Cold Air Feed

[AllenTheHat]

Has anyone attempted or even succeded to add an additional cold air feed to their camper?
I dont include drafts from rusty holes in bodywork in this thread.

[CovKid]

Don't need em. Got opening quarterlights which I just flip round to catch the wasps.

[garyd]

depending on the age of the T25, the air vents on the ends of the dash (that play air onto the outside knee) will provide either heated or coll air. As far as I know, all the heaters have the moulding for both the hot and cool outlets but the unused ones are blanked off.

Access is difficult but it would be possible to change the hoses for these vents over from heated to cool if that was felt desirable.

Garyd

[AllenTheHat]

Sorry, I was thinking an additional cold air feed being fed to the carbs so heat soak from the engine does not come into play.

[CovKid]

Additional oil cooler is the answer (whether watercooled or Aircooled), not more air, and only if the engine does actually overheat. Bear in mind engines run at their best when up to operating temperature which is fairly hot. Making sure the seal around tinware and engine bay also helps reduce temperature - as does any heatshield fitted above exhaust. VW did all this stuff in the design/testing. Its only when you depart from the norm that you have to rethink things.

With your 2.0l, just make sure the seals around spark plug leads (tinware) are there or replaced. engine seal in place and you'll be fine. Its an efficient system considering its simplicity providing nothing is missing. The 2.0l is basically just a larger beetle engine with the cooling system flattened so it all fits in engine bay under the hatch. The longevity of the beetle lump is legendary. Its basic engine case design remains in the later 1.9 watercooled engines with exta cavities to force water through. The T25 is basically a beetle in a big dress

The drawback with the 2.0l is there are less of them and bits can be more expensive as a result (some parts now obsolete). However, the gearbox bell housing is identical to that found on a bug or type 2 and I once fitted a bored-up bug engine in a T25 crewcab where the engine lid is higher, with good results. You need the 1.6 Aircooled engine carrier and an adapter that bolts across oil cooler to get the fixing points. A flywheel change, hand-cut tinware and custom throttle cable completed it. The main advantage was cost of spares - half that of a 2.0l engine and much easier to work on. Its not possible in a regular T25 due to height restriction unless some kind of elevated box is fitted where hatch is. Would look kinda silly too.

In summary, if you're overheating, figure out why and if you really do want to improve cooling, fit an external oil cooler but its not worth it if there is nothing actually wrong with what you've got.

Hope that all helps.

[AllenTheHat]

Cool, thanks for the advice.