TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Jul 13, 2014 5:57 am

I'm not in it for a bunch of money or thought right now. No real fabrication or skills are needed to pull this off. Just buy a vanagon Bentley and go to town.
I think this is a real viable option for those that want more power or are having t4 problems like you. With carburetion issues and internal engine business happening this might be an easy path for you too.

If I had to start from scratch I'd have a grand in this including the radiator setup. 400.00 is wrapped up in gowesty thermostat housin and waterpump tube, just reliability "wants" . The reliability stuff could come later I just hate the plastic parts vw liked to use in their cooling systems. I've had a Jetta 2, 3, 4, passat 5.5, and a vanagon....all have left me somewhere because of plastic cooling system parts. Now I try to be proactive about that stuff.

While this swap might not be that exciting it does give you fuel injection, 50% power increase and your bus is still all vw. The digifant handles running the fuel pump and everything back at the engine, you just supply ignition on voltage to two wires. The rest of the wires are all reports, oil light, water level light..etc. I have gauges from the previous swap so most of those wires won't be used.

Start lurking, I bought mine from user xxxoooxxx (something like that) flint European Andrew. He was honest-it runs fine and he sold it cheap. Businesses like his that do conversions will tell you if they drove the van in before they did a swap on it, or if the wbx was on its last legs. Vanagon folks need that upgrade because 95hp doesn't cut it for them. Bus folks would pee their pants with that kind of power on tap. The 66hp stock was supposed to make surely didn't do it for me. I'll take a little step backwards on power I'm just not jumping back to completely stock.

Sun Jul 13, 2014 7:40 am

After making that comment, I perused the Vanagon classifieds...

I'm also looking at trying to get a whole drivetrain up from Mexico. The thought being with that, is if a 1.8 I4 motor breaks (and they rarely do, it seems) I can get another one for a couple hundred bucks, and sometimes the whole car for about that.

I do like the TDI motor in my '78 (and diesels in general) but really need to regear the transmission, and the engine is significantly more expensive than any 1.8 motor would be. And, you're right about the overall simplicity of Digifant vs making the TDI run without a bunch of mods.

So for getting it going on the cheap, with a decent upgrade in power and some other bonuses (heat, for one) I'm really interested in that option. Especially if I can score the Mexican drivetrain somehow.

A running Vanagon motor really would be a tempting option, too.

Sun Jul 13, 2014 1:22 pm

It's not terribly necessary but I'm making some tins to enclose the engine. Not really to give it a "feux" aircooled look but to hide wires and give the compartment a finished look.

The back tin hides all the thermostat mess and a whole lot of crud I'm not making pretty.

The templates took awhile to get right while allowing an inch of clearance around the engine. The large shelf to the right is going to be a base to mount the air meter to. Gotta hit the metal store after work tomorrow to buy something thin enough to bang these out.

Sun Jul 13, 2014 6:36 pm

Found a little bit of 22g laying around. Just enough to do the right side. This is the important side anyway as I'd like to get all this crap hooked up permanently. I haven't been able to do anything other than idle it without a proper support for the air flow meter.

Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:25 pm

Got the other half done. There's a coil bracket/relay box that this side will support. Lines scetched in sharpie are for prospective bead rolls to stiffen up the panels. Light guage fabrication is new to me and it's been fun to learn.

The attachment hardware is 1/4-20 cheese head Phillips with captured weld nuts that'll be burned into the backside of these. The look and spacing will be similar to the 1700 I removed six years ago

Wed Jul 16, 2014 5:17 pm

Parts came in, here's the 300.00 thermostat housing. I've already bought this once for the vanagon I sold but I believe in the quality of it enough to shell out the money again.

Now that I have the water pump pipe and thermostat housing installed I saw how much more clearancing the bus required. The vw engine requires way more butchering than the 2.3 ever did. The side bemefit is that this will look a lot more at home.

Close up of the trimming, extra bracing removed to the left from previous cut. There's plenty of room for movement now. Thermostat cap bleed nipple will have to be changed out from straight to a 90. The straight points up right into the crossmember.

Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:39 pm

Here's my completed tin set painted and baking under the tube heater.

From the last stages there was minor trimming, bead rolling, and firewall holes added. The holes are for the fuel line and throttle cable. These will be finished off with a rubber grommet.

Mon Jul 28, 2014 8:09 am

chazz79 wrote: Here's my completed tin set painted and baking under the tube heater.

