TheSamba.com :: View topic - 87' Vanagon T2 into 72' T3 engine swap info needed

Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:27 pm

The T3 engine swap info that I have found so far consist of bigger cylinders and heads, or swapping in a 914 1.7 motor.
I have heard that the Vanagon 2.0 Type 2 (T3) will bolt up to the type 3 gearbox, can anyone confirm this?
thanks

Wed Nov 10, 2010 4:52 pm

fangface wrote: The T3 engine swap info that I have found so far consist of bigger cylinders and heads, or swapping in a 914 1.7 motor.
I have heard that the Vanagon 2.0 Type 2 (T3) will bolt up to the type 3 gearbox, can anyone confirm this?
thanks

Vanagons used the T4 motor or midyear of 83 the Wasserboxer motor or a diesel.

There is no T2 vanagon engine, however the T4 motor from a vanagon (as well as later T2's that had a T4 motor) the 914 1.7 is the same as a late T2's and Vanagons engine (small intake and compression differences aside), its a Type 4 design engine that is nothing like a T3 other than the cooling design (compared to the upright t1/2 engines).

And yes, you can swap a T4 into a T3 if thats what you were asking. I would recommend further research on the "search" function within the forum as this has been answered many, many times and there are several well documented build threads by members on here.

Wed Nov 10, 2010 5:04 pm

yes you can
my friend "adamsfasty"
has a T4 in a T3
its basically the same 71' 411 T4 engine i have into the 71' T3 i have

i also have the plastic bellow (for sale)
needed for such a conversion

my T3 1600 F.I.
my T4 1700 F.I.

i would love to get a stock 2.0 F.I. T4 engine for my T3
i think it would be the perfect Upgrade for power and such

Thu Nov 11, 2010 12:57 pm

thanks for the info - I'm just weighing my options, nice to hear from somebody who has actually done the conversion!

Thu Nov 11, 2010 1:09 pm

Here's all the vehicles that use type 4 motors
all 411/412's
all 914's (4 cyl models, which is most of them)
all type 2's from 72-79
vanagons 80-83
912E (1976 only)
t127(its an industrial type 4 motor, a few creative guys managed to make it work too.)

pretty much the same engine, different heads, bore/stroke, cams, flywheels, and intake/exhaust.

they all have similar cooling, pancake style, and require similar mods to fit in our type 3's. Check out my build thread, i'm trying to document it ala bobnotch/susansancuary style, lol.

my personal opinion is that a type 4 engine and type 3 are a match made in heaven. If you can get a good type 4 motor (biggest weakness is type 4 heads like to crack) for cheap then and you do your research the rest is fairly straightforward. that 411 air duct that sharkskin mentioned is the key component for the motor swap. tunacan's website has a really good write up about the conversion.

Fri Nov 12, 2010 2:07 pm

just went to your build site, the project looks good!
Have you got your MS working yet?
I've been building up a VW 2.0 watercooled turbo with MS for a rock crawler project but of course haven't finished it yet.

Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:02 pm

Thanks man, hopefully soon I'll know if it all works.