Date:         Wed, 10 Dec 1997 23:20:51 EST
Reply-To:     KENWILFY <KENWILFY@AOL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon mailing list <Vanagon@Gerry.SDSC.EDU>
From:         KENWILFY <KENWILFY@AOL.COM>
Organization: AOL (http://www.aol.com)
Subject:      Vanagon Engine Swap Treaty
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

I now come before the list to ask some measure of forgiveness for speaking
before getting all the fact together.  My error was in not considering the
emission laws in every state (they are all different) as a basis as to wether
or not to do a engine swap from a waterboxer to something else.  For this I
beg pardon.
I have discovered that in my state (NJ) as in many others, you can put a
different motor in your van.  However you must put one in that is from a
vehicle the same year or newer than the van that you are putting it in.  You
cannot go backwards and be legal (sorry to disappoint all those of you who
wanted to slap a Beetle motor in your Vanagon for old times sake :).
Therefore if you are going to do the Diesel to gas Vanagon conversion or
Waterboxer to V6 or Subaru, make sure you get a same year motor or newer and
get all the emission pumps and what ever the motor had on it for emissions.
Then you can legally do the swap and should not have to fear the emission
tests.  The only exception I would make to this would be California where it
seems emission standards are so strict that your friendly neighborhood cow
Bessie would flunk emissions (it must be rather uncomfortable to go through
the testing procedure as well).  If you are considering doing one of these
swaps in California I would talk to Kennedy Engineered Products as they are
located out there and have talked alot of people through these swaps and
should be up on what you can and can't do in California.
I hope this treaty will be accepted by everyone that recieved my ill-informed
ramblings earlier.
Ken Wilford
John 3:16