Date:         Wed, 27 Jun 2001 22:58:40 -0400
Reply-To:     "Christopher T. Berchin" <ctb1@PEOPLEPC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Christopher T. Berchin" <ctb1@PEOPLEPC.COM>
Subject:      Engine conversions and such...
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi everyone.  I've been following the thread about the guy with the Tiico
engine troubles, and I was pretty surprised at the animosity towards
converted busses here.  I really like my bus a lot, but I have to say that
the engine very nearly kept me from buying one.  I did the research about
the head gaskets, and I knew about the lethargic acceleration.  I live in
the land of 80+ mph freeways with very short on-ramps for merging, and there
are lots of times when I get a bit worried merging in the bus because of the
speed.  Also, as you all know, going 80 in a bus is darn near going flat
out.  I try to keep to 75 or lower, but around here, that's just plain
dangerous in many cases, and I would certainly welcome a little more reserve
speed since the chassis seems well up to the task.  But I knew that going
in, so it doesn't stop me from liking my bus a whole lot.  On the good side,
my bus seems quite happy when I wander up to the 80 mph range, though it is
revving a bit.

If I had the money, I would certainly like to transplant a Subaru into my
bus.  I thought that was a great idea when I first came across it.  Contrary
to some of the statements I've seen on the list, Subarus are darn durable
and generally run forever.  My only issue is that the cost of the engine and
the conversion kit would nearly equal that of my entire bus.  One of the
listees in the "crappy old heap" thread talked about his pride in having his
van in its condition because of his own work.  For me, that would be the
same thing if I put a Subaru engine in it.  It's fun to find something you
want to improve on *your* van, and then go ahead and do it.  I never leave
my vehicles alone - I'm a racer by nature, and I'm always tweaking something
to make my cars more like what I'd like them to be.

As for resale - if I test-drove a converted van and it was well-sorted, I
would have no problem at all buying one.  The key here is "well sorted."
There are enough people on this list and on the web who have done the
conversions that no problem is really new, and if you spend the time, it
seems to me that you can get all the bugs worked out.

Think about it - if VW had given the Vanagon 135 hp like the Subaru engine
has, wouldn't you enjoy that?  So why berate someone who likes all the same
things we all do about our vans, but wants a little more zip?  Heck, even
the factory did conversions, as shown in the article I scanned and posted to
the list about.  I'm just glad to have these conversion discussions occur,
since I still might decide to sink the money and fire in a conversion next
year if I get bored, and I'll take all the info I can get.  It's a lot
cheaper than the other project ideas I have in my head.  : )

Keep the faith, no matter what flavor it might be.  : )

Chris