Dropping a waterboxer on Sunday if anyone wants to swing by. Refreshments to be arranged if anybody is interested. I'm on the border of Renton and Newcastle.

I can't but would love to. I'll still try but as it stands there is no way

I gotta work from 11-5 on Sunday.

I'll give you a call after 5PM, be happy to supervise.

I guarantee multiple opportunities to tell me I'm doing it wrong.

What are you going to put in instead or do to it while it's out Marc?

My wife want the big 2.4 or 2.5L GoWesty waterboxer in "her car" - our 88 Westy - I can just see her popping wheelies in it
- she already does the turns on 2 wheels!

.... but I told he she has to wait until it needs a new engine - gotta get my 914 resto done first doncha know!

I've got another 2.1 wasserboxer going into it so I can sell the 2wd Westy. I've also got a Syncro Westy that's getting a 3.3 Subie six. I'm convinced that the Subie is the way to go in a w/c Westy. Even though I'm doing the six, the 2.5 or 2.2 fours are ideal compared to the wasserboxer; more power, much better mileage, more reliable and a great torque curve. VW bailed on quality engineering when they converted to water cooling in the Vanagon. Conversely, the only real weak point of the Vanagons are the engines. The platform itself; tranny, suspension, interior layout are all excellent and make for great traveling partners.

My mechanic Hans in HB - whom I think you knew - told us to stay away from the early WB's when we went looking in 88, & also checked some used 86-87's (but my wife wanted an automatic & new for "her" DD). It's been a great family XC trip & camping vehicle too, having 200k+ on it now with trips up to the PNW/Vancouver Is. & almost to the east coast, etc. every year!

Never thought of trying the Subie's 4 or 6 before, but think that the 4/48 warranty from GoWesty is a good deal - if the follow through & really cover everything!

A Subi might "encourage" my wife & 21 yr. old son still at home in college to rip it up too much around town, & I don't know how well that would work with our recently rebuilt Auto-transaxle in there!

Got pictures of the 2nd Westy that's getting sold?

For a engine swap/upgrade I like the Ford Focus engines as they drop in, 130HP EFI, and you can turbo em. You can buy a crate motor from Ford too brand new....Subies have had their head problems too over the years....

Sure. Here's a few:

Vanagon wheelbase is 13mm longer than a 914.
Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

And here I thought you were the die hard aircooled fan! ... well now I'm truly disappointed!

... yeah, I've had my "head problems" over the years too!

Oh, you meant engine head - that too.

On our first long XC trip - when the van was new & kids were little, my wife was driving while I snoozed in the back, & she dropped it into 1st on the grade on I-40 outside of Kingman AZ & over-revved it, bending the valves! Of course that was a Saturday, so we spent the next 5 days of our 2 week trip back to IN-AR-OK in lovely Kingman awaiting a new set of valves/heads to arrive & get installed (don't recall the VW shop on the main drag, but they did a good job).

Then threw a rod through the top of the case at around 120k between Zzzzyx & Daggett on I-10 coming home from the same trip - complete new 2.1 w/b & old case to scrap!

And more recently had some fried valves down in San Diego moving our daughter stuff to/from college - for a top end in 2005 at 180k +or so.

I guess we just never got to the coolant waterfall from the heads/gaskets stage though because of those rebuilds!

No doubt another good way to go and I have heard about the head problems on some model Subie engines. That Bostig conversion on the ZTEC is very slick and I have friends who swear by them.

VERY Nice! ... someone needs to give it a good home!

... from upholstery & bumpers, it's an 87 I presume!?

Is that original paint?

Ours is Dove Blue & still original paint except top & a bit in the lower rear where a kid did a stop light roll forward into my wife in `07 & a pipe/bollard scrape at a gas station I did on the lower RR 3/4-fender panel that we had all done in 5/07. No good pix other than this partial view of it though, plus my wife's art stuff is in the middle anyway!

Click to view attachment

I don't know Tom, when the old lady is happy, everybody's happy. Might want to get her that upgrade before she starts seeing the bills come in on that rusto.

Not to downgrade GoWesty, because I think they are a big help keeping Westies on the road, but I think they are starting out from a position of weakness trying to salvage something out of that cobbled together engine. They offer that 4/48 warranty because that's the only way the could sell one. MPG goes down with the increased size and you have to burn premium. A Subie-4 will give more HP, 20+ MPG and more trouble free operation. For my money, a punched out wasserboxer is like putting lipstick on a pig.

Hey,

Mine's been running really good. Did have the head gasket leak and the replace 26 hoses in the water system drill, but it's been good other than that. Head gasket leaks were a JB weld fix and have lasted at least 40K.

OK. It does suffer from the sticky lifter syndrome if the oil isn"t changed.

Wanna make that thing a delight to drive???

Ditch that set of 14 inch steel wheels and swap them out with the Mercedes 15 inch alloys.

I can't begin to tell you how much of a handling improvement it made for the cost of $100 for decent wheesl and tires at a swap meet.

