Club 80-90 Forums

Hi All,
As of a week ago I am the proud owner of a 1987 T25 Petrol.
I am a little confused as I have been reading the history of the T25 and I can not find anywhere a reference to the 1800cc inline 4 cylinder engine which is in my camper.
It looks like an Audi 80 engine fitted with K Jetronic (or similar ) fuel injection system.
I cant find anywhere a reference to this engine and I have no idea how good / bad or even any information on it.
All references point to Flat 4's in petrol or Inline 4 if it is a Diesel.
Has anyone else seen one of these in a 1987 T25 ?

Kind Regards
Martin

Welcome to the club..

Its been converted...

quite a few out there.. have a look on the "alternative engine forum"

In your opinion, is this a good conversion ?

I went into German and Swedish last week, gave them the reg. no. and they managed to pull all of the bits off the shelf for it.

I found this very suprising for a conversion unless I was very lucky.

It works quite well depending on who did it and what weight its hauling..

Does it go well?

Are you sure GSF gave you the right parts? DOnt know if there system can be tweaked for specific vehicles...

Parts for the general chassis etc will be the same as any other.. but oil/air filters etc are prob specific for the 1.8 engine...

Its hard to know, maybe post a pic or 2 of the engine bay..

Hi,
I will get some pics of it when I get home tonight.
The answer as to whether it goes well is - not really, but I didnt expect it to. I did 300 miles in it over the weekend and she averaged at around 28mpg. She sits very happy at 65mph and the temperature gauge sat just below the half way mark. The camper is a Holdsworth Villa 3 and there were 2 adults and 2 children with a load of camping gear.
I will get the engine codes later and see if we can find out what engine it actually is.
The plugs that came out of it were very similar to the ones that GSF gave me. I took out NGK quad electrode and put back in Bosch quad electrode of identical length and from my car spares days many years ago, they were both " 7 " on the heat rating which I know is close between Bosch and NGK. The Air Fliter they supplied is wrong, but the oil filter looks spot on.
As you look over the engine from the back, it slopes to the left and the injection pipes and injectors are below the rocker cover. The plugs face almost directly upward. The airbox sits directly behind the number plate and this connects via a long pipe large dia pipe round the engine bay.
The one thing that made me think she was a conversion before I came on here is that she starts to get hot very quickly when in traffic, almost as though the waterpump does not have the flow capacity for this size of system. As soon as I clear the traffic, the temp drops down below halfway within a minuite or so.

mart1971 wrote: The answer as to whether it goes well is - not really, but I didnt expect it to. I did 300 miles in it over the weekend and she averaged at around 28mpg. She sits very happy at 65mph and the temperature gauge sat just below the half way mark. .

That sound really good actually!!! ive got a subaru engine in mine and i get about 25-30mpg depending on how i drive it! From what yor saying about the engine it sounds like a gti ish converstion?

It does look a lot like an 8 valve golf GTI engine.

I have no idea what BHP those engines are. It still has the STD Transporter exhaust and I dont know whether that will hold the engine back from doing what it wants.

I will try to find a post in the "alternative engines " where this conversion has been used to see if it look similar to mine.

SOunds pretty fair to me... cant moan at 28mpg and 65mph

The oil fiter is prob a D one.. not sure if the same as a "golf" one...

The engine is essentially the same as the D versions fitted to the transporter, and thats prob what someone has done.. swapped out the D for the GTi...
You are right about the exhaust.. IIRC the D manifold has to be used to clear the chassis and that means its a bit restrictive.. Not sure what the solution is.. (seem to remember someone saying about using the TD manifold....)
Alt eng should throw up some info.. maybe the prev owner is a member!!!

I dont think the exhaust is going to be a major issue. When I am happy that this engine is going to last me a few years, there is a company within 2 miles of where I live called A44 exhaust shop and they will quite literally build an exhaust to fit and out of stainless if I ask them. That should last me a while.
When she is cold, she is a bit "Tappety " on the top end so I want to make sure the engine is OK before I spend a load getting a custom exhaust made for he.
Does anyone know what BHP a 1.8 GTI engine normally is ?

115 bhp

From memory the 8v GTI is 112bhp. If it is the GTi lump don't worry about the tappits, as soon as these engines pass about 80,000 miles they start ticking. It doesn't effect performance or cause any damage (oher than to your street cred as you tick past your mates). I've had a few MKII Golf GTis and they all ticked but still went like the clappers, one of them ticked for the whole 100,000 miles of my ownership and never had a problem. Cracking engines. You can even swap out the bottom end for the 2.0 from the MKIII Gti for even more poke!

Nick

Thanks for the advise,
I'll concentrate on getting this one to breath a bit better then and getting it set up properly.

As it was the first run out this weekend I didnt push her at all and I was very gentle on the throttle. I thought something was strange as it really did pull better when I revved it harder, but as I drive a diesel car in the week, I kept the revs down and pottered along not knowing that the engine had been converted. I have to say I was a little suprised when coming back up north up the M5 yesterday, just as I approached Bristol I expected to have to drop down into 3rd, but she pulled all the way up the hill at around 60mph without me having to floor it.
I might drop a K & N replacement element in the Air box in the next couple of days, get the exhaust done and change the cam belt (I presume there is a belt under the cover )

reg no. for her is D312 EEF if anyone has seen it or knows anything about it.

When I have confirmed exactly which engine, I'll let you know.

What suprises me is that who ever you baught it off didnt tell you that it had been modified?? Plus make sure that you insurance covers you for a modified vehicle dont want anything nasty to happen and you be out of pocket or owt!!

I bought it from a Motorhome Dealer but on a strictly trade basis. It had been in the corner of his yard for well over a year and had not turned a wheel. The MOT had expired and even though it had only done 3 miles since the last MOT. He was very honest about not knowing too much about it, but did say that he had not seen one with that engine in it before. The brake pipes had rotted away so I done those and it only failed the MOT on emmissions. I drained the tank and put some new fuel in it, unblocked the washer nozzels and it passed.
Cooker and fridge work fine so I think I have been very lucky. When I have determined exactly which engine is in there, I will have a chat with my insurers.

mart1971 wrote:Hi,
The camper is a Holdsworth Villa 3 and there were 2 adults and 2 children with a load of camping gear.

Ahhh - congratulations on buying one of the best conversions around - they are fantastic campers - and sounds like yours might actually have some poke!

Welcome to the club - feel free to ask me holdsworth questions!

Ringo