From the last stages there was minor trimming, bead rolling, and firewall holes added. The holes are for the fuel line and throttle cable. These will be finished off with a rubber grommet.

You made that tin yourself?!?! :shock:
Very nice!

Mon Jul 28, 2014 7:03 pm

Thanks! I'm not a light metals guy but I'm learning. I've got a good buddy that's a body guy and he's showing me around+ letting me borrow his Beverly shear and bead roller.

Now everything is fit into place I can finalize wiring, fuel and water business.

Sun Sep 07, 2014 9:28 pm

This is what I've been missing out on!

The bus has been putting around reliably. Some hills that I used to take in third I'm stuck back in second gear again so the power is noticably lower.

I'll daily drive it through November while I fix my riced out jetta then it'll get some more repairs.

The next course of action:
-Full door seal repair kits
-rear disc conversion
-front disc upgrade
-head light switch
-finish interior headliner
-install upper tent
-fuel tank sender
-dash pad
-source steering wheel play and address that.

It's a never ending story but if you don't stop to enjoy it sometime it's easy to forget why you started on it in the first place.

Sun Dec 28, 2014 8:49 pm

Thanks!

This has proven to be a very reliable and simple combo. I had a pretty fun rest of the summer with it and now I've torn it down again. The junkyard engine looked out of place in there so I'm cleaning things up. The wbx is getting a reseal, new stainless exhaust, oil cooler and some powder coated stuff. It'll look a bit nicer come march when I plan on driving it again.

Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:26 pm

chazz79 wrote: Thanks!

This has proven to be a very reliable and simple combo. I had a pretty fun rest of the summer with it and now I've torn it down again. The junkyard engine looked out of place in there so I'm cleaning things up. The wbx is getting a reseal, new stainless exhaust, oil cooler and some powder coated stuff. It'll look a bit nicer come march when I plan on driving it again.

What is the power like? From a September post, it looked like it might not be that wonderful.

Mon Dec 29, 2014 4:28 pm

It was better than my old vanagon due to the wieght advantage. It still beats the t4 any day but I know it's not packing the punch of any of the more sophisticated swaps.

My 2.3 ford was a beast by comparison. What good is power and speed if the reliability isn't there? I got more enjoyment out of my bus since the t5 went in than I ever got out of the ford. Just being able to use it like a normal car is all the reason to do this. With modern fuels being what they are, I'll never do another carburetor based swap again. I just don't drive enough to keep the ethanol from crudding up the works.

Tue Dec 30, 2014 8:18 am

Is that the reason for the swap? Not wanting to deal with the Ford Carb?

Seems reasonable to me. :D

I too hate carburetors. Seems like you're always dicking with something, no matter what.

I'm looking to swap out the Progressive carb on my WW to a Fuel Injection system. Not only is it a carburetor, but it is worse than dual because of being the single carb. Yuck.

Was there not a fuel injection option for the Ford motor?

Tue Dec 30, 2014 3:14 pm

I could've lowered the engine considerably to add fuel injection or lost my bed deck to make the plenum fit. My other option would've been full custom intake and mega squirt. It was just over complicating the whole mess.

My ford had a Holley 390cfm 4bbl and an offenhauser manifold on it. The main thing that screwed me was the accelerator check needle. That part is uncoated (raw) aluminum an corrodes in place in short order. I had the Holley apart so many times in the three years just getting that going. The damn thing wouldn't start if you couldn't pump it a little. This problem was present any time the bus sat long enough for the gas to evaporate out of the carb. So if it sat for a few weeks I knew what a pain it'd be to get it going again, often it just sat longer because I didn't feel like dicking with it. Once it was going all was good and the bus would really scoot.

The straw that broke the camels back was losing teeth off the flywheel. I just started exploring other options. I still have my engine and I'm looking into making a synchro buggy or something with it.

Sun Apr 26, 2015 11:52 pm

Cool thread. Great work!

Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:23 pm

I would like to make my rear close. i have a 215.

Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:25 pm

how well does the radiator on the bottom work?

Wed Apr 13, 2016 5:17 pm

Are you saying "work" like how does it look? Or cool the motor?

That was a factory setup, so it should be fine. I know that setup had been used to cool a big v8 motor.

If you mean looks, it's a lot better than the round monstrosity on the first one.

Wed Apr 13, 2016 5:26 pm

I cut the round monstrosity of abd ordered the Brazilian kombi grill. I was also thinking of mounting it under the belly.