Is this engine straightforward for me to work on?

[DoctorP]

I have (or will have) a 1973 bus with a Type IV engine (pictured below). I know very little about engine repair. If I want to learn how to work on my own engine, should I replace this one with a Type I 1600? That seems to be the one pictured in the Muir book.

I have the Muir and Bentley manuals.

Thanks

DP

2013-04-109517-10-1195766 by fpearl, on Flickr

[Red Fau Veh]

That is a good motor, check the compression and if it is useable roll the machine as is! You can make the bus a driver easy if that engine has some compression, a type 1 swap is not necessary imo, and it isn't correct for that bus unless you get the euro style tin to fit one in there.
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1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

[Randy in Maine]

Keep what you have for now. They all work about the same but a type 4 is considerably more robust internally and was needed to push a heavy bus down the road (which is why they came that way).

Do you have the green Bentley manual for the buses?

Someone replaced the factory dual carbs with a Weber progressive, so that is something that you will need to keep in mind.

[guitarman63mm]

This is a point of contention for many people on here, but my two cents is that the type 1 is cheaper to learn on, and less expensive to repair if it fails. The type 4 heads have a habit of failing, according to many threads on here, and to get a good set of heads, you'll need to set aside $1k alone. In contrast, you can rebuild the entire low end of a type 1 for the same price.

That being said, in terms of power and such, the type 4 is superior and requires less maintenance, but when it does fail, you're looking at a lot of money. A lot of it. There are also quirks to a type 4 that the type 1 doesn't have, but the fact is that you have a type 4, so unless it's literally destroyed, you may as well work with it and keep it in there.
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Jimmy

- 1974 Safaré Custom Camper. 091 trans + Dual Weber 34 ICTs + Pertronix SVDA + 1.7L 914 T4 engine.

[Wildthings]

For the amount of effort to properly install a T1 engine in a late bus, you could maintain the T4 for years.

[MidWesty79]

Agreed with everything above. The type 4 is great, and if that one checks out, keep on rolling. Oh! And if that bus runs for crap, don't blame the engine right away. That progressive perched atop that engine really likes it when you swear, scream, and throw things. It is horrible. I've been down that road and my friend who bought my '77 with a progressive off of me last year is still entertaining that carb with rants and hysterical cursing to this very day. (He will be going dual carb or returning the bus to FI eventually... hopefully...)

In short... if you're going to swap something out... start with that carb!!!
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1979 Westfalia, 1975 BMW 2002, 1996 Mazda Miata, 1979 Jeep CJ5, 2006 325 XI Wagon, 2021 M240i (all manual transmission... as god intended.)

[SGKent]

[Red Fau Veh]

He was asking if he should swap the type 4 for a type 1 if and when he gets that bus. I say it looks good don't swap it. But I agree that a type 1 engine in a 71 bus would be better for a person to learn on as far as refreshing a motor. The 71 is the only year with a dual port type 1 engine, did earlier vw's have dual port type 1's?
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1971 Deluxe Sunroof Bay 1905 stroker, dual idf40's, 74mm Scat forged crank, engle 110 cam. CB 044 heads, AutoCraft rockers, chromoly push rods
1973 Orange transporter stock type 4 with dual 40 Dellortos and Empi single quiet pack
1969 Adventurewagen blue whale Gene Berg 1776 built by Dave Kawell dual 36 DRLA's, Vintage Speed exhaust, Bosch 019 screamer
1961 Swivel Seat camper, L345 grey

[SGKent]

[busdaddy]

[chazz79]

I think the t4 is simpler and better laid out for a newb to understand. There are many hanging points to putting a t1 together. Push rod tubes and lifter replacement got 100x easier. head access and tin remival about equally crappy, but who doesn't love the spin on oil filter...yes t1's are only prefered because they're familiar and cheap

T4 is superior in every way to the t1 (other than parts cost)

T5 is superior to T4 for similar reasons.

it's called evolution.

I can only wonder what would've happened if vw stayed in the flat four bussiness.
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One day as a lion, or a lifetime as lamb

The green monster in bits and peices: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=332556&highlight=green+monster

[bigbore]

People seem to over look the fact that not everybody can be a mechanic even a basic one none of us know this person skill level or ability to "get it" if you want to call it that. I get tiered of seeing on here oh just get a Bentley and you will become a great mechanic well not everybody can do it. Sorry Iam done now its been a LONG WINTER up here it snowed ANOTHER foot and half last weekend and now its 0 outside ok so DoctorP what is your skill level? do you have a set of tools?
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where its cold and snowy

[dasdachshund]

[Wildthings]

[Red Fau Veh]

[busdaddy]

[Joeys1969]

[busdaddy]

[DoctorP]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'll leave the engine where it is. It sounds like the IV may be slightly harder to learn on but I am brave.

It sounds like I may want to deal with the carburetor first so long as the engine is otherwise in good shape. I heard that this engine had a fuel injector on it before that Progressive, but I'm not certain that's true. This is probably worthy of a whole different thread, but any suggestions on what to replace it with? If I get it back to original specification, what would that be? (And where can I find that kind of info in the future)

DP

P.S. Randy, I have the green Bently manual also; been reading it all evening!

[Joeys1969]