Club 80-90 Forums

Hi everyone,

I've got a big decision to make, and before I make it alone I thought I would share my dilemma with you all here:

I posted before about my starter motor problems but discovered today that that was just the tip of an iceberg. Unfortunately I have to own up to being one of those mugs who buys a van, thinking its in good condition only to find its actually in a very poor state indeed.

All four of my manifold studs are rotted or lost , the manifold itself has been botched and welded all over and is currently held in place with putty, the heat exchanges are done in and then there was something else about a back box and the tin work... so basically my very trusted mechanic is saying I need a complete new exhaust system OR we could just botch the engine further however i'm intending a very long holiday in her and would hate to have further problems in another country. A new exhaust system would cost around £800 he says without labour costs I would imagine. Even after fitting a new exhaust system, he wonders whether or not the 1.6 (pretty knackered) engine would be able to handle it, so another option would be to replace my 1.6L with a 2.0L after fitting a new exhaust, but again that would be about £1000 worth of work... other than that we could just work on the single problems with the van but she's really lacking welly (max speed 55 on the M25) and as my mech says shes just been treated so badly over the years that things really need replacing now.

Basically I was just wondering if anybody had any tips of any kind, I don't mind spending money on the beast, because i've fallen in love with her already after only a couple of months... however I don't want to spend all my money on a van that just isn't worth it and spend way more fixing her up than I could ever make back selling her on.

All advice welcome. thanks

thea

I would say that if the body is in good nick, then spend the money on a decent engine.
No point blowing a grand on something that is past it's best.
Good luck

The 1.6 air cooled was pretty useless when new 30 years ago... so it wont be better with age... upgradinjg with a good 2L (and box) is a much better option.. BUT as said.. thats prob only viable if the bodywork and rest of the camper is in good cond...

By the way, you are not the frst and you wont be the last either...

Now.. you need a complete 2L "CU" engine with tinware, dizzy etc etc ONLY from a T25 (the 1 year only bay window version does not fit without all the T25 parts) and "DK" gearbox...

and I hear getting your hands on an engine like that is pretty hard?

Hello,

I take it that your 1.6 engine is a CT.

If so welcome to an oppressed minority

I have in stock now enough bits to rebuild your CT, including the entire exhaust system.

This could be a cheaper interim solution. maybe. I would be interested in recovering the motor when you find a substitute, as I intend to have a spare motor ready to use on the shelf.

What are your time constraints.

Freight from France about 100 €, unfortunately you just missed the summer convoys!!

Cordialement,

A CT lump will only do 60 ish on the motorway anyway, push it much more and your finish your trip on a recovery truck.

Personally Ithink I would try to find a second hand CU engine and gearbox, but finding one in good condition and cheap will be hard

sarran1955 wrote:Hello,

I take it that your 1.6 engine is a CT.

If so welcome to an oppressed minority

Cordialement,

And welcome to the team. Can't believe people want to go faster than 55mph?!

Theres one on fleabay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-T25-type25-air ... arParts_SM

I have a spare T25 2.0l CU code engine. I may be selling soon as its surplus to requirements.

Buffy wrote:

sarran1955 wrote:Hello,

I take it that your 1.6 engine is a CT.

If so welcome to an oppressed minority

Cordialement,

And welcome to the team. Can't believe people want to go faster than 55mph?!

Ha ha Buffy! I am loving the slow pace of life behind my wheel... I even managed to overtake a hedge cutter the other day ... only complaint is the effort getting (or not getting) up hills

Paul, I would love you to keep me in the loop about this... how much would you want for it?

I'm having four new parts of the exhaust system re done, which over the years have just been abused and are welded to death... luckily we've salvaged the heat exchanges. So instead of over a grand we've managed to keep it down to £500ish...

Replacing the engine is something I would look to in the future, but I would need to do loads more research about other changes I'd have to make to the bus to facilitate the new 2.0L

Thanks for advice guys, its great knowing there is a community out there who understand the love of the T25 which in my case led to a rash decision, spending double what on what the bus was actually worth

1776 it... mine will do 70

I changed my mind after doing some more research and realised that spending money on an exhuast system for a 1.6 CT engine is a waste of money if i'm looking to replace the whole engine with a 2.0 CU in a few months... instead it probably makes loads more sense to just do the whole engine replacement thing now while the bus is off the road and in a very sorry state indeed.

After a long search and a few failed ebay bids, I'm still looking at buying a whole new Turnkey 2.0 CU engine which I can fit in my 1980 1.6 CT T25 devon...

I found this one: http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=661656 , but am yet to have a reply from the chap.

Does anybody have any tips on where else I can look for a CU engine?

Cheers

Having just done this kind of conversion here's a good tip to save time and money...
Put the bell housing from the 1.6 gearbox on to the 2.0 gearbox...save's having to fit all the hydraulics for the 2.0l box!

Why is it so hard to find a CU engine for sale?

demand for the 2.0L engines is waay high as they get used in beetles/bays/splitz and in T25's too