I would agree with this idea. A little over 2 years ago I started down the
same path - what year, what engine etc. I finally decided on the 84 Westy
Wolfsburg for the power steering and tach with the 1.9l engine. An added
bonus was the updated interior and the middle bench seat.

I bought a van with all the service records back to the original window
sticker that was in the rust free Idaho desert. Since then I have had to
debug various gremlins (o2,tempII, injector seals, etc) to smooth out the
engine. Last weekend I finally fixed a persistent leaking exhaust and she
runs like a kitten.Thanks to this list I was able to work the gremlins out.
For now.

Everywhere I have turned on the vehicle I find the double nut indicator of
stripped threads. Knowing what I know now I would probably look for a clean
van with a shot engine and put a new Boston Bob in it.

When I finally find my rust free Syncro that some little old lady wants to
sell me for $500.00 with a shot engine just because I am a nice guy, I will
think I know what to look for. Then I can start the learning cycle all over
again.

Owen Brand
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stan Wilder" <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
"....Given that I have some rudimentary mechanical skills I'd buy a Westy /
> Vanagon with a dead engine and start out with a known entity rather than
> purchasing a big stack of recent repair bills as a guarantee that the
> work was done correctly.
>
> Stan Wilder