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Sweet swap! I did the same wth my '73 bus last winter...ALH mated to my regeared 002 transaxle. I too have heard the stories of the VW transaxles letting go in short order...but after 9 months, im still going.
In the meantime, Ive pieced together a Passat DUK 5 speed (diesel 5 speed from Canada) & a flip kit. I still need the axles & to sort out shifting (Porsche Boxster 5 speed shifter)

One thing i see on yours is the intercooler location.....trying to flow air through it and into the engine bay doesnt work...I had super high IAT's with this arrangment (200°F +!). I tried a water/air intercooler...which was better...but not great. That with the added complexity of needing anoother heat exchanger to dump the intercooler heat, and a pump...I sourced got a small intercooler from ebay, shoved it in that same corner facing down, and cut a rectangular opeing for it in the sheetmetal. Then I blocked the whole thing in, and isulated it. My temps now are 130° on a 90° degree day. Higher than id like, but the the exhaust temps good, which is where the ruber meets the road as far as this goes. I still might puller fan down underneath to see if this helps. I can post some pics of the set up if you are interested.
 
Nice work, is that a brand new repair panel you've spliced in under the windshield?

A workshop just down the road from me changed hands and suddenly it's crowded with Kombi's. Not sure what's going on yet.
 
Discussion starter · #51 ·
Yep new panel, mine was toast. Had done a quick fix probably 15 years ago on some pin holes but when I pulled the windshield this time there was pretty much nothing attaching the outer skin to the front of the bus.
 
Such a badass project! I actually just purchased a hightop Adventurewagen that was TDI swapped much like you are doing (grafted front section and all, but a custom grill)...hope to revive this thread and see more updates...I think mine has the stock automatic (from a vanagon) and I like the idea of going to a subaru transmission and possible retaining the option to go AWD in the future. Whd did you do the "early" front apron, is that to use an earlier bumper? Mine has a weird franken bumper that has the wrap around step but has a bunch of welds all over it to seemingly make it fit. I have an ALH mTDI, but I kinda know nothing about it and am trying to learn what I can.
 
Discussion starter · #54 ·
Stay tuned! Big changes coming! Syncro chassis conversion, working on getting the syncro moved to my place to begin the cutting.

I pulled the giant front part to get bumper closer to the body and it was just thin sheet metal so not really able to solidly mount a winch.
 
oh boy, those are some big changes! Is the TDI conversion complete? What's the current state of affairs? Let me know if you have any questions on how mine was done...I didn't do it myself and am mostly still trying to figure out exactly what was actually done.
 
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