUL 02, 02:42 PM
Congrats on the purchase!! A one of a kind creation for sure!
85LAMB JUL 02, 06:42 PM

Congratulations on your new ride

check your PM
CoolBlue87GT JUL 02, 08:37 PM

quote
Originally posted by Fierofreak00:

Man, does this scenario sound familiar! Too bad I won't be able to pick you up at the airport! Congratulations, I'm glad someone on here got it, that way we can keep tabs on where it is. -Jason



Hey Jason, Yeah your right, was thinking the same thing. Thanks again for your help in buying my other Formula.
Doesn't feel that long ago, was it really 8 years ago ? http://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...060206-1-052636.html

bwwguru is going to meet me at a local small Trenton airport.
Formula88 JUL 02, 08:48 PM
I'm happy you got the TDI, but remember, you have to DRIVE this one!
Wait, it's red. You can drive the red ones, right?
CoolBlue87GT JUL 03, 10:48 AM

quote
Originally posted by nitroheadz28:

Congrats on the purchase!! A one of a kind creation for sure!



Thanks, Yes your right, there can only be one 1st.



quote
Originally posted by 85LAMB:

Congratulations on your new ride

check your PM



Thanks, PM answered.


quote
Originally posted by bmwguru:

This week, we had to add cruise control as per the new owner. It took me a few weeks to figure out how to do that as there isn't a thottle body on a diesel. You can take the intake manifold off and still run the engine on a diesel. Anyway, I wound up using a Jetta cruise stalk and wired it in, but the tricky part was getting the brake switch signals to read correctly. The first attempt lead to engine codes and a flashing glow plug light, but after going through the cruise testing procedure, I got the system to work as if it were still in the Jetta.
Dave



This was a huge task I asked for, I was afraid couldn't be done. After searching many VW & diesel forums, I saw where many people tried & failed at adding cruise to TDI that was transplanted into a non VW. I was confident in bmwguru's abilites to figure out a way to get it done. When the TDI community realizes someone has figured out how to overcome this hurdle, Dave will be inundated with requests for information on how he mastered this.

The past few weeks as bmwguru was working on this, I received calls he was still trying, but couldn't get it yet. Yesterday when Dave called me, I held my breath waiting for the final yes / no answer, Dave announced, "you now have a working cruise control", I was so happy. What great news. Thank you Dave.

I don't know how many of you use your own cruise control, but I use mine every day, can't stand driving a car without one. Since adding one to a car I had back in 1974, I've had one in each car. I remember ordering a 79 Capri w/ 4 sp, asked for cruise, the dealer said no, that's only for automatics, turned out, this was the first year Ford offered it with a manual. Of course, it's common place nowadays. All they had to do was add a 2nd brake switch to the clutch pedal, took them a long time to figure that out.



quote
Originally posted by Formula88:

I'm happy you got the TDI, but remember, you have to DRIVE this one!
Wait, it's red. You can drive the red ones, right?



Oh you guy ... lol, Yes, I've beeen enjoying the current Red Formula, although as I said eariler, am getting tired of shifting, the short 15 minute commute to work, I'm going through the gears 8 to 10 times depending on how many lights I catch on red.

It's knid of like the cruise control thing, the less I need to do while driving, the better. Then I can text & surf more on the phone, - no, wait, that's been outlawed in these here parts !
GKDINC JUL 03, 03:20 PM
Congrats on the new Fiero. I will be looking forward to seeing this one someday soon. We really need to set up a cruise sometime.
Enjoy the new ride
Have a Nice Day
Gary
CoolBlue87GT JUL 06, 11:55 PM

quote
Originally posted by GKDINC:

Congrats on the new Fiero. I will be looking forward to seeing this one someday soon. We really need to set up a cruise sometime.
Enjoy the new ride
Have a Nice Day
Gary



Thanks Gary. 10-4 on the cruise, it's been awhile.

I'm leaving in the morning, flight leaves at 10:45 AM , gets to NJ at 1:25PM

I'll be catching the Autotrain in VA, Monday afternoon at 4 PM , it gets back to Sanford FL Tuesday morning around 9:30 AM

The adventure begins ....