Let me put it this way.  When Nordoff died in '68 VW brought in a dude from VW South America to run VWAG name Lutz(?)  He lasted a few short years and was "pinked sliped" for costing VW tons of money. He will be remembered for being the father of the 411,412 and the type-4 engine.
     It would be faster to tell you whats good about type-4 engines and they do have some good points but when you had to man handle that overheating, oil leaking, valve seat dropping p.o.s. like I had to everyday for years you would understand.  Go talk to any old VW mechanic from that period. One good thing ,if you were a complete idiot, you could make good money working on them and sometimes even fix one that would stay on the road for over a month at a time Whoope !!
     S.C. You don't have a clue what it would cost to rebuild a type-4 engine.  You might get lucky and I hope you do but I'm not going hold my breath.  You are going to have to have a whole lot of  VW savy.

So lets say the engine runs till it stops.  Whats a used regular motor cost.  Couple hundred?  SC

Ha! A good used Type IV will run you much more than that, unless you pulled a Zen and retrofitted a Type I engine in there.

Type IV engines are great but they are not as simple, cheap, or reliable as a Type I. Heat is their major enemy and if the head temp gets above around 400 degrees like the Godfather says you will drop a valve seat. And it's not hard to run the engine that hot either, it can run dangerously close to that temp for a while, especially if you're pushing that big heavy bus up a hill or two (even more so in a camper with all that extra weight).

You will need to make sure you have the appropriate tires on it too, LTs with reinforced sidewalls to support the weight of the bus. Otherwise you will have a mushy ride and even the slightest cross wind will blow you all over the road, possibly into a guard rail or semi in the other lane. The sway bar is also kind of smallish so it's a good idea to replace it with a bigger one, too.

And if you do buy one, your first order of business will be replacing all your fuel lines. Chances are they are cracked and dry rotted and they will burst and spew fuel all over the place, possibly over your hot engine and start a fire. Ask me how I know (though I was lucky). The fuel filler neck is also quite likely old and cracked, and to get to that you have to get in behind the firewall, which probably means dropping the engine (though some say you can do it without). While you're there inspect the vent lines coming from the fuel tank and there's probably a few more rubber hoses to replace there, too.

A bus will burn to the ground completely in less than 30 seconds. Carry a fire extinguisher with you too and inspect it regularly (though you should already do this in any air-cooled VW!)

Those are just a few of the hazards bus owners face. And I say that as a happy bus owner. At some point you just quit worrying about all the money you are putting into it and just enjoy driving it. For all their trouble they are extremely fun to drive. The large, flat windshield and high seats give you a fun panoramic view of the road.

That sounds like good advice. Buses are unibody, unlike bugs which are fitted onto a pan. You can't replace body panels easily.

A compression gauge should tell you how strong the cylinders are, or do a leakdown test.

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/EngineInspection.html

Bookmark this site: http://www.ratwell.com/

Richard Atwell has amassed a large amount of technical information, howtos, and other info about bay window buses.

S.C. . . . You have to approach any used vehicle as if you WILL have to do some work on it at some point in the future.  On a type 4 powered bus, you will have to to do some engine work on it sooner or later.  Whenever that happens, if you do it right, it's gonn'a cost you.  There are some very high quality type 4 parts out there that will allow you to build a near bullet proof engine that will make lots of power, run well over 100,000 miles and be extremely reliable along the way . . . but that engine starts with forking over about 3 grand for a set of heads.  Even a stock engine re-built with good quality stock parts could easily run over a grand in parts, depending on the condition of your core and what all has to be replaced.

BUT, I personally wouldn't let that deter me from buying a type 4 powered bus.  I'd be more concerned with the shape of the transaxle and the shape of the body.  Body work is expensive . . . but I guess you know that . . . that's why your van got totaled in the first place.  There are a lot of things that are tougher and more expensive to deal with than the engine.  Make sure those things are OK, cause there is a cheaper alternative for the engine . . . convert to a Type 1, but there is no cheap alternatives to bus transaxles or bodywork.

The downside to a type 1 in a bay window bus is they don't last long in "engine years."  I've been driving Homer either 6 or 7 years (I'll can't remember for sure right now, but I'm pretty sure it's 7) and I'm running on my 5th engine.  The engine that was in it when I first bought it had an oil pump mounted type 2 hanger adaptor to mount it to the home-made rear cross bar . . . at the time I wasn't to sure of how the mount would hold up and I had a type 2 mountable block in the garage, so I pulled it out and build an engine for it . . . sort of.  Here's a breif history of my engines in Homer.  This will give you some idea of what you have to look forward to if you go the type 1 route.

I built Homer's frist engine from junk parts I had around the garage.  I spent a total of $40 on it.  That engine lasted about 20,000 miles before it spit a rod cap through the top of the block.  I had pushed it pretty hard that day . . . driving from here to Atlanta to Lavoina, GA (on I-85 north, just shy of the SC state line).  I went interstate all the way with my foot glued to the floor.  I was there about an hour and turned around headed home . . . about Adairsville, the engine said "I can't do this any more!"  I complain, I think I got my $40 worth out of this engine.

