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Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:21 am

Hello everyone! i originally started a post in the engines/performance section, but figured i should post in the split bus section for feedback from fellow splitters!

i am picking up a 914 porsche motor tommorow and after spending all day yesterday doing research and talking to the person selling the motor ive decided 914 is going to be a sweet motor for this truck!

Several decisions let me to this... one being, type 1 motors in my area that ive seen are $1000+ for one needing a complete rebuild UNLESS i buy an entire bug for $800 and take the parts from it. plus they are in terrible shape, being buggies for farm kids. (not really what i want)

The 914 T4 engine sounds incredibly more reliable, powerful/ torque driven and will allow me to haul my motorbikes anywhere without any troubles. not to mention this specific one is Fuel injected, so less maintenance i hope!

after a conversation with the guy selling the engine its evident that its in great shape. Hes an older man that wanted to put it into his bug, put has too many projects and needs cash. He said its from a 73 1.7L porsche, with elarged cylenders (not sure what size) and has VW heads. Its fuel injected and he has tons of rare spare parts for it, sensors, injectors etc, some from equivalent Jaguar engines... he said his friend is a mechanic and went through the engine and got it working great. he said the engines all cleaned up, and he already had painted components and started polishing up the fan shroud! Being an electrician, he also went through all the electrical and ECU and compacted everything.

from what i hear its ready to be bolted in, and fro 900 bucks i dont think i can go wrong. im driving down tomorrow to pick it up

On top of that, he said he had some extra parts he would throw in, like a turbo from a 1.6L vw no charge. he wanted to turbo the motor, but said use it or sell it and recoup some$

Next on my list is to figure out how to do an upright conversion for cheap / DIY. the DTM conversion is hot, but $$$

here are some pictures of "herman" needs a lot of work but other than the rockers and rear corners there are no major rust holes.

Doglegs need work, door hinge pin needed.

new lower lip needed, dinged up front nose, rusty rockers. as you can see a working truck from day 1 :roll:

the rear corners are in pretty bad shape. new metal im thinking :shock:

Parked and dry with the GF test driving.

the interior is in fantastic shape i think, with just a quick soap and water bath everything was shiny. the dirty spots just need a lil elbow grease and much of it will come back to blue! :D

there you have it. another 59 SC to watch out for

if anyone has any parts laying around that theyre willing to part with im more than willing to pay for shipping! as you can see everything that was not bolted down is gone, hell even the stuff bolted down is gone :lol:

have a great day! will post pics of the engine when i can!

Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:49 am

Cool bus! I am partial to SC's.

What happened to the buggy bodies in the rear bed? Did you get them also?

Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:52 am

Cool truck! Best of luck with it and post pics of your progress.

Arthur

Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:38 am

thanks! i never kept the buggy bodies, could have had them for next to nothing, but dont have the space for them!

up on my list of things to get next is a rear tranny & transaxle from 73+ bug for my IRS conversion. im torn whether to tear apart a bug (dont like that idea) but theyre cheap or free! im worried the parts yard may charge an arm and a leg. any suggestions?

Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:43 am

Good to see another bus come to life. Good luck, looks like alot of work ahead of you.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 11:58 am

You could always post a wanted ad in the Classifieds.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:08 pm

Are you wanting to lower it or just switch to a bus box to match the 914 engine?

If not looking for lowering, go Bus IRS. Plenty doners out there. Hell, I will even sell a complete setup from a '74 I scrapped.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:33 pm

The IRS is partly to lower it, as i prefer the lowered look. However, living in Canada requires clearance like a KFC needs chicken. the roads up here are crap and will eat cars whole. not to mention winter driving in the snow. i also want this to be somewhat of a daily driver. for that reason i am planning to convert it to airbags. not to sit the thing on the ground, but to lift it up to stock when im driving around and be comfortable. if it sits on the ground as a result im happy with that : :D

i will definitely look into the bus IRS, but from what ive heard the beetle IRS is easier, and esp. with a BUS BOYS IRS kit. 500 bucks. done.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:44 pm

