Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 11:15:43 -0600
Reply-To: Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Felder <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
Subject: Re: '82 Diesel Westy For Sale in Denver (Glendale) CO
In-Reply-To: <BAY103-F27537349653FF452032CF1BAB00@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
The 1.6 diesel engine is downright enjoyable to work on compared to
about anything else in my experience. When you are able to get on to
the yahoo! diesel group, I think you'll find that most others there
agree. I'm sure glad I learned to make mine into a good dependable
car with the help of this group and the Yahoo! diesel vanagon group.
Parts are readily available as the engine was used in so many cars...
rabbits, jetta, vanagons, quantums, caddies, and more. And they were
made for a long time.
The car is very slow, probably almost as slow as a 1.6 aircooled loaf
van. If that bothers you, consider an upgrade before you even start.
And no matter what you upgrade to, you'll probably be limited to
about 65 mph top end because of gearing issues.
That said, the diesel vanagon list has its members who have created
exceptional cars that are notable exceptions to the broad statements
above. Karl Mullendore, Scott, Andrew Libby and others have done
amazing things with their cars and customers' cars. And don't forget
that just about any 1.8 vw gas inline will bolt right into the setup
that holds the original diesel in place. Plus, you'll have more power.
But you won't have a diesel.
You almost never have to do anything to a good diesel engine except
change the filters. Water doesn't hurt them. There is only one wire
to the engine, besides the sensors, and that operates the fuel
shutoff on the injector pump. They get good mileage. You will need
about a hundred and fifty dollars worth of special tools available
from vwdieselparts.com: a cam locker, injector pump locker, camshaft
pulley remover, metric feeler gauges, valve adjusting tools, dial
indicator and so forth if you're going to time and setup your engine
yourself. You can of course convert to some form of biodiesel if you
want.
The bad, besides the slow speeds, are the things that people
generally don't like about diesels. They tend to be sootier and
noisier than their gas counterparts, and can be more difficult to
start without a block heater in extreme cold (though not by my
experience, I live in the south).
And while I don't recommend taking a good vehicle off the road just
for the profit in it (though those parts tend to keep other vanagons
running) the special oil pan, engine mounts, and transmission bell
housing will bolt right into a gas vanagon to adapt inline VW gas and
diesel engines to it, and thus just those parts go for around a grand.
If it has a good set of hoses, they're about priceless. If it has a
couple of good chrome bumpers and a good sliding door handle (the
long ones from the old vanagons are pricey) and instrument cluster
and plastic heater vent cover, there's probably a few more hundred.
Just about everything but the drive train is standard early vanagon
and westy and is priced as such.
She's asking too much in my opinion unless the body and interior are
really good. You'll spend about a grand is you have to find another
engine (though I've bought them well used for $100, $235 for a used
turbo engine) to work with. Once you get a rebuildable engine, you'll
spend about $700 to $1000 making it top notch (bore, pistons, rings,
gaskets, bearings, clutch, PP and TO bearing, rebuilt head, etc. and
I recommend $200 for raceware studs if you can swing it. You won't be
sorry). If the transmission is bad, you'll spend normal vanagon money
to get it fixed. If you're lucky enough to get an 83 with a five
speed, you'll like it better. If you're unlucky enough to get an 83
five speed with a bad transmission, you'll pay twice as much. But,
then you're good for another 250K miles. I have to say I could be
wrong about the pricing, I know they are going up and up in price
these days and I got mine about four years ago when they were even
more shunned than they are now.
If you need to know anything in particular, write me. But get on the
Yahoo! group as soon as you can and ask there.
Jim
On Jan 12, 2007, at 10:08 AM, joe trussell wrote:
> Darnit, folks, this Diesel Westy, just sittin' there, is haunting
> my dreams.
> I drive by it even when it's not on the way home.
>
> I have that sick feeling in my stomach like I'm going to make an
> offer as
> soon as Denver thaws out a little...
>
> And, I'm bored at work, and furthermore, I know absolutely nothing
> about
> diesels.
>
> How involved is the motor? I've rebuilt 1.6 and 1.8 inline four VW
> gas
> engines before. The 1.6 diesel is similar? I know that there's a
> Yahoo
> Diesel group, I think, but Yahoo Groups are blocked here at work...
>
> I'm following Ben's body restoration very closely. Not that I'm
> necessarily
> willing to take on this work, but it's nice to know what's involved
> if I can
> find an inexpensive body man.
>
> Joe T., looking for another insurmountable challenge...
>
>
>
>
>
>> From: Jeff Stewart <fonman4277@EARTHLINK.NET>
>> Reply-To: Jeff Stewart <fonman4277@EARTHLINK.NET>
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: '82 Diesel Westy For Sale in Denver (Glendale) CO
>> Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 14:08:18 -0500
>>
>> <She said she wants $1800.00 for it, although she sounded like she
>> knew
>> that
>> it was maybe a bit of an unrealistic price. I think she'd be open to
>> offers.>
>>
>> If she really wants to sell it, she should be. I paid $1,200.00
>> for my '84
>> Westy with seized motor back in September, and it has very little
>> rust and
>> a near perfect interior. I thought $1,200 was maybe a little high
>> until I
>> saw the condition of the body/interior. Jeff
>> Jeff Stewart
>> fonman4277@earthlink.net
>> http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/vwcampersmidatlantic/
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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>
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