Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:20:00 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: second newby question
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re the better plug wires ..
it's standard to retro fit the 85 and later plug wires.
all you need is an 85 distributor cap ..
and you can cheat with the older style 84 coil as most Bosch spark plug wire
sets now are made to work with either style.
yeah..
they both have their attractions.
Sometimes I'll be driving or building up the earlier ones ..
83 to 85 ...
and especially an 83 or 84 waterboxer ..
and there is just 'something' about them where they feel more lively
handling than the later vans.
some of that is power steering or not power steering . for sure ..
the earlier vans just 'feel lighter' to me.
though I'm really starting to like 87's except for the headlights.
I'd say there is more driver involvement in a non power steering 82 ( as in
diesel ) or an 83 or 84 .
I run an 85 with PS and like it just fine..
something just feels 'lighter' about the earlier vans compared to the later
ones.
it's very subtle ....there is a tiny bit less 'feel' or driver involvement
with the later vans..
they're nice to drive and 'better' ..
but they lack some raw 'feel.'
I can think of two I built that both felt just awesome at speed, and
cornering.
One was an 82 diesel westy with Subaru Imprezza 2.2 engine and if I'm
running 14 in wheels, I often run 195/75's in front and 27 X 8.50's in the
rear ..
gives it a slightly better handling feel...worth about say 6 % better
turn-in and steady tracking while cornering ..better 'cornering balance' ..
the other one was an 83 Westy ..same thing, no PS ..
I put a 2.1 wbxer in that one, had 14 inch alloy wheels...
slightly wider ones in the rear, and the same slightly 'more' tire on the
rear..
that van too ..
just loved to carve freeway turns at 75 mph with perfect balance...
both of those were fun to drive, and 'lively' feeling in the handling .
there's advantages to both ..the 83 to 85 and the 86 and later.
They're related, but they're different animals in a way too.
on is slightly more 'raw sports car' if you set it up right ..
the other is more 'mercedes benz' .......more sophisticated .....and less
'raw' feeling.
Definitely less 'feel' about what's going on for the driver.
Power steering is part of that.
for driving on ice and snow ..
non PS is slightly better , more feel for sure.
and the early vans weigh less too.
I like 'em both, they both have their attractions.
perhaps one should do an early one for a number of years , the go to a later
one someday.
I like 85's too ..
those are a combination of the early ones and a bit of the later feeling
too.
a real aficionado would need at least one of each.
I would not say one is especially better than the other ...they both have
their attractions.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Beierl" <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 8:04 PM
Subject: Re: second newby question
> At 04:44 PM 7/30/2010 Friday, B Feddish wrote:
>>Lots of people poo poo the 83.5's to 85's
>
> I don't see any reason for that. I drove an '84 Westy as a daily
> driver from '92 until I lost it a few years ago, put over 160,000 mi
> on it (total about 250k) and became rather intimately familiar with
> it. I now have an '89 non-Westy. They're certainly much more
> similar than different. The handbrake lever is the "must-replace"
> that I can think of*; the '85-up are much easier and more
> effective. If it's a non-power-steering one definitely stay with the
> skinny tires as low-speed steering effort rises drastically with tire
> width. The '85+ sliding door is lighter and some nicer but not a big
> deal in my opinion; I lived very nicely with the older door even
> after owning an '85 7-pass and learning the difference. The 2.1l
> engine has a little more power on top but maybe a little less torque
> at the bottom.
>
> Oh yes -- the '85-up plug wires are much easier to deal with; the
> older ones have a nasty tendency to leave the terminal in the
> distributor cap when you try be it ever so carefully to remove
> them. That means new cap and coil as well, so the nice terminals fit.
>
> Yours,
> David
