Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 16:33:00 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject:      RE: '83 vs. '77


>> Try a Ford instead. The Chevy 2.8L has weird balance characteristics that
>> make it hard to track down vibration problems if you ever have any. I 
know
>> they're smooth in Citations and Celebrity's, but if something goes wrong
>> and you start getting vibrations, it's hard to prove they're NOT the
>> result of putting the engine where it doesn't belong. The Chevy 2.8L
>> is designed to be integrated into a certain drivetrain. Put it anywhere
>> else, and you're on your own. The Ford V6's I've heard of, don't have
>> this problem.
>
>Steve!  I can't believe I am hearing this!?  Sort of like the Pope
>telling people to visit a protestant church!  <grin>

Naah, more like his recommending a Catholic church outside the Vatican.
I coulda suggested to him to put a 1600SP in it!

You may have missed my long saga about clutch problems that began a
few months ago. The V6anagon apparently has a strange clutch-alignment
problem, which is *not* the result of the adaptor-- I measured very
carefully while replacing the clutch. See the thread "The Clutch Eater"
in the archives. Current suspect is a possible bent trans input shaft,
which I *wish* I'd been smart enough to check when I had the engine out.

The Chevy 2.8L is match-balanced to its flywheel. This means that the engine
is built deliberately unbalanced, and must be mated to an equally
unbalanced flywheel (in the opposite direction) to make it come out
right. Well, VW conversions use a different flywheel! This one is
supposedly also match-balanced, but I wonder how well, how to check,
etc. etc. Life's too short for a balancing ignoramus like me to deal
with this sort of stuff.

I'm still way up on V6 engines for Vanagons-- just not this particular
one. They remedy the Vanagon's worst deficiency IMHO-- power-- leaving
very few other deficiencies in an otherwise fine design. But next time,
I'll try a Ford instead of a Chevy. Or maybe a Mitsubishi-- the
possibilities are endless!


>But I did have a question for you.  Did you ever track down the
>fellow with a similar Chevy conversion that someone posted a message
>about.- Mike White

No, but I'm glad you reminded me. I would like to! Do you have that post
anywhere??? Or any info from it?


Steve