Well... I've been really distracted lately with the 3 car monte I've been playing. Turns out I was right about the Ella - she was fuel starved. After a new low-pressure fuel pump (they have 2!) and a couple of filters (yeah, 2 of them too), she's running great. Hapy is back on the road, but curbside while I decide what to do with him, and I'm hoping that sheer numbers (or one person's clarity) can help guide me.
The decision: replace Hapy's stock 1700 engine with
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
Each have their own positives and negatives, and I'll try to detail them here. Part of the equation is how much time it will take to get road-ready, how reliable the finished product will be, how powerful Hapy will be in the short and long run, etc. This all makes it really hard to be sure of what the right answer is. I'll spread descriptions of the different choices across multiple posts so this one doesn't get ridiculous. Depending on how it goes, I'll either post a grid of pluses and minuses or a summary or something like that. Anyway, I'll start with choice #1: do nothing, and go from there.
1) Keep the limper
Doing nothing is always a choice, but for how long? Will Hapy run indefinitely with the frankenmotor he currently has? Of course not. The trick is guessing when he's going to die and save up for that inevitability or be proactive. This choice is basically saying "let's wait until later when everything is more expensive".
Figure, he has 68HP if we're lucky. On most drives up Mt. Hood I get waved at one finger at a time. Ever wonder where that rushhour slowdown on I-5 South came from? That was me, driving home from work up the hill out of downtown in the righthand lane at 40MPH. Maybe only drivers of other slow vehicles can really understand the stress this brings when you're supposed to be enjoying the drive. The limper engine is also one of the main reasons our routes take us on state routes instead of interstates. Did I mention the MPG? 16. bleck. If I keep the limper, I'll need to at least slap fuel injection on there. That should improve the MPG by a couple, but it doesn't address the time-bomb effect, nor does it improve the boost uphill by much. Also, there is still the time spent getting the fuel injection on.
Choice summary ranking as compared to other choices (1st, 2nd, etc):
cost (1-6): 1st
work (1-6): 1st
power(1-6): 6th
mpg (1-6): 6th
reliable (1-6): 4th
next time... the Raby Camper Special
Added after all posts completed:
Since I can't figure out a grid, here are the rankings by category (1->6)
Cost: limper, used, collect parts, BusDepot, Raby, TDI
Work: limper, used, BusDepot, Raby, collect parts, TDI
Power: Raby, TDI, BusDepot, collect parts, used, limper
mpg: TDI, Raby, BusDepot, used, collect parts, limper
reliable: Raby, BusDepot, TDI, limper, used, collect parts
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