Date:         Wed, 13 Mar 1996 07:47:39 PST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Clay_Perry@we.xerox.com (Perry,Clay)
Subject:      RE:Rebuilt or re'buy'


>There was a recent post stating that a rebuild for a 2 L bus engine should
>run around $750 - $1200.  I've seen rebuilt (remanufactured) 2 L engines for
>somewhere around $1300.  It so happens that I have a '77 westy with a 2 L that
>needs rebuilding.  I plan on just pulling it apart and hopping it just has a
>stuck valve or it needs new rings, but if a whole rebuild is needed, wouldn't
>it be better to spend a little more and get a professionally rebuilt engine?
>The one I will will be rebuilding has over 200,000 miles on it and I'm 
 not sure
>about how most of them were traveled.  I also would rather not get into 
>rebuilding the lower end.  Does anyone have any experiance with 
 rebuilt engines
>from a catalog?  What do you get with them and how do they hold up?  
>Any thoughts?
>Brett

Brett,
I just finished this process and ended up spending $1565 on a rebuild 
 from Mark Stephens Performance. I shopped all the ads in the magazines 
 and noticed the prices from $750 to over $2000.
I talked to all the shops and I will say you are going to have to spend 
 over $1200 to get something that will last. Some shops just take heads 
 they deem OK and throw em on the motor, others replace the valves and 
 surface the seats. Most use a majority of "remanufactured" parts 
 ("Freddy pull me another set of rods out of the dunk tank"). The 
 kicker to me was pricing all the parts that I wanted new and the cost 
 of machining and ended up over $1100. Mark Stephens shop was the only 
 shop that used the new parts I wanted new and they have the only heads 
 that carry a guarantee. I opted for a $70 upgrade to balance 
 everything. This is a very professional shop that delivered on time, 
 produced a video tape of my motor running showing oil pressure and a 
 compression check, and included advice on how to take care of my investment.

Clay
P.S. I told them I was referred from the net and they got a big charge 
 outta that!