Hiace TDI!

Howdy everyone!
late last year I bought a 91 LH107 super custom with a cracked head and decided I didn't want to deal with overheating issues, hard-to-find parts(Canada FTW...) and a slow ass van on the highways so I endeavored to do a swap that no one has attempted before: a 1.9l ALH Volkswagen tdi engine!
it took a couple months of planning, sourcing parts and designing a new cooling/intake system but finally go the van to run on a stripped down wiring harness and blank ecu, and let me just say this is the engine this van needed!
it's got lots of power from both the turbo and upgraded camshaft, has a ton of easiliy available parts (junkyards are full of old tdis!) and is quite a bit lighter than the old 3L the van came with!
now with the increase in power I decided to get rid of the 4.88 differentials as the acceleration was really slow, so I swapped in a 4.10 rear end and man what a difference! I still have to do the front diff which is a lot more involved as the hiace has a unique front diff housing so I need to remove the ring and pinion from the donor axle I picked up and install the parts into the hiace housing.
The van is currently up on jackstsnds right now as I am modifying the engine mounts that I had previously installed as the geometry was off and the bushings I used were way too stiff, causing the whole van to shake rather violently.
Once I get the front diff and the last of the minor changes out of the way, I'm going to convert the back into a sweet, winter proof camper with diesel heater and Canadian rates insulation to handle the upcoming ice fishing season!
I can't wait to start building out the interior!

Really impressive stuff!

That's fantastic. I have a '90 LH113 camper and had to machine the head and do the head gasket last year (after some BC Rockies crossings)
What a dream it would be to have a VW TDI in my van here in Ontario!
Great work!

Well done! I'm in Calgary as well, see you on the roads (Granted, you'll be passing me on the uphills now)!

That’s fantastic! Great step forward for the Hiace! I can see from the pics that yours is a part time 4WD. Is it a manual or auto transmission? Did you keep the original gearbox? If so how did you go about mating them up? How does the gearbox perform etc? And I presume you still have the original 4WD transfer case as well? Good luck with it and keep us posted with any updates. I’m very interested in fitting a more powerful engine at some point. I have fitted a turbo to the 3L but naturally more power is always better! Thanks!
Chris

Sheet son! I’ve heard of putting a Subaru engine in a vw van and often wondered about finding a vw with a blown engine and swapping in a boxer or tdi. But this seems next level! I can’t even imagine rigging all that together, but finding replacement parts should be a breeze!

nice one! was it relatively easy going once the old one was out? I must say, im open to other options when it comes down to mechanical works, but i coudnt go past the 3.0L ! haha

Hiace Hobo wrote:

That’s fantastic! Great step forward for the Hiace! I can see from the pics that yours is a part time 4WD. Is it a manual or auto transmission? Did you keep the original gearbox? If so how did you go about mating them up? How does the gearbox perform etc? And I presume you still have the original 4WD transfer case as well? Good luck with it and keep us posted with any updates. I’m very interested in fitting a more powerful engine at some point. I have fitted a turbo to the 3L but naturally more power is always better! Thanks!
Chris

I kept the original manual G52 as its bellhousing is compatible with a north American W56 bellhousing which is what I needed to mate the vw engine to a Toyota transmission. The g52 was also available on first gen 4runners and pickups so finding parts for the transmission won't be too hard. As for power, you can definitely feel the boost when the turbo kicks in, but since I've got the van built out with all my camper stuff it feels a lot heavier so its still slow to accelerate, but it won't bog down on hills with the turbo spooled up in 5th gear