[Closed] vw camper engines

Where in the country are you based?

But personally after the death of my second recon, i can highly recommend an engine conversion.

hampshire,

what engine do you suggest? The scooby 2.0 boxer?

Scooby legacy 2.0l or seeing how cheap they are at the mo a legacy GT (2.5L twin turbo)

Either that or or a VAG diesel - the passat 1.8/2.0l is a popular conversion if you are after efficiently rather than performance.

There's nothing wrong with the standard T2 twin port. They need regular oil changes (3000 miles) but that's very cheap and then proper setting up of valve clearences and mixture every year. If the mixture is wrong, they over heat or coke up. I used to use Just Campers in Farnborough, but they have long since moved away. I believe they are still going though.

I rebuilt my own some years ago and they are very, very simple engines to maintain. People just don't bother and that's what kills them. Cheapo recons aren't worth it, mind, I spent nearly a grand on mine and that was about 12-14 years ago. That included NEW heads, pistons, barrels and heat exchangers though.
And whilst you're at it, go for at least 1641cc. I did this and got a noticeably better engine that did 2-3mpg more (Les revs needed!)
I didn't have the skill to get the mixture and valves spot on. £50 to get the job done every year was money well spent, but you need a good mechanic, not just one that thinks he is!

tempted by the 2,0i californian engine, as it pulls well, but I've heard they are a little mre fragile then the 1600. I am loking at importing a westy from the Netherlands withn no engine or gearbox

Oh yes!....

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1641s have thinner cylinder walls don't they? (ie the extra 41cc is produced by making the barrels thinner not by machining the engine out) Some people shy away from them because of that.

Peter's comment about the standard engine being reliable is spot on though. IMO this horrible trend of water cooled engine conversions is an affront to the design genuis of VW when it built the aircooled flat fours.

If you want a watercooler, buy one and stop messing with aircooleds. 😉

(That was all typed with my tongue in my cheek and a smile on my face)

🙂

2nd wot PP & vdubber67 say! I've had a german unleaded 1641 in my '67 split now for the last 9 years. Still as good as the day it was fitted! Serviced & maintained meticulously, and never thrashed! Look after your engine and it'll look after you!

That Alpha is surely wrong for a heavy vehicle?

Nice engine, but not in a camper, surely? You'd row it along on the gearstick!

Personally I got on really well with the 2.0 and 1.7 VAG aircooled "Type 4", they are really well put together (designed in the '60s not the '30s)and there's some great carb kits from Germany/USA that can make them fly. I had 4off 40 DCNFs on mine and it roared like a lion. There's a 1.8 too but I never got to play with one of those.

I Have a good friend of mine who lives and breaths vdub's !!..

if you need anything send me an email with your details i'll get him to call you (or text etc) and you can start discussions etc...

he is allways happy to work on vdub's, has his own various ones too..

i'd stick to the T2 or move into the T4 world, going down the conversion world just opens the door to moving the problems around to somthing else (like cooling etc)..

anyway the door is open for you if you want to go down the either repair or replace paths., area wise we are both in Berkshire but he does have his own recovery truck too if required..

one happy hippy - do you know if the passat engine will fit in a T25?

Our original 1.6 diesel has gone gone gone and we are debating buying another similar engine or swapping it out entirely. Not sure if buying a second hand engine just means buying someone else's problems!

If it's a Split Screen, get an IRS conversion kit, this will get rid of the reduction boxes that will limit your top speed no matter what engine you have. Bay windows don't have reduction boxes so it's not an issue.

In terms of engine size it really depends on what performance/fuel economy you want.

If you want it to accelerate fairly well and cruise comfortably at 70 ish then a 1776 would be the way to go, but make sure it's built by a good engine builder, the off the shelf engines never used to be that great.

I've been out of touch for a few years now so don't know who's building good engines but John Maher used to be the man. Buy a copy of Volksworld or ask around on the VW forums and you'll get some good advice.

Aircooled Flat fours are simple to work on and maintain and what T2's were designed to use.

i`ve always wanted to build myself a 1776 to go in an early bay ratty panel.

when i finally move into a house with a garage the bike will be parked for a while while i learn to weld and get oily.

dont get a volkspares engine. you have approximately a 1 in 3 chance of getting an ok engine from the people i know that have bought them. green engines, red engines, shite engines.

go to justkampers or vzi and ask on their forums for decent engine providers.

oh, if you are looking for a box also then if yo have a stock 1600 box then aim to get a 2L box as the ratios are better for cruising. yo get approx 5mph extra per gear.

you just need to swop the nosecone off the 1600 and lop an inch of the input shaft. its an easy job. 2L boxes are more expensive tho but i think its a good investment. i much preferd the driv of my van after fitting one.

Van Halen...

It's not early, but.... 😉
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