Date:         Wed, 7 Sep 2005 11:35:51 -0700
Reply-To:     John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Advice on possible engine replacement
In-Reply-To:  <431F062C.1060105@sbcglobal.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

> 
> 1) Is it worth it to fully diagnose this problem? Or save that money for
> the new engine?


The old engine will never be as reliable nor work as well as a rebuilt. You 
could EASILY end up pouring the price of rebuilt into your old engine, but 
in the end still just have an old, tired engine full of unknown variables. I 
got about 2200 miles out of my original engine (more than 165K miles on it 
already!) before it failed. Fortunately, I hadn't put any money into it and 
the failure was catastrophic enough to force me to replace it. The worst 
would be to put thousands of dollars in repairs into it only to have it 
throw a rod through the case, leaving you with an empty wallet, a dead 
engine, and not even a rebuildable core to show for it.

2) My research has me leaning toward the 2200cc GoWesty replacement
> engine. What peoples experience with these engines?


I considered a gowesty 2200 initially and found nothing but rave reviews, 
but the price was just too much (I'm in CA so I'd end up paying sales tax to 
boot) and the wife just wasn't going for it!

What are some of the
> other replacement egines out there (i.e. Boston Bob) worth considering?


I ended up getting an engine from Bob. It runs great so far. No road miles 
on it yet. I'm exercising extreme paranoia and taking the install, startup, 
and break-in processes very, very slowly. Timing set this week. Valve 
adjustment next week. Road test the week after...maybe.

3) Should I condider swapping the engine for a different engine
> altogether (i.e. Subaru) engine? How much more expensive is the option
> than a rebuilt waterboxer? How reliable are these conversions? I want
> decent performance, better than the stock engine, but I am not willing
> to trade reliability.
> 

Oi! Couldn't you ask something easy, like what the best tires are, or 
whether it's OK to remove the chrome window trim? Reliability all seems to 
come down to the quality of the install and diligence of the maintenance. 
Wasserboxers require a more diligence in maintenance, but engine swaps 
require more diligence in installation. If someone else is doing the work 
for you, install price can vary widely.