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Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:21 am

How is it a lot less when you work Aj's bus kit into the equation at $2295

the article in volksworld was about how the author did his own turbo setup using a T3 from a subaru engine. AJ's is better way to go. from the research i've done i think you get a better hp/torque curve and more mpg with a proper set up turbo compared to a NA engine.

Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:24 pm

My vote is for a 2007cc(78x90.5)That's what i'm building for my '57 panel.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:01 pm

Always loved this thread, but it was so encompassing i never really felt the need to add. Feel like backing up some info today, and you can never have enough good stuff i always say. :)
So My vote is also for 2007 cc. It is the most proven engine for bus that i know of. Though for some it may be a bit much, say a split case reduction trans bus.
It literally is all about the client, how they drive, what gearing/tires and where they live.
88 thickwall/machine in's would always be my first choice for bus motor. due to thickest wall and smallest diameter. So they handle the heat better, and allow max cooling air between the cyls, and with the least material removed from the case. hell these days most are turning the base of the cyl down anyways, to conserve case material for strength/longevity.
So if you have a split case bus, and you dont drive like a maniac, you could do 74x88 and be happy forever.
Your gonna do a straight axle bus, then its up to you and how hot it is where you live, as to what cyls youll run. 78x88 is nice, and at 1898cc it will move any bus just fine. Though more cc never hurts, so you can run 78x90.5 and you now have what has been proven to be an EASY 100k mile motor. If you wanna test parts, you can run 78x92 thick walls as they are around now, and have the thickest wall available. I like this idea a lot, though i would like to compare flow area between the cyls, on say 92 thickys, and then 90.5s and 88s.
I doubt the 92s would have any cooling issues, but i know they would be closing off the "between" flow area, as they are same OD as the 94s.
And as has been discussed at length in this thread already by other engine titans. I would never run any crank larger than 78 in a vw case for longevity, as too much material is required to be removed from the case AND the rod journals are just too far from the mains to combat flex effectively in a street motor, aircooled, in a heavy bus.
so your top engine combo list is like this.

74x88 1800cc
74x90.5 1905cc
74x92 thick 1968cc
76x88 1850 cc
76x90.5 1955cc
76x92 thick 2021cc
78x88 1898cc
78x90.5 2007cc
78x92 thick 2074cc

The top 3 on that list would be split case trans motors, just to try and conserve your trans.
Then if you have a built tunnel trans, or IRS in your bus and carry big weight, your looking at the bottom 3 on that list.
My fav 3 are 76x88 (build it and it will end up in a museum), 78x88, and 78x90.5.
Those have all 3 proven to be prob the best engines anyone can build for anything aircooled that is daily driven. They are just perfect. :)

Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:05 pm

I have a 1955 with a big nut ff with tall tires on the back it really runs well down the freeway. However, I getting ready to do the IRS swap. I do not like a high revving motor. I currently do not have a tack hooked up but it cruises at 70 real well and will go 80 in an instant. I have a custom panel with a samba roof w safaris. I think it is badass! 8)

Thu Apr 08, 2010 12:26 pm

Hi all,

I am getting a 60' standard 9 seater bus and want feedback on specs for rebuilding the engine and tramsmission.

I live in Honolulu, Hawaii so almost all driving will be in town with some short 50 mile road trips. Freeway speeds here are 45 to 60 mph. Hills are steep but limited in length and only last 8 minutes, then you are on the way down the other side of the island. My son is going to be driving this thing too so I dont really want it to go too fast!

I had a 1600sp, single carb in my 67' bus and loved the low end torque and simplicity. I also has a 1900dp, 42 webers in my 71' bay and that thing flew!!

I am thinking to do a 1600 sp, single carb, engle 110, 009 distributor, stock exhaust. I want dependable, reliable low end power with a close to stock look and that I can easily work on. I may add aftermarket a.c. which will sap 3 to 4 hp. The extra bracket, belt and compressor will also take space.

The existing transmission is a 67' with .84 overdrive 4th gear. I will rebuild this and dont know if I should keep the overdrive 4th or not. I will keep the reduction gear boxes and stock 15" wheels. Also looking for suggestions on radial tires that look somewhat stock.

Anyways, looking for feedback on the whole drivetrain package- engine, trans, wheels and tires.

thanks and aloha!! :D

Thu Apr 08, 2010 2:49 pm

jmo2255 wrote: Hi all,

I am getting a 60' standard 9 seater bus and want feedback on specs for rebuilding the engine and tramsmission.