It makes the 50/50 weight balance shine.........

Nice westy Marc. Wish I could give you a hand on Sunday, but my sister is in town.

I've got AMG 15s that are going on the Syncro. Tires make such a diference on these rigs. I've got Michelin Agilis on the 14s and they are a big improvement from previous. Better handling and much less buffeting in side winds and truck turbulence.

The wasserboxer can be made to run pretty good, but even on the best day it's over stressed when hill climbing; and we have lots of slope out here. I'm tired of downshifting into 2nd on a steep grade or at the top of a pass. That engine is just a poor match to the vehicle but VW didn't want to put any more time and money into re-engineering.

Thanks Jack. Have a good time with your sister.

If nyour using a non-Mahle filter, that might make the lifter noise on start up for first several blocks, fram filters did that to my vanagon, switched to mahle and lifter noise went away, and oil pressure actually rose a bit!

Got my fill of Vanagon undersides today - evaluating coolant leak. Looks like the flange has broken off the plastic pipe at the radiator end. BTW good looking Westy.

I'm taking off for Portland about 11:00, but if you're up for an early morning, I can come over and give you a hand.

I'm taking off for Portland about 11:00, but if you're up for an early morning, I can come over and give you a hand.

Thanks Billy, I'll probably get started between 9 and 10 if you want to stop by before you head south.

I wish I had the money for a Van right now

Still trying to figure out if I can make it tomorrow.

Yeah, good time to buy. If you can make it tomorrow that would be great but don't force it if you've got other obligations Jon.

Marc,
How did the new HF motorcycle jack work out on the engine drop?
Jsaum

I'm 4 bolts away from doing the drop but it's going to have to wait til tomorrow. The lift did a great job of getting the other engine off the engine stand. I had to build a platform/ramp above the lower supports of the stand so I could separate the engine and then get it down to the floor. It's pretty nicely balanced for moving the engine around. I'll let you know how it works tomorrow.

There's a group in Michigan or thereabouts IIRC, which advertises on TheSamba, who sell SS coolant lines - 2 long ones to front & 1-2 short ones at the back end, to replace the OE plastic ones. Try checking those out.

Thanks for the info, have been researching a couple of options including the stainless replacements. Some manufacturers indicate the fuel tank needs to be dropped, others don't. Also, GoWesty has a very inexpensive solution provided the plastic pipe is not cracked. http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php...gory_parent_id=

I wound up working later than I thought. Hey, maybe a teener tuesday at Marc's?

I'm so up in the air right now, I don't know if it would help. I'm 4 bolts away from doing the drop, but I'm not sure about the install til I get my end play issue solved. People are certainly welcome to come by tomorrow.

Come to think of it, there's a white 911 in my garage in case anybody needs any conversion parts.

I know about GoWesty's fix. the problem is like that of our 364-41 year old 914s' tunnel fuel lines - eventually they get brittle & will crack - except these are running hot coolant in them, so I'd prefer to pay to replace them if/when I tear out & replace most/all of the cooling system. Back in the 90's I'd already pait big bucks to replace the "long lines" with factory OEM ones due to heat cracking, & the SS ones aren't much more or maybe less than tose would be today in current dollars. Just my HO though!

Here's the e-mail address for Terry, the guy that makes the SS pipes. I've used 2 or 3 sets, and they're great. I buy the 2 piece ones because of thew shipping. The Go Westy repair pieces are probably fine for what they are, but it's like fixing a broken hip on a 105 year old heart patient. It might work, but the rest of the system isn't gonna care. BTW, he sells a lot of other cool waterboxer stuff.

CTONLINE@webtv.net

FWIW, I have 13 years of hard use on my 1.9 and it ran like a champ to Parts Heaven and back this weekend. 520 miles in the heat, and 18+ MPG at 65-70 most of the way. Oh, 1.9s don't break rods like the 2.1s. That's why I have one ........

The Cap'n

You are a long way from Ohio!
I swapped the engine in my '85 Vanagon about a year and a half ago. What an experience!

Well, it's on the floor now. Time to solve my end play issue and get the new engine up in there. That kind of worries me because I'm much better at taking things apart than putting them back together.

Well, it's on the floor now. Time to solve my end play issue and get the new engine up in there. That kind of worries me because I'm much better at taking things apart than putting them back together.

Click to view attachment

FWIW - we have 200k+ & 22+ years of both hard & easy mixed use on our 88 Westy 2.1L WB Auto, including 2 kids learning to drive on it! We've had our share of engine problems over those years - especially on long 4-6K cross country trips loaded with all our shittage, but then I used to drive 95 downhill to maintain 65 at the top of the next upgrade!

I took ours up to SF from OC in April 65-75+ most of the way both ways, with AC blasting most of the time in the Central Valley!

BTW - we have the 2.1 because it doesn't develop the waterfalls at the heads as easily fwiw!

Any Krusty wisdom on the notorious GoWesty bored/stroked 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 L waterboxers?

... and do they really honor their 48/48 warranties, or generally try to chisel you down?