After a little searching, a fellow club member sold me a worn out engine he removed from his 71 Super Beetle.  He had replace it with a new and bigger engine.  If I remember correctly that engine set me back $75 and helping pull an engine from his project Beetle.  That engine ran 15,000 miles before it dropped an exhaust valve.  Again, I had been pushing it hard that day.  I was going to the Southeastern Bug Fair at Toccoa.  I got stuck in 4th gear at the light on Cloud Springs Road where you get on I-75.  I went from there to the Ooltawah exit to meet up with the rest of the club, then from the Bi-lo in Ooltawah back onto the interstate, to Atlanta, to the Stevens County Fair Grounds in 4th gear.  Have you ever tried to take off from a dead stop, go uphill and merge into interstate traffic in a bay window bus powered by a 1600 single port engine?  Try doing it in 4th gear!  Have you ever climbed a long, steep mountain in a bay window bus powered by that same engine and nothing but 4th gear?  Needless to say, the engine took a beating that day.  Just after I topped the mountain, the exhaust valve on #1 cylinder broke.  The good news is, I was going over 70 and headed downhill.  I coasted the last 5 miles and rolled to stop across the road from the show.  I think I might have gotten me $75 worth out of this engine!  

Over the weekend, I was able to borrow enough money, tools and help to pull the old engine, drop the tranny, fix the shifter, buy a rebuilt long block and all the trimmings and drive back home with a new engine and all 4 gears.  Because I had to do it quickly and was at the mercy of one swap meet to get it done, that engine cost me about $450.  I ran it about 25,000 miles before I pulled it.  It was still running fine when I pulled it, it was just leaking oil from everwhere there was a seal or gasket.  I still have it sitting out in the garage . . . someday I'll rebuild it.  Yeah, it was a little more expensive than the first two engines, but it ran a few more miles . . . and other than the oil leaks, there was nothing wrong with it when I pulled it.  I can't complain about my return on that $450 investment.

The next engine I put in it I actually built from the ground up.  Thanks to a friend in the club that had connections, I got my parts cheap and was able to build an engine with all new bearings, new pistons and cylinders and rebuilt heads with new exhaust valves for under $200.  I ran that engine about 20,000.  On a trip to Lynchburge last year I developed a bad vacuum leak in the intake manifold.  I thought I had a bad plug or plug wire, so I went ahead and pushed it through the trip.  On the way home, it was running hotter than normal, started leaking massive amounts of oil and slowly got weaker and weaker.  After I got home and found the vacuum leak and no problems with the ignition system, I assumed I had burnt up #3 cylinder . . . possibly to the point of burning a hole through the piston and/or cracking the cylinder, so I sat that engine aside and bought another used one.  Later on, I started pulling this engine apart and found that the only problem was 3 broken head studs.  I've replace them and now I have a spare long block when I need another engine.  I can't complain about the $200 I spent on this engine either.

The engine I have in Homer now was purchased used for $250.  It was supposed to be a good engine, built right with low miles.  I've got well 10,000 miles on it.  Other than some oil leaks, I haven't had the first bit of trouble out of it.  If it blows up tomorrow, I'll still be happy with what I got for that $250.

So . . . let's do the math.  7 years.  5 engines.  $40 + $75 + $450 + $200 + $250 = $1015 total.  Yeah, I've had to do 5 engine swaps, but I haven't even spent enough to buy one good quality head for a type 4!  Now if you figure in the labor to have a competent mechanic do the work, a type 4 makes all kind of sense.  Labor charges figured in, I'd probably have $10,000 or more tied up in engines!  I may not be competent (or a mechanic for that matter  :lol: ) but I don't charge myself for labor.  If I ever buy a type 4 powered bus, it will remain type 4 powered as long as no major components on the engine fail . . . but when that happens, a type 1 will go back in it.  

What the Godfather said....
X2.

Type four engines are poop.  I have two torn down right now for different persons.  Parts availability, pricing, and quality are BIG problems these days.  the one guy needed a new set of pistons (dropped valve seat, gee never would have seen that one coming).  Cost about 3-4 times what a set of 1600 p/ cyls would have.   Not to mention only one supplier we tried in the continental US had them in stock.  Everybody else had a lower price, but didn't know when they'd be getting any more.I sold the last bus with a type 4 engine that I owned around 1998. I had had enough. I 'll stick with the slow, yet reliable 1600 thank you very much.
The type 4s are faster while they're running, but are too well known for that nice pop, followed by the blue-white smoke out the tailpipe and sudden loss of power for my wallet.

Like Ricky said ,  Type-4 powered vans are faster. I Think that is one , I said ONE of the major problems.  People tend to Drive these things way to fast on the road. With the way they are geared its sort of like  driving your Bug from here to Fla. wide open in 3rd gear. It doesn't matter if you had all the proper stuff on your engine its still going to blow up.  They just will not stand 6,000 rpm for 600 miles. VW even went as far as to install a govenor on the 65-67 Type-1 powered vans and later a rotor button type "speed-limiter" on the Type-4 engines.  It didn't take long for people to dump the govenors and the games began. If the owners of the  Type-1 powered vans would just keep the speed down to 50-60 mph and give the poor thing a break once in awhile they would last for awhile.
 There is no hope for the Type-4 it seems. Its not if , its when.  If you have a set of $3,000 Raby heads or a set of heads from a 914 you might get lucky, but you need to keep the RPMs down and have everything else in perfect condition or you will continue to have the " Un-intentional Dissembley of all Component Parts".  This really applys to Type-1 and 4 powered vans.
       Other than this small little problem, Type-2s are wonderful :roll:  :roll: