Bill; I'm in the middle of this conversion too. I think the batch of engines from SA that included mine are a less-than-perfect batch. Peter has still got to supply me with some critical parts - including the FI system. For some reason the kits didn't get all their parts before being shipped. The accessories have been hard to muddle through and I'm skeptical that the belts that came with the kit will really fit. In the end though, I think this engine will look very 'vw' in the van - more so than any other conversion you can do in the Vanagon. Frustrations aside I do think it's good value. A brand new engine and FI system that VW put together for the Vanagon is well worth the price. The overall quality looks very good and I'm sure once anyone has gotten through their install frustrations they'll be very happy with the end result. I would guess that this sort of thing is common in the auto world - that's why dealers have to 'prep' a car before we get it. There are lots of small mid-production-run changes that, to the engineers, are nothing, but to the consumer are sometimes scary. In the end, having a VW-built inline-4 kit in the vanagon is well worth the small frustrations. Those engines go forever and are very reliable. It still breaks my heart to pull the waterboxer - it feels like I'm spitting in the face of VW's heritage. But, there's a reason they dropped the aircooled boxers, and I think the waterboxer was the last of the old-school and therefore the worst fit to its market (especially its N.American market). This inline 4 is what VW should have done with the Vanagon in the first place. I have to ask this though: why did the kit come with NGK sparkplugs installed?? Shameful. Damian |
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