T3 engine upgrade (fwd)

[jadney@vwtype3.org (Melissa & Jim)]

>From: rrrrjr@surf.com

>Hi, my name is Kevin Toney.  I love Sqbks.  I've had my '70 since 1984. 
>Unfortunately, in California we've got a new formulation of gas that has
>brought my milage down to crap.  (12 yrs of 22 mpg city is now 15 mpg)

There is a lot of hysteria associated with the "reformulated" gasolines.  I 
think that there is much less to this than meets the eye.  If your car is 
doing much worse on this, then doesn't it seem strange that other cars run 
fine.  I suspet that there is a real problem with your car that you and your 
mechanic have not yet found.  While replacing your engine with an entirely 
different engine may eliminate the problem, it is also likely to introduce 
some new ones of its own.

>My mechanic (a T3 FI expert) and I are planning to put in an '85 Vanagon
>2 litre "waterboxer".  We still haven't found out if the flywheel from
>the Vanagon will fit in the T3 transmission, but I still have high
>hopes.  If you or anyone knows of any ideas towards this conversion, I'd
>appreciate the input.

If your mechanic is really a T3 FI expert, he should be able to fix your 
problem.  If he's blaming it on the gas find a better mechanic.

If your mileage is way down:
1) Check for gas leaks--fix all of them.
2) Check the valve clearances and the timing, and both advance mechanisms.
3) Check the compression 
4) Check the voltage regulator regulating voltage.  It should be 14.1-14.4 
V.  If the system voltage falls below ~13.5 V the D-Jetronix system just 
starts running richer and richer.  Low voltage will produce exactly this 
symptom.
 
>I also would like to get a 'new' squareback for this engine upgrade. My
>car's body is really tired, so if I'm going to go to this much trouble
>for a new engine, I'd like a great body too.  I'm looking for a '70 (not
>'69 & not '71) body in good/great shape.  Good interior, stick-shift,
>and any other goodies would be nice, but I don't care about the engine
>or manual transmission condition.  For me to pick one up it probably
>should be located in northern California as I am.

Let me see if I've got this right:  You've got this Type III that you really 
like except that it's just got two little problems; you'd like to replace 
the body and the engine.  Perhaps you'd be better off just finding a better 
Type III to start with.
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------
       Melissa Kepner                                    Jim Adney
       jadney@vwtype3.org              jadney@vwtype3.org
                             Laura Kepner-Adney
                             Madison, Wisconsin
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------