Early 1.9 to 2.1 conversion - stop me if I'm being stupid!

[CJH]

That's brilliant, thanks - I'll definitely keep this in mind when I get to building the 2.1 back up.

The oil cooler looks like a good job to get done anyway, even if the 2.1 eventually turns into one of those 'unfinished projects'
I just need to find a local source of the hose bits now. From that thread I linked to above it seems like it's a viable DIY job to make up the hoses with push-fits and hose clamps, but if I can specify the exact length I'm inclined to get hoses made up with crimp on fittings.

[CJH]

I picked up the oil cooler today. The brackets that came with it were bought from Busschmiede, and I found this photo of the installation in front of the radiator. Looks like a nice setup, so I think I'll go with this rather than trying to make a suitable mount for the vent channel in the engine bay. The only downside will be the extra cost of the longer hoses, oh and the extra litre of oil it'll take to fill 2 x 4.5m 1/2" hoses.

[ricicles]

Great thread, brings back memories of my rebuild. Keep going as it will be a lovely useable engine when done. Not sure if my rebuild thread is still on here if it is there may be some usefull info on that for you. Cheers Andy

[Ralf85]

I picked up the oil cooler today. The brackets that came with it were bought from Busschmiede, and I found this photo of the installation in front of the radiator. Looks like a nice setup, so I think I'll go with this rather than trying to make a suitable mount for the vent channel in the engine bay. The only downside will be the extra cost of the longer hoses, oh and the extra litre of oil it'll take to fill 2 x 4.5m 1/2" hoses.

Surely the problem with putting the oil cooler there is it blocks the radiator. That reduces it's ability to cool the coolant and will also push more heat into the rad thereby reducing it's ability to cool the engine causing your engine to overheat. Or have I missed something?

[Atomic]

It works fine there - the rad has such large cooling capacity and there is such good airflow that it is perfectly OK.

[CJH]

Surely the problem with putting the oil cooler there is it blocks the radiator. That reduces it's ability to cool the coolant and will also push more heat into the rad thereby reducing it's ability to cool the engine causing your engine to overheat. Or have I missed something?

I've wondered about that myself. My take on it is that since the oil cooler allows air to pass through it I'm actually increasing the cooling surface area, so the net effect should be a greater capacity to dump heat and therefore a drop in overall temperatures. Even if the air passing through the oil cooler reached the full temperature of the oil (it won't) I think it would still be cooler than the water in the radiator, so could still provide a cooling effect. Even if I'm wrong about that, any heat energy taken out of the oil is heat energy that the water doesn't have to carry away. So not only will I have a greater overall cooling capacity, but part of it will act directly on the oil, which is an important part of the water's job.

[CJH]

Great thread, brings back memories of my rebuild. Keep going as it will be a lovely useable engine when done. Not sure if my rebuild thread is still on here if it is there may be some usefull info on that for you. Cheers Andy

This one? Thanks - I'll enjoy reading through that.

[kevtherev]

I e-mailed tencentlife (Chris) from vanistan, he kindly replied to my enquiry.

Here's what he said...

The van moving forward creates a large low pressure cell behind, which induces airflow down the D-pillars, and their body inlets are shaped to aid this flow. Oil is heated primarily by rpm (not that sensitive to load) so cooling is needed while moving, not much while idling, unless it's low-gear low-speed offroading, where load and rpms are high but ground speed is low. That's when you need a fan, too. But above about 25 mph there is abundant cooling airflow down the D-pillars, especially if you remove the stock air intake venting to clear the pillar. Let the engine pull air from behind your cooler at the bottom of the pillar. It works, good for taking 20-25ºC off the top of any oil temp.

I agree all that extra pipework is unnecessary.

[shepster]

Why go to all this trouble when there must be plenty of 2.1's out there running perfectly ok with just the standard oil cooler on?

[kevtherev]

To quote Vanistan tencents web site shep, the relevant passage is highlighted

Sustained high rpms cause high engine oil temperatures, and Vanagons’ unusually-low gearing means engine rpms are high while cruising. Since oil pressure drops when oil temperature climbs, oil overtemperature is largely responsible for waterboxers' classic low oil pressure warnings. The factory oil-to-water heat exchanger added on 2.1 engines in 1986 is there to decrease warmup time in order to lower the overall emissions profile, and is incapable of controlling peak oil temperatures, despite being called an "oil cooler".





Chronically high oil temperature also degrades the oil, shortening it’s service life. Strong oil pressure can be maintained and lubricant life extended by keeping engine oil temperatures below about 230ºF/110ºC.

[CJH]

I agree all that extra pipework is unnecessary.

Kev - I wasn't for a minute doubting that the base of the D pillar is a good place for a cooler, and Chris' kits look like a really neat solution. It's just that I already have ready-made brackets to fit the cooler to the front, whereas to use the D pillar would require a fairly expensive mounting plate, or some fabrication skills to fit the matrix into a fiddly recess. The pipework would be shorter, and hence a bit cheaper (so I could offset that against a mounting plate I suppose) but the pipes to get to the front will be virtually out of sight and straightforward to run.

[CJH]

While I'm waiting to hear back from the local engine shop about the crank, cam, pistons, heads etc, I've been having a look at some of the bits I'll need for the reassembly. Pushrod tubes are surprisingly expensive. What are people's thoughts on the cheaper stainless tubes? VWHeritage have some that look similar to the original alloy tubes, but JK also have some that can apparently be fitted in situ. How does that work? Can they also be removed the same way too and reused?

Also, to my untrained eye, the ends of my pushrods look a bit worn, so if I need new ones, where's a good place to get them?

[ricicles]

Haa !! I reread it and have noticed how much I have not completed at about 95mph it does let a little puff of smoke out must be my rubbish crank breather

[CJH]

Yeah that was a good read - you must have become a dab hand at whipping your engine in and out. If it'll do 95mph I guess it's still going strong. Did you ever get it on a dyno? What would you say was the most worthwhile upgrade?

[CJH]

I've been looking at the pushrods from the 2.1, and they look a mess - some noticeably curved, worn tips, wear marks on the sides - BUT, I'm not sure how important any of that is. The underside of the adjuster screws in the rocker arms all look worn too, but again I don't know how important that is. Can I just straighten any curved pushrods, make sure the oilways are clear, and reuse them all? Given that they're hydraulic lifters, does a bit of wear on the pushrod tips and adjuster screws matter?

If I need to replace the pushrods, why is there such a variation in price? VW Heritage have these at £22 each (that's £176 for the set), whereas Aircooled.net have a whole lot of different ones, with their cheapest set being $39 (£24.50 for the set, plus tax, shipping etc). Those Aircooled.net ones come in a variety of different lengths - the closest to the 272mm of my existing ones is their 10.65" set, which I think are 1.5mm too short, but am I right that I can just wind the adjuster screws in by 1.5mm to take that up? Is there something different about pushrods for Aircooled engines (like the oilway down the middle, the profile of the tips etc)?

And what about pushrod tubes? How come VW Heritage want £35.50 each and Brickwerks want £20.70 each for telescopic tubes, while Aircooled.net have a variety of different ones between $60 and $75 for a set of 8? Will they fit a WBX, given that they're apparently aimed at air cooled engines?