[Vwdiesel] Gauging interest

Fri Nov 24 16:56:40 EST 2006

I've done some measuring, had some other folks do some measuring, fitted 
it all together in my head... and I have to say yes, it will fit, but 
no, not entirely under the decklid.

The Rabbit diesel is only 3" or so longer than the flat-four 1600 
engine, from transmission mating surface to the very front end of the 
crank pulley on each engine. Less if you don't have AC. Within the 
engine bay in the Squareback, there is ~4" of free space at the lip, and 
~6" of free space in the bay proper when the flat four is in there. 
While it will be a tighter fit than the original motor, there is no 
length problem with this install.

Same for width. There is sufficient space on either side of the skinnier 
Rabbit engine for a framework to be made up to mount a radiator or even 
two small ones for finer control over cooling air flow. Of course 
electric fans would be needed to draw air in, but they have always been 
needed with the 1.6 diesels.

The biggest issue is height. Even in a 50 degree format, the valve cover 
corner is going to stick up past the decklid height by an inch or so. 
Tilting the engine further is inadvisable; they simply weren't meant to 
be tilted that much. This can be solved in one of two ways. First, and 
the route a previous owner has already taken for me with this car, the 
decklid can be cut and an insulated sheet metal box built over it to 
handle the extra height. This results in some loss of cargo space and 
functionality, severity depending on how big the box is. The PO in this 
case was building a box for an upright Carb setup, so it is sizable. It 
will be cut down, if I go this route.

The other option is to change the relationship of engine/transmission 
unit to the body. These two must be moved as a unit for obvious reasons, 
as the diesel will need custom mounts fabricated for it in any case this 
is not as onerous a task as it could be. The transmission mounts could 
be built up so as to provide an effective inch or so of body lift and 
eliminate the need for a box over the engine, but the rear suspension 
would need to be altered to match the new body height above the 
drivetrain. Mostly just different shocks and an adjustment to the 
torsion bars.

A third option exists too, but it's really a "fix" for the first 
option's inevitable box problem. A new deck height could be established 
in the back of the car, effectively raising the bay height instead of 
the body height. With this, however, you lose about an inch of height 
from your entire rear cargo area. For most this would not be much of an 
issue, as many people never max out their cargo height anyway. The inch 
of space could be used for purposes such as radiant cabin heat, 
ductwork, or so on and so forth. Were I doing this project for myself, I 
would be going this route and using this space to provide such things as 
a built in toolkit cabinet, extra soundproofing, and a small compartment 
for the smaller spare parts, such as fuses and bulbs.

Of course, were I doing this for myself the spare would also change over 
to a donut-style spare from something like a Quantum, and be mounted in 
the back behind one of the side compartments behind the trim. The trim 
itself would be gone and replaced by painted sheet metal, as well as the 
rear seat being eliminated in favor of greater cargo space. Ultimately 
it would become a "road trip" wagon; two seats, but enough space in the 
back to pull over and stretch out for a nap on the road. Redesign 
controls for "cruising" comfort, and install at least the driver's seat 
rails a bit further back, as I'm quite long-legged and don't easily fit 
into such a vehicle in stock seat positions. The heater channels would 
have a length of steel pipe run up through them, both to stiffen them up 
and to provide passage for coolant water from back to front, and a 
heater core mounted within the dash to provide heat when needed. The two 
cable controls would be retained for heater control. Where the rear seat 
used to be would be used for a spares compartment, storage for tools 
that don't fit in the rear cabinet, and a dual battery setup to ensure 
cranking on cold days.

Of course, that's what I'd do. What I actually do would be negotiable 
with whomever is buying.. price as well. ;)

And David: If I had your '66 Square, I wouldn't even be close to 
thinking about selling. I love the little body differences between the 
60's and 70's Squares, it'd be a keeper!

-Kurt

David Cook wrote:
> Kurt-
>
> Do you think that the diesel engine will fit in the
> squareback?
>
> I've got a '66 squareback sitting out at my parent's
> house waiting for a restoration.
>
> It, too, has everything to put together a running gas
> engine as well as a full engine I bought at a swap
> meet, no idea how it runs.  (And I'd be willing to
> sell it to an interested party...)
>
> When I had the two Rabbits sitting in my yard, I
> thought briefly about a diesel 'back but don't think
> the engine would fit mounted normally.  I think it
> would protrude into the passenger compartment.
>
> A Fastback or Notchback would be easier, since both
> had two trunks so the rear one could be "converted"
> into an engine compartment.
>
> Just wondering if you'd come up with a way to solve
> that problem.  Or if I'm incorrect in my thinking.  I
> never measured, but I didn't think that the opening
> was high enough over the engine.  Perhaps a vanagon 50
> degree kit?
>
> David
>
>
> --- Kurt Nolte <syncronized_turbo at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
>   
>> For those who might be interested, I'm not really in
>> the UK; a misclick 
>> and a slip of the finger resulted in me getting UK
>> rather than US while 
>> registering for the address, but I really don't
>> mind. Stands out, for 
>> sure, and the ads are at least a different step from
>> the usual US 
>> oriented ones.
>>
>> I'm in the Southeastern US. If anyone's interested
>> enough they'd like 
>> pictures of the conversion vehicle, just lemme know
>> and I'll go out and 
>> snap the pics you want to see.
>>
>> -Kurt
>>
>> 		
>>
>>     
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>
>
> David Cook
> Red '86 Cabriolet Diesel Powered
> Red '90 g60 Corrado 
> Brown and White '78 Westy Campmobile "Bear"
> and others in various states of disrepair
> Pictures here: community.webshots.com/user/superdave5599
>
>
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