Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 12:41:08 -0000
Reply-To: Bob O'Shaughnessy <oshaug@INFINET.COM>
Sender: Vanagon mailing list <Vanagon@Gerry.SDSC.EDU>
From: Bob O'Shaughnessy <oshaug@INFINET.COM>
Subject: Re: Engine Swap (long)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>After much grief over the past year with head/over heating problems in
>my 85 Westy I have decided, after much thought, to change over to a
>Jetta engine. I have an automatic, which I want to keep, and have
>ordered a conversion kit from Kennedy, after talking with them several
>times. The necessary, I hope, diesel donor parts are also on their way,
>and I will begin removing the wasserboxer in preparation for installing
>the new Jetta engine, which I will select and purchase soon. There
>seems to be an abundance of these, which is one reason for the
>selection. I would gratefully appreciate any input as the the best fuel
>injection system, exhaust manifold, and any other information anyone
>wishes to share. This will be a learning experience for me, and
>hopefully give me a reliable Westy. Please feel free to email me
>direct to help me through this procedure, as I need all the help I can
>get. Thanks, Larry
>
Larry, somewhere down the line, I am going to do one of these
projects. Here's what I've got so far:
The perfect donor engine is the 85 or so GTI/GLI engine (code HT)
with the 10.0:1 compression, knock sensor ignition (mandatory for high
compression engines), hydraulic valves, and CIS-E injection. I'd stay
away from the earlier engines, as only the 84's have hydraulic lifters,
the rest require valve adjustments via shims.
I'd also recommend the CIS-E injection, because it is a bit more
advanced than the CIS injection and a bit easier to troubleshoot. The
CIS is nearly all mechanical. Also, the CIS-E is preferable to Digifant,
as the Digifant engines (later GTI engines) are a bit harder to modify
for performance.
Which brings us to performance mods. I am fully expecting to get an
85 GTI engine which has really been huffed. In the rebuilding process, I
am going to make some modifications. I haven't really decided what, but
a mild cam, and maybe a slight valve timing adjustment, and balancing are
certainly easy. I've been looking casually at some of the
high-performance catalogs for water cooled engines and there are a few
more options (bigger pistons and so on. The nice thing about the 85
engine is that most of the common performance mods are already present
(bigger throttle body, bigger air meter, bigger valves, hydraulic
lifters, knock sensor ignition and so on).
From what I understand the stock Diesel exhaust is pretty good, and
I might keep it, after taping it for the oxygen sensor, of course. Later
on I'd like to go to the early (pre 83 (i.e. not made in Pennsylvania))
Rabbit/Jetta exhaust manifold. It is a 4 into 2 design, with oxygen
sensor hole that is considered the best header you can buy for one of
these engines. The only problem would be that you'd have to get some
custom pipes built to match it to the rest of the exhaust system.
Fortunately, unlike the front-drive cars, you can build a rigid exhaust,
like your waterboxer has.
When pulling the engine and ordering diesel parts, you need to make
sure to get the following:
Every single bit of the fuel injection system. Follow every wire
and line.
The knock sensor ignition module and all the wires.
From the diesel:
The engine mounts
The oil pump (put new gears in it while it is out)
All the radiator hoses, expansion tank, and the oil cooler
You seem to have taken care of the tranny mount
The exhaust
The oil pan and the skid plate under the engine.
These are the unresolved issues for me:
Alternator: I haven't really taken a good look at this yet to see
if the GTI's alternator can be used
Air conditioning: From what Erik O and I discussed while looking at
his Westy GTI the AC compressor and mount from the GTI engine won't fit
under the engine cover. You may have to fabricate a mount for the
Vanagon's AC pump, which is smaller than the GTI one.
Power Steering: From what I've seen, this may not be an option.
The engine mount bolts on to the block where the PS pump bracket from a
GLI would attach. Again fabrication may be the only option.
that's all for now, good luck and let us know how it goes.
___________________________________________________________________________
Bob O'Shaughnessy
84GL, 85GL project (Mine)
82 Diesel L with carbed Rabbit engine (belongs to friend)
74 Bus (Dad's)
72 Wife, 94 Rabbit, 95 Cat, 96 cat.
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