That price sounds a little high to me.  Consider you'll need to upgrade
your gearbox too..  I would recommend a brand new or rebuilt 1.9L NA or
turbo diesel.  I'm a diesel nut, and don't think I'd put anything else
into any of my vans.

I'm thinking the price of the engine your mechanic is getting might only
be $300-$400 or so.. shouldn't be a whole lot more than that. ...
 Ideally, you'd do all this yourself!!  :) spend $1000 on tools instead

Brad

Jon Sykes wrote:

>Sorry for the mass email, but I need all the help I can get!.....
>
>
>Well, I'm looking for a new engine for my 82 diesel Vanagon     :-(
>
>Took it in for a timing belt adjustment and it turns out that the idler
>pulley was stripped of its key and had suffered some  major damage.  If the
>belt wasn't so slack this probobly would have caused an eventual engine
>failure.
>
>My mechanic wanted approx $350 to try to fix it enough to hold it together.
>It would be more to open up the engine and  actually replace the shaft.
>Rather than throw money at an engine that's already blowing oil and has 200k
>on it, I'm using  this as an opportunity to put a new engine in there.
>
>My mechanic has a 1.8 GTI-type motor taken from an '85 Audi 4000.  It has
>85,000 miles on it and came from a family car.  He  would charge $2500 to
>put it in, all the wiring and include an air-cooled gearbox.  This sounds
>pretty good, apart from the  already high miles on the motor.  I'm also
>disappointed to know that my fuel consumption will drop from high 20s down
>to low  20s.
>
>Is this a good candidate motor, given the milage, HP, torque, etc.?  Is
>$2500 a good deal?
>
>Another option would be to get the 1.9 diesel longblock from Parts
>Place/Overland Parts/Vanagain, try to locate a 1.9 hydralic  diesel head
>locally (or does anyone reading have one?).  I'd prefer this option, really,
>although I doubt it will help the van that much in headwinds, hills and
>accelerating onto highways?  I do like diesels and the fuel economy they
>provide.
>
>Another local breaker has lower milage '95 2.0 VW engines for $1000, but
>without wiring harness.  Would this be a better  candidate?
>
>Any help much appreciated.  This is such a stressful event!
>
>THANKS!
>
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