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Date:         Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:44:20 -0700
Reply-To:     Robert Keezer <warmerwagen@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Keezer <warmerwagen@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      In praise of VW inline fours
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

One of the best engines VW designed was the four cylinder overhead cam inline-four .

You could say it "absolutely rocks" with performance and reliability. With lots of room for performance upgrades.

I strongly recommend considering a Jetta or Golf engine (2.0 '93-'99 ABA).

Watercooled Volkswagen engines are plentiful and cheap. And of course there is the TDI Diesel, which is hard to find locally.

Inline-four ABA engines have longer rods which minimize vibration that is prone to the 1.8 engine.

They also have oil spray jets that spray oil at the bottoms of the pistons.

Mine has been running my 5,000 lb Westfalia since 1999. It now has 210,000 miles.

If you are looking for a suitable replacement for the WBX , look no further.

You can call me a purist, but I am just a VW owner. So if you are your own mechanic and a VW owner ,then the natural progression is which VW engine can I substitute?

Why confuse the issue with a non-VW engine? Sure there's a bunch of people out there and here that want to make money selling Subaru and Ford technology. Fine.

You might find it an interesting challenge to find what non-VW engine can be adapted to the Vanagon. Nothing odd about that.

I'm speaking for those like myself who want to have a VW engine in your Vanagon ,but not the original engine.

Sure, the Subaru or Ford might be fast and quiet and like a WBX and reliable etc, but it's not a Volkswagen engine.

And reading these posts I see nothing about the inline four unless it's a Tiico, as if Tiico was the only inline four conversion out there.

My dad put a VW engine in a airplane . The flat four design, the weight, the similarity to other aircraft engines, made it a popular choice.

Part of the Subaru's popularity is due to it's similarity to the WBX. Oh yeah and you can goo super fast. The Zetech is similar to the VW inline. Similarities are OK.

One Vanagon owner just asked if the Subie sounds like the WBX. Another observation-WBX owners like the sound of the WBX. It just shows how we form an attachment to the sound of the car.

Would Harley's be popular if they sounded like Kawasakis?

The inline four doesn't sound like a WBX.

I recognize the virtues of the WBX, but few from a maintenance perspective . I do like the sound, and the quietness. I found the WBX 2.1 muffler is great on an inline conversion.

Try removing the AC compressor or alternator from an 89 Honda Civic like on a friends.

They designed it to be worked on up on a hoist.

The inline four has it all on one side , easy to replace a water pump, alternator, AC compressor, spark plugs, distributor, etc.

Simplicity, reliability, performance, affordability.

We are a small group of people who aprreciate drive a vehicle no longer in production and with diminishing support from VW.

That was recogninzed shortly after the last Vanagon rolled off the assembly line. This list has help provide a way owners can ehlp each other where there is limited or non-existing help.

A good book on water-cooled inline four VW engines is the Watercooled Volkswagen Performance Handbook by Greg Raven ISBN 0-7603-0491-2

Robert 1982 Westfalia 2.0 ABA '95 Golf

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