LEAKOIL Forum

About 15 years ago I took the original numbers matching 1200 , 40 hp stale air motor out of the 63 single cab. It had only 49,000 original miles on the odometer and ran like the day it was new. Dad was a stickler for maintenance and would take it to Rippel Motors every 1200 miles per the maintenance book. This was the first time the engine ever out of the truck. Outside of oil changes, tune ups, and normal maintenance. the engine had never been touched. I remember doing a compression and leak down test with Bill and the engine was near perfect.

But I decided I wanted more power so I decided to install a 1970,1600 single port 53 hp fresh air motor. With the low gear gear ratio of the small nut tranny and the added torque of the 1600, the acceleration was great even though the top speed was limited by the small nut.

Recently I must have been feeling nostalgic and thought it would cool to put the 40hp back in just for kicks. The engine still runs as good a ever its amazing how smooth a 1200 runs compared to a 1600. I maybe the shorter stroke of the 1200. I remember Art Brow talking about his Formula Vee with its basically stock 1200 running flat out for hours at 7500 RPM during the road races at Put-In-Bay!

By the way, I owe Lurch (Dan) a great big thank you for helping me out with the swap. I was recovering from a open wound broken toe after a 200 lb. trailer hitch fell on my left foot and the doctor said I was supposed to stay off the foot as much as possible. I couldn't have done this without Dan. THANKS DAN.
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Love it!

1200 (40HP) is a great motor. 36HP motors are great too. Granted, they'll turn a one hour trip into a five hour trip and they'll both get you killed on today's interstates, but there's a price for everything!

I will never forget the first time I drove the 40 horse single cab to the Columbus show. I was going up this looong steep hill in heavy traffic. By the time I got to the top of the hill I was going 20 mph in second gear. I look in my rear view mirror, there must have been 20 - 30 cars behind me. Most of them were giving me the finger as they passed.

That was about the time when I decided to install the 1600 SP.

Only a "very experienced" guy like Ken or Sean would put a SMALLER engine in a bus.............

Dual Port wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2017 8:16 pm Only a "very experienced" guy like Ken or Sean would put a SMALLER engine in a bus.............

I want to have a LEAKOIL group project where we put a 36HP in a Vanagon. We can load it with members and drive it to KI. We'll have to leave by the end of July to get there in time, but that gives us a little more than a month to get it done!

Dual Port wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2017 8:16 pm Only a "very experienced" guy like Ken or Sean would put a SMALLER engine in a bus.............

Sometime it's just good to slow down and enjoy the ride. This thing runs and drives just as good as it did when I drove it home from the dealership.