Skip to main content
Gerry | Vanagon
Checking account...
← vanagon.com home · Continue the discussion in the forum
Subject:Re: Just spent the morning with listmember Gary Bawden
From:Scott Daniel - Turbovans
Date:Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:20:30 -0700

He is...
just an great all around good guy, 
real pleasure to do biz or anything with.

he has no TDI that I know of .
he does have an AAZ pre-chamber type, fully mechanical diesel engine though. 

Scott
www.turbovans.com 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: craig cowan 
  To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans 
  Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 2:10 PM
  Subject: Re: Just spent the morning with listmember Gary Bawden

  Gary sure is a fun guy! Our paths crossed in Sparks Nevada last summer and he sure wasn't sporting a TDI at that time. 
  Congrats on the upgrade Gary!

  -Craig

  On Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 3:41 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:

    YAY  !
    if that fuel leak got stopped or at least slowed down ..
    awesome dude !
    Please DO share about that ..what/how you did etc.

    yes, we stayed with stock 85 waterboxer 4 speed gearing.
    that's a freshly reubilt trans.
    Sure , 5 speeds are great to have, 3 ratios from 35mph to top speed..
    where with 4 speed there are only two ratios in that speed band to play
    with.
    that's where the 5 speed really shins.
    and 'half a granny' for 1st comes in handy now and then.
    Normally you drive a 5 speed  like a 4 speed with a slightly tall 1st.

    I like that ..'make anything for anything.'
    that's what we all need.

    that boy is puttin' some miles on that thing.
    Changes the oil a lot too I think.

    That's great ya' all got to hang out and 'diesel out' to your heart's
    content !

    scott
    www.turbovans.com

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Jim Felder" <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
    To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
    Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 12:06 PM
    Subject: Just spent the morning with listmember Gary Bawden

      Listmember Gary Bawden is touring the country in his gas-to-TDI conversion
      done by Scott, which I got to see and drive this morning. Wow, what a
      package and what a nice job by Scott. I took lots of pictures. The car is
      waterboxer-quiet or quieter, and stronger than the waterboxer just a bit.
      He
      was running power steering, too. He left the 85 4-speed gearbox in there
      and
      it seemed fine to me on the highway. I bet he'd like to have my five speed
      in there, though.

      Anyway, very impressive job and very nice rig.

      Gary had just left Unca Joel's neck of the woods after meeting with him
      and
      John Rogers yesterday. We met up in a public picnic area near Decatur, not
      far from me, and not long after we pulled in, here came a TDI jetta
      checking
      out our vans. The driver turned out to be a TDI-conversion listmember
      Nathan
      Smith who is living on a sailboat a stone's throw from where we stood.
      Nathan has his dad's 82 NA diesel vanagon and a later westy he is
      outfitting
      with porsche transmission, TDI conversion, and porsche brakes front and
      rear. The porsche stuff came off of a 911 turbo wreck. Nathan is a
      mechanical engineer who works at the Toyota V8 plant in Huntsville and has
      access to anything to make anything.

      The shop talk got so thick at one point that the fish quit biting. The
      fisherfolk left and we had the place to ourselves.

      I was able to stop a small fuel leak on Gary's injector with my scant but
      diesel-specific onboard tool set.

      Gary is now off to the northeast before returning home to Nevada. I'm sure
      you'll hear more about it from him.

      A very enjoyable morning.

      Jim