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Date:         Tue, 3 Aug 2004 14:41:27 -0700
Reply-To:     jeff@VANAGONPARTS.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeff at Vanagonparts <jeff@VANAGONPARTS.COM>
Subject:      Re: diesel conversion - JATO urban legend
Comments: To: Jim Kennedy <JK@PROJECTDESIGN.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <4617F5DBE30C8B4DBBF3B0BC46A36EFD02845987@commsrvr.projectdesign.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Don't kid yourself. This story is now an urban legend that originated as email SPAM. Never happened.

Cheers,

Jeff

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf Of Jim Kennedy Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 2:12 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: diesel conversion

Boy, I'll bet he didn't do that again.

-----Original Message----- From: Stan Wilder [mailto:wilden1-1@SBCGLOBAL.NET] Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 1:36 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: diesel conversion

I think the JATO sounds like a better idea than the Diesel. At least you'll get done with the deal a lot quicker. ---------------------------------------- The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene. The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.

It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) unit. JATO units are solid fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for take-off from short airfields.

Dried desert lakebeds are the location of choice for breaking the world ground vehicle speed record. The sergeant took the JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.

The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:

The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 mph and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional 20-25 seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.

The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.

Most of the driver's remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.

Ironically a still-legible bumper sticker was found, reading "I thought the Air Cooled was slow until I installed a Diesel, Excuse the odor of fried chicken, its a bio-diesel"

Stan Wilder www.engineceramics.com

----- Original Message ----- From: "Skip Emmert" <skip@SKIPEMMERT.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 3:13 PM Subject: diesel conversion

> Ok, thanks again. Please read the entire post carefully before > responding. So far I have gotten suggestions to replace the motor with a > rebuilt 2.0 air-cooled engine or scrap the van and start over. > > Replacing the engine with the original would be the cheapest, quickest > option, but ... the list has sung as a mantra how under-powered the > original vans were and in the days of over-powered SUV's, climbing hills > on the highway at 40 mph is no longer safe. I know they're easy to work > on and carry the purists sense of stock, BUT I am living in the van for a > year and value reliability and usability more than ease of working on it. > The original engine is not an option without JATO rockets. Nice little > weekend van, but not for serious travelling anymore. > > Now, selling the van and starting over...a new van runs around $7000. I > may be able to get $1000 for my van without an engine. So, that will cost > me $6000 plus tax and licensing. A used 1.6 TDI conversion will cost > $5000. I'm ahead at least a grand. How long will it take me to buy and > sell vans? A month? OK, I'm behind a week since they can't start for > three weeks and it will take two to do the conversion. So I lose a week, > save a grand, and keep a truly beautiful old van that could have come with > the 1.6 as stock. I know a conversion is a lot of work, that's why I'm > letting a professional do it. I don't really care how much work it is > since it's way out of my league to begin with. > > So, again, back to the original question...anybody have any sources for > such a conversion in the Southwest? I've been in contact with ZS Imports > and they're the likely vendors so far, but they're the ones with the three > week waiting list. Also gotten a couple of possibilies in the Bay area. > Thank you, BTW, to those of you who have forwarded that information. It > has been very helpful in a sea of notes telling me to scrap my van. Also > thanks to the one person who kindly forwarded their experience with 1.6 > and 1.9 TDI's. > > I'm sorry if I sound snippy here, but I genuinely need some help rather > shot-from-the-hip suggestions from people who clearly didn't read the > original post. The van has 80K original miles! Not a candidate for the > junkyard and while it would make a great conversation piece for a purist > van owner (the only person that would buy it without an engine) it has a > practical future with the right powerplant. Another big thank you to > those of you who have been able to help and many warm thanks to anyone > else who can point me in the right direction here. > > Skip > '80 Westy


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