Club 80-90 Forums

hi all

had some bad news my ac 16 engine is dead thinking of converting to water cooled wot the best engine and price to convert . i would like to drop a subaru in but money tight at mo any suggestions people ????????????????????????

your help would be great

imho, the answer is don't bother

The cost ain't worth the benefits. There is a lot to be said from nice simple air cooled, especially if on LPG for economy. A replacement air cooled motor is not that hard to find and is a heck of a lot cheaper solution. Put the "saved cash" towards an LPG conversion ! (and never have to worry about coolant leaks !)

And this from a 2 x wbx vans owner !

I seriously reckon I could be persuaded to "go air cooled" if I was to start over again....

it finding a replacement i have a 16 petrol in at mo and it died im stuck on wot to do ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

mark.bilsborough wrote:it finding a replacement i have a 16 petrol in at mo and it died im stuck on wot to do ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Post back when the beer has worn off

Most air cooled motors can be repaired quite easily and cheaply (unlike water cooled motors ) can you not get yours fixed ? Or you can get a re-con motor from the likes of Elite = here

Going from a/c to w/c will cost LOADS Especially if you are paying someone to do it, forget it !

Stick a 2000 cu in it, far far easier than converting to wasserboxer or Scooby.

Converting from ac to wc is a lot of work tbh. Air cooled engines are cheaper to maintain and less to go wrong and theres a lot more of them around - should be able to get yours sorted for sensible price unlike the costs of fixing a Wasser or going diesel.

Post up the probs with yours and Sarran will probably give you a step by step on how to fix it



MM

Mark are you back at Catterick yet?

There is a guy called Daz Chandler at Brompton Northallerton (Air Cooled Performance) whom maybe able to rebuild your motor for you. Failing that he might know of a one local for sale.

Mark

the bloke who got my van jim painter said he dropped the oil and there was metal fillings in the oil

mark, theres been a few 2 ltrs for sale recently ,be well well worth fitting one, and glad your back ok mate
mm

Yeah metal filings and some sizable chunks

mm289 wrote:Converting from ac to wc is a lot of work tbh. Air cooled engines are cheaper to maintain and less to go wrong and theres a lot more of them around - should be able to get yours sorted for sensible price unlike the costs of fixing a Wasser or going diesel.

MM

Does anybody go the other way? - I mean WC to AC - the reason I ask my 83 WC T25 looks like it has air ducting vents in the dors and back down the sills - Or Are they all like this?

DuaneEddy wrote:

mm289 wrote:Converting from ac to wc is a lot of work tbh. Air cooled engines are cheaper to maintain and less to go wrong and theres a lot more of them around - should be able to get yours sorted for sensible price unlike the costs of fixing a Wasser or going diesel.

MM

Does anybody go the other way? - I mean WC to AC - the reason I ask my 83 WC T25 looks like it has air ducting vents in the dors and back down the sills - Or Are they all like this?

They're all like that and those vents are nothing to do with the engine cooling.

The engine gets all it's cooling air through the rear vents.

As for fitting an Aircooled motor into a watercooled van, it should be a five minute job. The Aircooled motors are self-contained units, just need to hook-up power and fuel.

As for fitting an Aircooled motor into a watercooled van, it should be a five minute job. The Aircooled motors are self-contained units, just need to hook-up power and fuel.

yeah just like a porsche engine goes straight in


the fact that the cooling will not fit the sidewalls of the van there will be air gaps and the fan intake will not be correct , driveshafts / wiring / engine mounts / gearbox mounts / gearselector & possibly gearbox will also need to be changed

no gain from going to Aircooled ecept for maybe no other choice as there will be no heating and you will be carrying lots of extra weight unless you remove the cooling / heating systems

backwards step in mpg as well!

t25 / t3 vans may all look the same but there are considerable differences throughout the years

I best cancel my bid then!
I thought it was too good to be true

billy739 wrote:

As for fitting an Aircooled motor into a watercooled van, it should be a five minute job. The Aircooled motors are self-contained units, just need to hook-up power and fuel.

yeah just like a porsche engine goes straight in


the fact that the cooling will not fit the sidewalls of the van there will be air gaps and the fan intake will not be correct , driveshafts / wiring / engine mounts / gearbox mounts / gearselector & possibly gearbox will also need to be changed

no gain from going to Aircooled ecept for maybe no other choice as there will be no heating and you will be carrying lots of extra weight unless you remove the cooling / heating systems

backwards step in mpg as well!

t25 / t3 vans may all look the same but there are considerable differences throughout the years

Is there really that much difference? I must confess to never having seriously measured a watercooled engine bay, but I'm surprised if they changed it that much. CT and wasserboxers share essentially the same block, so there should be no issues with regard to mounting, obviously the gear ratios will be wrong, but the question was would it fit, not will it drive well

I'm not sure what you mean by "fan intake", engine or heating? Engine cooling fan wouldn't be a problem, it just sucks from the engine bay, no special intake, heater fan intake would indeed be missing, but we've already agreed that there wouldn't be any heating anyway.

I agree that trying to swap one for the other is probably a silly idea, but I'd be interested to see exactly what would be required to fit an Aircooled engine to a wasserboxer.