She's goin water cooled...'72 Westfalia

[Norman72]

Any updates? How has it been running?

[SauerKraut]

Like a top.

[tristessa]

If you put a heater under the dash, keep it low-ish near the floor and duct it to the defroster; the high point in the cooling system has to have a filler cap or air bleed.

Mine wound up with the heater core higher than the coolant reservoir in the back, and I had a b*tch of a time getting an air bubble out until I added a second reservoir inside the dash just under the glovebox. Tried just a bleeder and it didn't work out for me...

[SauerKraut]

I have a heater under the dash already, ducted into the existing factory vents with another vent that can be aimed or closed toward the back.

It was a pain to bleed, but pulling the hoses off during the pre-fill and then cracking them slightly once the system pressurized ended up working, it just took a while to do.
An air bleed valve would have been nice to have.

[bansheelos]

Awesome build man, I'm in the process of putting a vr into my 78 bus! A lot of helpful info in here!

[SauerKraut]

I considered the VR swap, but I was put off mainly by the thought of someone else driving and wrecking it.
Plus I feel I would have had to lower it, put some sticky rubber on it, and massive brakes to keep it safe.

But the 1.8 with a chip and cam already hauls. I can do 90 on the freeway all day if I want.


In the fall I'll start building an overbored ABA block, and ported/ polished/ valve job head. That should keep me satisfied for a while.

[rabbitnothopper]

wow nice

but now heres the kicker

how in the world are you going to do any maintenance to that sucker?!

its so engineered and clogged into the rear that there isnt any room or diagnosis zones


great job however and enjoy it

[SauerKraut]

Why you think that is confusing, assuming you've looked at the pictures.

But to answer your question, after a year of driving the piss out of it is: very easily.
All oil change areas, totally accessible.
All ignition areas, totally accessible.
All fuel areas, totally accessible.
Exhaust, head, intake, coolant...etc, you get the idea. Everything is accessible from either engine hatch.

10x easier than any work on a type 4, and actually access is even better than in a mk2 engine bay.

I swapped a cam into it in an hour. It actually has so much room and access that every time I look at it, it makes me think how well a turbo would fit in there.

[bansheelos]

I considered the VR swap, but I was put off mainly by the thought of someone else driving and wrecking it.
Plus I feel I would have had to lower it, put some sticky rubber on it, and massive brakes to keep it safe.

But the 1.8 with a chip and cam already hauls. I can do 90 on the freeway all day if I want.


In the fall I'll start building an overbored ABA block, and ported/ polished/ valve job head. That should keep me satisfied for a while.

Def gonna have to put all you said on it but I am prepared to do all that crap! lol What trans are you running to get that 90 mph lol

[SauerKraut]

Just your average 3-rib, whatever ratio combination was the spec for a 72. I haven't researched the code or anything.

[bansheelos]

Just your average 3-rib, whatever ratio combination was the spec for a 72. I haven't researched the code or anything.

I have a 3 rib in the bus rt now. Wondering if that will suffice? I've read that the 5 rib can handle up to 200hp. Was gonna just go w/ that one to be safe.

[air skooled]

I have a 3 rib in the bus rt now. Wondering if that will suffice? I've read that the 5 rib can handle up to 200hp. Was gonna just go w/ that one to be safe.

Possibly in a sandrail or a very light vehicle. A bus is very heavy and you will destroy
the trans very quickly if you abuse it. Drive it with respect and you won't have any problems.

[bansheelos]

Possibly in a sandrail or a very light vehicle. A bus is very heavy and you will destroy
the trans very quickly if you abuse it. Drive it with respect and you won't have any problems.

5 rib it is lol

[2L16VTurboForSale]

Wow, nice work on the swap!

Looks nice and clean.

I'm currently working on trying to finalize my swap, a 1987 jetta TD motor. Working on sorting out the accelerator cable and will attempt to better understand what you did on this one ... although, the TD accelerator is off the injection pump, so it might be even easier for me.... but nothing ever seems to go too smoothly on my swap )

Anyways, just wanted to say props for a good swap job.

[air skooled]

Thank you and good luck with the throttle cable.

[SauerKraut]

Here's a tip: go to your local bike store and buy 20' of shifter or brake cable housing. Then get the same or more in thin aircraft cable from a hardware or industrial store along with some swages.

[buggyman]

Wow, nice work on the swap!

Looks nice and clean.

I'm currently working on trying to finalize my swap, a 1987 jetta TD motor. Working on sorting out the accelerator cable and will attempt to better understand what you did on this one ... although, the TD accelerator is off the injection pump, so it might be even easier for me.... but nothing ever seems to go too smoothly on my swap )

Anyways, just wanted to say props for a good swap job.

Dayo 2L ,
Have you checked into either a Morse cable
http://www.chircoestore.com/catalog/...=15&image.y=10
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&gs_nf=1...w=1280&bih=806
or a Control Cables
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...OeaaiQLOnuG2Aw
solution?

[SauerKraut]

Things sort of just happened and I'm ending up with a fresh rebuilt head and a 2L block for it.

Its tempting to open it up with one of the CNC boring machines, but its a good block so why **** with it.

[KIDVersion 1]

I can't like this enough. Great progress.

I have one question: these 1.8 8v motors (espeically Digifant II) usually start to run crappy once it starts sucking in warmer air...hence why most people that put a cone filter on call them a warm air intake. Any plans for fresh air?

[SauerKraut]

It hasn't shown any signs of rough running when warmed up or when in traffic with the engine compartment soaking in the heat. But I did put on a sheetmetal enclosure around the filter and foam on the outside of that, but it ran fine even before that. It cut down on the intake noise somewhat, which is nice.

As soon as you start moving the engine bay gets a lot of air through-flow anyway, since the bus engine bay was designed for it.