Date: Thu, 5 May 2011 13:21:49 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Anyone have experience with Vanaru turnkey/Bostig engine
swaps?
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Apples and oranges.
you could choose one because the price is attractive, Ford engines are
cheap, plentiful, and durable and as I understand it everything is already
done for you, pretty bolt-in.
I'd check about oil pan ground clearance in the latest version. I saw one
locally, 2WD ...
the cleanrance from pan to ground was one fisti's worth ...no joking, like 5
inches.
and ....
if that low spot was between the rear wheels, no so bad..but it's within the
departure angle for the rear of the van ..means it's sticking down in a
more vulnerable area.
they may have that fixed now ..or the one I saw was poorly done ...but you
might check into that aspect .
the other one..
you have an engine that matches the orignal concept ...oppossed four
cylinder aluminum engine.
Hopefully those guys run their drop-in-ready to go soobie engines. If
they do do that ....that increases your chances of it working from the
get-go.
hard to choose ..
they both have merit.
be interesting to see what people say.
my hunch .....if someone says 'I just want it to drop in, not a lot of
issues, and work reliably and for a long time without much attention
.......the ford might be more 'forget-about-it-and-drive-it' . long term.
fwiw ..
Ford is the american car company that I disprespect the least. They're
doing real well actually, not that I would particularily.want to go to a
Ford dealership for a sensor say. At my subaru-volvo dealer I feel right at
home. I had a reason to go to a chevy dealer ....seemed like all good ole
boys to me there.
One advantage the ford conversion has ..
there's only one version,
where with subaur conversions there are dozens of versions, many engines,
and they change from year to year somewhat. . The Zetec conversion comes
with 'factory support' by the guys who built the kit ..
and you don't get that too much with subaru conversions.
The closest there is to that with subaru engines is the California legal 90
to 94 EJ22 engine ..
by Kennedy Engineered Products ..they sell the adapter parts, headers,
wiring diagram etc..
but I don't know if you can call them up and talk to them about the wire on
pin C28 of the ECU, probably not.
I would expect the Zetec conversion is more 'consistant' long term.
OTH, subaru conversions are very rewarding to drive. ( I havn't driven a
Zetec so can't conmment on how they drive, I hear they go well )
And I think the Ford block isn't very likely to blow in any way ever, and
if it does ..those engines are 600 bucks at the most in a junkyard I hear.
scott
turbovans
----- Original Message -----
From: "Harry Hoffman" <hhoffman@IP-SOLUTIONS.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 12:04 PM
Subject: Anyone have experience with Vanaru turnkey/Bostig engine swaps?
> Hi All,
>
> So, I'm preparing to do a engine conversion and am looking at both Vanaru
> and Bostig.
>
> The Vanaru turn-key is appealing from the point of everything appears
> ready
> to go and it's a simple swap. The price point of ~ 10k is a little
> daunting.
>
> The Bostig is appealing from the price point ~ $7k but there seems to be a
> lot of things that could potentially go wrong. It's also appealing from a
> support standpoint as I've not read a negative review.
>
> Anyone running a setup with either, that would care to comment on their
> experiences?
>
> I'm especially interested in whether or not the Vanaru turn-key is really
> as
> plug and play as it seems.
>
> Cheers,
> Harry
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