Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:02:08 -0500
Reply-To: Al and Sue Brase <albeeee@MCHSI.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Al and Sue Brase <albeeee@MCHSI.COM>
Subject: Re: Q: Porsche 914 engine compatibility with Vanagon
In-Reply-To: <001e01c4a0e4$b5905820$0201a8c0@p4>
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Larry:
The 1.7's and 1.8's are the exact same motors as the corresponding 411
and 412's. the 2.0 has the added difference of somewhat different heads
that use only 3 bolts to hold on the intake manifolds. Seems like these
heads have manifold flanges in a slightly different place, so making the
bus sheet metal fit would be a bit of a task.
Oh, the sheet metal and heat exchangers are different of course, but the
bus sheet metal will fit except for the above exception.
All these engines had D-jettronic, except the 1.8 which had L-jettronic.
They also had higher compression ratios around 8.0 to 1 instead of 7.3
to 1 used on buses. They all used the bigger cam, but the 4 speed buses
from 72 to 74 used this cam as well. (None have the mechanical fuel pump
machined in, so in a 72-74 you'll have to figure out the fuel pump.
I put one of the 411 VW engines in a 78 bus. This was a AW code, if I
remember correctly. Rated 85 horsepower. I put the L-jettronic right on.
I think you've got to drill and tap a hole for the head temp sensor if
you want it in the same place as the bus. (There's already one in the
head, but hard to access to service later.)
The oil fill/ dipstick tube can be readily adapted by anyone with a bit
of skill. I just drilled and tapped the boss for the 8mm bolts to hold
the tube, and then drilled a series of holes around the blanked off
opening, broke it out, and finished smoothing the opening with a round
file. You can then remove the cover below and clean out the swarf.
This 85 HP engine really had quite a bit more spunk and power than the
2.0 liter and was quite a bit of fun to drive. Its downfall was burning
a piston because of carleess advance settting combined with the higher
compression ratio. I think the compression ratio is really not too high,
but it demands a lot more care than the lower piston set used in the buses.
Since my engine came from an automatic 411, I reused the flywheel from
the 78 bus. The 914 Porsche uses a Porsche type pressure plate, which is
not compatible with the VW bellhousing, not sure what it takes to make
it fit, but not worth the trouble in my case.
Al Brase
69 doublecab, Vanagons
Larry and Avery wrote:
>I have a friend with a Porsche 914 with 2.0 L installed and a spare 1.8 L in pieces. These look like VW engines to my inexperienced eye. Is there any compatibility between Vanagon air-cooled engines and these Porsche engines? Is there an ETKA type info source for these engines/cars?
>Any help at all is appreciated.
>
>Thanks
>Larry
>Please p-mail me at lawrence.johnson@sympatico.ca
>
>
>
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