Need a little help with a 83 vanagon engine replacement

[gravygrabber]

Own a small import shop and work on a lot of newer VW's and I had a 59 Bug back in the late 90's. Anyway I have a customer that has an 83 Vanagon and he wants to fix it for his kid so he can take it out of state for college. The van runs but has a lack of power and fouls a plug on one of the cylinders plus it's been sitting a bit. He did jump it and ran it up/down the block pretty recent so it's probably going to need work but it's not a complete resurrection.
He's pretty convinced he wants a new engine installed. Reman. engine whatever. I've never worked on this model so I'm not sure where to even go. Saw several online but not sure what companies are good or not. He also would like it to go a little bit faster. He was talking about a fuel injection back to carb swap. I'd rather just swap a reman engine in and address any other needs at the same time and keep the fuel injection. Where the kid is taking it it's almost sea level and we at at 3800-3900 ft. Doesn't make sense to me to change to carb.
I'm also going to have to check over the rest of the van and address the brakes, etc.. Basically make the van road worthy. He also mentioned trying to get the camping stuff going like the fridge, battery for the accessories.


From my limited research it looks like you can swap in a bigger engine like a 2.1L?

Any ideas before I start this adventure?

[Zeitgeist 13]

A 2.1 WBX would be a nice bump up in power. Since you've worked on newer VWs, then perhaps an upgrade to an ABA inline engine from a Mk3 Golf/Jetta would also fit the bill. Both of those are probably the value leaders for engine upgrades, and given that the rest of the van will need attention, they make a lot of sense from a budget perspective.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Wildthings]

An 83 model is a different animal from an 83 1/2 model. The first is aircooled and the second is water cooled. Which one do you have?

[danfromsyr]

for shops I'll toss out HEadflow masters as a top tier shop.
http://www.headflowmasters.com/vw-longblocks.html

stay away from GEX
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[metropoj]

If it is an air cooled and owner wants to go to a single weber progressive carb, I don't suggest it.

Based on many years of Type II with Type IV boxer motors (EFI and carbed), the carb intake runners are too far away from the heads and cause all kinds of issues with poor throttle response. They drive horribly, ice up very easily in cold weather.

Easier than fuel injection, well, maybe. But, it will never run right.
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John.
86 TiiCo powered Westy.

[the joker]

there are heated manifolds and factory single carbs
Factory installed , find one

my 84 has a factory carb set up on run it on a 2.1 l wasser,


how do you know the eng shot. low compression , low oil pressure ?

[gravygrabber]

It's definitely injected with some early Bosch setup. I assumed it was watercooled. Did they come injected with air cooled engines?

What's wrong with GEX btw? Seems like good prices. I don't know if this customer will pony up 4K with a reman on this one but the GEX price seems reasonable.

[Wildthings]

[chrissev2]

"I assumed it was watercooled. Did they come injected with air cooled engines?"

It's a VW. Never assume anything. Yes they came air cooled. You can tell the difference easily by looking at the front. Air cooled has no lower front grille. Water cooled does.

Here's some pics of a 1981 air cooled: http://momentcar.com/volkswagen/1981/volkswagen-vanagon/

There is little point in trying to convert an air cooled Vanagon to water.

Also if it is an 83 and it is water cooled likely the cooling pipes will be leaking unless they have been replaced as the 83s used the metal pipes and they will be 34 years old.
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1986 westfalia auto 1.9TD
2023 VW Atlas 3.6 VR6 Highline
2019 Golf Wagon 4 motion
1978 Volkswagen super beetle convertible
1992 Eurovan 2.5 5spd westfalia

[the joker]

stay clear of waterboxer inc they are scumbags

[david2676]

call Adrian at head flow masters ... I am sure he will build you a motor that is enough...
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64 bug
91 Vanagon/ Subaru swap Westfalia

[Zeitgeist 13]

Make sure the rods are hand-planked. Attention to detail counts.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[dobryan]

[gravygrabber]

Appreciate the replies. Need something already built and ready to throw in I'm afraid. Need to get it done before end of July. Hoping there is company that has a reman. ready to ship and it will be as painless as possible. I already have a Porsche 911 I have to do soon and I only have one lift.

[gravygrabber]

Also just confirmed with pics from the owner it's definitely air cooled and fuel injected so that's probably a plus for me. Should be easier to get done less to worry about. Need a good engine supply company at this point to get one coming so I can start on it.

[Vanagon Nut]

what about an AVP ?

http://www.avp-worldwide.com/engines.htm

Looks like Busdepot.com (one of our excellent vendors) may also sell an AVP air cooled rebuilt:

http://www.busdepot.com/071100627
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[Wildthings]

You want good quality head work, headwork will make or break these engines. Good headwork and a mild cam upgrade and you should have an engine that will run well for many thousands of miles.

[gravygrabber]

Still looking

[Jeffrey Lee]

As Vanagon Nut mentioned, a good affordable option would be an AVP rebuilt. They’re a reputable rebuilder, and being in CA, can probably ship to you in Montana relatively quickly.

“All heads get new seats, guides, and new exhaust valves, reground on the intake valves. Then all heads are step cut to take the unleaded, lower quality fuel of today.”

You’d no doubt want to talk with them, but it looks like #630 is the engine you’d want.
http://www.avp-worldwide.com/engines.htm

Good luck!
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