Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:40:25 -0800
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: Fire!
In-Reply-To: <970BB0D1-6B2B-4C24-A1DD-9CDFCA443416@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Hi,
I have seen and driven one.
I do acknowledge that Jim takes it to a whole other level..
they even built the harness right ?
they also use just one version I think too, which sure helps.
where say subauru conversions ..
there are many years and versions used
Every one is different 'almost'.
my 'experience quite limited'..
I don't think so.
I've been doing vanagon engine coversions since the 90's ..
and that's mainlywhat I work on ..
often straightening out very bogus stuff.
I have3 subaru engine conversion vanswithin 40 feet of me right now;
I haveplenty of experience.
oddly ...Zetecs seem off in their own little world..
tied directly to Bostig evenidently ..
I can't think of one post on this group ever about a person with a Zetec
conversion asking a question about their van.
I think there is just one Zetec conversion in my area ..
and I estimate there may be 300 Vanagons in my area . Heck, I have over
15 of themby myself.
But only one Zetec I have heard of around here..
I drove it before the guy had aturbo retrofitted to it. of all those
local vanagonowners only about ......maybe 4 of them are on these groups ..
or thereare more and they just lurk.
'limited experience' ...ha ha ha. You don't know who you are talking to.
Limtied with Zetecs ..absolutely for sure.
No one has ever asked me to do one. The local one I know theguy did
himselfat home.
People bring me their vanagons from out of state even ..
for various kinds of engine conversions..
and they bring me there van after other people screw them up.
I specialize in straighening out bad conversion work even.
It's so great that that can't happen with a Zetec ..
it sure happens like crasy in subaru conversions ..
the one I'm working on now ..
'somebody' has run Battery 12 volts to the temp sensor input of the ecu ..
and the temp sensor wire to the van's oil pressure wire .
Impossible to imagine anyone doing that ! It's so far off it's like
putting anti-frz in the engine instead of oil
fwiw ..I have worked on military aircraft avioonics where our wiring
diagrams were like 15 large phone book size books ..with pages folding
out for 6 feet ..
and we worked on miles and miles of wire ...and bundles with 60 wires in
them .
One time we had an infrared search device....suppossed to scan back
and forth ...all it would do is flop around.
that Bird got worked on 3 shifts a day for months ......it eventually
got fixed ....
and it wasn't 'a part' ..it was a wiring problem.
what fun.
hope you're enjoying your Zetec. I have been working on just about every
kind of car there is mostly full time since 1964 and I've worked on
dozens and dozens of engine conversions of many types.
scott
www.turbovans.com
On 12/18/2012 9:41 AM, Robert Stevens wrote:
> On Dec 18, 2012, at 10:07 AM, Mike South <msouth@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>> Few engine conversions have much documentation with them, unfortunagely.
>> Ideally the converted van should come with wiring diagrams used , and so
>> on.
>>
>> it's apain to have to take things apart just to figure out what someone
>> did doing the conversion.
>> I have yet to see a well-documented and supported-with-tech-info
>> conversion unless it's one I did.
>>
> Never seen a Bostig?
>
>
> Completely different experience in my case.
> I'm not a mechanic so don't "see" vanagon engine-converted vans for a living,
> but know many volks who have them in their rigs. Almost all of these were done
> either by a shop, or by the owner, following very specific wiring harness
> diagrams/instructions, using vendor-supplied conversion parts, not a hodge-
> podge of fabricated pieces.
>
> My first engine conversion van came with a folder that had very specific
> conversion instructions and diagrams. There was no mystery at all as to
> what was in the engine bay and how it connected to the vanagon harness.
>
> I have had 2 engines in my current van and have a very large resource of
> conversion instructions. While traveling, I've seen volks change the ECU
> settings and even download new settings using the internet, then load onto
> their USB port for various valve and timing changes, well supported by the
> vendor who supplied the power unit AND instructions.
>
> Your experience must be quite limited compared to the overall number of
> engine converted vanagon's on the roads these days.
>
> And, as usual, what any of this has to do with fires is well beyond my
> admittedly quite limited scope of comprehension.
>
> bob