I had an acquaintance who had a Mazda in his vanagon.   He camped near us
in Baja for three winters.  They towed a Baja Bug sedan behind that rig and
had all their sailboard and surfing gear for a 3 month stay in Baja aboard
the two Vws.  I didn't inquire about the particulars of the vanagon install
at the time I was driving gas hogs.
  He sold that rig and has a Ford van now...Haven't seen them in a few
years.

  Don Hanson

On Sun, Oct 16, 2011 at 10:00 AM, Michael Snow <slowmachine82@gmail.com>wrote:

> A few years ago (OK, probably ten) I met a guy that worked in a
> California race car fabrication shop.  He had a 1983 diesel passenger
> van with a Mazda rotary engine, installed using parts that he fabbed and
> the diesel 5-speed transmission.  I never saw the van with the engine
> installed, but related stories about passing cars going uphill in the
> SoCal mountains, engine revving well over 10,000 RPM, with a giant smile
> on his face.  The engine was removed to install in another car, and he
> was selling the van.  Part of the van modification was a raised engine
> cover (plywood lined with noise-reducing foam) that must have been eight
> inches taller than the flush-fitting stock cover.
>
> Mike
>
>
> On 10/16/2011 11:58 AM, Evan Mac Donald wrote:
>
>> All right. I have been thinking of off-beat, kind of "cool" engines to
>> replace the not-all-it-could-be waterboxer, and one I keep coming back to
>> is a
>> Wankel 2-rotor, from Mazda. The later ones were fuel injected, so no carb
>> worries, and I figure the high RPM needs of the engine could be met by
>> putting
>> it together with a Deisel gearbox, and its 4.86 or even 5.11 (or so) final
>> drive. It is low on torque, which is an obvious bad point, but if you let
>> it
>> rev, which it surely can, it should be quite happy at 5500or so RPM on the
>> highway at cruise. Lots happier than our regular engines would be at thier
>> regular cruise RPM of 3600 to 4000....
>>
>> Anybody wanna poke holes in this (ok, crazy) theory?
>>  Evan Mac Donald
>>
>>
>> "...in the absence of facts, myth rushes in, the kudzu of history."
>> -Stacy Schiff
>>
>