Date:         Sun, 30 Jun 1996 16:12:02 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         eugp@uclink3.berkeley.edu (Eugene C. Palmer)
Subject:      1600 air cooled engine build

Volks,

Thought I'd throw my experience to the wind here.

I'm putting my stock size engine that's been sitting around in storage for
over a year into the 'new' '71 bus I got.  A couple of modifications seem
noteworthy.

I took two heater duct couplers, the ones used to pass through the rear
engine tin into the muffler proper, and brazed them to the entrance of the
heat exchanger.  The idea is to use a continous piece of hose from the fan
house to the heat exchanger without a couple goofy connections that always
seem to tear or fail.  On my first attempt I brazed them square.  Of course
after I tried to fit the extractor, it wouldn't clear, so I cut a notch and
whacked them down some, then re-brazed.  Now they are beautiful, lots of
clearance, and the hoses fit great.

After reading Jim Busboy's account of the low pressure oil cooler idea, I
decided I liked it, and drilled and tapped two holes in the deep sump so
this will be possible in the future.  I brazed the deep sump pick-up tube
on, and managed to get it square, even though the factory tube was way
crooked.  I'm going to try using just the stock doghouse cooler, but I have
no confidence at all that it will run cool enough for the terrain I drive
through.  Regardless of the Berg semi-hemi cut heads, 6.9:1 CR, deep sump,
or whatever else I've done for it.  I figure all that plus a second
pressurized cooler, the low pressure cooler, dual carbs, .009, premium fuel
etc., should be enough to keep a stock engine under 250 going up Scotts
Pass, or Grants Pass, or Anderson Pass, the Grapevine, or whatever.  

Brazing is expensive, O2 is $7.87 a bottle at Home Desperate, but fun, and I
only burned myself once.  I'm on my fourth bottle and I've repaired the
holes in the heat exchangers, put the heat exchanger entrances on, attached
the O2 sensor nut on the extractor, repaired the exchanger flanges, and
attached the pick-up tube.  I also clamped a cow magnet to the pick-up tube.

I took great care to get the thermostat working properly, but found I could
only get about half the throw out of the flaps from the thermostat itself.
So it goes from about half open to full open with the 1/2" of expansion the
thermostat has available.  Oh well, I don't live in Alaska or Montana anyway
so I don't think it needs to be closed for more than a few minutes.  

The top engine tin used from the other engine had no spark plug shrouding on
the 3/4 side, so I picked one out from the stuff lying around that did.  Why
do they do that anyway?  Remove the spark plug shrouds from the aftermarket
tin, fooey.

I'm using the O2 sensor on anything I run I decided.  Might as well know
whats going on in that exhaust since I went out and paid the big money.
Kind of wish I had built the meter myself, but I didn't know how at the time.

Getting ready to jam it in now.  I'm just going to oil up the valve guides
while I can still tip it up on each side, turn the engine a few times, and
hopefully feel better about the start up sequence.


Turn up the Pearl Jam,

Onward,

Eug,
'71