new engine options: TDI

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 TDI on my garage floor. 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

3) The TDI engine I have on my garage floor
First off, I got this engine for a good price. On top of the bare engine, I got the complete list of accessories necessary to install according to fastforward.ca (a company that installs TDI's into vanagon's). "but wait," you say. "yous gots a bus, fool." Yes I do, and yes I am. Thanks for taking note on both counts.

A TDI is a watercooled engine, and Hapy doesn't have a radiator. There are different solutions for this, but none are easy, and none are perfect. The Austrailians put a radiator under the floor. Its a real sleeper look, but it depends on fans running most of the time, and I can't find a real person over there to say "its great, mate", so I question how well it works. There are folks in the states that have put a radiator on the nose. No matter how well disguised, its still a radiator on the nose, so of the 2 choices, I prefer the under-the-belly choice. Either way its time and money regardless, and I don't have a limitless supply of either.

The TDI engine doesn't mate exactly with Hapy's transaxle. It doesn't mate exactly with anything except a TDI transmission, actually, so some kind of adapter plate (read: mo' money) would be necessary. I have yet to find an adapter plate that would go between a TDI engine and the old 002 transaxle, so I'd have to either use the vanagon transaxle on my garage floor (a great source of parts, that garage floor is) and figure out how to get it into the bus, how to shift it, etc, or figure out a way to get the engine to mate with Hapy's current transaxle. Neither choice is exceptionally clear from the transaxle and conversion people I've spoken to.

The engine doesn't attach to the frame in the same way as it did in the donor, of course, so I'd have to fabricate something (hire someone) to do that or try to find a pre-built kit. Someone over at Tiico said they had one, but they've become strangely silent now that I'm asking part numbers and such. Not exactly steadying. Still, this conversion has been done successfully, so I would just need to contact one of the folks that have done it and copy their solution.

Last, there's the wiring bit. The wiring in an old bus is about as complicated as the wiring in your uncle's old hunting cabin: 3 wires and none of them do anything. The wiring on these new engines could probably be sold as military secrets they're so complicated. Getting the wiring harness (think bundle of wires as thick as a quarter) to integrate will be a considerable challenge.

A TDI engine has about the same power as the Raby Camper Special (96HP -v- 92HP), but it should get 33MPG or better. Also, I'm starting to brew biodiesel for the other 2 cars (Jetta TDI and Mercedes Wagon), so fuel costs would be much lower. Low enough to offset the costs of getting the engine in the bus? At $1/gallon it will eventually, it would have to, even if the cost for regular gas stays flat. The savings is really pushed by how much the bus is driven. If its pretty much Summer-only, then it'll take a while. "Identity" concerns abound with this choice. Even if its a VW powerplant, the shift to watercooled is pretty dramatic. If I can keep the radiator under the belly, it wouldn't be as obvious.

Choice summary ranking as compared to other choices (1st, 2nd, etc):
cost (1-6): 6th
work (1-6): 6th
power (1-6): 2nd
mpg (1-6): 1st
reliable (1-6): 3rd