BAJA BUG DIESEL

[hjalbert]

I bought a 1968 baja bug, and Love the style, but do not like the engine.I have a 1.6D that I want to put into it. It is out of a dasher. I have found a company that makes an adapter plate and fly wheel for 450$. I am trying to find out what other hurdles like motor mounts, gear ratios, and what not that I will encounter. I will be beefing up the rear with long travel shocks, so I am not worried about the weight. I think it will be easy to fab the motor mounts because it is a baja and has the tube frame coming all the way out around the back. And I am familiar with all the wiring and fuel system. I guess I wanted to know if anyone had seen one done? The Baja has a 4 speed, with a short shift kit installed. I do not shift out of first until about 35 mph, second takes me up to about 50-55, third and fourth are pretty tall gears. I figure at those speeds I am turning about 4000 rpms, which should be fine for the diesel. Any way, I will shut up. Maybe I am just dreaming, but I have the vehicle and the motor, so I figured the money would pay off quickly, and It would be cool to have a Veggie Baja. thanks

[libbybapa]

Cooling system?

Andrew

[hjalbert]

Since the radiator from the dasher is smaller, I was going to mount it where the air dam is on the back of the bug, I am not sure if this makes sence without a picture, I will post some when I get home. I was also considering mounting it on the very back, with electric fans. Have not even really gotten past the "can I do this" stage. How did I know you would be the first one to reply? Ever make progress with your toyota idea? Thanks

[hjalbert]

here are some pictures of the bug, Obviously some modifications would have to be made to mount the rad and fan.

[surfcam]

If you could locate a wrecked westy with a diesel that would give you a lot of the stuff you need.

[libbybapa]

Ever make progress with your toyota idea?

I made progress in the investigative stages up to where I learned that the toyota tercel tranny blows up at 100hp and 100 ft-lbs of torque. At that point I stopped being interested as I would have well surpassed 100 ft-lbs.

My attention has turned to the Suzuki Sidekick for the 4WD TD 4-door wagon concept. Kits are readily available with considerable aftermarket support.

On the Baja subject. I would mount the radiator at the back of the cage with a bit of a scoop to direct air through it and an electric fan. Might work actually quite well.

If you could locate a wrecked westy with a diesel that would give you a lot of the stuff you need.

Diesel Westies are hen's teeth and expensive ones at that, even wrecked. A 7-pass that was wrecked would be a lot more economical for salvage. I'm also not sure if the bell housing would bolt up to the tranny. I think it would, but I'm not sure. If it did, then I'm not sure there would be clearance for the starter which is mounted directly on top of the bell housing. If those hurdles were overcome it might be a decent way to go. Adapter plates are also available to mount the engine upright in the jetta/golf config. The plate would result in a little less ground clearance.

Andrew

[tylernt]

Not much info on putting an inline-4 engine in a Bug/Baja, but there have been plenty of folks that have swapped an I4 into a boxer Vanagon. I suspect at least some of that information will be useful to you.

I seem to recall a discussion forum that about I4 swaps into rear-engined vehicles like the Porsche and the Beetle. Darned if I can find it now, though. It only had 1 or 2 posts in the Beetle section, but I think it has been done by someone somewhere.

[Vincent Waldon]

I dunno... there's something about the roar of a 4 into 1 header on a squeaky air-cooled vw engine that screams dune buggy... the rattle of a diesel might not be the same !!!!

Another thing to consider might be weight balance... not sure of the difference in weight between an alloy beetle engine and a cast-iron diesel block... might be an issue depending on how much off-road you really want to do ?? Or not... !

Does your tranny adapter accept the diesel starter or the beetle ?? Hopefully the former... a gas starter will not last long turning over a diesel.

One other thing from my old days as an air cooled guy... can't remember if the water cooled vw engine rotates the same direction as the aircooled... if not, at least on the older beetle transmissions you can rotate a pinion in the transmission to make it work. Every once in a while the pinion would go in backwards and we'd have 1 forward gear and 4 reverse.

[libbybapa]

They all rotate the same.

I would have concern about handling with the added weight of the diesel especially if all of the cooling system was in the rear as well.

Andrew

[FineFrank]

Actually, a radiator fits in the spare tore well. I saw one on a Fastback that had a waterboxer, and it was sweet.

[hjalbert]

I may will address the weight issue when it presents itself, I do not want to under compensate, or over compensate until I can see the effects. I will not do very much off road driving, mainly just on the beach. I found out today that the adapter kit is 400, and for 185 there is a gear reduction starter. I guess that the factory dasher starter is not going to fit the bugs location. not sure yet. Unfortunately as much as I search I cannot find any documentation on someone who has done this, with any pictures or notes. I have decided to use as much of the dashers factory wiring, unless it looks sketchy. oh well. I promise that when this starts to happen I will take pictures and document all of my trials and tribulations. If it is a successful transplant I may at a later date consider a TD, but I do not want to waste the money on another engine if its going to be an abortion. thanks for the comments.