[Vwdiesel] Considering Options (Dead TDI Bus)

[James Hansen]

I second that.
Get it mobile, use it, enjoy it.
Unless you are a unbelievably diligent at getting projects done, screw
fancy, it hardly ever just works like it should at first glance, always
takes more time than you have, and tends to sit on jacks for years.
You don't get back missed quality time you could have been having fun with
your kid, go camp in a yugo if you have to.

Longer term, sure, build up a project motor.  The van application is going
to pull a few more rpm than in a car... I'd lean to a freshened motor for
the long term.  I've seen transplanted engine cases where the transplant put
in a higher rpm situation than it previously was in, doesn't last as it
stresses things past where they were previously.   I'm thinking here of
stuff like rod stretch at higher rpm leading to top ring failure as it hits
the ridge that is left from the lower rpm operation.

Engine you have in there now, if it has been *that* hot (no coolant hot
seize), there will be more dollars in machining that need to be done than it
will cost for one that hasn't been roasted and stuck. Starting with less
stressed/warped parts will be more economical in the long run not just for
out of pocket stuff, but long term reliability.  Once the top has been that
hot, it's warped pretty bad, I have NEVER seen one that wasn't. Bringing a
hot seize back from the brink means machine all parts that meet one another,
head, bore, crank alignment, plus crack check EVERYTHING, mag particle
tests, etc...  lots of money you can just spend on something better to begin
with. If you want a fresh newly machined motor, far better to start on one
that hasn't been killed off, and just has wear.  
That source that Loren mentioned seems like you really get a lot for what
you are paying for, as they are not out of wrecks, they are from functioning
vehicles take out of service due to weird rules, not because they were used
up or smashed.
-james

-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of ralph meyermann
Sent: October-14-13 9:34 AM
To: Dave Cook
Cc: tdi; VW Diesel Group; TDI-Conversion Group
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Considering Options (Dead TDI Bus)

If you have another running engine available I would install it and enjoy it
while rebuilding/juicing the other if possible that way you could enjoy the
fruit of your labor and have more drive time to see how you want to juice
the one being rebuilt? Thats just my crazy talk as usual! My daughter is
also disappointed in missing bustoberfest this year.

Velma 82 1.9L AAZ td westy
On Oct 14, 2013 10:17 AM, "Dave Cook" <davevw at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I was telling my parents that one of the biggest things (besides the 
> time and money aspect) that I was personally disappointed about with 
> the engine dying like it did was that my foster kid was pretty bummed 
> about not being able to camp in the bus at Bustoberfest this weekend.  
> I was talking to my mom and uncle about relaying my uncle's tow dolly 
> to me so that I could tow the bus this year.  Instead, she found a 
> good used dolly for a good deal, and bought it for me!  So the bus 
> will be going to Bustoberfest after all, though not under its own power I
guess.
>
> I'll be pulling the engine and transmission this week, which will 
> reduce towed weight and prevent the possiblity of further damage from 
> it popping into gear or something..  I don't know if I'll have time 
> for an "auto-topsy" or not on the engine before the weekend, but I can 
> tell you it is seized good and tight.  I used my 4Runner to push it 
> backwards a little and decided to just see if it would rotate at all 
> backwards, by putting in 1st and pushing it gently.  Nope.  The 
> 4Runner's tires squeaked on the driveway and the bus didn't budge.
>
> But for the purposes of discussion, lets assume that the engine is 
> rebuildable.
>
> If it were you, would you pursue 1) a good used engine on a pallat, 
> 2)a running but ratty/wrecked car from which to pull the engine, or
> 3) rebuilding the one I have or 4) low likelihood here- buying a newer 
> car and installing the rear-ended '02 Golf TDI's motor.  (Car is kinda 
> ugly now but it runs fine and I drive it daily.)  In a quick search, 
> it looks like the costs would be similar whichever way I go depending 
> on how lucky I might get one way or another.
>
> Though the engine I have was running fine, I did kind of imagine that 
> I would start looking at pulling it and rebuilding it over the winter 
> after driving it a bit for a "proof of concept".  The car had 
> 260,000ish miles when it was wrecked so I imagine some internals were
starting to see wear.
>
> I wouldn't mind a bit more power out of the engine.  It was an 
> improvement over the old 2.0 motor the bus had, but was also a little 
> lower than I had hoped.  (Though the short-lived test drive on larger 
> tires seemed to improve that, perhaps it was just the engine rapping 
> out too early.)
>
> As I recall, it had the next step up from stock nozzles from Kerma, 
> but was otherwise stock besides me pulling the EGR crap off and 
> installing an AAZ intake manifold.  I don't know if codes from not 
> having EGR or the cat temp sensors would have caused any kind of limp mode
but I don't think so.
>
> I was interested in the recent discussion of changing to the VNT turbo 
> via a chip and swapping out the N75 valve, and would be interested in 
> a little bit power upgrading.
>
> On the other hand, social work doesn't pay that well, so if I pursued 
> rebuilding, I could risk the bus sitting for another whole camping 
> season if it ends up taking time getting it going, wheras I could find 
> a running motor and get it going again, and then work on building a 
> beefier motor later.  Selling parts from a ratty car could help pay 
> for some of this, I expect.
>
> Thoughts?
>
>
> Dave Cook
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