Date:         Sat, 04 May 96 13:44:30 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Tom Carrington <tcarrington@relitech.com>
Subject:      82 Diesel Westy re-power project status and other musings (long)

Just thought I would keep the list up to date....

I'm still looking for the donor for my engine project. I have contacted a 
local dismantler, and he is going to get an engine for me. I am promised 
it will be complete, and in good running condition. I specified a 1989 or 
newer 8v, 1.8l engine, totally complete.

I am quite fortunate that I am good friends with this yard owner, as we 
go all the way back to 2nd grade together. In fact, we even have the same 
birthday! So, wait I will....

Other stuff:
I just got back from spending 2 days teaching in the San Jose and San 
Fran area..WOW! Everywhere I looked, I saw old VW's, and tons of newer 
busses and Vanagons. I could hardly go down any street in SF without 
seeing at least on parked! I WANT TO GO BACK!!!!!

The trip did cost me an engine, though. I was running rather late for my 
flight on Sunday afternoon, and was afraid I would miss it. So, as I 
headed north on I-95 to Baltimore/Washington Airport, I got in the fast 
lane and pushed the pedal to the floor on my '65 Notchback. I was able to 
keep the speeds in the triple digits for about 20 minutes before I felt 
the engine starting to lose power. The last 4 miles to the airport were a 
20mph, foul-smelling, smoke belching, white-knuckle experience. The car 
just barely made it to the airport, and into the parking lot. Shut it off 
and ran like hell to catch the plane. Still missed it---grrrrrr!

So, now I have two engines to fix. I'm thinking of doing the Van first, 
then the Notch. My gut tells me that I just burned a valve (130k on 
original engine), but I will take it all the way down to fix it. I plan 
on putting together a 1776 as the replacement. Would anyone know where I 
could get my hands on a set of dual-port manifolds for the original carbs 
(dual solexes)? That would really finish it off nicely!

Thanks for listening!
TomC
tcarrington@relitech.com
82 Westy (repowering)
65 Notchback (rebuilding)