Date:         Mon, 4 Sep 2000 22:35:03 -0400
Reply-To:     ed <edevinney@ANENT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         ed <edevinney@ANENT.COM>
Organization: Pismo Beach Institute for Advanced Leisure Studies
Subject:      Iron Butt/Iron Bus,
              or 750 miles in 3 days with a new Tii conversion (long)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Like the tire discussion, the engine conversion discussion ebbs and
flows.  I start my whole Vanagon shopping intending to eventually do
either a Eurospec, Audi, or Subaru to a Syncro in order to meet our
all-weather school bus plans.  Along the way, the Eurospec thing
imploded, Audis didn't look orders of magnitude better than an I4, and I
decided to keep it all German.  A Lilley-spec WBX just didn't float my
boat, althoug it's a good solution.  The 3.2L 911 was considered
seriously, as was the 1.8T and 1.9TD.  And maybe some others not so
seriously.

I bought an 86 Syncro from Joe Gunyan, which promptly developed a head
leak (drop a line if you want the whole story!).  So the question of a
new engine was no longer academic.  After discussing a lot of
alternatives with Karl Mullendore, I ended up buying a 2L conversion
package from Peter B at Tiico.  Had it shipped to Karl's shop, and he
set to installing it.  He'll fill you in with the highs and lows, I'm
sure, so I'll cover driving experience.

I pressured Karl into having the van finished for a trip I needed to
take from VA to the PA mountains, where I was pulling an engine from
buddy Walt's Merkur parts car so he can clean up his property.  Karl was
a great sport and willingly went all out to meet my schedule.  I think
he was a little trepidatious to let the van go untested on this long
trip, but hey, the customer's always right, even if he risks being an idiot.

Overall impression:  This thing rocks.  Karl is awesome.  The Tii
package seems to have been worth it.

Late Friday afternoon we looked over the van, gave Karl a check, loaded
the kids and the old motor into it and drove right from Karl's place W
of Frederick to my folks' place near Philly.  I got up at 5AM Saturday,
and headed for somewhere W of Wilkes-Barre PA, picking up my friend Adam
on the way.  Got to the mountains, pulled the engine & trans (note to
self, next time make sure the car is on a concrete slab before
volunteering, or get mud tires for engine crane), and headed home with
Merkur engine in Walt's truck.  Birthday party for my Dad on Sunday, and
drove home Monday by way of Salem, NJ, where we dropped the old WBX off
with new owner Ken Wilfy. 750 miles, 3 days, new & non-stock engine.
God watches over fools and children, I like to think I qualify for both.
 I also had a chase car to and from NJ, and on the way down from the
mountains - I'm foolish, but not totally stupid!

Adam said it all on the way back from the moutains: "Fix the lighter,
it's the new Bluesmobile."

Unlike the various tales of Eurospec woe, my Tii Syncro performed
flawlessly.  Electricals were fine.  There's the tiniest buzz at 3800+/-
rpm that I think we can quash, but nothing like what I've heard about ES
noises.  The van cruises at 65-70 with only a finely-tuned hum.  Starts
instantly, idles well, revs willingly.  Looks like VW put it in there
(until you notice the slight bandsaw marks on the adapter plate :-) ).

The WBX has it in one place - you can feel the I4 at idle, and seems to
have a bit less low-end grunt.  That said, the deep 1st gear gets you up
on the cam quick, and the van moves out smartly.  The WBX sounds a
little better at low revs, too.  The I4, though, sounds like a good
sewing machine when it gets rolling :-)  That sewing machine had me
passing people on the highway.  Up hills.  With 2 big guys, tools,
hardware-that-cannot-be-named-on-the-list, and a WBX inside for good
measure.  I would prefer more low-end grunt, but the fact that this
engine runs so well with a wide powerband makes up for it.  The gear
spacing on the trans means that you want to keep the revs up, anyway.
Shift at 32-3500 and you're suddenly down in the teens, where the torque
is OK unless you need to get somewhere.

I do have a fuel tank leak to fix, but that's unrelated to the Tii
package.  Thus, I couldn't fill enough to check mileage for sure, but I
know I put 11 gallons in before I left NJ, and went about 180 miles and
the needle has not yet hit the place it was when I filled.  I'm guessing
20mpg, more or less.  Since I'd done my 500 miles of constantly varying
break-in driving, I cruised home at about 65-70, so I'm pleased with the
fuel economy.  The van will easily do 80, but I didn't see why it should :-)

All in all, I think it's a winner.  Good acceleration, good fuel
economy, so the performance envelope is increased in all directions.
Not cheap, but they don't call the Vanagon the 911 of minivans for
nothing :-).  The Tii kit, while not exactly a drop-in on a Syncro, was
worthwhile IMO.  No cheaper than buying/scrounging everything yourself,
but comes in one box, fits under the deck, has a warrantee, and a
zero-time engine and computer to boot.  I should recoup about 3/4 of the
installation costs from selling the old parts - anyone need a Digifant box?

I thoroughly endorse Karl's work.  He's *exceedingly* thoughful and
thorough, and did several upgrades to the install that I wouldn't have
done myself even if I'd had the time to do the job - best of all is the
fact that he fitted a modified diesel oil filler tube.  I have the only
Tii conversion that doesn't require lifting the decklid to add oil to...
 If you are anywhere in range of his shop, I strongly encourage you
check him out.

FWIW, I'm not related to either Peter or Karl, nor do I have any
interest, blah blah blah.  If you're in the Northern VA area and want to
see the van, let me know.

Cheers -

ed