My son's wife is having an original (1970s vintage) VW Bus customized and rebuilt for her. My son is concerned about having the original 98hp engine in it, and has found out that a Porsche Type IV engine will fit. It's been suggested that this was a 914 engine. Does anyone know?
I've seen a few 3.2 conversions out there. That would be fun.
I just found Raby's - that would seem like a wonderful (and expensive?) way to go, but I don't think the time schedule will allow it. From a read of the RAT site (that I'm still doing), it appears that something like a 10-month period is required, and that amount of time isn't available. There must be other engine builders...
That is INSANE!!! What a blast!
ok - a buddy crammed a turbo carrera motor in one of those, and i thought that was nuts, but wow!
They offer kits, those motors are so simple to put together. They are about as basic as you can get..
That probably would be fun, but this can't turn into a "project". His wife needs to have a vehicle to drive, not to look at and wonder when it will be finished. I'm going to contact Raby and see if - contrary to everything he says - he has an engine available. The alternative is to take delivery of the van with the stock engine, see how good (or bad) it is, and then go the Raby route while at least having something to drive. There must be other builders, though...
Knew a guy in high school who put a 911 engine in a bug, the thing was pretty sweet. Someone once told me that the early VW's and Porsches shared the same engine blocks.
I'm beginning to feel like you-know-who. I'm sure there are lots of interesting and funny stories about what folks have done to various VWs, but...does anyone know of an engine builder besides Jack Raby?
Try google, I'm sure there is someone who rebuild VW engines close by to wherever the bus is going to be kept.
Not rocket science. Engines don't get much simpler.
you used to be able to buy hopped up crate motors in pretty much any size you wanted from a couple of different places - pretty bullet proof stuff too
Back when I was a kid I had a VW fan that we used to haul surfboards around California when we went on our surfing safaris. As was their habit the the number three exhaust valve failed due to the rather poor engine cooling typical of the model. We replaced with a 90 hp Porsche engine that we purchased at a salvage yard. Installed, along with an oil cooler and some improvements to the body work to promote better cooling we had a nice surf van that was actually capable of getting out of the way of it's own shadow.
A restored one similar to the one we had, complete with three period surfboards went for something like $70K in the Barrett-Jackson auto auctions last year. If only I had... Oh well.
There are a few options for Type 4 or Type 1 engines, such as SCAT. I had several old VW Bugs and a few 914's that were lightly modified and the best resource for aftermarket parts / crate motors could be found in any edition of Hot VW magazine. I was thumbing thru a new edition just a few days ago at a local Chapters. IIRC a lot of these businesses were on the West coast though. Try looking up Tangerine Racing
www.tangerineracing.com I believe they're in CT.
yeah - SCAT was one of the good ones - glad to hear they are still around
That has got to be one of the most amazing videos I've seen all year! OMG! The feeling of helplessness to see a VW van filling your rear view at that rate of closure, hell at ANY rate of closure for that matter, has got to be humbling. All I can say is WOW...............
I have a VW mechanic friend in Germany who is also crazy about VW vans. That's all he owns. He plucked an Audi 5 cylinder turbo diesel motor out of a wrecked vehicle and plugged it into one of his vans. After some chipping and tuning it was thoroughly scary to ride in but felt very competent going down the road. Solid in fact. Amazing torque! Fun on the autobahn that's for sure!
Thanks, Stewhatch - off to the newsstands shortly. I've taken a quick look at Tangerine Racing and will contact them. Maybe I'll open them up to a new line of business.
My first car was a 66 split window bus w/the 1500cc 53 horse engine. Man...the stories I could tell. I built it to a 1640cc and it was still slow but boy was it fun.
Her current ride is a Mini Cooper S - and she also uses (and enjoys) their G55. That's why there's concern that the bus being built for her may feel weak. We're trying to get the exact engine specs of the builder's current plan, but don't have them yet. The primary purpose of the bus will be for her to haul their bulldogs.