new member engine advice T25 AAZ or pug?

[Andy7]

hi there
i'm new to this site - am researching getting a new engine in my '82 T25. I'm not skilled in doing mechanical things myself like you guys - very interested but with kids and job I know it will never happen. I have a local mechanic (watford) who says he will do an engine conversion for me but wants me to do the research and get the bits and basically tell him what to do (recipe for disaster I hear you say). From looking around the forums it seems like an AAZ conversion is popular and straigthforward, but you guys are pluggin the pug conversion and it sounds like a better engine. So for someone like me - I want to pay the bloke, get a good job done, and then get any maintenance done at the local garage and generally not get my hands too dirty, is a pug conversion a reasonable thing to get done?

also it's jumping out of 1st and 2nd so I def need to ask my mechanic to sort the gears - while I'm at it is it worth getting 5spd, or upgrading the box in some way?

btw the van is in fair-middling condition for its age and i definitely want to keep it because I like it a lot, but it's not worth much so I need an affordable conversion like not much more than a grand for the engine, bits and labour (if this is laughable please let me know). Above all I don't want to do something daft and have to do it again.

finally like I say i'm in the Watford area. i've spoken to people who are much more experienced in doing conversions than my local bloke, but you all seem to be up north and I would much prefer to go local, in case something small needs attention afterwards so it's easy to sort. Do you guys know anyone down this way who is experienced at work like this?

many thanks for reading my lengthy post - any advice appreciated from all you good folks.

Andy

[chuggaboom]

the pug conversion is a good conversion Famous Phil is the man in know with that re prices and the like

Plus will be able to offer lots of advise to you re fitting as he makes the adapters for this conversion

not sure what box you have in your bus but a 2ltr box seems the way forward (what iam doing) witha t25 you may have more gearbox options aswell

the advert to the right will take you to the advertisment thread for the adapetrs and how tocontact phil

good luck and make sure you get hime totake loads of photos so you can put them up and we can scrutinise his work

[famous phil]

heres an aaz piston from last month





and another one running on its engine oil these pics were taken when the ignition was off





going by how much you've got to spend the peugeot will be best ,,,, could give me a ring on 07703 844035

(hopefully fixed yer links - ES)
_________________
Auto Union Munga Jeep ,T4 2.4td , T4 2.5tdi ,Mercedes S Class on LPG , 66 splity deluxe , GP mk1, 3 type 25s 1 with 1.9dt pug engine + 1 with N/A pug engine ,,there are 6 t25s with pug power in Darlington

[Andy7]

Thanks very much Phil for the long chat about this - very informative. I'm very keen on the pug over AAZ, but it sounds like I need the services of a fairly competent mechanic - might be hit and miss with my local man.

My big problem at the moment is the engine cover - would like to avoid lifting or cutting that, or if I have to then as little as possible, cause the bed is above and I like my comfy foam - also I want to keep my engine-noise insulation as intact as I can - it's noisy enough as is..

Phil you suggested that the engine cradle could be made lower, or use the peugeot engine mounts so the engine doens't have to go as high - not sure I follow all of that - could anyone point me to some pics to give me an idea how this is done?

chuggaboom - thanks I'm going to take some pics of the box so you guys can help me work out what it is - will put them up on Monday

thanks a lot
Andy

[illzlee]

if you're on a budget the pug wins over the AAZ every time. just finding a good AAZ could be a challenge and then most breakers know how popular they are.....

if you're having gearbox trouble too it might be worth going to 5 spd - look for the lowest final drive ratio as poss from here: http://www.partsemporium.co.uk/t25_gearbox_codes.htm

gearing is an issue, but with the right box can just mean some shunky rear tyres.

Also, forgive my lack of T25 knowledge - is your '82 model watercooled?

[Andy7]

Thanks for your help

It seems clear that peugeot would be the better engine - but I can't find anyone to do the job. I called a few people known or doing conversions but they are only interested in doing AAZ.

Please reply if you are interested in the work or know anyone and I will be happy to get in touch.

Now I need to identify the gearbox. The code is too rusty for me to read - I took some pics but justrealised now that I can't upload them here. Will repost when I have this sorted.

illzlee - it's watercooled

[Andy7]

All,

I'm trying to work out what gearbox I have - looked for the code but it seems to be very rusted and I can't read it. Anyway I took some pics, hoping someone can help me work out what it is - petrol/diesel, anything else you can tell me.

[img]http://picasaweb.google.com/agraham76/VanTech/photo#5140027111791609250[/img]
[img]http://picasaweb.google.com/agraham76/VanTech/photo#5140027107496641938[/img]

if these are no good there's a few more here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/agraham76/VanTech

thank you
Andy

[Andy7]

sorry - i see that my images didn't work

you can see them here, while I try and work out how to do it properly
http://picasaweb.google.com/agraham76/VanTech


Andy

[illzlee]

i think the code is normally underneath the box, sort of in the centre...

all the photos are fomr the side, can you try some more?
_________________
'79 Bay running citroen 1.9td and phat tyres!

[Andy7]

sure - i'll get some from directly underneath but maybe not until weekend. thanks for having a look

[Andy7]

looks like peugeot is better but I can't find anyone to do the work - so am going AAZ. Thanks for your info though I appreciate it.

Last weekend the van broke down on the M1 - got towed home - it won't run now, what happens is that it runs smoothly for about 5 seconds then a big load of oily smoke comes out the exhaust and it conks out. The tow bloke reckons its diesel coming out but his job was just to drive the lorry so he wasn't that interested. I won't fix it because I don't want to spend any cash on this old piece of crap engine.

See you guys round - on the volks power forum though

obliged to you
Andy