I am thinking to do a 1600 sp, single carb, engle 110, 009 distributor, stock exhaust. I want dependable, reliable low end power with a close to stock look and that I can easily work on. I may add aftermarket a.c. which will sap 3 to 4 hp. The extra bracket, belt and compressor will also take space.

The existing transmission is a 67' with .84 overdrive 4th gear. I will rebuild this and dont know if I should keep the overdrive 4th or not. I will keep the reduction gear boxes and stock 15" wheels. Also looking for suggestions on radial tires that look somewhat stock.

Rather than using a 009, do yourself a favor and use an SVDA. It'll give you a few more MPG and will run a little smoother as well. And if you don't mind the visual differences, chunk the stock exhaust and run something else, as the stock exhaust is terribly restrictive.

Also, I thought I remembered big nut transmissions coming with a .82 4th gear stock? Either way, a .82 4th works great. I ran them in reduction box transmissions for a while.

Fri Apr 09, 2010 4:28 am

camming requires a tear down which is a whole other level of mechanicing work for the given perormance increase..... I would bolt on a nice exhaust / carb / dizzy first, those bolt ONs would add 10-30hp.

Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:04 pm

thanks everybody! I appreciate the feedback and after re-reading the threads here I am reconsidering things. I am by no means an expert but will throw this out there for scrutiny:

this is for my 60' standard 9 seater bus, everyday driver, almost all city driving, some short roadtrips, freeway speeds here are 40 to 60mph, want to get up hills and merge onto the freeway at reasonable speeds (not 35mph), want a very, very dependable (bulletproof) low end torque, simple and straightforward, easy to work on and built to last a long time!

1850cc sp (76x88 thick walls)
single solex carb (30 to 34 pict)
engle 110 cam for some pep
non-stock exhaust
SVDA distributor
hot rod air aftermarket air conditioning
keep the reduction gear boxes
rebuild (needs it anyways)the 67' bus transmission with the .84 4th gear
stock 4.5" x 15" rims
tires- dont know yet, probably 195's rear and 175's front

thanks and aloha, :D

Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:56 pm

I went 78 x 90.5, all new.
New mag case
Fred Simpson heads
Petronix ignition
Scat c25
Scat 1.25 rockers
40mm Dells
Scat Tru Fit tinware ( which doesnt)
Vintage Speed exhaust
Remote oil cooler under cargo doors with fan, have driven this in 100degree heat for 300 miles one way and temp stayed cool.
Berg deep sump

Fuel tank is now painted black

Dave

Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:03 pm

Man, what a beautiful setup.

Great shop, too.

I sure like that Vintage Speed exhaust.

Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:44 pm

jmo2255 wrote: thanks everybody! I appreciate the feedback and after re-reading the threads here I am reconsidering things. I am by no means an expert but will throw this out there for scrutiny:

this is for my 60' standard 9 seater bus, everyday driver, almost all city driving, some short roadtrips, freeway speeds here are 40 to 60mph, want to get up hills and merge onto the freeway at reasonable speeds (not 35mph), want a very, very dependable (bulletproof) low end torque, simple and straightforward, easy to work on and built to last a long time!

1850cc sp (76x88 thick walls)
single solex carb (30 to 34 pict)
engle 110 cam for some pep
non-stock exhaust
SVDA distributor
hot rod air aftermarket air conditioning
keep the reduction gear boxes
rebuild (needs it anyways)the 67' bus transmission with the .84 4th gear
stock 4.5" x 15" rims
tires- dont know yet, probably 195's rear and 175's front

thanks and aloha, :D
You have a great setup there.But i would not use the Engle 110 with a stock carb. You need to run dual carbs on a 110. I would run some 34 webers or FRD Dellorto's with a Web cam 110/119 with S/P heads.

Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:15 am

GDOG57 wrote: jmo2255 wrote: thanks everybody! I appreciate the feedback and after re-reading the threads here I am reconsidering things. I am by no means an expert but will throw this out there for scrutiny:

this is for my 60' standard 9 seater bus, everyday driver, almost all city driving, some short roadtrips, freeway speeds here are 40 to 60mph, want to get up hills and merge onto the freeway at reasonable speeds (not 35mph), want a very, very dependable (bulletproof) low end torque, simple and straightforward, easy to work on and built to last a long time!

1850cc sp (76x88 thick walls)
single solex carb (30 to 34 pict)
engle 110 cam for some pep
non-stock exhaust
SVDA distributor
hot rod air aftermarket air conditioning
keep the reduction gear boxes
rebuild (needs it anyways)the 67' bus transmission with the .84 4th gear
stock 4.5" x 15" rims
tires- dont know yet, probably 195's rear and 175's front

thanks and aloha, :D
You have a great setup there.But i would not use the Engle 110 with a stock carb. You need to run dual carbs on a 110. I would run some 34 webers or FRD Dellorto's with a Web cam 110/119 with S/P heads.

