Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all i currently get 20 mpg from my 2.0 cu Aircooled engine.Wich is normal as far as i know.
But realy want to do some longer trips so with fuel cost i was thinking of buying a passat and robbing the engine from that.
Not sure if its possible but could i use my cu gearbox
Or do i need to do the ultimate engineering upside down passat box?

I know a lad who recently fitted a Golf Gti engine to an Aircooled van and he's really happy with it, uses the standard gearbox.

Why Diesel specifically?

The reason for diesel is fuel economy
Id be doing the conversion myself and the passat engine is far more modern design than a jx or the mk3 gti engine
Im not bothered about power as im quite happy to plod along enjoying the views but if i decide to go to south of france or even Scotland it would be nice to not have to stop every 250 miles to fill up

If i was to go with the gti engine what parts would i need to collect apart from
Engine ,diesel bellhousing ,diesel sump,
Exhaust,diesel engine mounts,radiator, heater ,heater controls waterpipes,?

Wiring loom from 'Elvis' on here, as I'm sure you're aware the bottom half is basically the same.

As for heating, I know 2 people who have gone waterercooled from air-cooled (Gti and a Subaru) but neither managed to plumb the original heating system in.

There was a chap on here a couple of years ago with account 'DominoSteve' ( or something similar. )
He converted an air cooled van to Subaru Turbo.

I honestly can't recall whether he did the heating too, but I do recall the conversion to water cooled being quite a bit of work. 
He kept the VW gearbox though I think.

There is a part of me that thinks maybe just sell yours and purchase a converted van, although having spent a small fortune on mine and not following that advice myself, it's hard for me to stand behind it with conviction 

If mine wasnt in such good condition body and iterior wise i probably would just get 1 which was already done my engine is only 3 years old and only done 10000 miles max so should be able to sell that for nearly what id pay for the conversion as for heater thinking diesel heater that goes to the dash vent not to sure though yet leaning towards a gti engine at the minute ease of fittment realy