wbx to beetle ?
 

Hello,

I want to install a wbx engine in my beetle.
I want to ask what intake manifolds,carburetor linkage (weber IDF) I need to buy ? And also is there anyone out there who mades an exhaust for this conversion ???


TIA,
Jim
:)

Go Suby. More power, more reliable, easier to source parts, more economical.

Jason

Fitting a WBX in your Beetle is easy. You need a 215mm flywheel & clutch from a 1800 T4 Camper/Kombi/Transporter. Flywheel needs slight mod to have the needle bearing pressed in the centre. Then the engine bolts straight on to the box.

Inlet Manifolds - use standard waterboxer & carb, or get IDF/DRLA WBX manifolds from CSP in Germany. I used these on mine, but ended up cutting & welding them 180° as i used Weber throttle bodies & wanted the injectors on the inside not the outside. Standard IDF/DRLA T1 linkage works.

Exhaust - no off the shelf item, but mod an aftermarket T1 with J-Tubes - cut & weld 2 of the flanges as they are at different angles. If you use the early thermostat housing (ally type on Cyl.4) then you need to cut/weld the exhaust slightly to clear a bit, but all easy stuff.

Cooling - For parts on engine i used the early WBX system as it was easy, but others prefer the later system. Later parts are easy to get hold of new, early parts are used only. I use a VR6 thermostat as it is an 80°c item (Std Wbx is 87°c). Header tank is standard Golf Mk2. Used a T25/polo heater matrix under the rear seat blowing down the heater channels.

I junked the 2.1 WBX oil cooler & went for a front mounted CSP item. Changed the oil pump to 30mm gears type to counteract pressure loss in oil lines - Pressure is excellent and oil temp doesn't go over 90°c.

Radiator is then your call - million ways to do it.

Had no trouble sourcing parts or fitting anything - quite easy really.

I'll try and upload some photo's later.

Standard 2.1 WBX with Weber/EmeraldM3D injection makes 130bhp and is dead realiable, nice and smooth, good & quiet - I drive it every day to work and my Mk4 Golf GT Tdi hasn't turned a wheel in weeks!

Hope this helps.

Moog

A couple of Pics for you...

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/.../Img_1262b.jpg

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/...2___engine.jpg

Hey Moog,

Is the radiator in the picture you posted the only one cooling the engine?

Hiya - sorry for the delay in replying - been on holiday :D

Yes - the Rad you see in the photo is the only one cooling the engine. Temp is fine - tends to stick around 90-95°c. I've re-set the ECU so it cuts the fan in around 95°c but this only seems to happen on hot days and when stuck in traffic - on the open road then it doesn't cut in much at all.

Moog

WOW! I've got a Ghia and would love to have the rear wheel well room you do to be able to do that!

What are the physical dimensions of your radiator?

I'd have thought a Ghia would have more room in the rear arch? but then i've never looked at one with a rear radiator in mind to know exactly. My mate has a '58 Ghia so i will have a nose at it next time i am over there. I know he had problems getting his Boxster rims under the arches.

My Rad is 300 x 300 x 65 mm. I can't remember if it is a triple core or 4 core matrix.

Cheers

Moog

The subaru isn't more reliable. Waterboxers have been known to go 300K miles.

Scooby's are more fashionable and relatively inexpensive after the adapter plate and the engine, and wiring harness modifications and...:lmao:

No offense to the Scooby camp. It's all Vee Dub in some way shape or form.

You're about the only person I know with something nice to say about wassers
Everyone I've encountered with one has complained about cooling system problems and cost

Probably fine in a bug but too overworked in a bus

I had an '85 Vanagon (Transporter to most of the world) for six years and loved it. I didn't spend much money on it during that time but I was intense with keeping up on general maintenance, and made darn sure the coolant was phosphate-free. I would only say the 1.9L WBX was overworked if one wanted to drive spiritedly. On the other hand, our family used it for 1,000-mile trips without complaint.

Now having said that, if I got another Vanagon of some sort, I would probably go for a 2.0L ABA engine, a TDI of some sort, or maybe some offering from Jake. The two main reasons would be (1) most Vanagons are not kept up as they should, and (2) many parts have become NLA.

I saw a Type III in the UK for sale with a WBX and I had to tell myself a hundred times I want an air-cooled as my next car. It was very tempting.

I have a friend in Jamaica that put a 2.1 ltr waterboxer all stock in his 66 beetle, that car was a beast. I can recall once he came for me at work and carried me home, that was my first official drive in it, rain had fallen and a light film of water was on the road. After driving for sometime at a constant speed with all the torque of the engine the tires broke loose, after that experience i wanted one.

I just swapped my subaru EA81 for a wasser

http://www.germanlook.net/forums/pic...pictureid=1684

Used aftermarket 200mm Type 4 flywheel from ebay. moddifed stock exhaust to clear trans

http://www.germanlook.net/forums/pic...pictureid=1685


the 1.9l cooling is a bit easier in a bug because of the thermostat housing. also the wiring is dead simple if you use all the stock fuel injection.

Why did you go to a wasserboxer in your bug, did you have problems with the suby.