Date:         Tue, 31 May 94 23:14 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Danke <JDANKE@macc.wisc.edu>
Subject:      1.6L & 1.7L swap for 2.0L parts

Hi!
 
I'm a new subscriber having only played with the idea of owning a bus until
recently. After seeing one parked next to a service station for a while, I
asked if it was for sale. Two months later, I found out it was. Two days and
$250 later, I'm the proud owner of a '77 bus (station wagon).
 
The reason for the low price is not because the body is in bad shape (after
92,000 miles the upholstery has seen much better days :) ), but because the
engine burns a lot -- and I mean maybe 1 or 2 pints per 10 miles -- of oil.
 
Given that the shop is not known as a foreign shop (much less able to fully
appreciate air-cooled wonders), I think that the garage just did not want to
deal with a VW rebuild. The owner, who drove it in from WA and is now in SC,
probably doesn't have the dough, either.
 
The bus idles well, and does not leak oil. It could just get a job as a
Hollywood fog machine. Plus, something sounds loose inside. It's like John Muir
sez, it sounds "like a rattlesnake about to strike." So I've got to take it
apart and do a look-see.
 
OK, here's the hopeful part.
 
Last year, my dad found a set of Kolbenschmidt, yes, Kolbenschmidt, pistons and
cylinders in a carton of tractor parts. These are brand new and include rings,
but ONE OF THE CYLINDERS has three broken cooling fins (AAAuuugh!). Also, one
of the piston pins is missing. The part number on these is 022-198-075 and the
bore is 90mm. This tells me they are for a 1.7L. There is also a red tag on the
box which reads "4 vorlandeinst 91-539-960 standard." I have no idea what this
means because I can't find my german dictionary (or recall my high school
Deutsch).
 
After my senior year of high school I bought a '66 Squareback which was sitting
behind some guy's barn. It was his daughter's who drove it up from Utah on 3
cylinders. I thought, great, a summer project. Well, it has been six years and
still no free time in sight (at least for a decent restoration). So I have a
complete 1.6L rebuild kit, which I believe is from  Johnny's Speed & Chrome.
Honestly, I don't remember. My pop sez it's under a bunch of other boxes and
will take half an hour to dig out and he doesn't feel like it right now. But
it's the whole thing with cylinders, pistons, rings, bearings, seals, oil pump,
crank and rods.
 
*Whew* OK, my situation is that cash is sort of tight, but I'd like to get the
bus running. I won't know what's wrong with it until maybe the 8th of June, or
later. If anybody has any 2L bearings, pistons, cylinders, etc. That they are
interested in selling outright or swapping for the 1.7 or 1.6 engine stuff, I'd
love to hear from you. This notice is sort of preliminary to give us all time
to mull things over. If you are interested, I could arrange to have photographs
of the stuff mailed to you.
 
I'd prefer to be notified at jdanke@macc.wisc.edu because then I know I'd get
the message. But if you want to call, my number is (608) 259-9310.
 
Thanks in advance. (Fingers crossed and other superstitious luck stuff)
 
Joel Danke
jdanke@macc.wisc.edu