Date:         Thu, 04 Jan 1996 13:01:00 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@PO2.GI.COM>
Subject:      "Foreign" Engines in VWs /L


>As a bus newbie, but a long time VW owner (7 of em), I'd consider it
>sacrilege to place anything but a VAG powerplant in a bus or other
>VW. But, I thought, there MUST be a REAL problem with the wasserboxer
>for so many of you to be considering this option, which has kind of
>made me reconsider an aircooled Westy also...

I've never owned a wasserboxer, or an air-cooled type-4 engine either,
but I'll throw in my $.02 (after inflation-- watch out) as the owner of
an '80 Vanagon with a Chevy 2.8L V6 engine in it. The PO put it there,
but I bought it precisely because he had done so.

I've owned 11 VW busses, in vintages '62 thru '71. I've always done
all my own work on them (except rebuilding engines-- I buy a longblock).
These busses have all had several things in common, which all bus owners
are aware of: They have lots of room; they are simple and easy to work
on; they need constant TLC (what did you expect from a 25+ year old car?),
they are noisy, and they don't have much power.

It's the last that finally got to me. For a few years now, I've owned
two cars simultaneously: my '71 Bus, and a '66 Mustang with V8 engine.
The bus has a peppy engine, but of course is no comparison to the Mustang
for power and acceleration.

After years of blocking traffic on narrow uphill roads, and being passed
after stoplights on flat roads by people who then pull in front and do 40
while I want to (eventually) do 60, I decided that low-powered cars and I
just didn't get along. I love the utility, low expense, ease of maintenance,
and seating position of the bus, as well as the confidence of knowing that
I could buy a beater for next to nothing and fix anything that was wrong
with it myself. But I know the bus will never really do what I want on the
road.

The alternatives were, buy a new EV ($$!), buy a new American van (it'll be
a rattletrap in 3 years), buy an old American van (ever tried to replace an
engine in one of these?), buy a minivan (BYO shoehorn)... or do the engine
thing in a VW. Given that I wanted better acceleration in a workable van,
it was no contest. The V6anagon showed up, already converted (mostly), and
I practically yanked it out from under the guy who told me about it.

Now, a month later, I have no regrets at all. It runs beautifully, 
accelerates
like a sports car, is the quietest van I have ever driven, handles like a 
VW,
is easy to maintain (yes, I've done some), and has a real heater which will
never put exhaust fumes into the passenger compartment. And, if worse comes
to worst, the engine is as easy to replace as the one on my '71 bus, and a
rebuilt long block costs LESS than a type-4.

I know, it's not correct, sacrilege, resale value, etc. All I can say is,
I want it to please its owner, more than I care about its pleasing anyone
else. And it is doing so. I heartily recommend these conversions to anyone
who is facing a rebuild of a type-4 engine, especially a wasserboxer-- based
solely upon comment, stories, and lamentations I've heard from people on 
this
list, all of whom genuinely love VWs.

But most of all, I say: to each his own. If only a "pure" VW will do for 
you,
fine. Keep yours that way. If you are interested in a conversion, with all
the adaption and design headaches they entail (Kennedy kits are a long way
from complete), then don't be put off by someone else's indignant 
exhortations--
those are for internal consumption only. His views, not yours. Decide what 
YOU
want, see whateach path will lead you to, and then do it. If someone else
disagrees, just leave is name off your "potential-buyers" list. If you even
keep such a list-- who is the car for? You for the next X years? Or someone
else in the distant future?

End soapbox mode. These are my personal views-- yours can and will vary.

Steve Maher   smaher@gi.com   '80 V6anagon
                              '71 Transporter