In my 1980 camper I have had 1) stock aircooled motor 2) 1.6 Turbo Diesel 3) 1.8l gas (1989 jetta)inline4 w/Digifant And soon 4) 2.0l gas (1995 jetta) OBD-I or -II motronic (have both options) I took my stock aircooled motor on 2 3~4hr trips and it was brutal and slow I took my 1.6TD NY to FL and it was nice and smooth albeit noisey but 27mpg till overheated by bad belt I have taken my 1.8l digifant engine all over creation, NY to FL & back to NH Mtns and it's good but with the aircooled trans I'm looking for that little more HP/TQ of the 2.0l engine. The parts aren't hard and you can do it in stages if you like. There are some threads on www.thesamba.com/vw in the vanagon forum on aircooled swaps. You do need the special coolant and Diesel Vanagon bits, but they're available. My recommendation would be a KEP adapter then add the Diesel motor mounts & oilpan/pump That'll give a bigger clutch, a cheaper starter option (keep your old one) and really costs similar to the Diesel Bellhousing/flywheel/clutch_disc/pressure plate Feel free to Pmail me anytime for more information. I've done and drive a few of these. I feel the aircooled vans ar the best rust free bang for buck, and upgrading to watercooled isn't much more work than the maintenance items a H2o van has to go through at some time in it's life anyways. Dan in Syracuse, NY www.vwccny.com --------------------------------- Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2012 18:07:52 -0500 From: "Mr.mds" <mds_1976@HOTMAIL.COM> Subject: 81 Air cooled... Engine conversion options?? Hello to all who read... My 81 is knocking badly.. And I am considering a conversion replacement.=20 Was just wondering which way to go, I'm looking for the most cost effective (= not cheaping out) solution.. Any advice would greatly be appreciated! Thanks for reading! MS= |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.