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Hello everyone! Back in September of last year, I was perusing my local CL car ads and came across a complete 1982 diesel Vanagon Westy camper near by. Though I wasn't really in the market to buy one, the price got me interested so I contacted the seller. Turns out, it came with a few catches such as it had been parked since around 2006 and wasn't road worthy, it was located on a small island and needed ferried off and lastly (and the most interesting part), the diesel engine was removed and replaced with a 13b. The seller said the motor does run but needs work. SOLD!
From what I can piece together, the seller bought the van from an elderly gentleman on the island who used to travel in it. It's unclear if he did the conversion or if he had a shop do it but it looks fairly professional. On a VW forum, someone mentioned there used to be a shop south of Seattle that did these conversions back in the day but who really knows if this is one of them.
We had a very rainy PNW winter here, plus I have two small children, so my time to get to work on it has been limited. What has been fixed is the electrical gremlins in the lights, new tires, replaced the clutch slave and rebuilt the front calipers that were seized. Now I'm onto the motor but my knowledge of fuel injection is nil to none. Expect a post about it in the appropriate forum soon.
My car knowledge comes from almost two decades of owning various VW buses (1967 and older). I've built and rebuilt several motors and know my way around carbs but when it comes to modern electronics, I'm an idiot so keep that in mind when you see my posts. I've done a lot of research on how these motors operate and come together and they almost seem easier than a stock 1600 VW. I'm looking forward to getting this thing on the road and taking the family camping.
Welcome to forum.. That is a better way to propel a VW van
I'm hoping so. The original diesel had only 48hp and 70lb of torque. The motor seems to be out of a 86-88 which, if my research is correct, should have around 130hp and 120lb of torque. A significant improvement. The diesel version of this Vanagon is also geared much lower than the air-cooled option which may work well with the power range of the rotary.
Welcome to the forum!! Honestly this is an awesome conversion and I'm really hoping you can get it running! Would be great to find out some history on the van and the engine.
Welcome to the forum!! Honestly this is an awesome conversion and I'm really hoping you can get it running! Would be great to find out some history on the van and the engine.
The original owner passed away so all my info comes from the guy who sold it to me and the few documents in the van. There is a receipt from a Mazda repair shop for the sale of the van in 1999, a receipt from a grocery store in Oregon in the early 2000's. a hand written wiring diagram for the EFI and that's about it. I've been tempted to call the family of the former owner to get more info but I haven't got the nerve yet.
02-27-20, 07:22 PM
