Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 14:01:25 -0500
Reply-To: Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: The Otter Has (CRASH) Landed!
In-Reply-To: <2cb866ef0911041033r32ec3a10se12e9ae00a51b8b4@mail.gmail.com>
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I know a 30 year VW dealer mechanic who has a flawless 82 Westy (and
of course it is flawless). He argues that the air-cooled engine at
that stage had been refined over 25 odd years and if your kept it
right it was state of the art. Keep the tin good and you're golden.
Adding water cooling to this engine in the middle of 1983 was, at
best, a bandaid solution that has caused the head/coolant leaking
problem. that we are all familiar with. Not too mention those
incredibly long and hard to bleed hoses that go from front to back of
a 14 foot van. I have heard that VW added water cooling to the
horizontally opposed air-cooled engine because they couldn't make
enough I4 engines to put in them -- and that the I4 engine was what
the van was designed for. I have an I4 conversion (1.8 from a Jetta)
in my 84 Westy and love it. I had a 78 with an air-cooled 2 Litre FI
engine and loved it -- lots of power -- reliable etc. I don't think
air-cooled is a mistake --- but be really serious about the engine tin
--- that is what keeps it cool. Don't ask why I know this :-)
Cheers,
Doug
On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 1:33 PM, Jonathan Poole <jfpoolio@gmail.com> wrote:
> I haven't been keeping up with this thread,, not enough time to read much of
> the list unfortunately. Anyway, I did see Ben's statement on how buying an
> '82 was a mistake and just in case this anti air-cooled perspective is all
> that you are hearing I wanted to shed a bit of light from the other side.
>
> Ben knows these beasts better than most of us and he may have good reason
> for dissing the early vanagons but in my experience an '82 isn't really much
> different than any other year vanagon. It is a bit older but that doesn't
> matter too much now. How it was taken care of is what matters at this
> point. The biggest difference is obviously in the cooling of the engine.
> Both engines have their problems and both their strengths. Either, if
> properly setup and maintained provide good service for a long time.
> Performance from both is very comparable when you are comparing examples of
> them that are in good repair. So, did you screw up buying an '82?? Not in
> my opinion. It was only a mistake if you paid too much for a really beat up
> and run down van, but in the end most can be fixed if you are up for it so
> do what you want.
>
> Anyway, I love my air cooled vanagon. I drive it all over at respectable
> speeds, getting good mileage etc. etc. It is pretty simple to keep up with
> and I never have to worry about leaking antifreeze! My heat isn't as good,
> but it is still more than adequate. I have melted stuff that was
> accidentally left in front of the heater outlet,, so it will get hot.. I
> also like some features of the early westies better as they have a little
> less plastic and such. Again, in most ways there aren't many real
> differences in my experience. A lot of the bad experiences folks may have
> had with early vanagons are probably the result of vans that were in poor
> repair.
>
> Good luck getting her sorted out,
>
> Jonathan Poole
> '83 AC Westy
>
--
http://www.dougalcock.com
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