A camping forum for VW bus and camper owners.

NEED SOME MORE HP

Just wondering if there is anything you can do to a 1979 2.0 motor to give it a little more horse power. Not looking to burn rubber down the road just looking to keep up with traffic . Was looking for a 914 motor to put in but I don't want break up the original motor to the original body . Thanks for your help and hope to seeya's on the road

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Permalink Reply by Swiftriver on July 9, 2011 at 12:30pm

Actually, I find the most enjoyable speed for my bus is zero.... Like when I am camped someplace nice with the awning out, and a cold beer in my hand.... No hurry = No worry.

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Permalink Reply by whc03grady on July 9, 2011 at 4:31pm

I've been misunderstood on this account in the past, so let me distinguish two statements:
(A) Your air-cooled VW should be driven at the cruising speed given in the owner's manual.

(B) Your air-cooled VW should be able to be driven at the cruising speed given in the owner's manual.

Now let me make this clear: I am an advocate of (B). I do not advocate (A).

(An aside: I don't know what to say to those--none of whom are part of this conversation, as far as I can tell, but there are such people--who don't know how to, or otherwise refuse to, distinguish (A) from (B).)

I'm entirely appreciative of the desire to escape the rat race, not try to keep up with ridiculous interstate traffic, get on the side roads, etc. I try to drive this way myself.

Now then.

Anyone (mechanic or otherwise) who says that it's not okay to drive an air-cooled Volkswagen at the cruising speed given in the owner's manual will have to explain how they know more about the capabilities of the engine than do the couple dozen engineers who designed, tested (over tens of thousands of hours), and built the engine. The European roads they were designed for weren't only those which twist through the Alps; they were also designed for the Autobahn. None of VW's lawyers would've been stupid enough to allow the words, "Maximum and cruising speed.....75 mph" into the owner's manual if it was going to open them up to lawsuits from every new owner who blew up an engine at 72 mph. If it couldn't do it, they wouldn't've said it could.

Yes, these vehicles are 30+ years old. However, their engines are not. I sincerely doubt any of the 70 or so owners of unmolested, unrebuilt, original-engine bay window buses left in the world are members of this forum.

In other words, yes it's true that most of us are tooling down the road with at least some substandard and/or out-of-tolerance parts. That doesn't take away from my assertion that "[a]n engine that can't do what the owner's manual says it should be able to do has something wrong with it, end of story." In fact, it supports it: what is wrong with most of our engines is that they are composed of at least some substandard and/or out-of-tolerance parts.

So I guess we've arrived in the same place. Those of us (not including me, I assure you) with perfectly in-spec buses can, if they'd like, drive them all day long at whatever the owner's manual gives as the cruising speed and should expect no problems. In fact, I know one such person who does exactly that: Colin Kellogg, before his mechanically perfect '73 was demolished by a young lady in a Mitsubishi, regularly pressed his bus to 75mph and beyond, for hours on end. He told me of driving entirely across South Dakota with the pedal to the floor. He did the same through the Mojave Desert, in heat exceeding 110* more than once. With no problems for the engine. If our buses were all brand-new, or in perfect shape, we could do the same. (If we wanted to, remember. I'm not saying we should, but that we could.)

So here we are, stuck with substandard and/or out-of-spec parts in our buses. So we can't go 75 mph (say), even if we wanted to. Does that mean we should just be content with substandard and/or out-of-spec parts? Of course not. While such parts may enable us to justify our 'no need to go over 60' lifestyle, they do so at the cost of the vehicle; they kill it slowly in other ways, even if you never drive over 55.

I presume--wrongly, in most cases it turns out--that most people have air-cooled VWs, including buses, because of the opportunity they provide: to experience the thrill of real driving; to have a car they can actually maintain themselves; and (in the camper's case) have something fun to take the family out in.

To accept substandard and/or out-of-spec parts with the thought, 'oh well, I don't really care if I can go over 60 anyway' is instead to treat the vehicle as unworthy of real attention and care. It is to treat them as disposable.

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Permalink Reply by Herman on July 9, 2011 at 7:46pm

Wow! What a dissertation.. I knew this would go the way of "Which oil is better!"

Sorry feller, in no way did I intend to question your research or knowledge. All I wanted to say was how I drive my bus and what seasoned Volkswagen mechanics have told me about their experiences in years of VW repair.

