Club 80-90 Forums

OK this may be completly mad and not possible, or even just plain stupid thinking However i'm going to ask all the same.

Is is possible to swap a leaky watercooled 1.9DG engine with a 2Lt Aircooled one? Is this sheer madness?

My feelings are there is less to go wrong But would it be slower and thirstier?

Is it a big job and do i need a new gearbox?

You may want to shoot me down and tell me not to be so stupid!

Do it!!!!!

Aircooled sooooo much nicer than water....... all that stuff you don't need.

new gear box - probably as they are alot stronger than water cooled apparently. Have a couple spare if you need one.

oh - I'm totally nuts, and prefer Aircooled. at least you'll go down in flames with at least one other!!

as for how easy...should imagine you could leave all the water stuff in there if you wanted....just don't need to connect it!!! Existing engine and gear box out, new one in...reconnect the water....oh you won't need to do that!!!!!!


could at the worst be a temp fix until you find a decent w/c....

Emma

Thanks Emma,

Must admit it is tempting, but what about the heater and dash controls?

Would hate to think the heating would end up as per my beetle

Must be going soft.

Food for thought, i'll keep a look out for engines and if an Aircooled surfaces at the right price it may be tempting

was thinking about this myself just in case i need an engine in the future, my 2.1 DJ has an auto box which I've heard is comparable to a 2litre Aircooled for mpg 17-18 mpg . Aircooled and auto box????????????????? would hate to think what the mpg would be. They are quite a bit slower as well.

i love me Aircooled, vry simple and functional. the heater would be a problem tho but you could fit a propex gas heater behind the grill where the current radiator is and just pipe it into your heater inlet.
mine does around 25mpg and is plenty quick enough fer me.
good luck whichever way you decide to go.

*looking nervously over shoulder.....*

where are them that think this is madness.....


oh - i hear the laughing in the distance.!!!

Emma

Having come from a bay window and split background the only downside I can see is mpg. If you can live with <20mpg then go for it...a lot less to go wrong!

if your really thinking about it then speak to Geoff , (grumpymidget) cos he's going A/C to TDiesel so would have all the A/C stuff

No. I think its a fair enough idea, if youve got your hands on a reasonable ac, If you were going the other way then it would be a lot more work, heater ? yep propex, why not
Mike

getting all the AC stuff is a prob, decent AC engines are few and far between, plus the parts are harder to source. keep it stock I recon get another 1.9 VW still sell them (for now but probably not for much longer!)

A/C = Simple? You crazy ? They are a bleedin nightmare to work on ! They cost a small fortune to rebuild ( but piston and barrels are amazingly cheap) and by the time you remove the tinware just to get to the block is a whole days work alone. Weld up all the rotton tinware, drill and tap all the broken M6 screws, clean all that gunge out with parrafine, shot blast and paint everything - Ohhhh I still have nightmares, and no matter how good a job you do they still blow at the head gasket first time and need to be pulled out again, they leak oil from everywhere.

Yep they sound great and I still love em & yes I'd have another.

But Man I'd rather have a Diesel.

will you not need new heat exchangers and exhaust, are these twin port engines with balanced carbs?, I get 30mpg out of the 1.9 DF W/C on a run.

I do think the air cooled engines sound much nicer though, what about all the congestion and global warming will you only be travelling at night

Convert it to a 1.6d. They are excellent. You never ever get stuck in traffic and the road ahead is always clear. Even tractors get away from me.

Just remove rear view mirrors.

Thanks for all the information. It is not sounding like a quick fix as there seems a fair bit to do

I had thought about diesel but would ideally like a flat 4! However, never say never I asume engine mounts are different?

I suspect that a w/c replacement will be the way in the end. Is there major differences in engine codes - DG, DF etc. Mine is currently a 1.9 DG

Thanks once again,

Nick

Is there major differences in engine codes - DG, DF etc. Mine is currently a 1.9 DG

please reference the 1.6td post from SplendiferousII if you are considering a DF engine like mine. they are very low powered compared to the DG, although I understand the only differences are the carb and inlet manifold. stick to the DG engine there are lots more of those about anyway.

+ if you get another DG engine you can keep the old one for spares.