Date:         Thu, 6 Jun 2013 21:59:51 -0400
Reply-To:     Andrew Graydon <andrew@GRAYDONS.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Graydon <andrew@GRAYDONS.CA>
Subject:      Re: Diesel good idea?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I've been receiving the digest from this list since i bought my '82 1.6NA
Diesel Vanagon nearly 1 1/2 years ago.

I have to admit, with some of the response to the original question, I
thought it was Friday !

While I understand some people have a need to travel fast to get where they
are going, I've never understood why a Westy owner would feel that need !
Surely the idea is as much the trip as the destination, and no, I'm not a
60+ yr old hippy :)

A big part of the attraction for me in owning a Westy was to get off the
beaten track, i.e. interstates, and to start to enjoy seeing the country
around me. With two teenage boys, I wanted to instill a sense of where we
are, not where we are going.

So when i looked at the ads as you did, and I looked at the last three
contenders, the beaten, rusty 1.6NA Diesel won. I could see the issues in
the panel, I could see what needed repairs in the interior, and I could see
a simple trusty engine that I could fix myself and on the side of the road
if necessary.

In the 1 1/2 years we've used 'Schnail' nearly every weekend over the
summers, even if it's only two hours away to where we are going, and have
completed over 7,500 mile in three roadtrips, Toronto to Tampa, Toronto to
PEI, and the last was an East Coast trip back up through Pennsylvania.

My biggest problem after 1 1/2 years is that I still haven't got around to
cutting out the rusted panels and putting in the three new ones I bought in
Bus Depot ! I haven't not used 'Schnail' to get that done !

I understand where some of the comments are coming from on the con side of
the diesel, but at the end of the day, I've seen problems everywhere on all
types of vanagons, I wouldn't discount a stock diesel so easily.


Andrew

--

Andrew Graydon
Mail : andrew@graydons.ca


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