Tiico repair and smog in CA

[Irishcalifornian]

[quote="swissarmychainsaw"]

[Californio]

I've been a Tiico owner for 11 years now, and smogging it has never been an issue. I just take it to some "pass or don't pay" place in a sketchy neighborhood and go talk on my phone while they pass it. I have the little CARB sticker in there but do you think those guys care? So no, smog is easy.

It's not the manifold that breaks, it's the downpipe where it meets the flange. Not rocket science to fix, you just have to find a good welder, harder and harder in the unaffordable Bay Area. Or pull it and weld it yourself.

Another curious thing with the Tiico exhaust is that the heat from the downpipe will blow your driver side rear shock if you're not careful doing washboard. It sits about 2" away and there's not enough air passage for it to dissipate.

I've driven mine 220K miles, across the country several times, and spent a small fortune on FAS parts including rebuilt short block (...) and on and on.

One reason I decided against one of Stephan's 1.8t's is that they raise the bed area about 4 inches. I'd vote for the FAS Gen5 and probably take the drive back to Maine if I had that kind of money to put in it.

Get on the Tiico Google group and ask the same question, lots of smart people over there.

[pdm777]

I have a Tiico.
It has a CA BAR sticker, so no worries about smog.

- the vibrations were -eventually- found to be the AC+alternator mounting.
- Making a super strong secure mount for the AC compressor and alternator eliminated the vibrations. The Tiico OG alt mount is Mickey Mouse, you can see the vibrations if you rev the engine while watching the alternator.
- The exhaust was fixed by taking off the exhaust header, then having a knowledgable welder put down a THICK bead of strong weld. This cannot be done unless you take off the header. It's not that difficult.
- The high compression and extended rev range of the Tiico engine makes for much better hill climbing than the orig. wasserboxer. The Tiiico loves to rev, and between 4,000 and 6,000 rpm you have very adequate power. Don't LUG it !!!!!!
- Very easy to work on this engine, all parts are easy to access.

I wouldn't hestitate to own a Tiico, with a few mods, they are
far superior to the original engines.

BEST OF ALL, The Tiico is not $20,000 like the other conversions !!!!!!!!!!!

Now, if I can just get a simple turbo or supercharger at low boost to
help me when at 7,000 ft altitude, I would be in heaven.

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1990 Westy Full Camper

[MarkWard]

I see you have an automatic. How did you connect the throttle body to the transmission relay lever?
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