Another multi-part posting. This time its about helping me make a decision on Hapy's stock 1700 engine. The choices are below, and this post is just about the Raby Camper Special. I'll have one post for each choice, so they don't get too long. Hopefully, I'll get some good feedback and be able to make a good choice.
1) keep the limper
2) a Raby Camper Special
3) the TDI engine I have on my garage floor
4) a BusDepot special
5) some used engine off of craigslist
6) build one from parts collected off the 'net, parts stores, etc
2) The Raby Camper Special
This is besically the "Cadillac" of air cooled engines for a bus. Maybe the "Cummins TurboDiesel" would be more appropriate. Peaking out at 92HP and 120 ft/lbs of torque, these engines fly, have better MPG (Jake has said mid 20's), and can actually tow things. Now, just the thought of seeing a bus towing a small boat makes me laugh, but the idea of having that kind of power available without altering the 'identity' of the aircooled bus is appealing. Not so appealing: the price. At $4200, this is not a tax refund only kind of purchase, and I'd still have to put it together. That's precious time, baby. Also, a rebuildable core might be a good idea as I really have no idea what shape the existing motor is in. Considering that it's running, I'm going to go out on a limb and say "its fine". Still, if there's a camping trip in the offing, building on a new block while puttering on the limper might be a good way to go about this. Flame me if you firmly feel otherwise.
Raby and his folks pre-assemble the engine, so you know the parts work together, and actually fit what you're doing. They're well respected lots of years in the biz, blah, blah, blah. Basically, its a killer engine at a budget busting price. If this is the choice, I can sell the TDI engine and stuff and mostly fund this, so cost isn't that much of a barrier, but its still pretty frickin' spendy... and its still burning dino-fuel even if the MPG improves into the 20's.
Choice summary ranking as compared to other choices (1st, 2nd, etc):
cost (1-6): 5th
work (1-6): 4th
power (1-6): 1st
mpg (1-6): 2nd
reliable (1-6): 1st
next... the TDI on my garage floor
1 comment:
Has it really been 14 years since I posted this? Wow. Okay, well, I was going back to the beginning and re-read the engine choices posts and felt some kind of update was worthwhile:
-About a year after this decision was made, Boston Bob passed away
-The $4kUS Raby Special kit I described is no longer available, though you can get a custom built one by Jake's company for around $25kUS now. They only make 3 a year. I don't know how you get replacement parts, if you need them
-The BusDepot engine offering is now in the $2kUS range
-Nowadays, you can get a donor TDI engine and all the bits for less than that ($2kUS).
This conversion took way longer than I expected since there were not any others out there when I did it. If someone else were to try it now, there are more than a few of these conversions out there to model after. In my case, there are lots of posts, but the retrospective ones would be an effective guide. I think.
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