TimeZone's 97 Limited build and TDi Swap

Hey all, starting this thread of my 1997 Limited build I've been doing. Going to show all the past progress since buying the rig July 28th 2016, its current state and as I progress with the TDi swap.

As she currently looks August 28th , 2018



Current Mods:
1997 Limited, factory 4.30s, E-locker, fully loaded, leather, sunroof, etc..
Bilstein 6112s on 4/5th setting and 3/4" top spacer. Little over 3"s
OME 891s with 5100s. Little over 3"s
Diff drop
2" Body lift
Tundra 231mm front calipers/rotors
1.5" wheel spacers all around
Tundra/Sequoia 17" rims Bronzed
Sport Hood
Satoshi grille Mod
2001 Headlights now with Retrofit Bi-xenon Projectors
PIAA 510s in the bumper
PIAA LP570 LEDs mounted in the bumper hoop.
Signals moved to corner marker lights
Black Widow Gear winch bumper with 10,000 lbs winch
Trans cooler
Hilux 167 Snorkel
Flowmaster 40 series
Flowmaster High-flow cat
Blue sea fuse panel
Clutch fan delete w/ Electric fans
Grey wire mod
Kenwood touchscreen deck
Kenwood 12" sub, 400w amp
Ultragauge mounted
Cell phone booster cradle hard wired with antenna
RTT made by Wild Coast Tents, Sun Dog X model.

Seller was original owner. He bought her new in 1997 in Victoria, BC. Spend most of its life out there, and made afew trips back and forth across the country.

I picked her up in Prince Edward Island, where he was advertising it as parts. Needed a transmission and figured with the age, was best to be parted out. I found it on Kijiji where there was no pictures listed, called him and realized the potential the rig had.

After conversing on the phone afew times, he sent me some pictures and that confirmed the deal. E-transferred him that night, as I was away at work and not due home for 3 weeks, and she was mine.

Over the next few weeks, I sourced a low mile rebuilt A340F auto for $240 and arranged to pick it up once I was home. Living in Nova Scotia, luckily I had a friend in PEI who was able to pick the 4Runner up and take it back to his shop.



Once off work I picked up the new trans and headed over to the Island. We had it installed over the weekend and I was headed home with my new adventure rig!



1st upgrades and work done was 4 new shocks/struts all around, trans cooler, tie rods and lower ball joints



Next was a good wax and some 265/75R16 KO2s and a budget 3" spacer lift



Add some 1.5" wheel spacers and 2 Hella driving lights



Picked up some 255/85R16s on 1st gen Tacoma alloys to see what tall 33s felt like. Also made a 2" receiver to the front for a winch plate I made up for the option of front/back winch use.



Picked up some newer limited 5 spoke 16s for some new rubber coming. Refinished a dark silver Duplicolor rim paint



2 more Hellas, Tundra Bilstein 5100s and 2" body lift done to fit...






...295/75R16 KO2s. Flipped the hitch around and notched the bumper to hide the bodylift gap.



Did the satoshi grill mod, used the stock emblem until my TOYOTA letters come. Flipped the lights around to see the grille. 2001 Headlights installed.



Got the new emblem, and a cheap roof basket.



Took off the lower valance from the stock bumper and hauled the project car on the flatdeck. Don't worry, not far..



Tundra 231mm brakes and some exhaust work. Little tune up before my road trip.



Moved to a new place, snorkel installed



And some stylish new mudflaps I made myself. Also finally found some Tundra/Sequoia 17" alloys that I always wanted. Now running 285/75R17 KM2s.



Got a hood visor



Max images reached..

Pt. 2

1st time having to dig into the engine itself, valve cover gaskets and all intake gaskets. Not too shabby for 325k Klms I think.



Found a sport hood after looking since 2016. Ultra rare up here in Canada. Running studded 285/70R17 Nokian Hakkapeliittas for this winter.



Wheeling pic with my old roommates, I've help build both Jeeps, course they can't keep up with the ol Yota



New winch bumper from a local company here in Nova Scotia called Black Widow Gear, great quality. 10,000lbs winch I had sitting on the shelf installed too.





As she currently sits Mar.12/18

Begin Diesel parts gathering

So main outcome of all this is to have a reliable daily that's also easy on the wallet long term. Now the 3.4 is very reliable, but 315 klms to 68 bucks isn't what I call easy on the wallet.

Introducing the VW turbo diesel. Now I've done my share of research, yes the 1.9, ALH or AHU, blah blah.
I like different. So my plan is the Passat BHW 2L. Sitting at 134 hp and 247 ft lbs stock, it's better than the 1.9s 100 hp but still not quite enough. A simple Immo delete and ECU re-flash yields 169hp and little over 300 ft lbs of torque.

Sounds perfect to me! and stock injectors, turbo, bottom end, etc all will hold up to the simple stage 1 without worry. Yes there's more wiring involved with the PD engines over the VE but its worth it to me.

