Date:         Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:41:37 -0800
Reply-To:     John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: 84 Westy needs new engine
In-Reply-To:  <43C8112F.2040808@cybertrails.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

> engines from Boston Bob or
> GoWesty.  These seem to be the 2 favored sources by perusing the
> archives.  Lots of good archived comments about Bob's engines, but not
> much first-hand experience with the GoWesty engines.  My questions:
>
> What did you get and how has it worked out?


I too was vacillating between a GoWesty 2.2 and a Boston Bob. In the end ,
money and predictability won out and I went with a Boston Bob rebuild.
Solid, refined, predictable, vs. that push the envelope, "live on the wild
side a little" vibe I got from GoWesty. Living in california the %8-ish
sales tax on top of it made me doubly sure.
The engine Bob sent was absolutely beautiful:
<http://www.vanagonuts.com/bob/bob1.jpg>
<http://www.vanagonuts.com/bob/bob2.jpg>
Note the ziploc freezer bag of nuts and bolts in front of the crank pulley.
This is Bob's "hardware kit". Not having to clean grubby old nuts, washers,
and bolts from the old engine is worth ten times what he charges for the
kit.

If you had a problem, what sort of support & resolution did you get?
>

The one and only problem I ran into was an utterly inconsequential
oversight-- a piece of sheared off bolt that holds on the right side pushrod
cover tin:
 <http://www.vanagonuts.com/bob/bob3.jpg>
Thirty seconds with a reverse-twist drill bit and it was out. This was
literally the ONLY problem I had. The instructions Bob includes are
excellent and the engine assembled with the rest of the parts easily
<http://www.vanagonuts.com/bob/bob4.jpg>
and  went in perfectly and has run flawlessly since. I never needed to call
him, but he said I was welcome to call for any assistance I might need in
the process.

I highly recommend Bob's product.

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"