Forwarded to Vanagon List as sent only to Rob Scott in error
...

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Polson" <tp@whsmithnet.co.uk>
To: "Rob Scott" <rob@UNIXGUY.COM>
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2003 2:51 PM
Subject: Re: Sealing goop on cylinder sleeve inboard ends?

> Rob Scott wrote:
> >
> > By the way, unlike my other previous (air cooled) VW
> Beetle and Van engines
> > I am finding the task of working on this engine to be
less
> than a pleasant
> > experience.  I have found a ton of things where I
scratch
> my head and ask
> > "Now why did they do that?", quite unlike the typical
> German "logical
> > reason for everything" approach that I saw in the
earlier
> models (and in
> > general in my BMW motorcycles).  I know that it may
upset
> some of the
> > faithful, but this whole water jacket thing is a stinky
> design IMO.
>
>
> Hi Rob,
>
> Apparently the WBX engine was the result of an experienced
> air-cooled engine design team being given the job of
> producing a water-cooled flat four - and in a hurry.  The
> result includes several features that no experienced
> water-cooled engine designers would ever have included,
> notably the head studs that pass through the coolant,
> exposing them to potential corrosion, and that *bizarre*
> head seal design, both of which must have been an
> embarrassment to VW.
>
> The German market's experiences with the T3 (Vanagon) were
> so bad that sales of the Transporter range plummeted by
> three quarters in the decade 1981-1991.
>
> Tony
>