Date:         Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:58:44 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Inline gas engine project report.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

  It's done.  It works great.

  I swapped a 2.0liter ABA Jetta block for the 1.8liter block I had in my 84
5sp van.  This is mounted with VW diesel engine mounts in  the 50 degree
standard way the Vanagon diesels use.

  The 'new' motor cost me $300.  What a value!  The whole project was
certainly well worth the trouble.  The van works great, It is noticably more
powerful than with the slightly smaller motor..On climbs that before might
have had me shifting back to 4th to maintain 65mph, I can now  even
accelerate in 5th.

  The project took me about a week, maybe 30hrs of my labor.  Some of that
time was because I didn't do the original conversion, so I was not totally
familiar with the sequence  to remove and replace the motors, and I made
some false starts, but all and all it was not a difficult task, and I am no
mechanic by trade.

  I pulled the top end off the 1.8 liter and put it onto the ABA (2.0liter)
because the ABA motor has it's intake configured so that it would not fit
under the decklid on a Vanagon unless you raise the lid...Plus the 1.8 head
I have is known to me and has a mild aftermarket camshaft already
installed.  My 1.8 liter came to me with unknown miles and I put 60k on it
myself.  It was still working fine, but I was starting to wonder for how
many more miles, then this other motor showed on my local Craig's list...

  I surfaced the head at home, using some elbow grease and a flat surface.
We shall see about that, but I drove a pretty hard test today and the
tri-metal headgasket shows no signs of problems..  I didn't install the dual
downpipe exhaust manifold that I got along with my $300 Jetta motor yet..but
it is all ready to go on now that the motor is back in the van. That should
gain me another 10hp, it is said.

  I got some  little 'convenience' parts and lots of tech support from
Techtonics Tuning, a VW tuner shop in Oregon.  They make the few needed
parts to adapt the 1.8 head and EMS onto the ABA Jetta block...a simple
plate to block off a breather system and a widget so you can swap
distributors to save messing with wiring..

Once I got it fired-up, it ran a bit poorly.  I don't have a timing light so
I did that "by ear"..After some support and advice from some listmembers,
Scott Daniel in particular, I figured out the timing and got that right.
Spent some time going over all the connections again and bleeding the
cooling again.  Filled up with mid octane fuel and do not hear a hint of
detonation, even when I tromp it uphill at 2000rpms.    And now everything
works very well indeed!

  It is nice to have no oil or water leaks and while I had the motor out I
went over all the other things underneath and lubed all the cables and
clutch pivots, etc.  That makes a big difference, too.

  So I am a happy van guy now, again.  It sucks, being van-less, even for
just a week.  I hadda borrow my wife's Forester and drive around in that...

  Don Hanson