Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 10:24:10 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Subject: Re: vanagon Digest Huffer motor post
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hi Jim
No, not the boxer motor. This may seem like blasphemy, especially here on
the Vanagon List, but from everything I have read
(never owned one myself) the waterboxer seems a pretty weak design all
around. At least that is what I glean from all the rap.
What I was thinking is an inline 4 vw motor, perhaps even the one I
already have in my 84, which is an older 8-valve 1.8liter. I will have to
do some further research, but I've seen mention of aftermarket kits and
parts available for 1.8L Turbo VW factory motors, and I understand the basic
pieces of the VW inline four haven't been changed much. If the factory put
out turbos and GTIs using that platform, it may be feasible to bolt on a
supercharger without overstressing the motor beyond reason. Luckily, I
don't live in California, so the C.A.R.B. dweebs are not a concern..(BTW,
why do they go after little guys with small motor conversions there in
Wow-fornia and let Mexican truckers run around spewing black smoke, and
stuff like that? moot question.)
If one were to keep the final power output within reason, it seems to me
like it'd work great. Hold the HP down to about what you get from a 2.5
liter Subie. Probably the motor weight would be near 3-500lbs less. The
initial conversion is certainly much cheaper and simpler than a Subie
conversion, what with an I-4 being cheap and readily available.
The guys who've stuck em onto vehicles I have seen seem to have no major
issues with engine management. The issues seem to be pretty basic..Getting
the drive belts and brackets done properly, sizing the pulleys for proper
"pump" speed, etc.
I am going to look into this seriously as I just sold my '72 Beetle and
have about the proper sum of cash sitting around right now from that
transaction...Hmmm The target would be about 150-175hp from a motor that is
3-4 hundred lbs lighter than a waterboxer and that's found in every VW since
the Rabbit...
Don Hanson
> Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 09:06:17 -0400
> From: Jim Akiba <> Subject: Re: Huffer motors..Turbo and SC...
>
> Hey Don,
>
> Do you mean supercharge the boxer? Yeah you could do it, but there are
> serious downsides. The big three are that since the boxer is already
prone
> to head gasket sealing problems as most open decks are, forced induction
in
> anything but the lowest of boost levels is asking for trouble. Second
you'd
> have to change the engine management significantly enough to cause the
whole
> project to cost quite a bit of money, and the supercharger itself isn't
> cheap. You'd also have to bring whatever other pieces of the puzzle that
are
> old and worn up to spec, you can't push the limits of an engine if it's
near
> failure already either because it is maxed out by design or state of
> operation because of age, miles, etc. Lastly since the boxer is expensive
> to rebuild/replace, the risk financially is huge. If you spent 5k on
> supercharging the setup and pop your engine, are you really willing to
spend
> another 4k for a rebuild to attempt it again? What is the second rebuild
> goes? You're then 13k into it with nothing to show. The risk money-wise is
> huge, the *potential* ROI is small. Doable? Sure. Prudent... eh.. dunno...
> You're right about the altitude though, in our 3500k mile trip just this
> past month, at altitudes of 6k and above with the supercharged setup we
were
> still pulling good grades at 65-70 if we wanted to push it.
>
> Jim Akiba
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