Comments
Today, I drove the Vanagon out to run several errands. On the expressway, I typically drive about 65 mph (*2765 rpm to 2815 rpm yields 65 mph*) which is the sweet spot with repect to engine noise.... pretty nice [up or down 3 or 4 mph]. Anyway, to run with the traffic, I took it up to 70 to 75 mph for about 15 miles ..... ran really great but the noise was far too much!......... oddly, slightly faster than 75 mph the sound did begin to mellow-out. But, 'ell, who wants to drive a Vanagon 80 mph......?
So, as I alluded to in previous posts, I've scrapped the idea of a 5-speed VW tranny. And, I am not interested in doing a flipped Passast (or similar) tranny or paying the big bucks for a reverse cut Ring and Pinion for a Subie 6-speed tranny! I have been crunching the numbers on a later model (post '83.5 year model) Vanagon tranny. There's not much difference in the 4.83 and 4.86 ratio Ring and Pinions. It looks as if I'm sort of stuck with what I have. However, I will leave my options open.
**The ScanGauge RPM and GPS showed that about 2765 RPMs to about 2815 RPMs resulted in 65 mph. I'm guessing there is some rounding of the numbers by the GPS. Using my tranny gear ratio spreadsheet, I get 64.994 mph using 2775 RPM...... with 215/75/15 tires (728 revolutions per mile). So, I believe both sytems (GPS/ScanGauge and Excel Spreadsheet) pretty much agree.
Well, from here on, I plan to address the "bugs" that I have encountered since putting this machine on the road.
1. Speedometer is intermitten....... the Digital Dakota indicates a signal (culprit may be inside the cluster)
2. Starting issue (hopefully a tune will take care of this)
3. Sound deadening with Dynamat
4. Flywheel/Clutch upgrade ....... easy to slip in 3rd and 4th, especially with a load
6. Rear torison bar install (positive comments over in theSamba.com)
7. Install a "puller" InterCooler fan (I don't like the pusher/blower set-up)
8. Solve the "sticky" brake pedal ... seems to hang, thus throws a flashing GP light occasionally
9. ............ dang, Body work, including a paint job!
I really like my Wheels (VanCafe) and Tires (Uniroyals).
Mark and kuleinc, thanks for your comments and input! ..... I do read all the comments!