[Vwdiesel] Gauging interest
David Cook
vwdieselbunny at yahoo.com
Sat Nov 25 01:11:03 EST 2006
Hey Kurt-
It looks like you you've answered the questions I
asked in my last post, before I saw you had replied.
I think I'd personally do the body lift thing, I don't
know if I'd want to go through the whole thing to
raise the height of the rest of the trunk floor.
(Though I can see it would be a great platform for a
great long road trip vehicle.)
I also really think the '66 has great potential to be
a sweet car! I just don't know how far down the
pipeline that project would be, so I wouldn't be
unopposed to taking offers...
David
--- Kurt Nolte <syncronized_turbo at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> 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
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> community.webshots.com/user/superdave5599
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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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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