He did say that he wanted it to be close to stock looking, which kinda rules out dual carbs. I will agree that an engle 110 is a bit much for a single carb, though. I'm running a web 218+5/218 in my 1904 sp and it's great. I really need to dyno it and see what it's actually putting out.

Fri Apr 16, 2010 11:52 am

Posted: Today 9:15 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GDOG57 wrote:
jmo2255 wrote:
thanks everybody! I appreciate the feedback and after re-reading the threads here I am reconsidering things. I am by no means an expert but will throw this out there for scrutiny:

this is for my 60' standard 9 seater bus, everyday driver, almost all city driving, some short roadtrips, freeway speeds here are 40 to 60mph, want to get up hills and merge onto the freeway at reasonable speeds (not 35mph), want a very, very dependable (bulletproof) low end torque, simple and straightforward, easy to work on and built to last a long time!

1850cc sp (76x88 thick walls)
single solex carb (30 to 34 pict)
engle 110 cam for some pep
non-stock exhaust
SVDA distributor
hot rod air aftermarket air conditioning
keep the reduction gear boxes
rebuild (needs it anyways)the 67' bus transmission with the .84 4th gear
stock 4.5" x 15" rims
tires- dont know yet, probably 195's rear and 175's front

thanks and aloha,

You have a great setup there.But i would not use the Engle 110 with a stock carb. You need to run dual carbs on a 110. I would run some 34 webers or FRD Dellorto's with a Web cam 110/119 with S/P heads.

He did say that he wanted it to be close to stock looking, which kinda rules out dual carbs. I will agree that an engle 110 is a bit much for a single carb, though. I'm running a web 218+5/218 in my 1904 sp and it's great. I really need to dyno it and see what it's actually putting out.
_________________
-Andrew

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(='.'=)This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(")signature to help him gain world domination.

Thanks, How about adjusting the cam down to say a engle 100 and sticking with the single carb? I think I may be getting close here.

thanks and aloha,
jmo :D

Sat Jun 05, 2010 12:03 pm

My tranny broke 1st gear and I need a new tranny . I want to stick with my RGB s and build a 2liter then future turbo. From reading on here it looks like gearing is changed on the tranny? are the RGB s gearing changed as well ?

Sat Jun 05, 2010 11:22 pm

jmo2255 wrote: Hi all,

I am getting a 60' standard 9 seater bus and want feedback on specs for rebuilding the engine and tramsmission.

I live in Honolulu, Hawaii so almost all driving will be in town with some short 50 mile road trips. Freeway speeds here are 45 to 60 mph. Hills are steep but limited in length and only last 8 minutes, then you are on the way down the other side of the island. My son is going to be driving this thing too so I dont really want it to go too fast!

I had a 1600sp, single carb in my 67' bus and loved the low end torque and simplicity. I also has a 1900dp, 42 webers in my 71' bay and that thing flew!!

I am thinking to do a 1600 sp, single carb, engle 110, 009 distributor, stock exhaust. I want dependable, reliable low end power with a close to stock look and that I can easily work on. I may add aftermarket a.c. which will sap 3 to 4 hp. The extra bracket, belt and compressor will also take space.

The existing transmission is a 67' with .84 overdrive 4th gear. I will rebuild this and dont know if I should keep the overdrive 4th or not. I will keep the reduction gear boxes and stock 15" wheels. Also looking for suggestions on radial tires that look somewhat stock.

Anyways, looking for feedback on the whole drivetrain package- engine, trans, wheels and tires.

thanks and aloha!! :D

What AC compressor did you find that only uses that much HP?

Fri Jun 18, 2010 6:33 pm

mightymouse wrote: jmo2255 wrote: Hi all,

I am getting a 60' standard 9 seater bus and want feedback on specs for rebuilding the engine and tramsmission.

I live in Honolulu, Hawaii so almost all driving will be in town with some short 50 mile road trips. Freeway speeds here are 45 to 60 mph. Hills are steep but limited in length and only last 8 minutes, then you are on the way down the other side of the island. My son is going to be driving this thing too so I dont really want it to go too fast!

I had a 1600sp, single carb in my 67' bus and loved the low end torque and simplicity. I also has a 1900dp, 42 webers in my 71' bay and that thing flew!!

I am thinking to do a 1600 sp, single carb, engle 110, 009 distributor, stock exhaust. I want dependable, reliable low end power with a close to stock look and that I can easily work on. I may add aftermarket a.c. which will sap 3 to 4 hp. The extra bracket, belt and compressor will also take space.

