Help Me Pick My New Engine

[Abscate]

[vwwestyman]

There's a few electric cars running around Manhattan, KS. There are a few Teslas and at least one or two VW ID4s running around, and I saw one of those weird new electric Mustangs this morning. (Sidenote, I don't really know why they called that a Mustang. Other than the shape of the tail lights, I don't see a Mustang with that thing. Should have either called it something else, or built an actual electric Mustang. I decided this morning that was a dumb board room committee decision.)

I'm intrigued by the electric option as a thought exercise. But I also want this Bus to be a long road trip vehicle and at this point I don't think there are electric options that fit that well. The Green Bus is more of a commuter Bus for me, so it could potentially be an option at some point, but I'm nowhere near ready to make that leap.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[Xevin]

Should have called it “Pinto”
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Keep on Busin'

[TDCTDI]

[vwwestyman]

I always thought the Edsels were very pretty cars.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[Shonandb]

I thought the Chevy Volt could be a possible swap as you'd get 30-40 miles on the electric for commuting or driving around town doing errands but have the generator gasoline engine that would allow long distance travel (500+ miles with a reg VW gas tank).

The electric range could be extended (10-20 additional miles) with a full solar set up on the roof to charge/recharge the battery. Having a Bus/Westy with a 50-60 mile all electric range would be great and the gas engine/generator would solve the extended trip issue. A solar set up would top up the battery while camping so any short trips after you get to your destination would be all electric.

I believe it has good torque specs and is equivalent to 150hp, similar to a 2.2L Subi engine. Fitting the engine/generator and battery pack would be a challenge but that's a 1st world problem.

2nd generation Electric drive range: 53 miles [85 km], (149hp [111 kW] 294 lb-ft of torque [398 N-m])

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt
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76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image

[arminyack]

What is the cost of a Subaru swap? if your mating it to the 091 transaxle, don't you run into the same risk of blowing it up like with the TDI? i know subarugears manufactures the R&P + kit to change the direction of rotation, but the pricetag is eyewatering.
And if you do the 2.5 Subaru motor, wont you have to deal with the possible head gasket problem first?

Who was redoing your 091? having it blow up so many times in such a short period seems off. I remember in HS, guys were getting crazy power out of there Bug motors, and they weren't blowing up transaxles like that. I realize the 091 is a different animal...but it should be stronger.

[vwwestyman]

The first transmission blow up was somewhat anticipated (though I had hoped I'd have gotten more warning), it was the original and hadn't been touched besides maybe changing oil.

The second one was frustrating. It was regeared at that time, though nobody had done much research on updating things to make them stronger. It died at about 10,000 miles.

At that time, I spent a lot of time talking to "Gears" here on The Samba. In the mean time between the two transmissions, he'd developed straight-cut gears that are stronger, and someone (Weddle? I don't recall) had also developed the aluminum gear carrier. Those parts weren't available at first build.

He also discussed with me how the diesel engine just pounds the transmission more than gas engines. That pounding can be mitigated a bit by running higher RPMs, along with the newer, stronger parts. I chose a bit shorter gearing and went back to factory tire size to raise RPMs a little bit. He also talked about being extra sure not to lug the engine and wind it out a little more before shifting and all that.

So, this transmission should be much better suited for the TDI. And more than strong enough for a Subaru or other gasser engine. (Assuming the gearing works ok.)

Skills will probably tell you the head gasket issue is somewhat overblown. And it will be easy enough to put in a set of upgraded gaskets while it's sitting on the garage floor.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[TomWesty]

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Abscate]

Edisonell for the electric version.

Driveways are 60 miles long in Kansas, that range will be useless, and electric cars are for sad wankers. .
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.ssS!

[danfromsyr]

what no one says turbo subaru

but seriously a chipped 1.8t should mostly fit right in where the TDI was.
though the donors are getting harder to find 98-2005 model years.
a 98-99 AEB is a very easy wiring harness to pull/install drive by cable and no immobilizer only requires a ECU upgrade if you want more power.
a 99-01 ATW still doesn't have an immobilizer but is drive by wire
I don't know the AUG has an immobilizer or not
the AWM definitely has an immobilizer and requires an ECU flash/program.


AEB - 1998-May 1999 - Passat
- ATW - May 1999-May 2001 - Passat
- AUG - May 2001-late 2001 - Passat
- AWM - 2001.5-current (what is current?) Passat
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

the complexities of a turbo...subaru or otherwise don't really make a lot of sense imho. it's a fucking bus. they get squirrely at 80 no matter how much you try and dial them in,

unless you want to go with a AWIC which is a whole other challenge i just don't see the benefit.

still a lot of subaru donors here. i just got a call for one i could grab for 500 bux. i'd grab it but i have 2 vanagons and a bus i need to part out and crush before i turn the place into a junk yard.


AEB - 1998-May 1999 - Passat
- ATW - May 1999-May 2001 - Passat
- AUG - May 2001-late 2001 - Passat
- AWM - 2001.5-current (what is current?) Passat

good luck finding any of those cars here. they are ALL gone. people bounced from the longitudinal cars once they had issues.

other than my 01 A4 i haven't seen a B5 platform car out in the wild for years now. fuck, i don't even see any MK4's around here anymore either. however there are still a lot of krispy subarus that are prime for donors
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[TDCTDI]

[richparker]

Sounds like a lot of work. You gotta search and buy a suitable Subie, standard shift I believe. Then you got get it home, take it all apart, pull the engine and the wiring harness. Send off the harness, redo the engine (whatever that entails, timing belt, head gaskets, tuneup, reverse the intake, etc…)disassemble the bus, fabricate what ever you need, buy a mounting bar from Busaru, redo the fuel tank, exhaust and a ton of other shit I’m sure. And you gotta do all this with a career, new wife and a baby. Oy vey…

If you go the route of a donor car, at the end of the day it’ll still be a mystery motor like your last TDI. If it were me, I’d buy a new long block like Vee Dub Nut did and build that up with bolt on donor parts.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[TDCTDI]

[arminyack]

[vwwestyman]

The biggest reason I'd consider another TDI at this point, is that it (the Bus) is set up to go with that and it is a simple install.

One of the things I like when I see the Subaru conversions is the relative simplicity. A big example is the lack of nonsense related to the turbo, intercooling, etc. I attempted to utilize the factory intercooler from the donor Passat with a fan, blocking off from the engine compartment, etc and it just wasn't sufficient. Therefore, water to air. But that added significant and unanticipated complexity and *still* isn't totally right. One person says he had to double the intercoolers to get it to really work. I believe part of the difficulty is that with a TDI relies on more constant boost vs. a gas motor gets the boost more in spurts/acceleration and therefore the water is more able to cool down, etc.

All that to say, when I see the NA Subaru swaps, I really like how much more simple and clean the engine compartments look. I'm a bit jealous.

I sorted out my own wiring harness once, so I imagine I could do it again, but if I could really get one done for like $600, I might be willing to do that. It would very likely be much nicer than what I'd end up with.

I think I'm leaning toward the Subaru camp right now. But if a TDI engine came to me pretty easily, I would go ahead and install it first (and probably continue considering Subaru/saving for an eventual change/whatever while continuing to drive it with the TDI).

But first, I need to save some money for whatever goes in there. I also need to get my garage cleaned up/organized into a usable space, and I need to get the heater core in my Eurovan replaced so it will be ready for winter. Before I can even pull the motor out of this thing.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[Shonandb]