XPafiolis wrote: The IRS is partly to lower it, as i prefer the lowered look. However, living in Canada requires clearance like a KFC needs chicken. the roads up here are crap and will eat cars whole. not to mention winter driving in the snow. i also want this to be somewhat of a daily driver. for that reason i am planning to convert it to airbags. not to sit the thing on the ground, but to lift it up to stock when im driving around and be comfortable. if it sits on the ground as a result im happy with that : :D

i will definitely look into the bus IRS, but from what ive heard the beetle IRS is easier, and esp. with a BUS BOYS IRS kit. 500 bucks. done.

Not suggesting buy the bus boys complete kit, just the inner pivit points, weld them in (will have to weld in inner T1 pivits anyway) and bolt on a early bay irs rear suspension. With it you will get the larger T2 CV's, the better wheel bearings (expecially considering your roads) and the heavy duty rear brakes that a T1 does not have.

I have everything you need except one 46 mm rear axle nut and the inner pivits. If interested, PM me.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 4:37 pm

It is far from a "bolt-in". Unless you narrow the trailing arms, you have to hack into the wishbones. You may be able to use 68 arms but for sure the later ones will not work. IRS buses don't have wishbones to support the tranny/engine and the pivots for the trailing arms are closer to the center of the torsion tube.
However, you can put in T-1 arms and pivots without hacking everything up since it is narrower. The problem then is the ability of the hubs and bearings to support the weight of the rear and any cargo you may want to carry. There has been pages of back and forth about this topic in various threads but it is something to consider.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:48 pm

I bet Herman would be happier rolling on his old tried and true, and bolt in fitting, reduction swingaxles, and a bolt in motor. Better on the country roads than anything lowered, that I know for a fact. But that's just me. And I can't imagine a fuel injected 914 type 4 motor will be a slam dunk. What are you doing for the fi brain? Fuel return loop to the stock tank? Exhaust sensor? Exhaust that fits? Elect. fuel pump? Shrouding that seals to the engine compartment? It can, and has been done before, but bolt in? NOT!

Fri Mar 19, 2010 7:51 pm

cru62 wrote: It is far from a "bolt-in". Unless you narrow the trailing arms, you have to hack into the wishbones. You may be able to use 68 arms but for sure the later ones will not work. IRS buses don't have wishbones to support the tranny/engine and the pivots for the trailing arms are closer to the center of the torsion tube.
However, you can put in T-1 arms and pivots without hacking everything up since it is narrower. The problem then is the ability of the hubs and bearings to support the weight of the rear and any cargo you may want to carry. There has been pages of back and forth about this topic in various threads but it is something to consider.

I figured since he is going to a T4 engine, he would eliminate the cradle and open it up for the later IRS suspension. Since ther will be a lot of fab work around the engine to seal the cooling tins, fabbing in a rear engine mount would not take much more effort.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:45 pm

That sounds like a lot of work for what result? An extra 10-15 mph on the freeway? For the money (and time is money) you are going to end up sinking in to this couldn't you buy or build a big type 1 engine and a custom ratio but otherwise stock gear box, plug them in and enjoy driving the car a year earlier?
I don't get it but have fun.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:07 am

Everybody's different, I guess. I love my old, slow, 1600 + Big nut trans single cab. Speed is fer people in a hurry.

Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:24 am

I have noticed everyone has different idea of whats "best" and by no means am i trying to insult anyone.

I am aware of the later trailing arms hitting the wishbones, but there are many solutions (some cheap) 1. use the beetle IRS 2. use the Creative Engineering kit, which works with them and custom transmission mounts that are welded in. 3. Use brazilian bus trailing arms, which are shorter and allows you not to hack into the wishbones and just weld in the pivots.

