what's the best engine for a vanagon?

[Bravo2043]

so far its been pretty cool learning the lingo of vw, there is a ton of information here. I'm sure its been covered 100 times before but I'm going to ask it again.

maybe the right thing to ask is what's the best one for me. so since its my choice, here is what I think. please chime in. I've narrowed the field to two maybe three.

I have a 1982 diesel Westy. the body is pretty sweet. suspension not bad. stock trans, smoked 1.6 na. the head is cracked in 6 places. it looks like it got overheated then parked. block needs work, the head should be scrapped out.  so I'm shopping for an engine. I'd like to have it back on the road by May. funny thing was it was running great before I tore the head off. I kept getting air in the radiator. I though I was just fixing a head gasket. I was pretty happy with the engine. I did drive it home 800 miles after I bought it.

these are amazing engines, I was shocked when I got it apart. it didn't look like it was possible that it could run that good and look that bad. I'm pretty sure if I would have kept feeding it oil and coolant it would keep going.

so what do I want to do? I live in Michigan, its flat. the old engine was fine here. I got it in Pennsylvania. Drove it home up and over the mountains on backroads, what a blast. it was a little weak though. 25 mpg running between 50 and 60. some of the climbs found me in 2nd gear.

first choice, AAZ with a K03 turbo and the  ECO IP. with that little turbo and the simple IP, seems like it should be a simple swap. use my oil pan and pickup. put in an oil return line for the turbo. I'm guessing my flywheel clutch and bell housing all bolt up. the turbo ends up high on the engine. I'd need to fab exhaust and intake, maybe an innercooler. maybe the IP with the enrichment valve. I just wonder if that would clear the hood. I'm not messing with the bed, I'll go na before that happens

second choice
1.6 turbo from a European vanagon. the vwdieselking has a couple. seems like a no brainer. those I think have the K14 turbo. it mounts down low and forward. with the way the engine bay sits, it looks smarter.

I'm guessing,
1.9 has more torque, quicker response. with 1.6 higher revving. power is the same. with stock gearing maybe the1.6 gets the nod

then there is the 1Y. easy and durable. maybe add a turbo later. use my intake and air filter and exhaust.

eventually its going to get a transmission from an air cooled bus, if I change gears and the 1.9 gets the nod

its going to need a gearbox eventually.

What would you do? its a family fun machine that likes to go places but avoids freeways. one day coast to coast

[libbydiesel]

Any of the turbo injection pumps will fit under the lid with slight modification to the accelerator lever and slight modification to the lid.  The bed is completely unaffected with any TD or TDI engine prior to the ALH (from 98+Beetle or 995.+ jetta).

This is the engine lid modification:


I'll reiterate, it doesn't affect the bed at all.  I would very much prefer using a typical aneroid pump than one from a European TD vanagon as the euro version requires model specific injection lines which are difficult to source in the US.  I do not like the stock 1.6TD vanagon turbo location.  The drainage has issues.  The stock AAZ K03 location is much. 

The 1.9 has 19% more displacement.  All else equal it will give 19% more torque/power.  It is a little worse at revving but are you really planning on running a 1.6 at 4500+ RPMs in a vanagon for any amount of time?  I wouldn't.  I guarantee it will toss a rod within 60,000 miles under those conditions. 

As I said before, there is not any benefit to the 1.6 over the 1.9 even if you stay with the stock gearing.  The only concern is the fact that you will then have plenty of power to over-rev the engine. 

There is no advantage to the Eco pump, only downsides.

Personally my preference at this point are the 1Z or AHU 1.9TDI engines run with mechanical TDI injection pumps.  They mount with all the stock parts, have excellent torque, and get excellent fuel economy. 

[Bravo2043]

dang I really hadn't considered a TDI. I started to reply, did a quick look, here is what I got at a glance

same price for an AHU and an AAZ. 110 ish HP. better mileage. the first one I looked at had a tiny turbo, very compact. I'm guessing k03.

the bus had 48 new, probably not when I got it. with 110 ponies, CV joints may need help. any worries with clutch or tranny. I'd like to just get it going first. double the HP puts 4 times the strain, but how fun is that!

nice! any downside to the mechanical IP? any new computer poo to work out?

I'm an electrical engineering, I do that at work, rather not here.

[RunninWild]

With a mechanical pump the only wiring you would have to deal with would be related to sensors for your gauges. A mechanical pump is just that mechanically controlled so no computer required.

I wouldn't worry too much about the drive train. Yes you'll have more power but unless you plan to drive the thing like a racecar (hammering the throttle from a standstill) I doubt there would be a significant increase in maintenance. That being said a heavy duty clutch wouldn't be a bad idea.

[libbydiesel]

The AHU with Land Rover 300TDI would be an easy install.  I would still source the AAZ K03 and matching manifold and use those as the AHU manifold has a worse mounting location.  With the stock trans you would have a silly amount of power for the gearing.  I can almost guarantee that you would promptly want to swap in a DK air-cooled trans.  At stock AHU power levels the stock 1.6 clutch will hold fine.  If you go above stock very far, though, it will slip.  You can always turn the max fuel down below the point where the clutch slips and still have a lot more power and better fuel economy than the stock 1.6 non-turbo.