Date:         Fri, 4 Nov 94 17:43:20 PST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Dave Kautz <dkautz@hpsidms1.sid.hp.com>
Subject:      Ultimate Airhead

 David Schwarze mentioned recently some of his key ingredients to build up
 the "best" type IV motor for a bus. This has gotten me thinking (and inter-
 fering with working).....

 It's hard to argue against going to 2 liters - there's no substitute for
 for cubic inches, they say. I know someone else who claims that "lack of
 horsepower is the root of all evil" but that's another story. 914 two liter
 heads have the biggest valves and they are sodium cooled. US ones will have
 air injection tubes and I would go ahead and use 'em - the air pump only costs
 a horsepower or two and it's effective at reducing smog, it also would allow
 CA owners to get through the bi-annual for '73 and '74 buses. I would go
 with 7.3 to compression pistons to prevent detonation on account of the
 lousy gas we have now and the hard work of pushing the bus uphill and into
 the wind. The Haynes manual for the 914 mentions some _40_ PDSIT carburetors
 which would look right to the smog inspector but would deliver more mixture
 at high revs if the right cam was in there. And that's pretty much where my
 expertise evaporates.

 Another consideration would be gearing - To take advantage the higher revs
 of the free breathing engine, an early final drive might be appropriate. On
 the other hand, one of the nice things about later buses with more power and
 taller gears is how nice they are when cruising on the freeway.   

 So, Whaddya think?  How about some more suggestions? Anyone with experience
 with some of these goodies?

 Thanks,

 Dave Kautz