Excuse my ignorance but 1700 type 4s seem to be the least favoured lumps for our vans and as i have a possibility of one , i just wondered what's wrong with them ?.
I've got one and i'm happy. It will sit at 70mph if you want and copes well with hills. I don't have experience of other engines to compare it against but I wouldn't hesitate having another one. No problems getting it reconditioned either but some components may be hard to find?
According to Laurie Petit the 1700 & 1800 type 4 engines are amongst the best vw made and a better build than the 2L and type 1's (thats what he told me when i called him and said I wanted a bigger engine than my 1700. His advice was to upgrade certain parts on the 1700.... Call and ask him if you think i am bulling
1700s have bigger valved (inlets) over the 2l... the 2l will still have more torque than them both if you give it a few mods
I alwaysed thought the extra 100cc up from the 1600 was not a lot certainly not enough to worry about the odd bit of tinware that needs searching for ,1641 gets you there without been in the rare parts club... I recon a twin carb 1600 will outpace the 1700... 8)
If you plan to swap from a T1 motor to a T4 motor, have you considered the following: Tinware (different sets from one to the other). Exhaust System & Heat Exchangers Differing Warm Air Flaps Differing warm air cables Engine Mounts (?) Gearbox/Bellhousing (?) Starter Motor I also dare say there are a lot of other "little bits" that have been overlooked that will add up to costs! If you plan to uprate your motor to 1700 ish, why not go for a 1776 with a decent exhaust and a pair of carbs, this will give you a bit more oomph!
unless you're getting an engine you know don't pay any more than £250. For that you would really want a complete turnkey. Expect at the very least to want to replace all bearings and cam at that price. 1700 barrels are very hard to source now, so you'll need to up these to 1800 if they need replacing. Do this and the heads have to be machined to take them... Type 4 engines are not cheap to buy parts for, but you get what you pay for. Lawnmower engines are cheap and easy to work on, but don't put out much power or torque. Unfortunately the Type 4 secret is out so everyone who has a knackered one lying in their shed thinks its worth ££££ - you should see the prices they are shifting for on ebay, sold as seen :shocked: Bizarrely the advert always says something like, "1700 removed to install a Subaru engine" or " removed to fit a 2 litre engine, working well when removed"... Get it up on the bench and then find out its shagged, rod knock etc, and probably only worth a few quid of the heads and case, if you're lucky. A couple of years ago you could get them for nothing
