Great info, exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for
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The only rust spots I knew of was the floor boards and the strut towers, I'll have a print of this thread with key points highlighted when I check it out
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Anyway, the 35mpg comment is more from performance based sites doing the swap, I read so much about them I could be throwing the wrong number, but it seems to me it was quite a bit lower than stock. Maybe they beat the snot out of it, or have a higher boost, driving around 80mph on the expressway probably would kill the mpg.
I trust the people here more, so if I do get the trucks I'll make sure to keep an eye out for a wrecked car with the 1.9 TDI for cheap
. I do plan to buy the Bentley service manual. While looking up about the timing belts and such I came across a few posts about the cam pulley bolt torque, Bentley manual says 33ft/lbs and the people on the thread said 45ft/lbs to be on the safe side. I guess someone on that site has done a lot of head work with the root cause being the 33ft/lbs spec. Ever hear anything about that?
For beefing up the front end, I was thinking mainly adding some support bars back to the main body from the front (could hold a belly pan too) and maybe remake the bumper to something a bit stronger. Seen the effects of pipe bumpers when hitting a tree at around 60, driver and passenger had no seat belts and walked away with no issues. Truck wasn't so good though, broken frame, broke front axle (4x4) in half and of course the body damage in the front. Engine was still good
. This was a 1973 ford frame with a station wagon front end converted into a truck cab with a 350 or 455 olds v8 and a hand built overly heavy box. I'm not super worried about the crash damage since I probably wont be going over 55mph and I drive in the country. The biggest threat out here are deer. One got my Camry on the highway at 70mph, car turned into a ramp and the deer reflected off the bent hood. After a ~$100 radiator, swapping some parts off a parts car, and a little welding, it is good as new with a wrong colored hood
. Anyway back on topic, first plans are to get one running and drive it
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