thoughts on TDI swap...

[orion2.0]

I will appreciate anyone with know-how to give me advice / suggestions...

ok so I have been trying to find a black 2000-2003 tdi golf, 2-door, GL 5speed
for quite a while now...and I'm not having any luck...now I am considering buying a cheap 2000ish 2.0 gasser with the same specs and swapping in a TDI engine

While the 2.0 is in there i can still use the car as my daily driver...meanwhile i can pick up a full TDI engine and do upgrades before doing the swap ...chip, injectors, fmic, clutch and gears...i realize i will need to get an instrument cluster as well.

does this seem like a logical / cost effective plan of action? or more hassle that its worth? I dont have any experience with engine swaps but if any of you guys do...I will be willing to pay an experienced person for help on this engine swap. I remeber hearing that someone on this forum is a VW technician...any leads on who that might be would be appreciated.

[meatwad!!]

that sounds like a hassle. customfabvw is a tech.
there isnt any tdi's around ?paint one of you have to.

have you checked out vortex classifieds?

[BUNNYLOVE]

In your case it will be cheaper to just buy the car.

TDI swaps are very expensive when complete, plus you will need a bunch of other little things that nobody ever thinks of. You have to swap the gas tank/fuel lines. The wiring part is easy if you get a good donor.. everything will pretty much bolt on.
It would make sense if you got a amazing deal on the swap and did everything yourself.
I swapped a TDI into my Toyota truck and many little expenses popped up due to missing parts and replacing stuff like gaskets, etc.

[orion2.0]

well...im having a hard enough time finding that combo of specs in any color really...however, some gut on TDIclub just told me that if I did a swap, the car wont pass NY inspection because they scan the VIN number...so i guess the swap is out of the question anyhow...NYS government sucks...its like a little socialist country inside the united states...i need to move to florida

[evolveVW]

Like Ryan said...you'd pay 5 or 6k for a 2.0. then another 3-5k at least to get a complete swap plus all the little things. I paid less than that for my car. FYI there was a Jetta Wagon TDI listed in the paper earlier this week at Romano for 11k. Where was that when I was shopping? lol. Just be patient. Keep scanning ebay too, that where I got mine.

[clubfootedmidget]

I find lots of TDI's on Craiglist. Do a search in the hudson valley region, ithaca, rochester, and parts of mass and connecticut. There are always Tdi's for sale on craigslist.

[orion2.0]

yeah...i know they are out there...i am just being really picky about the exact specs...it must be 5-speed, 2-door, 2000-03, black...that really narrows the list...

on vortex today i found one...a 2002...the car is in connecticut...we may do a car trade with some extra cash coming with my car of course