1986 Volkwagen Vanagon

[Tofuball]

Well, I'm just posting to say hello to everyone! Nice forum you have here. I bet you all think I'm posting in the wrong forum.

Especially with this ugly box\brick thingie I'm driving . . .



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Well, if we walk behind the van, open the trunk, and remove the engine cover, we'll see why I'm posting:



It's a 3.4L, with a nice towing cam and iron heads, plus Ford Alky injectors. Edelbrock headers into 2 Magnaflow 2.5 inch mufflers. The adapter plate for mating this engine to the VW/Porsche transaxle is made by KEP. When my friend had this same engine (Carburated) in his VW Van, he claims it destroyed many VW transmissions over the 10,000 miles of its life...



It's got a dizzy right now, but I'm planning to change over to an EDIS or better pickup with some spare RX-7 coils I've got. It uses a MegaSquirt II Extra ECU to control the fuel and spark. Cooling system parts are out of various RX-7s.




Very temporary setup, thrown together way too fast. That Fiero intake is quite restrictive, so I plan to fabricate another one with some nice runners and a REAL plenum and throttle.

I was going to boost the engine, but I think I'll have enough power once I put a better intake and ignition on there.

Just thought you guys might be interested to see a 60 degree out of it's home turf.

Thanks for this forum, it's quite informative.

Sorry about the pictures, taken with my cellphone.

[Tofuball]

Bonus pictures: When we originally put together the exhaust, we got a little carried away about where to put the X pipe . . .





(No, I didn't drive it anywhere like that)

[OldSkoolGP]

Is it just me, or was anyone else's initial thought to put a 10 foot wide wing on the back of those tailpipes and go fuul blown ricer with the thing?

Cool van, that's the 2nd coolest swap I've seen in a V Dub van next to a Porsche boxer engine in one.

[Tofuball]

Thanks for the compliment :P

Porsche boxer engines swap right in, thats too easy :P

I found a Subaru SVX (H6 engine) for my friend with a similar van. Thats going to be a bit of work . . .

The 3.4L engine here with the Fiero intake is too tall for the stock Vanagon engine cover to fit (it came with a ~70HP 4H (4 cyl "boxer" engine) so I made one out of MDF, with a "bump" for the intake and painted it with undercoating rubberizer.

At 70MPH, the pressure under the van is higher then the pressure inside the van (it is VERY high off the ground). Soooo the engine cover lifts up and blasts the passengers with engine heat unless I weigh it down.

I think I'll use hood pins to hold it down.


Is the LQ1 engine w/ manifolds taller then this setup, or just wider? I could deal with wider, I got enough room for an M90 supercharger on each side . . .


Maybe if I put the 10 foot wing on people will want to race me :P

[bszopi]

That is cool... And gives me more ideas about mid-engine or rear-engine franken-cars.

[geoffinbc]

Was the old engine an EFI engine? I am looking for a Type 4 engine with EFI for my Dune Buggy. Sick of icing and stalling carbs.

If you still have it let me know. Or let me know if you have any leads on one.

By the way that is a very nice swap. Where did you put the rad?

[Tofuball]

The 86 here came with the water cooled engine, so I just used the stock radiator at the front of the vehicle. It uses a three-way thermoswitch to control the three speed fan stock, so I just sent the pipes up there and it was all fine. The system takes around six gallons of coolant.

If you want the VW engine wiring harness and ECU, I've still got it. No engine though, sorry!

[ForcedFirebird]

Is the LQ1 engine w/ manifolds taller then this setup, or just wider? I could deal with wider, I got enough room for an M90 supercharger on each side . . .

Here's a comparison of the 3400 heads to the iron heads (minus the plenums).

(Click here for link)

Nice swap, I used to really be into aircooled VDubs and saw a smallblock swap that used the VW transaxle (in a Bug). He made a 1/2" plate out of aluminum with the two bolt patterns drilled/taped into it.

[Tofuball]

Thats basically what KEP provided, a 1/2 plate of aluminum with the two bolt patterns And a custom flywheel\stage 2 clutch.

Stock bus transmission is a 4 speed manual that really isn't so great. I bet if I drop the clutch in 1st or 2nd I'll mulch it. I have 3 Porsche transmissions I'm going to pick the best of and attempt installing.

Thanks for the picture, I cant see it because the site it's hosted at is probably blocked here at work. I'll check it out when I get home.

Worst case, if swapping to an LQ1 is just too much effort for the payoff, I might just settle with push rod aluminum heads/manifold. I still have a lot of research to do as to whats involved with that swap and what heads I should be looking for.

[bszopi]

Well, there is no picture there, so its not a host blocking issue...

[ForcedFirebird]

Well, there is no picture there, so its not a host blocking issue...

Sorry, I guess I forgot the link ;p

[Guest]

FF, "LQ1" is DOHC.

yes it's wider, and only mildly taller, about 1" or so than the genII/III pushrod engine. From what I remember of the hight of the iron head top end it should be very similar.

[Rhedalert]

Wow, that's a unique application!

[Tofuball]

FF, "LQ1" is DOHC.

yes it's wider, and only mildly taller, about 1" or so than the genII/III pushrod engine. From what I remember of the hight of the iron head top end it should be very similar.

Awesome. Hight was the major concern I had. The heads don't come near the engine cover, however the intake is what does.

These engines are all pretty tall for what they are

[86euro]

Very cool I also like the rear tube bumper (the actual bumper, not the x-pipe. Well, that's cool too).