Ok, let's do see.

159,950 miles on the  Caravelle (with new heads at 98K, nothing else though)

That's lousy!

113,000 on the Westy with original heads

Big freaking whoop!

202,000 on the '81 rabbit diesel, no major repairs;

Yes, the VW inlines are excellent. I know a german (very) mechanic that says the 1.6 VW gas engine is engineered to run 400K without a rebuild. In my opinion, for longevity anyway, they are among the best engines ever built. Some other notables are the Porsche 928 V8, any mercedes benz engine, BMW 6 cyls, some volvo 4's, slant 6 chrysler, toyota 18/20/22R. But come on, compared to such engines the VW 4 is... not notable, sorry.

that totals, just about  475,000 miles for the German watercooled junk.

Now come on, you know I never made any generalizations about "German junk". For the record, I do believe that the germans do make the finest cars in the world, they set the mark for everyone else to shoot for. The VW flat 4 just happens to be a short lived engine by any measure, ok?

BTW, does anyone know if KEP makes an adapter for installing a large Onan generator motor in the VW? :-)

Incidentally, what would really impress me is if someone could say that they had a 1.9 with 300K on one set of rings with maybe a head change... anyone?

Hey you guy's should listen to the Art bell radio show tonight, MAD COW DISEASE! YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!

laterz,
mark...

b & s IS junk...Kohler...now that's a good engine with a fine German name.
Make mine Scots-Irish,German, English,and...now American, thank you.