Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2000 10:54:27 -0600
Reply-To: Keith Adams <keith_adams@TRANSCANADA.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Keith Adams <keith_adams@TRANSCANADA.COM>
Organization: TransCanada
Subject: all the hoopla about engines
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
I have been reading all the posts about engines and I will relate my
perspective on things...
I have a 1986 Vanagon GL Westfalia 2.1 WBX, with 265,000 km on it (about
215,000 km on this engine...first engine was replaced after 50,000 km,
dunno why). The heads were done two years ago by DPO (I dunno, let's
say 25,000 km ago). To say that I'm going to be doing some engine work
soon is an understatement.
1) I have what (should be) good heads.
2) I am faced by the CDN/US exchange rate. Stuff costs 50-75% more here
due to that. This rules out the Tiico kit for sure. For what that
would cost, I could sell my Vanagon and buy an EV Westfalia.
3) If I do an engine swap, it had better well fit where the original one
was. Raising the engine lid is not an option in my mind. That is not
good design IMHO.
4) A little more oomph would be nice. However, I would be curious to
drive a brand new 2.1 WBX beside my van and see the difference. As
someone had previously posted, perhaps part of the lack of power we
perceive is because we are driving around on tired old engines, with
tired old parts (AFM, etc.) feeding it.
What options does this leave me? I like the thought of the 2.0 I4
conversion, as the engines are available. However, as per point #3, I
won't butcher my engine lid to do it. Using one of David Marshall's
kits would be ideal as he's already in Canada (see point #2) but his kit
violates point #3. Ideally, I would put in the newest I4 I could find
(like my 1998 OBD II 2.0 Golf), but that adds complexity/cost. A 1.8T
would be sweet if going to that extreme. Now, there's a guy in Calgary
here who plunked in a 1.8 out of a Scirocco, and then used some Audi
parts to turbo it. He says it takes a bit to spool up, but once it
does, it's off! I like that potential (however, it looked like a lot of
mucking about...I know that proper turbo kits for the I4 are hard to
come by, even harder if you say "Vanagon conversion). According to
David's estimates, it's about $4250 for an I4 conversion. Not bad,
shame about the engine lid though. I think that to get a newer,
torquier (cross flow) engine (or even a 1.8T) that cost could escalate
quite a bit.
The Subaru swap sounds reasonable, but depends on the availability of a
good used engine. Considering that our entire country has the
population of JUST California, statistically speaking, the odds of
finding a decent engine are less. Factor in that there are less than 3
million people in Alberta, and the odds of finding one within "pickup"
distance is even less. As we know from 9th grade social studies, low
supply = high prices, so I wouldn't expect to easily find a deal, nor a
"wrecker" who wouldn't "wreck it" in the removal process (not to slight
anybody, but from what I've seen of the local dismantling yards,
"wrecker" is an apt term. It seems that the only people who can
dismantle a car in a civilized fashion here are shops, and they know
what parts are worth!). The Kennedy kit would run me about $1500 CDN
for the install kit, engine - not sure + associated hoo-has and parts.
So I could rebuild my WBX, and be faced with living with it's
weaknesses. Unfortunately, I do not know of a Boston Bob (i.e. the Jedi
master of WBX engines) locally, but I do know people I can trust. It
seems logical to me. But do I do the "full Lilley" in my rebuild? I
have a good core (hopefully) and good heads (extra hopefully). I dont'
want a drag racer, just a reliable weekend house on wheels. Now, as per
the timely information provided by Ron Mighton, his new factory engine
from Owasco cost a tick over $6000 Cdn ($3500 for engine alone). Or,
that's the cost of the Tiico engine before shipping + duty +taxes
+installation.
I'm sure that I really have a clear question or comment here - just sort
of voicing the process going on in my head. I don't see me spending
$10K on my van for just the engine. I love it, but it's not worth it.
I would love to out-engineer VW on this one, but money is an issue. I
suspect that as much as I'd like to swap in a Subaru engine or a 1.8T,
I'll just be rebuilding my WBX. Fantasy and reality are two different
things. I applaud those of you who have had the resources to swap
engines (no matter what you put in) or Robert Lilley for his resourceful
approach. Sorry for the rambling, thanks for listening.
Keith Adams
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1986 Vanagon GL Westfalia
1998 Golf Wolfsburg
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