Vanagon EuroVan
Previous (more recent) messageNext (less recent) messagePrevious (more recent) in topicNext (less recent) in topicPrevious (more recent) by same authorNext (less recent) by same authorPrevious page (September 2004, week 1)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Fri, 3 Sep 2004 00:10:13 -0400
Reply-To:     John Reddick <SVYOLO@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Reddick <SVYOLO@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Subaru power in Pa.

I have an 87 2wd Westy that I bought with a blown engine 5 years ago. I put in a rebuilt 2.1 WBX and drove it about 80K miles. Around the USA a couple of times, the Arctic Ocean in Alaska, a little bit of Mehico. I loved every minute of it. My 4 speed tranny is getting pretty noisy. I started looking into engine conversions for the last year or so. I figured if I was going to rebuild the tranny, I might as well regear it for a different motor. After a lot of deliberation, I happened to find a low mileage Subaru SVX motor and all the necessary goodies at a local junkyard (Gundies in Bellingham WA). I prepped the motor with new seals and timing belt, bought conversion parts from Smallcar performance and Kennedy Engineering, and went to work. I now have a couple of hundred miles on it. I still need to clean up the wiring and plumbing and make it neat and tidy - but I have seen the light. I have no complaints about the WBX except for lack of power. I had minimal problems with mine. All that being said, 230 + HP has completely transformed my van. I used to love to drive my van on long trips. Now I like to drive it around town, or just get in it and drive it. It really is that much fun. I still need to rebuild the tranny, but I am having so much fun driving it around I can't bring myself to take it out of service for a week. The SVX engines are available pretty cheap, are non-interference engines, and are not much harder to install than the 2.2 subie. It does cost a bit more because you need a stronger clutch, and the headers and mounts cost 100 bucks more each. Other than that the cost is the same. And you get another 100 horsepower. My van is not for sale. Maybe ever.

John 87 Westy SVX


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.