ShopTalk Forums | Aircooled VW Tech & Restoration Help

Well, I just installed a 2.3turbo in my Baja and I'm happy so far with it. I had an 1835 with dual 40's and Engle 120 which broke a rod bolt and knocked a hole as big as my fist in the top of the case. I weighed my options and what I wanted the car to do and decided a watercooled motor would be more reliable and economical.

There was an 88 turbocoup for sale locally ($700) which I traded a couple of broke down stand up jet ski's for. Esslinger adapter, Kennedy 1700, EFI fuel pump around $500. Turbocoupe radiator and fans mounted up front where the old gas tank was (free), 1 !/4" conduit and 1 1/4" copper for cooling lines about $70. Aluminum and high pressure rubber fuel lines about $50. Wiring, relays, etc. $25. Modified stock down pipe for exhaust. Bought a manual boost valve for $35. Probably another $200-400 in other stuff I can't think of.

My bug already had a moderately built Transform swingaxle tranny, so that was covered. Not that I feel comfortable launching hard, I know there are limitations. I'm currently installing a Chenowth class 11 cage ($200) that I will add an engine support to.

So what do I have now? A reliable, electronic fuel injected and turbocharged (street)Baja pushing 18 pounds of boost with about 200 hp and 250 ft/lb that should still get 30 mpg. I Gtech'ed it and ran a 14.6 @ 96 with 12 lbs of boost and 31" offroad tires without any launch at all. Not that impressive of a time, but it'll get better. There is no way I could have made that much power for the same price with an aircooled motor with the same reliability as the Ford. Oh, yea, this motor will handle another hundred hp of N2O if I feel the urge.

Don't kid yourself it's a PITA to do this project, but if you enjoy working on your car, do it. Don't listen to all the naysayers out there.

Later

I am a bit late to this thread but I have cars with a 2.3 turbo ford, a rotary, a turbo subaru, and a 1600 toyota. My favorite is the ford putting out around 250hp with recent mods pushing it to what I hope is 300. I would never run an aircooled VW motor again.

I found the extra weight isn't that big of a deal and it fits under a stock hood with a standoff kit. The engine can be mounted without a lot of modifications to the body.

I have found I don't care as much for the rotary. It is fun to drive but does not launch well and trashes the tranny with high RPM's. Of course this is coming from off-roading and a lead foot.

A big question you need to answer if you want to drag race it is what class and events you want to run in. Most VW drag races around here say you must run a VW motor whether that is an aircooled or rabbit/jetta motor. That has eliminated me from some of the events I thought about running in with my baja. If these are the events you want to run in you may have to run aircooled.

-Mark

Well, I'm a bit late with my responses if anyone still cares! I don't plan on doing drag racing with it. I might take it to a track every now and then just to see what my mods have been doing. I looked at the Ford engine, and it seemed like a great idea but I didn't like the thought of all the weight in the back. Anyone know how much a 2.3 Turbo Ford weighs? I know a rotary engine weighs only about 40 more pounds then a traditional aircooled 1600 engine. So if I can get a number that low with a Ford engine, then Ford it is. But if not, I don't want to have to go through and do suspension work just so the car can handle the weight of the engine... I've also been looking for a reason to learn how to work on rotary engines. The Ford engine sounds like a lot of fun, but I'd rather have it in a baja. I think I'll end up doing that eventually