So 1st thing I picked up this week is a 5 speed swap. Have trans, pedals, drive shafts, master/slave bits, trans cross member, and J shift case. My current T case is the stock push button but good to have options for what case I want to run.



My plan for flywheel and transmission adapter to the VW is Toy Crafter Auto works based out of Ontario. Shane does full swap kits but only really on the early 1.9s. I wanna be different.

I'll be fabbing my own motor mounts, and other bits myself, but will be sourcing the more precise bits from him.

Hoping to pick up a complete 04-05 Passat to use in this swap, have my eye on one with a burned up transmission (As usual with passats) for a fair price.

See what end of the week brings.

Great looking rig! The TDI swap seems ambitious, but do-able with some time and effort. I'm always excited to see something different. Sad to see those 295's go, they looked great on the truck, what did you think of them?

Wow, fantastic job so far ! It's going to be one of a kind with the TDI

HuskerRunner said:

Great looking rig! The TDI swap seems ambitious, but do-able with some time and effort. I'm always excited to see something different. Sad to see those 295's go, they looked great on the truck, what did you think of them?

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Loved the 295s, did everything I wanted them to do. Debating going back to that size but in a 17 on my new rims. Only reason I got rid of them was because I really wanted those limited 17" wheels.
295s or 315s is what I want to run, maybe KO2s but more likely General Grabber X3s.

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Little update. Off to work for 2 weeks working on a different kind of diesel. Little more power than a VW..

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SMHVP said:

Little update. Off to work for 2 weeks working on a different kind of diesel. Little more power than a VW..

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Looking forward to the swap! Until then, I trump your power generator. Haha.

Uh, subscribed.


This seems like a silly question given the tdi stuff, but do you know the exact color you chose for those 5 stars? I need to strip and repaint mine and I really like that color.

thezentree said:

Uh, subscribed.


This seems like a silly question given the tdi stuff, but do you know the exact color you chose for those 5 stars? I need to strip and repaint mine and I really like that color.

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Been asked alot, no worries.

Its "Dupli-color Graphite High Performance Wheel Coating"
Bought afew cans and had alot of coats layered. Think I also applied their clear coat too they sell.

SMHVP said:

Been asked alot, no worries.

Its "Dupli-color Graphite High Performance Wheel Coating"
Bought afew cans and had alot of coats layered. Think I also applied their clear coat too they sell.

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Awesome, they look great and I have a couple cans of that stuff in the basement. Glad I got the right stuff.

Home alittle early, one of the joys of my job. Going to look at this 2004 Passat tomorrow weather permitting. Think the 3.4 will tow it on a dolly?

Typical passat, failing transmission. Original owners, all receipts, dealer maintained, vw oil etc.. Fresh timing belt.
500 bucks for the works. Over 300k klms, although I'm not worried about it.

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SMHVP said:

Home alittle early, one of the joys of my job. Going to look at this 2004 Passat tomorrow weather permitting. Think the 3.4 will tow it on a dolly?

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5k capacity... you should be fine.

I'm looking forward to watching this unfold...

-Charlie

Great Thread.
Will be watching for your updates. Good luck with the project completion.

Bought the passat. The ol 3.4 did alot better towing than I truly expected. O/D off and ECT mode on, chugged right along.
Hills slowed me down to 70 kph but flat I had no issues keeping up with traffic.

Start pulling stuff off the Passat the weekend!

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Pulling the engine out of the passat this weekend. Few things left to disconnect, then pulling out as a whole soon. http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5ab7de7c1c5cd/Snapchat-1303054887.mp4

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Are you doing balancer delete? Who's doing your wiring harness? Keeping the stock turbo?

absalom said:

Are you doing balancer delete? Who's doing your wiring harness? Keeping the stock turbo?

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Going to pull the pan off and have a look. Will probably delete and ALH oil pump swap it.

Wiring harness I'm leaning towards Fast Forward Automotive out of British Columbia. Very painless and simple to install once completed.

Stock turbo for now, should hold up to all I want to do, and it's in good shape.

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SMHVP said:

Going to pull the pan off and have a look. Will probably delete and ALH oil pump swap it.

Wiring harness I'm leaning towards Fast Forward Automotive out of British Columbia. Very painless and simple to install once completed.

Stock turbo for now, should hold up to all I want to do, and it's in good shape.

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Click to expand...

Cool, looking forward to updates.

Out of curiosity, have you considered running automatic? I was originally considering manual but in the end was leaning towards auto for several reasons.

SMHVP said:

Pulling the engine out of the passat this weekend. Few things left to disconnect, then pulling out as a whole soon.

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Ah! That generation Passat had that odd longitudinally mounted FWD/transaxle setup.... That makes much more sense to me now. It should fit right in the 4Runner bay, no problem. Have you figured how oil sump clearance is going to be around the front diff and crossmember?

-Charlie