It's funny how the subject of engine conversions can get people hot under the collar, when in other classic car "scenes", engine swaps and upgrades have been commonplace for years. Look at what has been done to old MGs and Morris Minors, etc. A swap for a flat 4 watercooled engine in an old bus or beetle is no more radical than fitting a modern equivalent block to an MGB or Spitfire (as some have done) or converting to EFI from an old carb setup. One of my neighbours has a Rover P6 which is currently running a 3.9 EFI V8 on LPG mated to a 6 speed auto box - but the V8 he has is a direct descendant of the 3.5 V8 on twin carbs that was originally in his car.
Why listen to 70's rock on CD? Why watch classic films on blueray? Why use electricity in a Victorian house?
It is a emotive subject ( after all you are changing the heart of your vehicle ) , vw aircooled goes back to the heart of all things vw :the reliability and ease of fix to motorcyclists was a big appeal back in the day , as we move forward ( excuse the pun ) with better and more efficient engines and people come into the aircooled scene fresh from driving modern day cars and no aircooled experience from back in the day then upgrades seem perfectly acceptable and probably quite sensible , i do belive VW would have loved the scooby option back in the day and would probably have offered it - i think Fellows do a superb job and at the end of the day - each to their own as it's only yourself that knows your requirements ,scooby is not for me in my van , "but" if i had another bog standard tin top i would be doing a scooby myself no thought required !
You know what? That's absolutely Kool and the Gang. Sometimes, so am I. But sometimes I like my iPod and my MacBook and my 20Mb broadband.
Recyling? If people want become precious over 'original' buses then at what point does it stop? My point about crossply's and leaded still stands...you nominate authentic 70's driving experience then don't ***** about, be properly authentic. Me, I recognise that there are far more cars on the road, all capable of driving far faster than those in the 70's. I now have s choice what speed I want to drive it at. I never bought in to the air cooled thing, I recognise the 'scene' wouldn't exist we're it not for the fans of that engine, but had my old man had a Toyota, I'd have one of those instead. ****edit....I have nothing against air cooled vehicles, I don't agree that the engine dictates the genre (personal view), and I won't be dictated to by others who modify their vehicles in other ways.
Never the twain shall meet i'm going to stick my neck out here - our vans were powered by" aircooled "engines: to those of us that appreciated aircooled reliabilty and ease of fix back in the day and experienced the epithany of aircooled as apposed the norm of the day ( watercooled unreliabilty ) it just doesn't sit well to upgrade to all that seemed a let down at the time , hence when we talk of watercooled it kinda hits a nerve - realistically it shouldn't, but it does !
Arrrrghhh ....... must ...... resist ..... goading the Speccy user ........ It was always an Acorn Electron for me. Or an Atari 1040STE.
Each to his own i say, but to my mind the reason why the change is more excessive? (is that the wright word for it?) is that its and aircooled and mg upgrade doesn't change the very thing which makes people know its a bus or a bug before they see it, the clatter of the aircooled engine is what a bus is. Poptop coined it with the heart comment, it IS the heart of the bus, the heart of the 'scene' and one of the many reasons these things are still gong after 40 years. But as i said each to his own, and don't forget to wave as you drive past when i'm on the hard shoulder with oil all over the road, cursing the bloody scene and the heart of the a bus and really wishing i had Japanese reliability over German longevity and soul.
It all makes sense to me, but what is the quality like? I mean their is not much airflow for the radiator so is this a problem? Is it a quality instal? Will it really be all that reliable? These are the things I would be concerned about. I just had an engine built by Laurie and to be honest, it was not cheap but has plenty of torque and pulls very well indeed. I would not be wanting any more power in my bus.
i reckon you should have a decko at a well fitted scooby done by Fellows , very very nice job , cooling isn't a issue !
My last car a mk1 golf gti had the engine ripped out because I wanted a mk2 16v gti lump in it no other reason other that it was what I wanted personal preference , If love a scooby engined bus but personal if I was spending 4-7 grand I'd just buy a nice wrx and use that for my powerful car and keep my slow bus well I say slow nearly 80 bhp in that beast down hill I'll get 70 mph out of it
And what about resale prices of scooby busses people will pay good money for a bus with this engine done right but I don't honk you owner will get any of there money back
As I said earlier; its not about the money. Once done, I won't be selling my van. What is it with people being obsessed with the "value" of their buses?? They're just buses, not investments!
ive had to control myself , as this scooby came up 10 miles from me, and i reckon i could have got it for less that £400... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-SUBARU-LEGACY-LX-CLASSIC-AWD-SILVER-4x4-/261210609367?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3cd15d96d7&nma=true&si=f8GzomCdeYXjzxit8OIXPEjC1ts%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
