Date:         Sat, 2 Sep 2006 21:22:52 -0700
Reply-To:     Mike Rouby <mikerouby@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mike Rouby <mikerouby@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Debunking GoWesty!
Comments: To: Keith Hughes <keithahughes@QWEST.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <44FA0597.7020003@qwest.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

    Ironic then, that I live in Dallas, Texas and work across the street from Doug at Qualitat in Dallas (a business serving aircooled VWs since 1960s).  Apparently, he thinks your assessment that air cooled engines last 90k miles is quite, shall I say, remarkable.

  Also, I took my wife to Egypt to see the pyramids last year and I could not believe how many VW buses are around bringing tourists to the sites.  Am I supposed to believe that their engines last 90k miles too??  I wonder who does their rebuilds??

  Maybe Phoenix is the bermuda triangle for aircooled engines, but apparently they do seem to last hot climates just fine.  Case in point - My Westy originated in Albq, New Mexico.  1982 and still on it's original engine.

  Good to see you like the square-headlights (they are more modern), but many people seem to convert to round headlights than the other way around it seems.

  The reality is the waterboxer is less reliable than the aircooled motor.  Hence the decision of many to swap engines (eg Subaru, Tiilco, Nissan, Zetec, etc), than to rebuild that failed design.


  I've been driving them around Phoenix for 30 years, starting with a '68,
then a '78, now an '86 converted to a Tiico (195K on the 2.1L WBX). A
good friend of mine was in the VW business here (All Bug) for decades,
and I can't tell you how many air cooled bugs and buses he saw come here
from NY or NJ, or the midwest, with 200K on them. 95% of them died the
first summer here. 90K on an upright motor in a bus *here* is about all
that can be expected (with case savers, sodium filled valves, external
oil cooler, etc.). 90K on a 2.0L AC Westy, with the square exhaust port
heads, is pretty remarkable here, though the same motor could go 200K
in less harsh climates (e.g. like where GoWesty is located). Stop and
go traffic in 115°F weather just kills the air cooled motors. And with
A/C....

As far as the diesels go, I'll never cease to be amazed that VW was too
dumb to put in a 1.8L Gas motor in the Diesel configuration (or a TDI)
instead of redesigning a bug motor with kludgy seals and jackets and
hoses. Having pedaled a '68 with a 1641cc through the Colorado Rockies,
Sloooooooowly, a diesel with roughly the same HP is not my dream either.

And for headlights, IMO the square lights are much better looking, but
much less illuminating. So, take your choice.

Keith Hughes
'86 Westy Tiico


---------------------------------
Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com.  Check it out.