Date:         Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:01:08 +0000
Reply-To:     J Stewart <fonman4277@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         J Stewart <fonman4277@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Re: body work vs. mechanical work-Now Engine Conversion

<And besides, a low mileage used Subaru
engine is pretty darn expensive these days. I know if I were going to go the
Subaru route there is no way I'd put some engine in there that already had
150K miles on it.>


Bryan,
     You are mostly correct here, I am in the exact same situation that has been described here today. I "started" my Subie coversion back in June of last year. Got the engine pulled from the donor ('91 Legacy w/144K that I drove home 100 miles-I have no qualms putting this engine in my Vanagon as it ran beautifully, good power, no smoke, etc.) and got off to a good start. Problems with parts from a vendor stalled the project for a few weeks, then I missed my time line. I wanted the engine in by Thanksgiving and then have the winter to sort things out. Never happened. Since my wasserboxer is doing fine I now plan to wait now until this fall to start-unless the wasserboxer has some catastrophic failure before then. The cost so far? Ballpark around $3,000.00, and I haven't had the wiring harness modified yet (thought about doing it myself, but the ONE thing I've heard everyone say who has done it is it's worth the money to pay to have it done). One last thing about the Subie engine-
a neighbor of mine has a Legacy, same year/engine as my donor (2.2) with over 300K miles and still going strong. One last comment-if I were to start all over again I'd give the Bostig a closer look.     Jeff