Well the good news is we got it in a running but the timing is definately out. Far too retarded at the moment so more tweaking there. DX dizzy was fine, no problems. Power steering pump is different so I'll need to change that one to suit the van pipe work and the probably the most difficult problem is the dipstick. I couldn't belive it when I saw it but VW actually made two slightly different blocks. The van one has a small shelf on the back for the dipstick. The "new" one doesn't. Also as the dipstick tube on the front is so short and the engine now leans forward I'm getting oil pushing up and out. Need to seal this properly. I'm probably going to try and swap the dipstick tubes over. The extra length will definately help. It's also worth noting the connection point of the oil filter bracket is also slighlty diffrerent on the blocks.
just a quicky on timing for my own peace of mind. I'm a bit stupid and paranoid about it all. At the moment I've got everything lines up at TDC. 1. Mark 6 deg advance on TDC on the flywheel. Should be 12.5mm from reading elsewhere. 2. Wind engine around so 6deg lines up with gearbox mark. 3. Rotate the dizzy so the rotor arm lines up with the notch on the dizzy case i.e. plug No.1 4. unplug the vacuum from the dizzy and block the inlet. Check it all lines up with the a timing light. Have I got that right? Is it worth trying to adavnce it further to suit the LPG etc?
you can run more advance on lpg than petrol, as it has a higher octane rating (about 108 RON i think). this would help keep the temperature down and prevent the valve seats from damage, as lpg doesn't lubricate the valves like petrol does. suck it and see basically, advance it till you just hear it pinking when it's fully warm, then wind it back a bit.
when you set the belt timing you have to line everything up to TDC. the BTDC mark is only used when you adjust the dizzy position with a timing light pointed in the gearbox hole
Cheers got it yes. Annoying thing is a we've only just been able to find one mark on the flywheel and it was soooo feint it was ridiculous. Tinkered a bit more last night and she's running a whole lot better now. quite nice in fact. I really want to push the advance as far as possible without compromising perfromance and stuff too much as Alexisblades suggests, so a little more is needed but I'm heading in the right direction. Driving wise it accelerates quite nicely, a little flat in one or two places but otherwise all good. Nice and quiet too. Done a bit of a temporary job on the dipstick which has stopped that problem. Dipstick mods to come with a little ATF and an oil change. Power steering still an issue though. Grrrr. Quick trip to my local spanner man too for final tweeks and a good check over. Happy to give me a letter saying all is well for DVLA purposes too.
Glad she's all in and running, better than hanging around on the garage floor. Can't believe the block differences that's crazy! Will the PAS pump on the old engine not fit if you swap the plate over too? As for the flat spots it'll be worth getting the carb tweeked while it's in.
hello and thanks. Yes I want the garage to give it a good tune for me, something they can do a lot better than my trial and error type procedure. She's just a bit hesitant and lumpy at low revs. RE the blocks I couldn't believe it either . They were different at the oil filter bracket and the dipstick. see below. Van block on the left. Mad panic to the scrappy to find an oil filter bracket to fit. We got lucky!! My old set up didn't have power steering but I just need to source the right pipework I think and all will be fine.
Is that the engine on the right?? Did you manage to get the rack etc? I know the number of somewhere near me that'll have everything you need.
hello again yes van engines is in the two pics on the left. your old baby on the right cleaned and painted The top 2 pics are turned 90 deg - ooops Just running round trying to find the PAS pipes now. Everything else is sorted - pump, rack, reservoir. Thought I'd mention we also had to drill and tap a new point for the engine mount. The casting was there just no hole. Bit nerve racking that one.
Really surprised by all that faffing, good to know that van engines are different though. All other engines swap fairly hastle free between different VWs engine mount wise. Must admit I'm impressed with the speed of the conversion. Is there a decent enough improvement performance wise though (other than the flatspots)?
Got to admit it was fairly easy tbh, which surpised me. Just a lot of work. We went at it hard over 3 days. I cant have the van off the road for any real length of time. Got it tuned better now too. Timing set and she runs very nice indeed. Much better performance wise. Nothing startling, at the end of the day its hauling a 1700kgs lump about but i'm happy for sure. There's power there when i want it now. need to check my MPG now. Be interesting to see if we have any improvement there. 2.0L block would be terrific. One for the future perhaps.
