Bill,
I did my swap in 1995 before the Tiico kit was a vailable. The kit or =
some
of the essential components would make it very fast compared to converting =
from
the original Diesel to a 91 FI Golf(Jetta ame difference) engine.
If you were to do a Tiico even though you already have the hardware =
from
your present Diesel to do a "scratch " swap like i did, you could sell your=
Diesel hardware and use the nice shiny new Tiico stuff, much of which is =
the
same.
There are variances though , like installing on a automatic, which =
only
requires an adapter plate.
SInce your Diesel has manual trans, at the time of the swap it is =
better to
change over from the Diesel trans to a Air-cooled Vanagon trans rather than=
a
WBX trans for these main reasons:
1. The shift rod at the transmission end lines up with the
Air-cooled(80-83) Vanagon trans. If you use a WBX trans, you have to =
lengthen
the shift rod about 6 inches.
2. The 80-83 Vanagon trans has a better final drive ratio (.457) as =
opposed
to the lower geared WBX- (.483) years 1983.5-1991.
In order to adapt the 80-83 trans to work with the Tiico or do-it-=
yourself
kit, you need to save these things from the Diesel trans and install them =
on the
80-83 trans:
Pilot shaft
Front mount
Clutch slave cylinder bracket
Bellhousing(if doing your own kit).
What I am not sure of is if the Tiico adaptor plate fits on the air-=
cooled
vanagon trans. If it doesent, then (assuming you are going the Tiico route)=
,
then along with all of you uneeded Diesel hardware you don't need, you=
have
an adaptor plate to sell with it for someone with a WBX who wants to =
do
their own conversion.
What I am running my 1982 Vanagon with now is a 1995 2.0 Golf FI =
engine
with the 88-92 G-J Digifant ll FI system.The trans is a rebuilt 1983 Air-=
cooled
Vanagon unit.
I should mention it took three months to finish my conversion. =
Original
block was a 1.8. While switching to the 2.0, I added power steering to the=
formerly Diesel Vanagon. You will like power steering -it's as impressive =
as
more horsepower.
Robert Keezer
1982 Westfalia
Seattle
Has anyone done this swap? I guess=
a WBX
transmission would be needed. Can this swap be done as easily as =
into a
WBX?
Bill