Harold Kiesewetter put a TDI in his van, along with a 4.14 Ring & Pinion,
but he stayed with the 4 speed.  It works really well!  He doesn't need to
shift as often because of the amount of torque the motor puts out, and the
longer overall gearing.

Jake

On 10/4/06, Jim Felder <felder@knology.net> wrote:
>
> You should also post this to the Yahoo! Diesel Vanagon list. I'm sure
> somebody there has done it.
>
> Jim
>
>
> On Oct 4, 2006, at 2:53 PM, Steven Johnson wrote:
>
> > Hey all,
> >
> > Some of you know me from way back when and I pipe
> > up from time to time.  But that is irrelevant.
> >
> > For some time now I've been pondering an engine
> > replacement as my 1990/91 Westy approaches 200,000
> > miles.  I've read good things about the Subaru and
> > good things about the TDI and other diesel trans-
> > plants.  Ideally my preference would be some kind
> > of hybrid with an automatic transmission but I
> > think, at best, that that is out of the question
> > and financially un-reachable.  And wouldn't I
> > like to have an SVX or Porsche 6 cylinder pushing
> > my box at 80+ mph down the interstate and watch
> > my travel times shorten substantially.
> >
> > But yesterday, I spoke with one of the California
> > Smog BAR representatives that was their most
> > experienced gurus on engine replacement.  I was
> > pleasantly suprised to hear from him that California
> > did indeed allow for diesel conversions still as
> > long as it was a newer engine for light class trucks
> > or cars.  Now this is still a bit premature for me
> > to celebrate, but it sure sounds promising.  He gave
> > me a number for a referee to discuss specifics if
> > and when I needed to.
> >
> > So what I'm getting at here is that I feel that I'm
> > going to be able to do this transplant and not get
> > dinged by the referee when I go to get an inspection.
> > This is very contrary from what I've been reading
> > about on this list about diesels in Calfornia.  Has
> > anyone on the list actually done a recent conversion
> > in CA and survived the smog inquisition?
> >
> > Now beyond that, I'd really like to have a TDI trans-
> > plant with an automatic transmission.  Traffic is
> > just getting too annoying with a standard tranny and
> > I'd really like to give my left calf and foot a break.
> >
> > I know there was some discussion about this a few
> > moons ago and that there was some expensive gear
> > that had to be installed to make up for the difference
> > in the ratios.  Was there a group purchase?  Has
> > there been any successful completed projects with
> > automatic transmissions mated to a diesel TDI?
> >
> > Thanks for letting me ramble...
> >
> > Steven
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> > http://mail.yahoo.com
> >
>

--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
www.crescentbeachguitar.com