Whoa! You may be on to something. Keep us posted.

On Mar 17, 2008, at 9:00 PM, Automatic digest processor wrote:

> Date:    Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:48:04 -0700
> From:    VW Doka <vw.doka@GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: 2.1 w/solid lifters - Frankenstein's Monster Lives!
>
> We were fooling around here at the shop last week with my Father's
> '85 GL
> and decided to try something a little different.  His stock 1.9 was
> running
> kinda poorly so we thought we'd throw a motor together out of spare
> parts.
> The motor we ended up building is a 2.1 liter with a VW bug camshaft
> (mild
> grind) and solid lifters from a Type 4 engine (his old lifters rattled
> incessantly).  The cooling system is stock 1.9 liter, as is the
> Digijet FI.
> We did cut the seats on the heads and resurface the valves, but the
> only new
> parts we used were a set piston rings, rod bearings, and gaskets.
> And an
> oil filter of course.  About $75 worth of parts.
>
> Needless to say, we had no idea how this thing would run when we
> fired it
> up.
>
> All I can say is.... WOW!  This baby rocks!
>
> She fired right up and idled perfect.  No lifter clatter of course.
> Acceleration was even, smooth and extremely responsive.  But the
> real test
> was waiting out on the street.  After bleeding the cooling system
> and double
> checking everything, it was test drive time!
>
> The first indication that we'd done good was still in the parking
> lot.  We
> backed it out, put it in "D" (did I say it is an automatic?), and
> stepped on
> the gas...  TIRE SCREECH!  Totally unintentional, we just stepped on
> the gas
> like normal and the damn thing took off like a cat with it's tail on
> fire.
>
> This was getting fun!
>
> Next came the freeway... we hopped onto I-50 and easily merged with
> traffic
> at 65mph.  A few lane changes to the left and we're cruising at
> 75mph.  We
> knew what we had to do next... step on it.  We did, and the damn
> thing took
> off again!  Had to back it down around 90mph.  Even though it's
> pretty much
> a used engine, we didn't want to rev it up too much for too long.
>
> Next stop... the smog shop next door.  We didn't need a smog, but
> thought it
> prudent to see if it would pass.  It did.  Easily.
>
> Of course, we're wondering a few things:
>
> - How long will our rebuilt/used motor last?
>
> - and, how often well we need to adjust the valves?
>
>
> This was fun and if anyone wants to drive a Frankenstein's monster
> that
> kicks ass, come on by the shop.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeff
> www.vanagonparts.com