runnin a 90" berrien frame with 2x3 trailing arms 1915 with a stock nose shit 6rib w/ a 3 rib bellhousing. spun the gland nut at harlan memorial day. unfortunately i had never pulled the motor since i had bought it last december as all my wheelin toys have been parked at bigchev70's house since my house burnt up last oct. honestly i dont like to lay in the mud workin on things unless its on the trail. i let the bug sit since i been sorta busy (60hr work weeks and building the new house eat alot of time) til he got sick of it and pulled the motor and cranked it down and added a little love so i could make it to wheelers and the bug farm.haha. but i am back in the new house and have been debating a solstice motor swap(found a good price) or letting aaron creech put a little love in the motor and maybe going 2387 or bigger.only thing i want out of the swap or build is the ability to leave the 6 rib stock and actually having a little torque to the wheels for now. well maybe i would like to spank a couple guys i ride with too just because i bought the rail with what it has hoping to make up for the fact i had never drove one before. unfortunately they all decided to "catch up" on the aftermarket parts before i didnt look like a drunk driver. lol. the only problem i have with the water cooled swap is that i have seen very few and none close enough to get a good idea as to what i need or cost. that and i need someone to bounce ideas off of. i can look and read on here all i want but firsthand knowledge and actually seein a few setups in person are two different worlds. now as to air cooled well the cost is my only concern. i know damage had to have occurred when i spun the gland nut and well if someone is gonna split the case i might as well build it bigger. i guess i just want some opinion as to which way to go, maybe see if someone else runs this little frame cause i wanna find that power/gearing/ and weight ratio which works without spending tons goin up and down in power or huge hospital bills cause i put it on its lid everytime i dump the clutch.i dunno just need some input and hopefully without the ac vs wc bs that normally occurs....lol

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if it aint broke don't fix it
gun control is hiting your target

put a super diff in that 6 rib before you do anything! I have a water cooled and air cooled (suby 2.5 and vw 2332) and you get a bigger bang for your buck with the water cooled, but the air cooled feeling is still unmatched (if you dump a ton of money in it). Either way your gonna end up putting $$ into that 6 rib!

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Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

I have had both and prefer the WC route. My thoughts are that it takes a whole bag of money to get a VW motor to have the Torque and HP (been there done that) that a stock WC motor gives you right out of the box. Now there is some additional up front costs to going from an AC to a WC motor as in the adapter plate, Flywheel ECU, radiator etc. The cost is around a 1000 bucks for that stuff. Still the cost including the WC motor will not come close to the Hi performance VW motor. After the initial costs a drop in replacement motor can be had for less than the cost of a VW rebuild. The WC motor last a lot longer than an AC well at least for me that is. The other major Improvement the WC motor gives you is EFI. NO dirty Idle jets to deal with etc. Start and go with the EFI. Now can you have problems with all of the Electronics, certainly however they are few and far between. What ever works for you is what counts.

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Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

Money aside I say its hard to beat a GREAT VW stroker. I look at it this way I only have so much I can dump into my buggy. And if I can save time and money by going to WC then I can have time and money to spend on other parts to make it stronger and more relliable on the trails. I hate being broke down on the trails or my engine not running 100%.

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Now give us some specs on the motor you want to drop in it. Not every engine will make for a good buggy. And with a 90" frame weight will make a difference real quick.

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2276 VW......if you go water cooled im gonna have to terminate your membership in the mixed nuts off road

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Hey,can you hand me those zip ties and that roll of duct tape?!

I had a 90" berrien my self before i got my new frame. But i would go with vw becuase with that short buggy its goin to be a really heavy on the rear of that buggy, if you go water cooled. And then you will spend plenty of time on your lid lol

2276? why dont i just put a 3rib in and freshen up the 1915.. how ya gonna terminate a membership i received with the beat down k5 in your yard?

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if it aint broke don't fix it
gun control is hiting your target

2007 2.4t ecotech 60xxx miles with harness and ecu $700 already pulled before they pancaked the car. yeah i know. too much for that frame but i got a few ideas on a custom front that i know will stretch me 10 to 12 inches atleast and a ton of travel if i can get it to function right and add some pounds. while using easy to get chevy replacement parts. but i got all winter to build that while i am laid off. i already need to strengthen the frame and maybe raise the roof hoop. plus i know i need the superdiff . no matter which way i go its necessary.thats one reason why i want enough power to leave the gears stock for now. shoulda stopped some of the guys after the wheelers hillclimb when i got caught in the midst of them when i was changin a fouled plug and bummed a ride to "feel" the difference in power on some of them a/c and w/c compared to me.

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if it aint broke don't fix it
gun control is hiting your target

2276 is 1915 freshened up with new crank rods and pistons.....ya already have it...just build it...plenty of ass for the 6 rib

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Hey,can you hand me those zip ties and that roll of duct tape?!

Thought he said NO AC vs WC Argument BS, lol

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While my opinion may be a little biased I say stick with the aircooled.I honestly don't think you have enough buggy for a water cooled set up.Not only from a weight standpoint but you are going to run out of room packin the extras for electronics and cooling system into the limited space you have.Also the spending isn't going to stop at just getting the W/C in and running.To handle the extra weight you are gonna need to do some suspension work. A 90" buggy is only gonna handle so much power before it becomes dangerous.Even a 2387 is probably too much motor for a small buggy such as yours.A 2276 is in my opinion the best bang for the buck as far as stroker VW engines go.It is the easiest to build and when built PROPERLY can last for a very long time with proper maintenance.My own personal 2276 was together for 5 years of hard riding,some street driving and even some drag racing before the 20 year old crank decided to crack in one of the rod journals.Aside from needing a new crank I would'nt have hesitated to reuse everything else over again.I never found myself in a situation where I felt like I needed more power.At the end of the day,its your buggy and your money.To Hell with what everyone else says,make yourself happy!

haha did eric call you aaron and say that i was talkin water cooled again? lol. i have been wantin to get ahold of you for some other issues on the rail anyways like my torsion bearing about to blow out the cap. must of lost a bolt on it at some point and a superdiff in the 6rib. like i said before though i dont plan on changing that high gear ratio for awhile(as far as a year or more) and by the time i do i will have changed the whole front end. and to be honest the moment i start building a 2276 e and ray will be back tryin to outbuild me and it will piss me off..all of which is why i was thinkin 2387+. to top all that off i dont have the competence or honestly the time to research all the parts/manufacturers to get the best bang for my buck by the time i showed up at your door begging for a build.eric keeps sayin to bring the 1915 to you for a refresh but if you are gonna crack the case to change bearings or whatever else is worn out or broken i might as well build all the rail can handle and catch up later.. been doin it up to this point so why not continue? and i am sure you have heard i have been ready to get rid of the rail on more than one occasion between carb, shifter linkage, plugs, cutter brakes its been a year long nightmare til the last 2 times its been out. i would love to stay aircooled and build a bigger watercooled bug but to go from point a to point b i am at a loss..pm your number at some point anyways as i got other issues to take care of and wouldnt mind talkin build with you either..

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if it aint broke don't fix it
gun control is hiting your target

dont forget carbs, superdiff, 930's, new front tires, torsion, the rest of the cosmetic or safety scheist and i still gotta 4link the k5 too....

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if it aint broke don't fix it
gun control is hiting your target

well aircooled for this frame.... now to find a stalker frame for sale for watercooled... but do i go 1915 with a turbo or stroker motor (2276, 2332, 2387) questions questions questions....

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if it aint broke don't fix it
gun control is hiting your target

2387 .86mm crank cost the same as 2276.82mm crank .

I am a turbo guy to the core BUT even I would'nt try to run one in the woods.