The existing transmission is a 67' with .84 overdrive 4th gear. I will rebuild this and dont know if I should keep the overdrive 4th or not. I will keep the reduction gear boxes and stock 15" wheels. Also looking for suggestions on radial tires that look somewhat stock.

Anyways, looking for feedback on the whole drivetrain package- engine, trans, wheels and tires.

thanks and aloha!! :D

What AC compressor did you find that only uses that much HP?

Sorry it took so long to respond, I wasnt monitoring this item anymore.
Gilmore Enetrprises has an early bus a.c. kit that I am going to use.
Ed there has been very helpful and noted that "the compressor only draws about 1.5hp and will run on a stock 40hp motor. The unit is rated at 16,000 BTU and 290 cubic feet of air per minute."

Anyways, I am in the beginning of the engine rebuild including the a.c install and will let you know how it goes once it is done!!

aloha,
JMo :D

Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:53 pm

90.5 pistons w/ 76,78,82 stroke, take you pick on the crank stroke. 40MM dual webers.

Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:55 pm

hsosa1 wrote: My tranny broke 1st gear and I need a new tranny . I want to stick with my RGB s and build a 2liter then future turbo. From reading on here it looks like gearing is changed on the tranny? are the RGB s gearing changed as well ?

have redux gears and housings cyro treated for extra strength. then you can lauch bus at 5000 rpms like the world's fastest bus on redux boxes.

Sat Jun 19, 2010 4:12 pm

Andrew wrote: jmo2255 wrote: Hi all,

I am getting a 60' standard 9 seater bus and want feedback on specs for rebuilding the engine and tramsmission.

I am thinking to do a 1600 sp, single carb, engle 110, 009 distributor, stock exhaust. I want dependable, reliable low end power with a close to stock look and that I can easily work on. I may add aftermarket a.c. which will sap 3 to 4 hp. The extra bracket, belt and compressor will also take space.

The existing transmission is a 67' with .84 overdrive 4th gear. I will rebuild this and dont know if I should keep the overdrive 4th or not. I will keep the reduction gear boxes and stock 15" wheels. Also looking for suggestions on radial tires that look somewhat stock.

Rather than using a 009, do yourself a favor and use an SVDA. It'll give you a few more MPG and will run a little smoother as well. And if you don't mind the visual differences, chunk the stock exhaust and run something else, as the stock exhaust is terribly restrictive.

Also, I thought I remembered big nut transmissions coming with a .82 4th gear stock? Either way, a .82 4th works great. I ran them in reduction box transmissions for a while.

why use a 034 distributor on a 1600 Single Port???? i would and do use a 205 m dist. which was 1500 sp og distributor. a 034 is good for dual ports ... the vacuum signal would be wrong for 034 svda distributor. a 009,010 would be good on a 1600 sp.

Tue Feb 15, 2011 7:13 pm

Hi there.

I got a query on a bus motor.

Following a bearing failure in the (stock) gearbox of my '67, I have taken up the opportunity to fix the engine oil leaks while everything's apart. Apparently the motor needs to be disassembled to fix a loose bearing at one end also. It also has one cracked head. I'm not an expert here, this is just what the nice mechanic told me briefly over the phone.

I am told it's a 1776 (by the previous owner), it has twin Weber carbs, some sort of camshaft that develops power higher up but doesn't do much at all down low, and had a fat exhaust. Oh and a 009 dizzy if that counts for anything. At higher speeds, it accelerates faster than my other busses and on the freeway hardly notices inclines, at least the moderate sort of inclines which would have the 1800 '74 back down a gear or slowing. At low speeds the Bay would beat it I think (i.e. in traffic).

Since I'm up for a rebuild anyway, I was thinking I'd put in a standard cam, to make it a little easier to drive in town, and use a standard exhaust (with heater boxes), so I don't wake up the neighbourhood if I drive it outside working hours. Sticking with dual port heads would allow me to use the existing big dual carbs, or, what I'd rather try: a stock single carb.

I don't feel the need to go particularly fast, and am perfectly happy with what I can achieve in the bog-stock 1600 '69. I _would_ like better drivability: e.g. not having to use the brake and accellerator pedals simultaneously on cool mornings to avoid stalling, and having heater tubes connected where the dual-carb linkages currently prevent it.

Do my ideas sound reasonable? I would be a bit disappointed if I ended up with a real dog, but from what I've read in quite a few posts around here, a 1776 with otherwise stock components should be pretty nice, right?

Thanks for thoughts folks!
A.