1835 German plenum FI Thing

jzsquared · Post by **jzsquared** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 4:53 am

I have been sitting on the sidelines for to long about switching to FI so I decided to take the plunge. I have always wanted to a VW that I could drive almost like a modern car in the means of starting ,performance and reliability in a Midwest climate so that's my goal.
I pulled the engine last fall to just fix some leaks , well we all know how those end up. I had the case & heads cut to 94s to install the 92 thick wall pistons with a basic w110 cam. The crank is DPR balanced German with matching flywheel from Jose that is very nicely done. The heads are stock VW with heavy duty single springs, solid rockers, real Porsche adjusters.
Since I have only book knowledge of FI I called Mario at TheDubShop to buy one of his kits for a easier installation.
The one thing I knew for sure is I wanted to run a single German plenum setup because I really liked the look of center mount plus it's only a 1835 so I didn't think I needed much more.

It all started with this one purchase off of Ebay for $20

Next it needed to be cleaned up a bit since it looked like it was under water for a while

jzsquared · Post by **jzsquared** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 4:59 am

A few of the parts being installed with my Vintage Speed exhaust designed for a Thing so the tips will exit the bumper. This exhaust is really top quality and nice and quiet just what I was looking for

Manifolds needed a little port and polish to clean things up

jzsquared · Post by **jzsquared** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 5:09 am

The engine is really coming together now I wanted the plenum to flow a little better with the manifolds instead of just a silver tube connecting them. I purchased a silicon 35mm radiator tube and installed it over the steel tube. I was going to use the tee off the bottom of the tank then changed course and added a AN6 bung to the tank. The later probably would have been fine but I like the return separate to avoid any vapor lock. I'll finish it off with a russell inline filter once that arrives.

The next part was deciding how to run the fuel lines since the stainless steel 5/16 tube came in a25' roll I replaced the feed and return running one line on each side. I tied it in on the engine with AN6 line

jzsquared · Post by **jzsquared** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 5:16 am

Here is a few pictures of the car it will be going in.

jzsquared · Post by **jzsquared** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 5:19 am

Next I had to mount the regulator since I'm using a standard fan so off to Home Depot for a simple bracket and rivet gun.

The AN6 line I purchased is ethanol approved that I purchased from Jegs, with all the crap in Chicago fuels I wanted to make sure it will last. The hard line is Stainless and came in a 25' role so I ran new feed and return lines with one on each side. This allowed me to have only one crossover line on the engine exiting on each side of the engine.

Steve Arndt · Post by **Steve Arndt** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 9:38 am

110 cam is way too much for the stock plenum and a smooth idle.
Very clean work!

jzsquared · Post by **jzsquared** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 4:30 pm

Steve Arndt wrote:110 cam is way too much for the stock plenum and a smooth idle.
Very clean work!

Hopefully I will be able to get it to idle ok , to far along to pull it all back apart.

I finally received my Russell fuel filter today so I ran the last hose leaving it long enough to easy lift the tank up to change the filter down the road. I also ran the pump wiring to finish up under there

jzsquared · Post by **jzsquared** » Thu Mar 19, 2015 5:05 pm

I had a few things arrive in the mail today woohoo. I used double sided tape to mount the relay board to make sure I like it here. One thing I know for sure is I want all the electronics in the engine compartment since its a convertible. I don't want to worry if get caught in a heavy rain that I need to worry about a short somewhere. The airfilter mounts were a great spot to mount the coils. I'm running the LS2 coils instead of wasted spark look out corvette owners

I had to mark the 2 yellow wires to make sure I routed the O2 and tach wires correctly I need to buy more colors.

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jzsquared · Post by **jzsquared** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 6:37 am

Time to stop looking at the engine on the stand and put her back in the car.

The manifolds are a little wider than stock but not enough to cause issues installing.
I did have to remove the fuel regular since it kept getting caught on the engine seal

I bolted a piece of metal to my old HF motorcycle jack and slid
the engine from the lift table to the jack

After fighting with the engine for 20 minutes because it wouldn't go all the way

in my old age kicked in and said relax take it back out and figure it out.

Rookie mistake the Kennedy clutch has a center piece only used on the older transmissions.
So off it came and wow it fits

fuel line installed

Air temp sensor

Engine temp sensor

I think I picked a good spot for the relay board,
still need a little tiding up but it is tucked away but accessible

Been a long day time to sit back relax and have a cold one

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andy198712 · Post by **andy198712** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 11:50 am

cool!

SC3283 · Post by **SC3283** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:26 am

any updates?

jzsquared · Post by **jzsquared** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:16 am

Yes, never got it to run right. Idle was horrible no matter what I tried. I was such a frustrating experience that it completely took the joy out of owning it.
Sold it now own a jeep.

Steve Arndt · Post by **Steve Arndt** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:49 am

Steve Arndt wrote:110 cam is way too much for the stock plenum and a smooth idle.
Very clean work!

Damn, had a feeling.

Clonebug · Post by **Clonebug** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:18 pm

You should have just built a T intake with 1 5/8ths inch tubing to the endpieces and used the stock TB.

I hated the German plenum due to the complicated linkage for the throttle. It would never work smooth for me.

I just built my own and have not regretted it in the two years I've been running it.

jzsquared · Post by **jzsquared** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:24 pm

Had nothing to do with either one of the guesses above. The issue was with the programming. If I ever buy another VW I'll stick with carbs

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