Never did I intend to question German engineering. Heaven forbid that any engineer make a mistake (Pinto, Corvair, Toyota, or any manufacturer that makes mistakes 2.oL VW motor heads with poor valve seats aside).

I guess I was misunderstood as well in stating "Its your bus, its your machine, its yours to drive however you want to.

Wait let me rephrase that, ITS YOURS DO WITH IT AS YOU PLEASE! or DRIVE IT AS FAST OR AS SLOW AS YOU WANT TO!

Maybe more clear, IF THE MANUAL SAYS DRIVE IT 75 DRIVE IT 75!

Or the manual says YOU CAN DRIVE IT 75 BUT YOU OPT TO DRIVE IT 65 THATS OKAY TOO!!!

I DON'T CARE HOW YOU DRIVE IT!!!! Just bloody drive it. Keep it on the road by whatever means you deem neccesary. Enjoy it thats all I ever said. Sorry you took it personally!!!

Was this a dissertation? Hmmmm probably......................sorry

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Permalink Reply by Gary Marrs on July 9, 2011 at 10:43pm

I don't where you guys are but, the cops won't let me do 75 even if I wanted to. But, just to add to the B. S. pushing any machine to it's max for long periods, will shorten it's life. It is more enjoyable driving slower, the trip is half the joy, and in a VW Camper it can be the best part. My 78 will do 75, my question is, why !!! I don't like driving at night either, not because the bus can't do it, I just enjoy seeing the country as I go by. I also like the part about doing 0 mph, that is the other great part about driving a VW Camper, Let's go camping.

Herman said:

Wow! What a dissertation.. I knew this would go the way of "Which oil is better!"

Sorry feller, in no way did I intend to question your research or knowledge. All I wanted to say was how I drive my bus and what seasoned Volkswagen mechanics have told me about their experiences in years of VW repair.

Never did I intend to question German engineering. Heaven forbid that any engineer make a mistake (Pinto, Corvair, Toyota, or any manufacturer that makes mistakes 2.oL VW motor heads with poor valve seats aside).

I guess I was misunderstood as well in stating "Its your bus, its your machine, its yours to drive however you want to.

Wait let me rephrase that, ITS YOURS DO WITH IT AS YOU PLEASE! or DRIVE IT AS FAST OR AS SLOW AS YOU WANT TO!

Maybe more clear, IF THE MANUAL SAYS DRIVE IT 75 DRIVE IT 75!

Or the manual says YOU CAN DRIVE IT 75 BUT YOU OPT TO DRIVE IT 65 THATS OKAY TOO!!!

I DON'T CARE HOW YOU DRIVE IT!!!! Just bloody drive it. Keep it on the road by whatever means you deem neccesary. Enjoy it thats all I ever said. Sorry you took it personally!!!

Was this a dissertation? Hmmmm probably......................sorry

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Permalink Reply by whc03grady on July 10, 2011 at 6:40am

Again, I never said anyone should drive at top speed. I only said one should be able to. There's a difference.

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Permalink Reply by Herman on July 10, 2011 at 7:17am

My previous post before the one quoted below simply said I drive mine 60 then I added this post stated below and Mr. whco3grady you proceeded to pick apart most every sentence I wrote to explain "should". Obviously in your very first post on this thread you are much more of an expert than I on this subject and I will bow to your knowledge. Hopefully first bus owner Mr. 79 Tim won't need a rebuild and that all he needs is the understanding of driving a 70 hp 3200 lb square box.

Happy camping

Herman said:

This could very easily get into one of those discussions about which oil to use.....

All I know is drive it the way you want to. If you want to run it 75 all day go for it.

Personally I bought my bus to get away from the rat race and for me that means I'm not getting into a hurry to get anywhere.

I understand that the manufacturer suggests 75 maximum mph but as stated before these are now 40 year old machines that with time and temperature changes metal fatigue is possible.

Again, I have a fresh motor and with $1500 in parts alone in a 2.0L motor (find a new crank for it that is not already ground) and for me trying to stay up with interstate traffic on a long trip is not a great idea. Saving my equipment and keeping my bus on the road to enjoy is important to me so the back roads relaxed enjoying the drive is the way to go.

Of all the mechanics I have talked to that have worked on these buses from the 70's to the present have said that Americans drive these buses like they are made to drive sustained interstate speeds and they are really not. They were made for the narrow tight twisting roads of Europe.

With the rambling on here bottom line is drive it how ever you want to. Its yours, you bought, you maintain it, you drive it......