Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2013 16:07:24 -0800
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Engine woes - what to do?
In-Reply-To: <1572445536.2329507.1387832970848.JavaMail.root@comcast.net>
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I'll chime in for the inline VW swap as probably the simplest and most
economical way to go. Like Jim, I really like the power, the fuel
economy and the overall simplicity of having a VW motor on VW parts in
my VW van. I did keep the Digifant 1.8 liter head and all the wires
do plug right in, pretty much. It bolts right in using VW diesel
parts that are available and proven...the diesel VW engine is the same
block as the gasser, so all the parts for mounting it are factory
stock. ABA blocks are also identical. My motor cost me about $600
to build from a $300 Jetta ABA and I sold off the extra parts to
almost make a profit.
You can find almost unlimited inline VW motors for under $500 all
over everywhere. The only downside is there is no one source of
information on this particular swap, not that it needs a lot of
explaining. Inline parts are dirt cheap, they are simple to work on
and quite robust. I was a VW rookie when I got mine already
converted, but the fellow who did the conversion was a carpenter and
not a mechanic. I've since done a lot of swapping around and messing
with it, mainly to learn and because they are so cheap and
simple....They are easy to mess with....I never HAD to work on mine
much, but I chose to go to the ABA 2.0 liter block after reading about
it and finding one for $300...Took me 2 days, about to swap all the
stuff over and re-install it into my van. I have a spare motor now,
too...should I ever need one.
On Mon, Dec 23, 2013 at 1:09 PM, Todd Last <rubatoguy@comcast.net> wrote:
> After almost 230,00 miles my '88 Vanagon is displaying symptoms of a head leak - I have not yet confirmed this or done a recent compression test, but plan to do so. I have concluded that one of the worst things you can do to your van is not use it. Bad things happen when they are left sitting!
> In any case I am looking at my options, and started out thinking about replacing the heads, then thought if I was going to do that, I might as well put in new piston rings too, and well, once you do that you might as well go a step farther and do an engine rebuild. Of course, once you get there, the question becomes, stock, modified (like GoWesty) or engine swap. In looking at these options, it looks like a cost of $5,000 or more. From what I have seen, Subaru conversions can reach over $10K. Yikes!
>
> I was wondering if I could get opinions on the best course of action in this situation, not wanting to spend tens of thousands of dollars. Would list memebers give me their 2 cents worth and if possible, what the aproximate costs for the various solutions range from? I'm not sure if it makes more sence to just install new heads and hope for the best, or go full bore and swap the engine.
>
> What does the voice of experience say? Anyone out there have opinions on the GoWesty performance engines vs. a Subaru transplant?
>
> Thanks,
> Todd
> '88 Westy
>
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