Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:37:29 -0800
Reply-To: Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject: Re: Hijacked thread..Your 2.3 GoWesty
In-Reply-To: <BAY112-W4919BE88EF178A97510193B1460@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Thanks, Dahn, very helpful info. Couple more questions on the new engine...
1. Did GoWesty do the remove/install work? If so, how many days did that take? Any major hiccups involved? I live 250 miles away and would camp over while doing the job.
2. Wondering "how" expensive...I imagine that the new engine was the major cost, but what other work was done at the same time? Hoses? Cooling system? What were the costs for those kinds of things? Approximate price breakdown for parts and labor? Did you opt for transmission work (3-4 slider hub) at the same time?
I'm back and forth as to which way to go, Subie 2.2 or GoWesty 2.3. For the same reasons as you mentioned, I'm leaning towards the 2.3. California is really a bummer on the smog thing....very strict rules, not like the "rest" of the country at all. I want to do this engine thing ONCE...don't want to keep revisiting the issue, always tweaking and messing around, that's my biggest concern with a Subie conversion, although the "modern" design and power are sure tempting.
Rich
85 Vanagon
San Diego
--- On Fri, 2/19/10, dahn van <bootlvr@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
From: dahn van <bootlvr@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Hijacked thread..Your 2.3 GoWesty
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Date: Friday, February 19, 2010, 8:17 AM
We LOVE the 2.3. It has about 14k on it now. Yes the conversion was expensive, but the price seems to worth it. We don't want to be the fastest on the highway; vanagons just aren't designed for that; we can now easily keep up with traffic in the mountains and not be a danger.
Around town acceleration is great, fuel economy is about the same (the only downside), etc.
I would recommend watching Gowesty's newsletter as they occasionally have specials so you may be able to save a few hundred $$$ if you buy at the right time.
We chose the Gowesty upgrade rather than a rebuild of the 1.9 or trying to put in a subaru or tiico as the price seemd the same or more and we didn't want to have to deal with odd issues in the future by having a hy-brid drivetrain.
One other thing I wish... that we had been able to find a different engine-controlling system. I would still like to upgrade the whole electronics/fuel management package with something current rather than 1985 technology. This might give us better fuel economy and do away with the quirks of the digijet system. I have posted and inquired as to whther or not anyone has or is looking into current engine management systems for their flat-four but have heard nothing, even from Gowesty.
Hope that helps, Dahn
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:05:11 -0800
From: rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Hijacked thread..Your 2.3 GoWesty
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM; bootlvr@HOTMAIL.COM
Not to hijack your thread, but every time I see a reference to a GoWesty 2.3 I need to ask: How do you like it, and would you go that route again?
Rich
85 Vanagon w/ 180,000 original engine....gonna need something in about 20K or so....
San Diego
--- On Mon, 2/15/10, dahn van <bootlvr@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
From: dahn van <bootlvr@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Pop-top inside 'velvet' - anyone replace?
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Date: Monday, February 15, 2010, 5:37 PM
So... I have mildew marks on the gold 'velvet' that covers the inside of the Westy Poptop on my '85. I've tried killing the mildew with Lysol which seemed to work pretty well but I can't get rid of
the nasty-looking dark splotches. I've tried fabric spray with bleach, spray carpet & upholstery cleaner, and simple green with a brush. Nothing works... and I don't want to scrub too hard and rub off the 'velvet'.
Has anyone experimented with fabric paint, or gluing another layer of fabric over the old stuff?
I want to tackle this before or with the spring project of replacing the canvas.
Dahn
'Betty' 85 2.3 Gowesty
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