Im still deciding which way to go, and if i can do it without hacking the bus apart i would be happier also. as for bolt in, im simply referring to general fab work... which i enjoy. the scary stuff for me is engine modification / having o get parts machined at shops as cost goes through the roof and i am quite new to it.

i will keep you all posted when i decide, and i may possibly put together a post that compares all the different IRS methods in one page. i searched far and wide for all the info i found... way too much time..

Status Update:

I picked up the motor yesterday and was shocked that he was parting with it for so cheap. he obviously babied it, and constantly reminded me to "be careful" around certain parts. He described every part of the engine, exactly what he had done to it ( cleaned it up, sanded / painted all the tins) and made sure all the other pieces were there and working. i believe its in great shape. He also explained the only reason it was pulled from the 914 was to install a v8.

he also threw in a bench mount and a new turbo, with built in waste gate, and some kind of pressure valve and all the templates we was going to use for the system. ( not sure what it is, he tried to explain it but i was just to excited.) also threw in 20 or so vw magazines from the 70's / 80's that are amazing. step by step articles in all of them from brakes to turbos. its unbelievable how common it was to turbo a beetle! even threw in a huge book of information detailing every aspect of the EFI system.

i would like to try to stick to the EFI system to cut down on maintenance and improve reliability and i already have all the parts, but im not sure what it will take to mod it for the upright conversion... if its going to be a pain in the rear i would be open to converting to a dual carb set up, but from what i understand kits are pricey, is there anything else needed for converting to a carb set up?

i will post pictures shortly and would love some help trying to ID some of the parts!

thanks everyone!

Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:10 am

hey everyone thought i would post an update!

a month later and many late nights and the truck is finally on its wheels!

ive got a ton accomplished, including wiring, transmissions in, headlights, wheels on, brakes bled and its on the ground.

things left to do include paint the belly box & engine compartment, tidy up some of the wiring, test the wiring then work on getting the engine mounted up weld the mounts on and fire her up!

i test fit the motor this afternoon and it fit!!! i dont know if all dropped busses are this low but im kinda nervous so i plan on making some heavy duty steel protection of anything low.

one thing im not sure of, how much of the underside of the engine can i cover up with skid plate style stuff or will it cause overheating problems?
just terrified of hitting something on the rear motor mount.

here are some pictures. give me some feedback.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

the above throttle body is pleaguing me also, if any one knows what vehicle that its from let me know, i have 2 but both requre some kind of huge barrel nut i think... i dont know where to get parts for these bad boys to make them work :(

Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:23 am

thought i would mention also, the rear IRS kit is in, 76 bug transmission with bus nose cone. front has 3.5" drop spindles. the whole underside is por 15 chasis black, complete new brake lines, stainless hoses. new wiring harness, lights, windows being installed today

future to do list:
engine fits in the compartment perfectly, now i just need to fab the rear engine mount and some steel protection / skid plate to save my rear. literally.

stereo gets installed today possibly, its going to be hot stuff. 300 watt amp with some polk audio speakers all hooked up to my iphone which will easily dock on the dash. :)

any help on the throttle body would be great, also my steel brake lines are leaking a bit. i tightened them more and they are barely leaking now. ive heard thread lock isnt supposed to be used, but am scared to over tighten the lines? should i thread lock or tighten some more?

Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:31 pm

You should be able to get some help from the guys over in the 68 up bus (bay window bus) forum as they are always helping each other out with the type 4 motors and fuel injection.

This is for sale in the classifieds.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1001198

Most in the split forum do not like to see an engine bay cut to fit the type 4 not in the upright cooling configuration.

Looks good and nice to see a bus getting ready to roll.

One question. What gas tank are you using?
Fuel injection requires a high pressure pump and a return fuel line for tank.

Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:14 pm

maybe it's just me but wouldn't an aircooled 930 engine be a little more fulfilling?

Wed Aug 04, 2010 12:35 am

Are you aware that engine is not just going to fit in there?

you either need to hack up the rear to fit it as it is, or convert to upright cooling and hack nothing.

There are pages and pages of previous threads in the performance engines section on this subject.

Did you ever look at the engine number and reference it to see if its really from a 914?