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1.7 engine

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:15 pm
by alfadave
Interesting ad for 1.7 engine on Ebay 224149358924

Seems a bit of a mix up of photos, but the last one looks different?

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:43 pm
by KevJTD
Last one is a watercooled VW engine, like the beetle unit but obviously not air cooled, mostly to be found in the T25 transporter I believe...

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:22 am
by alfadave
I thought the dissy was in the wrong place!

I must admit, I didn't know VW did a water cooled version of the flat 4.

Must have taken quite a bit of re engineering?

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 11:01 pm
by KevJTD
Yes, I think it only ever went in the Transporter van/camper T25 which was the squarer looking camper after the bay window T2 and before they moved the engine to the front for the T4 onwards (was there a T3?, can't recall now....)
I don't think it had anything much in common with the air-cooled version other than the layout/mounts/bell-housing which allowed the air-cooled gearbox etc to be used, maybe Lou knows more.
I do recall from my painfully short (painful for the time there, not painful to leave) that they were a pig to bleed with the radiator right at the front of the van with the top of the rad way higher than the engine so getting air expelled wasn't easy. They overheated for fun :? , rattled like hell despite having hydraulic tappets, heater was as useless as the air-cooled stuff but at least without the air being drawn from around the engine it didn't stink of burning oil, still about as quick as walking but at least kept you dry if it rained, apart from when trying to get them going again if you dared to embark on a journey and, silly you, expect to get there without breaking down!

Do I hate VW campervans? Yes! For all the reasons above, mechanically flawed in every way, slow, draughty, noisy, unreliable, smelly, leaky, waiting to leave you stranded pieces of crap. I refer to all air-cooled Beetles, all Transporters prior to the T4 which I actually thought wasn't a bad alternative to a Transit van but seemed to be seen as a poor mans VW, go figure! Please, please don't tell me the split screen T2 is a good van....what a turd, absolutely overhyped piece of garden furniture. I really can't see why they have any appeal outside of people who don't know what a piece of automotive machinery should drive like.

Rant over...

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 7:13 pm
by rsfruitbat
Thank you for me making me laugh Kev
That little monologue was worthy of Clarkson.

Kev. - my hero :D

Rsfruitbat

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 7:43 pm
by Kegsti66
Ruddy 'ell Kev,
Calm down !! :lol:

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:29 pm
by KevJTD
Gives me the shivers just thinking about them :D
What I meant to say about the flawed cooling system design, but got lost mid rant was that the issue wasn't so much the radiator being 15 feet away from the engine and 3 feet higher up, just that the expansion bottle was sat behind the rear number plate, just above engine height but of course way below the radiator level....basic laws of physics ought to have kicked in before that idea got signed off..there's a reason why an expansion bottle needs to be high up, it's where the air gets expelled to! hard to do that when you're below water level :roll:
Oh I do so despise them :twisted:

Glad it all made you guys smile :lol:

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 2:01 pm
by Crank
I bought a split screen camper van once as it was cheep and I thought it might come in useful when I was still single and living at home. You forgot to mention the challenge of driving on the motorway in a crosswind. The combination of slab sides, engine behind the rear wheels, swing axles, bouncy front suspension, worm and roller steering, together with sitting over the front wheels made it a stimulating experience.

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 9:22 pm
by LooLooSud33Spider
I’ve kept my gob shut in this so far but I I can’t hold my tongue any longer so here goes. Air cooled VWs are all TOTAL piles of sh*t !!! I had a 1300 beetle when I was 17. I rebuilt the engine and fitted 1600 barrels and pistons. But it was still a massive dogs egg of a car. I spent far too much money on it and when it was done it was still just a big turd but it was a shiny turd . And another thing I don’t understand is the whole “rat look” thing the VW scene seem to have grabbed that ball and have well and truly run off with it . Is it because I’m getting old

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 9:57 pm
by alfadave
I got behind a VW Camper, leaving the campsite we go to in Wales.

Couldn't believe how he pulled away (from my Sud!)

Spoke to him later, when he got back. He had a Subaru engine in it!

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:56 am
by KevJTD
Nice to hear I'm not alone in "dub" despisal... :lol:

Agree with all above, some points re the roadholding, or lack of, that I'd forgotten to add so well said :D

Thought I was in for a rollocking off Lou but she agrees! 8-)

Re: 1.7 engine

Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:03 pm
by Veesix75
Same here, piles of crap, slow, sound shite, look shite.........crap and more crap.

I’d love a golf gti mk1, but the beetles and campers are .......crap. :D

Karman Ghia is a nice shape but same crap running gear.