My 81 aircooled to ABA swap.

[VWinVT]

[VWinVT]

Here are some 'finished product' pics...

Ground level view

Here you can see that the low spot is 7.5 inches above the ground. The oil pan is 8 inches above the ground. The transmission is 7.25 inches above the ground. My wife's Jetta Sportwagen is a smidge over 5 inches above the ground.

Passenger side view. Not sure if you can see but the muffler bracket just barely clears the carrier bars...same scenario in the drivers side. This mismatched result of me using the 83+ rubber motor mounts. The carry the motor 1 inch higher than the smaller 82 mounts...this also raised the muffler/exhaust 1 inch...it results in a mild vibrating clank every now and again

My favorite part of the swap...NO ENGINE BUMP IN THE BED!

The engine compartment. Air intake runs along the rear wall and gets fresh air via the port the aircooled alternator used to make heat. I accordions the wiring along the drivers side wall, as it was all in good shape and I didn't want to risk messing up a fully sorted harness. The ECU is mounted under the wardrobe cabinet outside of the engine bay, not sure u can see it in this pic.

I did not take a pic, but my second favorite part is the original, unmolested aircooled vanagon front end. I installed a colder thermostat. The motor runs happily at +/- 192*. The fan runs on low. I think this setup will work just fine, as any temps under 210* are OK.
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1981 Westfalia with a 2001 Cabrio ABA

Small wheel turns by the firing rod,
Big wheel turns by the grace of God.
Every time that wheel turns 'round,
You're bound to cover just a little more ground.

[Zeitgeist 13]

Really nice work. You should be proud of what you've accomplished here.

[VWinVT]

[xoo00oox]

Yea, really nice job you've done here. Enjoy it.

[Vanagon Nut]

I now feel like a "hack" ! LOL.

Nice. And I like the "bolt up" exhaust. I bet you'll run that exhaust for some time.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[VWinVT]

[Dub Misfits]

Looks really nice!! I can't wait to get mine running, so I can actually drive it for once.
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If you need some interior work done, go check out http://www.kdicustoms.com/

[VWinVT]

I have been driving the van as my daily driver all week. Everything is working well and I a quite happy.
I noticed the exhaust sounding a bit loud this afternoon will driving to town after school. When I got home, i discovered the nuts holding the downpipe to the exhaust header had backed off a fair amount. I had them torqued properly. I retorqued and used some blue loctite...which only has a 300* tolerance, so I expect it to be a short lived solution.
What do folks suggest, hi temp loctite, lock washers? Is this a common occurrence with the deiesel style exhaust?
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1981 Westfalia with a 2001 Cabrio ABA

Small wheel turns by the firing rod,
Big wheel turns by the grace of God.
Every time that wheel turns 'round,
You're bound to cover just a little more ground.

[tristessa]

[VWinVT]

[tristessa]

Stainless tends to gall with the heat. Regular steel with a smear of anti-seize is all I've used for years and never an issue .. but I'm in Oregon. While we have more rust issues than our neighbors to the south in California, it's nowhere near what I've seen on cars coming from places east of the continental divide.

[VWinVT]

I was able to find some brass lock washers locally. Nice and snug ft now. Now just to finish up clearancing/trimming the muffler brackets so it doesn't clatter against the engine carrier bar. One more trim should do it.
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1981 Westfalia with a 2001 Cabrio ABA

Small wheel turns by the firing rod,
Big wheel turns by the grace of God.
Every time that wheel turns 'round,
You're bound to cover just a little more ground.

[danfromsyr]

Bump, a couple more weeks and hows the swap been?
taken it onto the highway yet? I found ~72mph was the sweet spot on my old 1.8l digifant.

and yes exhaust nuts can be a chore to keep on till something just stays put.

[VWinVT]

[danfromsyr]

the motor will be A ok at and above 4k rpms for hours on end.. that I can personally assure you.
in fact it's better to have alittle revs vs lugging the motor (most any VW motor don't like lugging rpms)

I'm not sure a (stiffer) urethane trans mount will return less vibration.
it took a buncha work to get my shift linkages buzz/rattle free after each and every joint and surface was brought back to new.


I do understand the lose of the flat 4 Ooorrrrumph.. noise..
but while these are a toy/hobby car, it's imperative to travel farther and with better power & economy.

hows this sound to you Pre-swap.

how about I can improve your MPG up to ~22mpg
while increasing your cruising speeds up hills/mtns & interstates to 65-70 comfortably (ok some 55-60mph mtns)
and providing you in cabin heat that can drive out a chihuahua (insulate the heater supply hose w/pipe insulation)
upgrade your engine management electronics by 15yrs

and for that you lose that original flat four exhaust note (you can always drill a 1/2" hole pre muffler)

only cost you a couple months time and <$3ooo (rebuilt T-IV is >$3ooo)

yeah I'm surprised there aren't more of these out there.
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[rogertj]

[rogertj]

Andrew just found it online thanks anyways my brother
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Roger
Had a Carbureted ABA after engoing the heck out of it now going for ABA 2.0 Jetta EFI ill put a garrett in to the tin can later or maybe go electric?
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[Vanagon Nut]

To help confirm you found the correct diagrams....

OBD1 diagrams should show an N71 (IAC) idle control valve and J16 power supply relay.

Neil.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[rogertj]