Hi Eric

About the upgrade, the only thing I did at the time of the engine swap was to completely upgrade the cooling system, including a new radiator and a stainless steel pipe set.  Everything else was, according to the mechanic, in good shape and reused.  I did a few of what I call reliability and safety upgrades: I added the T3 rollbar and endlinks, the vanistan oil cooler, relays on the headlights, and before the engine swap I upgraded to 16" wheels, slotted discs, and Bilstein shocks.  High crosswinds will always be a challenge, but the collective improvement in handling from the roll bar, wheels and shocks was dramatic, especially coming down windy mountain roads.  In retrospect, since I have been dealing with overloaded electrical circuits, I would do more extensive re-wiring when I put in the second battery to move as much load as possible off of the old fuse bus, and probably would have used an ACR rather than a solenoid to manage the battery.  The accessory wiring is not about engine performance, but definitely a safety issue for me.  I become very concerned about fire when fuses started melting.  One other item, I (think) the melting fuse issue was solved by moving accessories to a Bkur Seaqw fuse bus under the driver seat, but when the radiator fan is running then fuse (I think #7?) still gets hot.  I am going to wire that directly to the battery with an inline fuse.   Those are some things that help protect your investment in a new engine and trans.

Hope that helps.

Dave B
Boise

________________________________
From: Eric Caron <ericcaron96@comcast.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 4, 2019 9:33 PM
To: David Boan <dboan@outlook.com>
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Subject: Re: What water boxer to replace my 1.9?

Hi David,

This is great info.  I am especially pleased to hear you have put on some trouble free miles and only a mild repair.

Can you share any specifics about any other related engine upgrades?  Are you using parts from your 1.9 or did you update the cooling system, ECU, fuel injection.

I take it your van is a Standard.  Mine is Auto so I�d love to hear what the Turbo option really impacts in driving.

I�m looking at options for a 2.3 transplant.

However, at the moment, the 1.9 is alive and sounding happy.

Eric Caron
85 GL Auto