Date:         Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:39:11 +0000
Reply-To:     Richard Golen <rgolen@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Richard Golen <rgolen@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      87 Westy Engine/Transmission Replacement
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi All,


About three weeks ago, my 15 year old son Alex and Icommenced the task of replacing the original engine and an 'emergency'replacement transmission (the original one died with the dreaded 3rdgear syncro problem on the way to Key West about 3 years ago) on my 87Westy. The engine had 154k miles and was still running fine, but Ididn't want to take off on an extended road trip and find out theengine/transmission combo was not up to it. 

We went through alot of 'soul searching' for the engine replacement.....Subieconversion...Z-tech conversion...I-4 conversion or rebuilt wasserboxer.In the end we went for a Boston Bob Stage II unit and a AA Transaxletransmission.

The whole thing took us about three weeks. Yes,its an inordinate amount of time. We started around 8 am and stoppedaround noon on most days before it got too hot. And, ok, I admitit...I'm getting old, and can't crawl up and under a VW as I did backin the 70s! 

It was a great father/son project and I wasimpressed with Alex's novice abilities. By the time we were on thefinal part of the assembly and installation process I was handing overthe wrenches to him and went into supervisory mode. The exhaust systemis pretty much his work.

Back in the 70s I did tons of aircooledVW engine rebuilds, changes, etc. Wasserboxers are an entirelydifferent animal!! So we took our time. Made sure parts, wires, etc.were photo'd and labeled. This made change over to the new engine andtransmission much easier...as did the Bentley and Haynes manuals aswell as ETKA.

For anyone embarking on an engine replacement, mymajor advice is to take your time...double check your work...don't rushit! We took our time installing everything, and it paid off! 

Installingthe engine/transmission was much easier than I thought. We used twosmall floor jacks (one on the crossmember and one on the transmission)as well as a sawhorse with a ratchet strap mounted in the enginecompartment to raise the engine into place. Within a half hour ofstarting, the engine and transmission were bolted into place. 

Wethen put on the exhaust system, throttle body, alternator, p/s pump anda/c compressor. Hooked up fuel lines, wires, etc. Filled it upw/coolant and oil.

It was now time to 'fire it up'. Aftercranking it up for about 60 seconds w/o the coil wire in place, Iattached the coil wire and it immediately fired up!

We ran it(according to Bob's instructions) for 15 minutes at 2500 rpm, anddrained the oil. Put new oil, ran it for another 15 minutes, andchanged both oil and filter.

Did some quick checks to make sure there were no oil, coolant or exhaust leaks, and shut it down for the day.

Thenext morning it was time to take it on the road. We drove it around theblock and came back to the garage. Popped the engine lid to do a quickcheck and noticed a small coolant leak below the alternator. All of asudden, the coolant leak exploded!! Turns out the small coolant returnpiece on the cylinder head had a crack and then broke off. The next daywe were off to Boston Bob's for a replacement piece. This time a metalpiece...the old one was plastic.

Went back, put the part in,refilled w/coolant and went for a ride to get gas. Came back andsmelled oil! Popped the engine cover and the crank pulley, alternatorand surrounding bits were covered with a film of oil. It took a whileto figure out the problem. Had the same problem in the winter when thebreather hose to the air intake had kinked and the engine pressurized. 

Sureenough, the hose had a kink in it. It was a replacement hose. So thistime I made one of my own. On the 3/4 cylinder head is a coolant hosewhich has a 90degree bend. As I replaced all of the hoses with newones, I took the 90degree elbow and a length of the replacement hoseand made a breather hose that won't kink.

Problem solved. Washed off the oil. Fired it up....no leak!

We'vebeen driving it now for a week. Have adjusted the valves, rechecked thetiming, etc. The engine seems to get 'stronger every day'. I have about100 miles to go to the 300 mile oil change...and then its time to trythe highway!

Ric
 


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