[Bugsy_Malone 666]

Basically yes. Only engine I can think of where most of the water travels about outside of the main block.
Utter utter crap.

it seems somewhat odd really that they still carried on making it once they had the 50 degree tilt diesel setup when they could have just started sticking gti engines in them and 1.8s, would have been alot less worry then!

 

[iain ambrose]

Wbx engines get unfair bad press.
True, using liners in a jacket rather than a closed deck design is not ideal.
The problem has always been corrosion of the aluminum leading to leaks.
To be fair VW produced specialised coolant from day one that prevented corrosion and this has improved over the years.
The use of regular coolant has been the cause of most head corrosion IMO.
That aside look at the positive points over the trusty aircooled cousin:
Forged Crank, no flexing here to damage the case even over 6k revs.
Integrated full flow oil filtration.
Oil seals back and front.
Hydro tappets for quiet running.
Aluminum case for extra strength.

Look at the fastest bugs around the world right now and you see they are frequently wbx based.

Subaru conversions are great and will provide more reliable power and fuel economy.
What people overlook is the insurance implications, I pay £150 a year fully comp for 5000 miles but when I asked my insurance company about subaru engines he just said don't ask, very expensive.
Seems pretty pointless fitting a subaru engine for fuel economy when your paying extra £'s in insurance anyway!

It's true that my conversion has been a success in that it's everything I wanted it to be, fast, economical and practical.

Just my 2 pence worth.

 

[Bugsy_Malone 666]

Wbx engines get unfair bad press.
True, using liners in a jacket rather than a closed deck design is not ideal.
The problem has always been corrosion of the aluminum leading to leaks.
To be fair VW produced specialised coolant from day one that prevented corrosion and this has improved over the years.
The use of regular coolant has been the cause of most head corrosion IMO.
That aside look at the positive points over the trusty aircooled cousin:
Forged Crank, no flexing here to damage the case even over 6k revs.
Integrated full flow oil filtration.
Oil seals back and front.
Hydro tappets for quiet running.
Aluminum case for extra strength.

Look at the fastest bugs around the world right now and you see they are frequently wbx based.

Subaru conversions are great and will provide more reliable power and fuel economy.
What people overlook is the insurance implications, I pay £150 a year fully comp for 5000 miles but when I asked my insurance company about subaru engines he just said don't ask, very expensive.
Seems pretty pointless fitting a subaru engine for fuel economy when your paying extra £'s in insurance anyway!

It's true that my conversion has been a success in that it's everything I wanted it to be, fast, economical and practical.

Just my 2 pence worth.

See thats the positive outlook I was after

I did consider going back to the idea of aircooled from my car but thought realistically I want better heating and some fuel economy/power is lost to the cooling fan which you dont get with a wbx.

Do WBX motors have a counter balanced crank as standard?

Can you pretty much stick the likes of a bigger stroke T1 crank straight in? whats the standard stroke like on a 1.9 wbx?

I was thinking of super charging it (with possibley a clutched supercharger madmax stylee ) and I was also thinking of trying to run it with a golf GTi Digifant injection system from a 1.8, will this work?

I think for me the reason the idea sells to me more is because I can strap it straight on to my 1302s gearbox for some good cruising speed and I wont have to do massive modifications to the engine bay like I would if I put a golf motor in!

 

[iain ambrose]

Do WBX motors have a counter balanced crank as standard?

Not sure about that.

Can you pretty much stick the likes of a bigger stroke T1 crank straight in? whats the standard stroke like on a 1.9 wbx?

Not a simple as that. The bearing configuration is different on the wbx engine especially the later 2.1 style.
People have done it but you will need to machine.
1.9 Crank is 69mm (same as T1), 2.1 is 76mm i think.

I was thinking of super charging it (with possibley a clutched supercharger madmax stylee ) and I was also thinking of trying to run it with a golf GTi Digifant injection system from a 1.8, will this work?

You have options but tried and tested are Dual carbs, stock FI, aftermarket FI, Turbo carb, or FI Turbo.
Supercharged, I guess anything is possible:lol:

Get you reading cap on and peruse this forum
http://shoptalkforums.com/viewforum.php?f=37&sid=eec6065e0bff24236e99a27da12f0713

 

[Wacko Jacko]

The reason WBX engines have gained such a bad rep is because they really are a very poor design. As Iain says thay have many good developments forward over the aircooled lumps that preceded them, a proper flywheel-crank flanged joint, better bearings, semi counterweighted crank, certainly on the 2.1, maybe on the 1.9s, can't remember, bigger sump, a proper seal on the nose of the crank etc etc, but fatally flawed by the cooling system. As the basis for a hot engine, if you tear off the water jacket, bin the wet liners, and relocate studs to run modded Type 1 aftermarket barrels, aftermarket Type 1 heads, induction and exhaust systems, then indeed they are a good base, but it's a lot of work, and not to be undertaken lightly, however with water in them, they are shit. You won't persuade me otherwise, I've seen way way too many of them succumb to headgasket leaks, smapped studs and the like, even known low mileage, one owner, correctly serviced and correct coolant from new.
I take on board the insurance comments regarding Scooby motors, it's not been a real issue to me, although I guess it could be to others, however replacing any stock Beetle engine with any bigger lump will always cause issues as far as insurance is concerned for some, I can't see a twin carbed, breathed upon WBX motored Bug as any easier to insure than one with a stock Scooby lump in it.

 

[iain ambrose]

Insurance wise you win because on a classic car insurance the only thing that alters your premium is a non vw engine.
That's not 'non standard' vw engine, just any other make.
I spoke at length to my insurer and he stated it made no difference and would quote me the same price for a stock 34hp right though to my 2.1 even with all the extra mods.
That said I would think twice about plonking a 200hp beast in the back and expect the same insurance quote:lol:
The insurers age is an issue for sure and it may well be different for the under 25's.
If i'm being honest my first intention for my car was to fit a legacy engine as I had previous suffered said gasket problems with an earlier conversion. As the donor engine was stuffed I kinda just ended up where I am today. If I had to do it all again, who knows?
Oxy boxer conversions have not escaped my attentions and are a great idea.
If it must be aircooled then it's well worth doing rather than a performance T1 engine.

 

[armstrong13]

I have the same problems, I'm looking to do a 1.9TDI conversion on my t25 1987 1.9.Petrol. What is best engine to put in with the least hassle? anyone out there done or know who does them? cheers

 

[Wacko Jacko]

Tap up Spannerboy on here, he's into TDi conversions and is honest and genuine.

 

[armstrong13]

Cool, will look him up,many thanks...!!!! if i can find my way around this website ha ha