Date:         Tue, 12 Dec 2006 21:27:44 -0800
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Subject:      I'll bite on the diesel conversion thread..
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I became interested in a Vanagon after catching a ride with a friend in his Canadian diesel Westy last winter.  I loved the whole concept of the vanagon and how well executed the interior was..I'd not been inside a Westphalia before.  But Man! was that thing an absolute snail!  We were being unsafely passed by double trailer gravel semis going up a long pass, Montezuma Grade, out of the So. Cal desert across the San Deigo mountains..We were even passed by my wife on her bicycle, going up a 9% climb..Slooow!
  So, even if you were to double the hp by all kinds of mods, it would still be dangerous to drive due to it being so slow as to cause a hazard and to cause other drivers to pass unsafely due to their frustration..

  Diesel has it's drawbacks, too.  I have two diesel pickups, mainly for towing.  Also purchased when diesel was far cheaper than gasoline.  They are smelly and loud, not very economical and  have cold weather issues..One, however, has gone almost 400000 miles, including 6 trips to the tip of Baja and back, so diesel IS dependable.  

  The vanagon I have now is powered by a 1.8l Cabriolet (92) motor and it has lots of power..simple, dependable and frugal.  Lighter and more dependable than the standard motor, I am told.  I am also told with a simple camshaft change I can add some significant torque..I may do that for the times when someone dawdles along in my path at the base of a long steep hill..the only place I find myself doing the familiar "Split-window Ooooch"  you know, where you hunch forward on your elbows and start rocking front and back, urging along all 40 hp?..
  I'd take a test drive in a Normal aspirated diesel van before I intentionally went that route..
but, if you aren't in a hurry and don't mind a few One finger greetings as people speed past...we got dozens in the canadain van in just 2 hours...about 60 miles..Hee hee.
     Don Hanson