I agree. My Dad who is a private pilot made this comment
about flying over water:

"I would rather fly on a 2100 hour engine than a 100 hour
engine" Essentially, an engine 100 hours past it's overhaul
time would have less question marks than a new engine with
only 100 hours on it.

Thanks,
Chris

---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 10:35:39 -0400
>From: David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>
>Subject: Re: Spare Parts List - Input
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>
>On Wed, 28 Aug 2002, Larry Chase wrote:
>
>> Current plan is to replace existing parts that seem to be
fine with new and
>> use the originals for spares.
>
>I personally wouldn't do this, unless you have time to drive
the van
>around for a couple weeks before taking it out.  You know
the current
>parts are good, because the van's running on them -- why
take a chance on
>a bunch of replacements you can't be sure about?
>
>My rule of thumb is to avoid doing major maintenance at the
last minute
>before a long trip, if at all possible.  Give it at *least*
a week of
>driving in between so you know your repair hasn't broken
something else,
>and the new parts are good.  Parts replacements are
disruptive -- bolts
>get loosened, hoses get shoved around, electrical connectors
get
>disturbed.  All of these can cause problems of their own
that won't crop
>up until after a few hours of vibration.  And new parts
sometimes suffer
>'infant mortality.'
>
>I think an alternator may be over-cautious.  They don't fail
*that* often,
>you can get quite a ways with a bad one by getting battery
charges at auto
>parts stores, and most places can probably get one in a day
at most.  The
>ECU also strikes me as overkill -- yes, it's important, but
how often do
>they actually fail?  That's a pretty expensive part to
buy 'just in case',
>especially when there are a few vendors that you can get one
overnighted
>from.  If it makes you sleep better, though, it may be worth
the money.
>
>You may want to carry a few sizes of coolant hose patch
kits, just in case
>-- the little barbed connectors and clamps they sell in auto
parts stores.
>
>             _ _
>  __ _ _   _| | |  | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE)
Ypsilanti, MI
> / _` | | | | | |  +-----------------------------------------
------------
>| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
> \__, |\__,_|_|_| "The VW camper is a brilliant invention --
it's like a
> |___/             Swiss army knife for the road... It's the
stealth RV."
>                                                        --
Wayne Curtis