At this point allot of work was being done but not many pictures taken. The Beetle computer was sent out for an immobilizer delete and stage 2 tune (should be around 180hp and 280lbft). Wiring loom was pulled out of the beetle and paired down to what's necessary to run the diesel. I figured out that it's just too tight out front to run a air to air intercooler. So I came up with this water to air setup TDI turbo to the land rovers muffler and tailpipe out of scrap from the V8's down pipe and a few off the shelf exhaust parts.

 

 

Had some time yesterday to get out in the shop and play. I finished getting the water to air intercooler setup.

a little bit janky but secure. I also repurposed the aux cooling fan wiring for the A/C condenser that isn't there anymore to run the cooling fan for the heat exchanger and the water pump. So now when I turn on my A/C it runs my intercooler pump and fan.

I also took this picture from under the car so you all can see how of a fit the power steering pump is between the frame and steering box.

pardon the mess, both the disco and the donor car had leaking return hoses.
And then I took if for its first ride down the road, In the rain, no tail lights, dash half apart, with a massive hole in the floor. And it was awesome. The power far surpasses anything the V8 ever put out.

 

That is quite the ambitious build/project. Did you use the gas engine torque converter? Surprised you can get those 285's in there, without rubbing. Even with the lift, they fill those wheel-wells. Had a three inch lift on my last Dll, and wanted to add 285's, but never made it that far.

And yes...you have a better chance of the windshield stopping a bug...than the inner steel section of the front bumper.

Anyhow, great build, enjoyed it! There seems to be so few builds going on anymore.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yes it has the v8 torque converter and on that topic It's even gone as far as to absolutely destroy the flexplate.

It started getting painfully loud after a couple hundred miles when it had do load on it and had me so freaked out I actually dropped the oil pan to make sure I didn't spin a bearing.



I'm really hoping I don't have an alignment issue and that the fatigued old rover part was just not up to the task.

It's pretty sad when the chinese replacement part is beefier than the stock one.

 

Long overdue update. We got our first nice day of spring, 70* plus, so I took the disco for a ride to run some errands. I also had previously change the display on my ultragauge around so I can watch my intake air temp instead of manifold pressure now that I have a boost gauge. If you're reading this you probably know where I'm going with it, my intake temps were way high. I have an alert setup to holler at me over 210* and it started chirping at me within a few miles of home. That being said the water to air intercooler setup wasn't good enough.

Being a trail rig build, I'm looking for simple and strong as possible and I had a lot of sketchy reroutes and adaptations to make the VW run in the v8's place. plumbing and hoses everywhere, my fuel filter was just sitting on top of the steering box not secure, as well as the weird crossover tube for the lower radiator hose flopping around. So time to change it up.

The solution I came up with is to rearrange the radiator and intercooler from a 300TDI from this

to this

by drilling new holes in the outer frame to relocate the retaining bushings in the new correct spot.
Don't get me wrong its still not a perfect science but so far it seems to work but it did take some bending and messaging.
What I really like is that the inlet and outlet for the radiator now match the VW TDI so no more cross over tube, but also no more need for a seperate pump, fan, heat exchanger, and coolant system for the intercooler. I also finally had room to mount my fuel filter. You can barely see it there on the side of the battery tray using the factory mount from the VW.
So here is the current arrangement

 

Cool stuff! Nothing to add other than it’s fun to follow someone figuring it out as they go. Keep it up.

 

test drive follow up. Better but not ideal. I was hoping for 20ish* from ambient temp. today is round about a 45-50* day and air temps hovered around 100* cruising and would creep up to 140 on a long pull. Like I said, better but not ideal.