What we know is that the 959 was an air-cooled engine with water-cooled heads. I'm wondering if anyone has tried this idea with a type 4 or any of the other porsche sixes.. what would be required? Anyone given this thought?

~Feeling insane right now!! hahahahahaha

Not just the 959. Either the 956 or the 962 (I forget which, may be both) also had water cooled heads on air-cooled cylinders.

VW also produced an engine commonly called the "Wasserboxer", which appears to be (more or less) a Type 4 with water-cooling. However, it appears to be such a dog of an engine that swapping the heads and cylinders back to air-cooled is very common. I'm sure the Cap'n would have something to say about this.

In short, yes, it's been discussed. It may even have been done once or twice.

that sucks. I just thought it'd be a great idea for people looking to turbo their engines

But i think it might be a good mod for production sixes, since Porsche was using them on their race/super cars =D

The factory is doing it right now with the GT2 and GT3 motors...it's an aircooled block (964 based) with watercooled heads.....

there is also a company making watercooled Type I heads for aircraft....

On shoptalkforums someone mentioned a Dutch or Swedish group of guys that built some watercooled heads for thier Type IV....not sure if they plan on selling them, but if they did, I'd guess they'd go for about $4,000 a pair...

the factory also played with this idea 20 years ago or so on some of thier race cars...it's not a new idea....

You can't just swap heads and jugs on a "Wasserboxer", the early 1.9's were dogs but the later 2.1 was OK in a van. Some have cut the water jackets off and used type one heads and jugs to make the "type 5" engine.

Liquid cooled heads are illegal in drag racing.

just 'cause the wasserboxer motor has problems is not a reason to get upset, you learn from what they did wrong and fix it.....actually, the wasserboxer motor really has nothing in common with an aircooled motor with watercooled heads since the block and cylinders are watercooled and a single cast unit (each side)....it's a water cooled motor from the start, not a an aircooled motor with water cooled heads...2 different beasts...

you mean

"Some Wasserboxers were plagued by head gasket failures due to several design issues. Engine failure was also a result of poorly placed sensors, corrosion in the cooling system and many areas subjected to leaks."

thanks Wiki =D

that's a ton of problems!

a type 5 (wasser boxer with type 1 barrels and heads) is affectionately known as an "Oxy-Boxer"

you got 'er

Also some have used the 2.1 crank in a type 1...you have to mod the pulley seal.

The Wasserboxer is a T1/T4 hybrid derivative, using a crank that looks a lot like a T4 unit. It would be highly impractical (nothing is impossible if you have the money) to cut away the water jacket and install air cooled components. The 2.1 motors are known to have rod failure problems, but make more power. The head gasket failures are generally considered to be the result of the owners or the mechanics they utilize installing the wrong coolant. It MUST be of the phosphate free variety, and it MUST only be diluted with distilled water. My 1.9 Vanagon has been in use for 11 years on a full rebuild, and we've added about a quart of coolant in all that time. Never runs hot, has infrequent service, and get asked to do a LOT of bad things. The Cap'n

Hey

Don't forget about the guys modding the Suby heads to fit a T4, saw it in a post this winter.
I think its a great idea but, all things considerd, most people opt for a complete water cooled engine swap

Later

sooo what would it take to throw in a wbx?

Suby conversions are growing in numbers, Turbo's are another story

I love talking conversions

Later

you are still missing the point...the wasserboxer engine does NOT belong in this discussion...PERIOD......for all intents and purposes, it was designed as a complete watercooled engine which just happens to share some dimensions and parts with an aircooled Type I vw bug engine...

The suby heads are on a type I, they share the cylinder bore centerline dimensions, or are alot closer than a Type IV

hmm, researched it, and I guess not.. apparently wbx are a PITA...

*sigh*

wbx is not an aircooled engine or related to one...I give up

poor Mueller

These guys would disagree with the Krusty one.


http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewforum.php?f=37