Date:         Mon, 2 Jul 2012 18:40:49 -0400
Reply-To:     pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Engine swap project report
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I just wanted to finally post an overview of the engine swap project we
undertook in May.

The catalyst was low oil pressure gauge reading in our 1.9l.  We started
occasionally having a flickering oil light at idle and a mechanical gauge
confirmed oil pressure was indeed low.  It's quite possible it would have
gone a while like that before blowing up, but we live in Manhattan
currently, and people look at you funny when you try to drop an engine on
the side of the road.  So we decided to replace the engine on our terms and
our schedule.

We got a rebuilt 2.1 from Gary Leblanc at Suburban engine exchange.  Gary
was very helpful and easy to communicate with.  (Note to potential
customers; his website is not up to date, correct prices are in his ads on
thesamba).  This was an outright sale since our engine was a 1.9 but he
gave us a small discount on the core fee.  I got together various other
parts I wanted to replace at the same time (water pump, freshly cleaned
injectors, aluminum injector rails, etc etc etc etc) and also bit the
bullet and bought a complete 2.1 exhaust from Gowesty.  This was a bit of
an impulse purchase (they had a 10% off sale for earth-day) but in
hindsight I'm really glad I did this.  The 2.1 exhaust is much more solid
and my old exhaust was in worse condition than I thought.

I also had an extra input shaft seal and oil slinger for the transmission
on hand.  I had an air plenum from an '85 1.9 that I got from Scott... this
is the style that bolts directly onto the 2.1 case but is otherwise a 1.9
compatible plenum.



Since we live in Manhattan, we had to do the work somewhere else.  My
parents live in Pittsburgh and could lend me a spot in their garage.  I had
a week off work in May, so, after picking up the engine from Gary in Boston
at the end of April, we drove the pickle to Pittsburgh with the new engine
in the cabin.


I dropped the engine with Zoltan's sawhorse method.  I didn't have a helper
and I can say this method was very easy with one person.  I didn't even
jack up the van until the engine was completely on the ground (on a drip
tray).  Then I just jacked up the rear right corner and pulled it out.  I'd
say the first day was 4 hours from opening the hatch to the engine on the
ground.

Then I started the process of transferring components slowly and
carefully.  In the process, I noticed that the hall connector on my
distributor was broken, and in fishing for the other end of it inside the
distributor, I ruined the shutter wheel in the process of disassembly.  Ken
at Vanagain (who also supplied most of the other new parts for job) hooked
me up with a rebuild kit the next day so I didn't really lose much time.

While everything was out I removed the bell housing from the transmission
to get at the oil input shaft seal (no major leaks, just taking
precautions) and found that the oil slinger was indeed loose.  I had been
prepared for this possibility because I did the pilot bearing a few years
back and didn't check it then.  (I've heard that pilot bearing failure can
sometimes knock the oil slinger loose, and then cause the seal to fail
eventually).  Even the new slinger wasn't quite a press fit so I cleaned
and roughed up the appropriate surfaces and jb welded the new one into
place.  Replaced the input shaft seal and put the bell housing back on with
RTV sealant.  Filled with Swepco 210 (took a *long* time to fill).

Since we were on a strict time limit I would not even consider the idea of
trying to update the cooling system at the same time.  To deal with the
lack of an oil cooler I got one of Chris Corkin's (tencentlife on the
samba) kits and I can say it was a really well thought out kit.  Really
glad to have it.  (I can't give performance data since I don't have an oil
temp gauge and I changed the engine at the same time I installed the
cooler!)

Something else I did was replace the nasty foam stuff above the
transmission and beneath the rear seat.  Some kind of foamy insulation
stuff.  I replaced it with this stuff:
http://www.soundproofcow.com/Quiet-Barrier-Specialty-Composite.html
I think it did help with transmission noise but too many variables changed
when I did this job (like the Swepco 210 instead of redline) to really
point any fingers.  The reason I bothered to replace it at all is that at
some point a while back I had pulled some of the old stuff out, and at the
time thought I noticed a distinct increase in transmission noise.

4 days later I had everything back together.  First turn of the key and...
nothing!!!  A few headaches later and I realize I have the timing off by
180.  With that fixed it starts right up and I go through break-in
procedures.  I used redline break-in additive to get extra ZDDP in the oil
for the camshaft.

On our drive back to New York the alternator pulley self-destructed.  I
posted details about this to the list already so I won't recap---we did
notice the idiot light right away and so avoided overheating, thankfully.
The alternator situation was fixed with the kind help of listmembers and
others and we were on our way.  Later, on a camping trip, the coolant light
was blinking intermittently with no actual abnormal coolant behavior
(again, emails about this are already in the archive).  A bad ground in the
dash foil was to blame; this problem went away once I made a wiring harness
to replace the foil (again, in the archives.)

Other than those hiccups everything has been terrific.  We're at 1500 miles
now.  We have no leaks or drips at all, although, in fairness, our nice 1.9
had no leaks either (I had gone through the top end 4 years ago or so).

The engine feels great.  Towards the end of our drive back from Pittsburgh
I did the 30-50 test a few times and got 8.5 seconds each time.  I did the
test carefully, watching the tach instead of the bouncy speedometer (for
rpms determined by comparing with GPS speeds) but I still think it seems a
bit too good to be true compared to the results I've seen.  I haven't had a
chance to do it again yet since once we're back in the city, our driving
(leaving the city and going to the catskills and then returning) seems to
offer no safe flat chances for the test.  I'll report back if I do confirm
it.  Maybe a camping trip to long island will provide more opportunities.

Our 1.9 went to a vanagonaut in Pittsburgh who was going to use it to get
his van mobile.  With any luck it will give him a few more years.

Thanks to all the listmembers who gave advice at various stages of this
process!
-Wes