>So, with about 200,000 miles on the engine, what should I do?  Should I
>fix the engine that I have, or put something new or rebuilt in?

Rebuild it, or convert it.  At 200K miles, your engine has earned a
rest.  If you were to put new heads on it, you'd still have a (most
likely) worn out bottom end.  You got really good life out of the
engine.

>The body is rusting now, no holes yet, but coming soon, I think.

This is where it gets hard.  We have an '83 with a pretty questionable
body and interior -- though it drove really nicely.  When the engine
failed, it didn't seem worth it to us to invest the money in repairing
it since we just didn't feel that good about the car.  The money that it
would cost us to repair the body and interior would buy us a much nicer
car and then some -- so we decided to go looking for a "new" Vanagon.

>I've been looking for a 2nd vehicle anyway, so I'm wondering if I should
>just look for a Eurovan Camper...

I had a '93 Eurovan, it was too hard to work on.  I'm much happier with
my '84 Vanagon (though there are a couple of months every summer when
A/C seems like it wouldn't be a bad thing).

Doug
--
Douglas L. Urner <dlu@canishe.com>  Port Orchard, WA   +1 360 769 5565