Club 80-90 Forums

I’m considering converting my 2.0cu to 1.9 tdi.
Only because I’ve acquired a free golf.
What’s the reason for the engine to be mounted on its side??
Is it due to bell housing lining up or clearance??

Clearance, as the body was originally designed for a flat 4 engine, Aircooled, so when they decided to fit a tractor engine they canted the diesel over at silly o'clock so they didn't have to modify the body, and then carried on with that to the end of production. Even the late body has some of the Aircooled internal ducting built in.
It's pretty big change Aircooled to diesel, if you want to use the existing gearbox then you need to find the conversion parts from a pre83 diesel as after August 82 they went to the watercooled gearbox for everything and the fit is different though some of the same parts are used on all diesels.
When they put the Audi 5 pot in the South African vans they had to modify the body with a high engine compartment, you could fit a diesel upright if it was a SA van as you can in a pickup.

Thanks Very much for info, thought this might have been the issue my van already has a heavy plastic box like tray to get the height correct for the rock and roll bed, was considering increasing height of engine bay and doing away with the tray.
So the engine won’t fit my air cooled bell housing?

Nope. You'll need a whole heap of JX parts: bell housing, sump, oil pump, flywheel, engine bars (plus some welding to the body) just for starters.

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