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Date:         Mon, 5 Feb 1996 12:57:26 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         roshea@pluto.scripps.edu (Ross O'Shea)
Subject:      Which bus hould I buy?

Hi. I'm considering buying a bus for camping / touring and have a few questions about what would be most suitable for me. I want to go with aircooled since I already have a Karmann Ghia and can manage basic maintenance etc, but it may be that a later vanagon would be better for me. I've never owned a VW bus, and don't know a lot about their highway performance, so I hope you can help me decide what might work for me. So, the options (as I see them):

Option 1: '71 westfalia with 1600 DP motor. What modifications should I go for to improve performance, reliablility or maintenance? I'm keen on hydraulic valve lifters and a full-flow oil filter, but aren't these modifications getting you pretty close to the later (type 4) setup anyway?

Option 2: '67 or earlier camper. With this I can choose any motor that will fit (at least this is how I understand Californian smog laws - please tell me if I'm wrong on this). Maybe a 1776 motor (modified as above) would make highway driving and mountains less of a problem, but what is the life expectancy of this setup? Would altering the gearing setup (e.g. with Berg 5-speed) be a good idea for this or for option 1?

Option 3: Later westfalia (air or water cooled). I know very little about these, but am very willing to learn.

So, any ideas on all this????

Thanks, Ross


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