Here is what I did in my TDD/5 speed project.

I moved my battery forward from the original diesel location, put a VR-6 air
cleaner behind the battery/just inside the cubby hole by the passenger tail
light (need to clean up the "quick release" mount just a bit yet). I moved
the coolant tank to the front firewall just to the left of the fuel filter.
I used a couple of copper elbows to "turn" the hoses forward to the new tank
location--fabbed a new bracket. In hindsight, I think I could have mounted
the coolant tank over the top of the battery, but I bought a big honkin'
battery and it was a bit too tall for the tank to fit over the top. The
"new" battery box mounts to the side firewall and I also welded legs down to
the engine carrier bar. Intercooler is all on the left. I cut out the
"floor" of the cubby in front of the left tail light so the intercooler air
would pass straight on through and come out the bottom left side of the van
and not have to go through the engine compartment.

Its all pretty tight, but looks like it will work out pretty well. I hope to
drive is in the next day or so. I can tell you how it all works then.

Myron Lind
1982 Diesel Westy getting TDD/5 speed.

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Martin Jagersand
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 10:23 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Relocating the battery to the rear of the van - ideas
anyone???

In my 1.9TD conversion I moved the air intake to the passenger side
so I can put the intercooler with minimal hoses on the drivers side.

Result:
1. room for big Audi 5000 intercooler on passenger side, connects to
turbo and intake with minimal length hoses.

2. Room for 3" air intake tube to slip past behind the standard Diesel
battery mount (note the space looks tight, but due to the slanted
rear body panel is actually quite big to slip a hose through down near the
bottom)

3. Air cleaner (std VW square style) is mounted in front of pass headlight
in the cubby hole.

Cheers,
Martin

 My Syncro Double Cab is about to go under the ratchet again this weekend or
 next.  I will be removing the 2.0L I4 gas unit and installing a 1.9L Turbo
 Diesel in its place.

 While I am doing this, I want to move the main battery to the rear of the
 van so there isn't 10 miles of cable to run all that current through.
 Winter and Diesels require a lot of juice so I want to install a slightly
 larger battery and install it closer to the starter and the glow plugs,
 which consume all the much needed juice.

 Any suggestions or tips on how to fasten a battery back there?  I really
 don't want to block access to the rear passenger light compartment unless I
 absolutly have to as it is a great source of fresh air for an intercooler
or
 oil cooler.