1983 Vanagon Diesel

[Jltrogdon]

Hi all! New member here! Have opportunity to snag a 1983 Volkswagen Vanagon with a deisel engine. It has not run since around 1990. The engine was rebuilt around that time but it was never put back in the vehicle. Right now the engine is sitting in the back passenger area. Any thoughts? I'm open to any ideas or input! Thanks!!

[MidwestDrifter]

Welcome to the madness. The blue 2 tone color scheme is one of my favorites. In the USA I don't believe there were any 83 diesels imported (they stopped in 82?). I am not sure about Canada though.

Should be a fun restoration project. More photos please. After sitting that long its going to need a complete going through. All the rubber will likely be needing replacing, including the hoses and brake parts. A lot of work, but if you enjoy it?
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1982 Diesel Westy W/ ABA I4 hybrid (Sold)
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[Jltrogdon]

Well I don't have any other pics right now. It's actually a family vehicle and I'm getting it for .....FREE!! Lol though it won't be free in the end lol!! It's been so long that I'm not 100% sure that it's an 83.... But I do know that it's a deisel because I'm remember way back when having to make sure the gas station had deisel lol!! I'm hoping to go pick it up 4th of July weekend and I can post more pics then!! If anyone has any experience with these, I'm all ears!!!

[?Waldo?]

There were '83 diesel vanagons imported into the US. I own one of them and have worked on several others. The nicer things about the '83 over the '82 are that they all came with the 5-speed trans, updated cooling system, better dipstick/oil filler setup, improved electrical (coolant level sensor/glow plugs), etc...

Definitely snag it up for FREE!!! I'd recommend ditching the stock non-turbo 1.6 and taking the opportunity to upgrade.

[MidwestDrifter]

[campism]

Congrats! I found an '82 diesel for cheap but it was too much trouble for what it was. I would have gone for it had it been an '83 because of the 5-speed and the improved carrier bars and other pieces that would have been more desirable for the swap to a VW I-4 gasser engine.
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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[Gnarlodious]

Just to let you know that at the time this van was made the speed limit in the USA was a mere 55MPH, so getting to go any faster than that is a strain.

If you do buy any parts on the Samba classifieds or anywhere else just be aware that the ’83 diesel had many parts that were not interchangeable with ’82. So don’t waste your money thinking all diesel parts will fit.

Also, be skeptical that the engine was really rebuilt. More likely someone honed the cylinders and put new rings in it. If that is your “rebuild” then you can expect maybe 20k miles out of the engine. And it may have been done in a backyard shop, these engines are rather weak already so it may spring leaks or have other major failures. Be ready for anything.

Otherwise the diesel Vanagon is a great invention and extremely economical. I’ve been driving one for 16 years and it has never left me stranded.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[Jltrogdon]

I do like the thought of keeping the original deisel engine even though she's a slow poke:) it just depends on its condition. How hard is it to find parts on that baby? I have read that a lot of the 82 and 83 parts are NOT interchangeable....I can't wait to get my hands on it!!!

[danfromsyr]

the good thing is in FL there's no hills. much less mtns... so keep off the highways. and it'll do just fine..

though I wouldn't count on any of the engines in these images.
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[Abscate]

My 1983 Vanagon diesel 5 speed ran at 60 mph all day long.

Great car and 30 mpg and heat in winter
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.ssS!

[Gnarlodious]

Engine parts are plentiful, as the same engine was put into Rabbits, Quantums, and Caddys (pickup truck). Parts peculiar to the Vanagon can be impossible to find, such as an air intake rubber tube and a certain eccentric coolant hose.

The pressure tank is a weak point due to its hanging awkwardly from a wedge mount which causes the tank to crack. You will probably never find an original replacment so best to fabricate a gentler mount for it before it breaks.

The box under the stickshift need attention lest it degrade and ruin parts that are hard to fix and impossible to find, the assembly is only found on ’83 diesel.

If you ever take apart the instrument cluster be EXTREMELY careful not to break off the corners holding the screws. Recommended to reinforce the corners before disassembly, I believe the plastic used is styrene. Also the mylar circuit board is extremely delicate and prone to breakage.

I would also recommend changing the rigid black braided rubber hose that curves down into the clutch master cylinder. A more modern flexible hose can prevent a major fluid spillage that will ruin your sub floor mat.

You should also check the tightness of the shift lever that goes into the transmission with a 13mm socket. If it ever vibrates loose bad things can happen.

Can’t think of anything else.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[?Waldo?]

Updating the pressure tank to the WBX version is easy. Rather than fabricating a new mount for an old pressure tank that is NLA, I'd just make one for the WBX tank.

All of the diesel hoses are available new from Germany - a complete new set is 150 euros. Silicone replacements are available in the US.

[Abscate]

Still miss my white on blue 1983.....

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.ssS!

[Jltrogdon]

Well I have an update....the van is in fact an 82....NOT an 83.... Does that change anything? Should I still go for it? I'm going to lol:) any other advice?

[?Waldo?]

You should still get it for free, but IMO the '83 is more desirable for all the reasons I mentioned before.

[epowell]

I would go for it in a second, in fact I am looking for exactly that (although just now thanks to Andrew, realizing that an 83 is a better choice). My hope is to find a van like that, with a 1.6na D., and put a turbo on it.

From what I heard, the only really terrible thing about non-turbo diesel engines, is that they do not burn fuel efficiently in the mountains where the natural air pressure is not enough to get enough air into the engine... so what I would do (meaning, the simplest and CHEAPEST way) would be to put a turbo onto the NA engine but make sure to only set it to a tiny amount of boost and fueling because the NA engine lacks piston cooling jets.

Anyhow, I am pretty much a newby to this stuff but I also have an '82 diesel (turbo JX engine) and I just spent the last 6 months with my hands VERY dirty going thru in detail many many many of the fundamental basic things - and thanks to the amazingly knowledgable and generous dudes here, my van is now running great. I would highly recommend taking note of this thread - it is HUGE, but on the first page I put in an index pointing to page numbers of various main topics.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=640611&highlight=

Good luck!
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