Colour storm FSI 2004 to TDI 2001 - suspension and body compatibility?

N

nod

Member
Hi folks, I've just bought a 2001 tdi75 as a pretty full on project, it has done stellar mileage - like 300k plus, and it feels like it. It has Bose,oss,cruise,dis and air con.

The suspension is horrible and everything seems pretty worn out, but i like the spec and want to make it into my long term keeper, running on veg oil eventually.

initially i need to get it roadworthy. i sorted the starting issue by swapping out the tiny 44Ah battery for a proper battery, and i'm sure a fuel filter and air filter change will improve the engine performance alot, the fuel filter is really rusty, and obviously hasn't been touched for a while. it will also go better once the rear drum break stops binding and smoking.... - i'm sure there's a guide on here for that.

anyway, the body and suspension are pretty poor. It is really bouncy and all shocks have had it. I'm wondering if the suspension can be swapped from an FSI colour storm I have into the tdi?

Also, I really like the look of the blue colour storm we have and I'd like to swap the body from it to the tdi. I know how to do the bumpers, are there any guides on replacing wings, doors and boot?

Can the doors just be swapped between a 2004 and 2001 model? I'll have to swap the locks, hopefully there is a guide somewhere for that?

Sorry for so many questions.

I must say i love the BOSE.


Cheers nod
 
It's a good project starting with a 300k car.

In terms of swapping the body, all of the panels could be swapped but they you will be left with rear quarter panels and door shuts in the original colour.
 
A2Steve said:
It's a good project starting with a 300k car.

In terms of swapping the body, all of the panels could be swapped but they you will be left with rear quarter panels and door shuts in the original colour.
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Hi Steve, Indeed, a project+, not the most most sensible thing to do, but it happens.... Its a black car so i'm thinking of getting the quarter panels resprayed to match the colour storm blue and leaving the black strip above the doors and the door shuts - sorry it won't be immaculate. may be later when i've got more cash, as there is quite alot of blue and black on the colour storm already and it has the oss which is much like the original black roof (i have a spare ready - you might remember it ontop of the tdi90... :). do you know if the door electrics will be a direct swap too, just plug in and play? cheers nod
 
Not done it myself but I understand from reading up about it that the front wings will require the long plastic sills to come off in order to get the bottom bolts out. This is fine except that the lugs on the upper door-shut sections that complete the sills are very brittle and likely to break, and new replacements for those sections have been discontinued. Maybe add the front wings to the respray list?

The overall effect would definitely be on-trend though - even more so if you have all the wheel arches painted in the Storm matt black. Google 'blue car with black roof' and you get Minis, DS3s, Renault Captur and others in a similar scheme.

Re the suspension swap, I believe the front struts should not be swapped as (at least) the springs would surely be different for TDIs because of the heavier engine? If the FSI does not have OSS, I wouldn't swap the rear springs either as they are stiffer on OSS cars to counter the increased body-roll from the extra weight on the roof. I've swapped rear shocks from an OSS 1.4i into a non-OSS TDI though, and that seems fine.

Re the electrics, there are two types of door connector, I believe the changeover was some time in 2001. You'd have to pop a connector off to see if it's the same as the donor car.
 
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Proghound said:
Not done it myself but I understand from reading up about it that the front wings will require the long plastic sills to come off in order to get the bottom bolts out. This is fine except that the lugs on the upper door-shut sections that complete the sills are very brittle and likely to break, and new replacements for those sections have been discontinued. Maybe add the front wings to the respray list?

The overall effect would definitely be on-trend though - even more so if you have all the wheel arches painted in the Storm matt black. Google 'blue car with black roof' and you get Minis, DS3s, Renault Captur and others in a similar scheme.

Re the suspension swap, I believe the front struts should not be swapped as (at least) the springs would surely be different for TDIs because of the heavier engine? If the FSI does not have OSS, I wouldn't swap the rear springs either as they are stiffer on OSS cars to counter the increased body-roll from the extra weight on the roof. I've swapped rear shocks from an OSS 1.4i into a non-OSS TDI though, and that seems fine.

Re the electrics, there are two types of door connector, I believe the changeover was some time in 2001. You'd have to pop a connector off to see if it's the same as the donor car.
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Thanks for the advice, i thought there might be issues with the springs, I guess I could reuse the rear shocks without issues? one of the sills on the tdi is smashed where someone has jacked through it in the past. so I'll start there and see how it goes with the fragile clips on the sills - is there a guide on sill removal? Cheers nod
 
I'd be prepared to go with the rear shocks certainly.

I'm taking an educated guess on the front struts. You certainly wouldn't swap 1.4 ones to a TDI: I know the FSI engine is heavier, but you'd need to research its weight in comparison to the TDI. Maybe suppliers catalogues would confirm if the same part numbers for springs and shocks are used for both?

The first result when you Google with 'A2OC sill removal' looks like it could be helpful on that front.
 
As expected, not looking like the old girl has had much looking after for a while, check out the state of these filters. I'm hoping the engine can breathe again now!
 

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