Thanks for the great information.  I know there = are a lot of people watching this topic very closely.

The comment about the cruise control puzzles me - = does this mean that there is no cruise control option in South Africa, = or is it just not included in the kit?

Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.C= OM]On Behalf Of A & C Grobey
Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2000 9:23 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: I've seen the Tii conversion = completed

If anyone is curious, I got a look at a completed Tii = conversion on Thursday.  My sister bought the kit and had it = installed by her mechanic.  I stopped by to visit the mechanic and = took it for a test drive.  My thoughts and the mechanics comments = are as follows:

 
Positive things:
This is a very clean conversion.  It looks like = it belongs there.  The dipstick and coolant are still accessible = through the license.  The engine fits with lots of room to spare = and no need to raise the deck lid.

The engine idles very well.  There is less = vibration than a WBX on idle.
The oil filter is very accessible and easy to reach. =
You use the stock muffler/Cat and the stock fuel = injection.
 
Not so Positive things:
The air Intake to the Fuel injector just after the = air filter has two plugs in it.  It seems like these would blow = out pretty easily on a backfire or even just vibration.  The air = filter is also hard to reach.

There is no cruise control option enabled.  I = think they'll have to rig something.
The camshaft pulley seemed off center and kind of = warbled a bit.
No Oxy sensor.  Could be a problem for DEQ. =
 
The mechanic liked the kit and the way it ran.  = Both of us drove it up a very steep hill near his shop and were = impressed with the power band.  We were able to accelerate from 55 = up to 65 on the hill.  In my van, you can only accelerate to about = 58.  The mechanic did not have the best opinion of Peter (the guy = who sells the kit).  His first complaint was that they had a bad = transistor coming off the coil.  The replacement was hard and very = slow to get.  Once they got it, it wasn't a Telefunkt or Bosch but = some cheap Taiwanese transistor.  He also told me that the = instructions had bad info on the scan tool.  Other than those few = problems, the install was pretty smooth.  He just didn't like the = way Peter didn't seem so eager to help.  They were led to believe = this kit had been installed many times before, but the reality is this = was his first US shipment.  They were in it for 30 hours and they = figure the next time will take about 20.

 
I am very interested in the kit for my Carat.  = However, I would definitely miss the low-end torque.  My = Waterboxer is running too well right now (knock on wood) to think about = it just yet!