Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 07:54:02 -0400
Reply-To: "Spooner, Robert E." <bob.spooner@MIDDLETOWNPOWER.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Spooner, Robert E." <bob.spooner@MIDDLETOWNPOWER.COM>
Subject: Living with TIICo (long)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
All,
I've got 2000 miles on my recent TIICo install. I really like it a lot.
I was seeking enough power to allow the Vanagon to cruise at 70 mph + on
hilly New England Highways with a pile of kayaks on the roof. I got
that, for sure.
The kit is rather spendy, but the costs can be offset by selling the
engine once it comes out (my waterboxer was still good - see reasons for
swap, above). I also used the costs of eventual head replacement to
help me (and the financial department) justify the cost of the engine.
One snag was getting all of the parts. I think Peter was trying a new
method of distributing the kits (and in my opinion it didn't work too
well). My kit arrived missing some parts. But, I didn't know that
until I had already pulled out my engine...this left me with my Van on
the ramps for 2 months before everything was back together. Not a big
deal, as the van is not my only transportation, but it could be an issue
for some. I finally sourced the bolts I needed and fabricated an air
cleaner bracket myself. Again, not a big deal, but it did annoy me.
One other beef I have is the directions for install. Every $3.50
plastic model kit I've ever seen has better directions. A quick call to
Peter B always straightened things out (and he was always very friendly
and helpful on the phone - even when my questions were simple). If it
were me, I'd be sick of people calling me up with stupid questions all
day, and hire a tech writer to put together a good set of directions.
Other than Peter, this list was great in answering questions (many of
which I asked directly to other folks doing the install).
The install went pretty easy. Very easy, actually. I had access to an
engine hoist, and this worked very well for me. It took me a day to
drop the stock engine. Another day to clean everything up, and POR-15
the rust I found behind the air intake baffle (open the area behind the
passenger-side rear wheel and take a look in there if you haven't
already...my nearly rust-free 1991 has a lot of rust in there...water
held in place by the baffle). Another day to put the engine in, attach
the wiring harness (which I was worried about, but really was nearly
plug-and-play), put on the A/C compressor, alternator, power steering
pump, etc. One last day to route the wiring cleanly, plumb the fuel
lines, cooling lines, vac lines, etc. I also spent some time painting
the exhaust with high temp paint, and then wrapping the whole thing with
header tape. Seems to me, if you had all the parts before you started,
you could do the whole thing in 2 weekends, no problem. I would say if
you are at all inclined, do it yourself rather than pay someone to do it
for you.
On the road, the engine is great. My Van is a 2wd GL automatic. Even
with the auto, the acceleration is greatly improved. I can accelerate
with the rest of traffic now. Even pulling up a long hill, the van will
accelerate from 65 - 75, no problem. Passing vehicles on 2 lane roads
does not take the 3 mile straight-away it used to. Point and shoot. My
gas mileage has been creeping up every tank. The first couple were 22
mpg, and the last tank was 24...combined city/highway.
The engine does not sound stock. I kind of liked the sewing-machine
sound of the waterboxer, and must say that I miss that. The engine
sounds like one from a golf or jetta, obviously. It is a good deal
louder than the stock engine. I wrapped my air intake with
sound-deadening material, and then covered the floor of the van under
the seat and over the engine compartment with the same stuff. I think
that it helped. At highway speed in the drivers seat, there is still
more wind noise than engine noise, but you can hear the engine. The
engine just sounds like it is happily buzzing away back there, doing
it's business.
I don't seem to have the vibration at 4000 rpm problems others do. Mine
vibrates more on the low end. It does make my (auto) gear selector
handle buzz at times. This is annoying, and I've got to look into how
to make this stop. The engine vibration on the whole is more than the
stock engine, for sure. I'm quite used to it now, but it was very
noticeable at first.
One thing that I've found is that you can feel the engine bounce in it's
mounts. When you go over a bump, or dip in the road. You can actually
feel the engine bounce, like a big fat guy is jumping on your bumper.
I've seen a couple of suggestions about reducing vibration by stuffing
foam in the motor mount voids to damp the frequency. I'm going to try
this to see if it would reduce the bounce.
All in all, the engine has fully met my expectations. I would recommend
the conversion, and TIICo, to anyone. Email with any questions. And if
you are in Southern NE and want to see one, come on over. I live in
East Haddam, CT.
Bob Spooner
Environmental Engineer
Middletown Generating Station
Middletown, CT
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