Date: Tue, 14 May 2013 08:40:41 -0500
Reply-To: raceingcajun <raceingcajun@COMMUNICOMM.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: raceingcajun <raceingcajun@COMMUNICOMM.COM>
Subject: Re: 2.0L I4 Opportunities ***** Just 1 old guy thoughts!
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Well, I guess I'm old school...........or is it just plain old? I did my
first Diesel to I4 in a 82 camper, by just using what I had at hand. A 1.8
engine with hydraulic lifters. The main reason for this engine; was... I had
it in hand......it ran very good (the car was hit in the rear) and being
basically lazy, I did a freshen up rebuild before installing it. Rings,
bearings, turn crank, valve job, etc. Just your garden verity redo! I had a
running Rabbit donor car for the CIS fuel, and factory pointless ignition
systems. I used a new fuel pump as I feel the pump is a weak link in the CIS
system, I also put a re-man Control Pressure Regulator and Pressure
Accumulator on it as both of these were in-op or leaking. Other that
fabricating the fuel lines, keeping in mind the CIS is a high pressure
system 75 LBS, I made the feed line, hard all the way with seamless tubing.
I also had to make and air intake tubing, to tie in air intake with the Fuel
Distributer. The only thing I farmed out was tying in the exhaust, I used
the Rabbit exhaust manifold and exhaust pipe (with Chinese finger flex
joint), the Diesel muffler hanging off the motor mounts in the rear
Even with this small amount of fabrication, it was more or less a bolt
in. I even got the chance to drive it to a VW school in Atlanta, and show it
to the instructor. He did agree with me when I said, "This is the one
Volkswagen should have made". At that time 1984 the Diesel Camper was one of
the industries biggest jokes. It just plain "stunk" in more ways than one or
two! I mean you could outrun it on foot for the first 20 yards, and had to
go down as far as second gear to climb most "foot hills" in Georgia. Did it
get great mileage....YES, but at a great cost? There are many horror stories
about 18 wheeler face implants on the rear of a Diesel Camper. I got chills
more that once till I pulled the Diesel but no events! Any way I loved my
I4/Diesel change over, and always thought it was the way to go, on several
levels, Ease of installation, parts availability, longevity, and the biggie
low co$t. I know times have changed and donor Diesel Camper availability has
gotten almost nonexistent. But all the same, its the way to go for me!
The only drawback, My bride hated the smell...........it was months
before it went away!
Note: Any one wanting to go this way and having questions, feel free to
contact me vie P-mail
Howard
Subject: Re: [VANAGON] 2.0L I4 Opportunities
>> I must agree with several listees here that the best I4 conversion
>> is the 2.0L I4,
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