Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:45:21 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: How to do a head reseal on a diesel vanagon?
In-Reply-To: <dad0e8a40709181129t689ef8f0x1bf88da83cd242cc@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Hey Flo,
I just posted a big 'deluxe estimate/guesstimate' for a very thorough
'entire re-do' including a nice 1.9NA engine and used or rebuilt DK trans.
On engines, I can get 1.9TD's from Europe for low 3,000's. Rather than do a
whole turbo conversion they can be run non-turbo. If anyone knows a better
source of 1.9 engines.......would be nice to know about.
Sure you can put on bigger tires. The 1.9 is a longer stroke engine than
the 1.6. The stock 82 4 - speed is the single lowest geared trans I've ever
seen on an US model car. It's pathetic. Like you get to 52 mph and it feels
Exactly like time to shift again, but you've already been in top gear since
35 mph. It's a joke. It's rough on the engine being so undergeared, and
with a 1.9 it would even worse.
People get 1.9's from Canadian junkyards I believe also.
My guess is this particular van spends most of its time in town, and not on
Interstates and long distance driving. For that the stock trans is
acceptable, in town, like delivery use. It's fine for that. But long
distance trips .....not good at all. You can't even go down a long hill at
70 when you have the chance, unless you coast, and that's not as safe.
I've done a lot of those 'friend jobs' in the past. Probably what is
affecting 'my feelings' here is that I let myself get roped into doing
things that took a lot longer than expected, and I sort of got caught
between a junky car and a person trying to fix things on the cheap. I was
sort of 'over responsible' I call it.
I wanted it to be better than they did. I used to feel guilty about what
things cost, or even how worn out their car was and wondering how I was
going to make it decent without spending a lot.
So maybe it's nothing like that for you. You want to help a friend,
have a fun vanagon repair experience doing it, and get a few bucks out of
the deal.
One place you can start where there's not much penalty is pull the
1.6 head and see what you get there. If it can get by for a while with just
a head gasket or another head - then everybody could be happy - the van
keeps running for a while , and it didn't turn into a giant project. You
could just start there.
You could shop for 1.9NA engines. They have them in Canada, pretty
sure about that. Feel out the owner money-wise and find out how much they
actually can spend, or have to spend. Don't you be the person getting the
short end of the deal.
Scott
-----Original Message-----
From: Florian Speier [mailto:groups.florian@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 11:30 AM
To: Scott Daniel - Shazam
Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
Subject: Re: How to do a head reseal on a diesel vanagon?
Scott,
I really appreciate all your advice. There is not much money for me in the
job. Its more just doing it for a friend. You are right that it is always
risky to do a job that is doomed to fail or at least not produce smiling
owners for years to come. Maybe you are right that I should just do a 1.9n/a
swap for him. I would greatly appreciate if you could outline the cost for
me.
Also, why is a tranny upgrade really needed? Does the 1.9 turn slower than
the 1.6? What about 10% bigger tires instead?
Where do I get a 1.9 engine from..... which cars were they in?
thanks a lot.
Flo
