Hi Skip,

Spend  $3500 to install a NEW aircooled longblock engine in the westy
and sell it for $7K. Right now a low-miles vanagon with a fresh motor
would sell pretty quickly for a good buck.

Then buy the $7K watercooled vanagon westy you really want. End cost is
only $3.5K.

This way the aircooled westy stays aircooled. The buyer won't mind the
slow speed, they will appreciate finding a low-milage vanagon westy
with which hasn't been chopped up or re-engineered.

The TDI was never an option in 1980 and you will have a hard time
finding a shop elsewhere in North America willing or competent to work
on a converted vanagon. And unless you can get a ride in one
beforehand I would suggest you question its ability to cruise up hills
fully loaded at 70MPH.

Happy trails,

Greg Potts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

1973/74/79 Westfakia Conversion **Bob the Tomato**  LY3H
1977 Sunroof Automatic L63H/L90D
http://www.pottsfamily.ca/westfakia
http://www.busesofthecorn.com

On 3-Aug-04, at 4:13 PM, Skip Emmert wrote:

> Ok, thanks again.  Please read the entire post carefully before
> responding.  So far I have gotten suggestions to replace the motor
> with a
> rebuilt 2.0 air-cooled engine or scrap the van and start over.
>
> Replacing the engine with the original would be the cheapest, quickest
> option, but ...  the list has sung as a mantra how under-powered the
> original vans were and in the days of over-powered SUV's, climbing
> hills
> on the highway at 40 mph is no longer safe.  I know they're easy to
> work
> on and carry the purists sense of stock, BUT I am living in the van
> for a
> year and value reliability and usability more than ease of working on
> it.
> The original engine is not an option without JATO rockets.  Nice little
> weekend van, but not for serious travelling anymore.
>
> Now, selling the van and starting over...a new van runs around $7000. I
> may be able to get $1000 for my van without an engine.  So, that will
> cost
> me $6000 plus tax and licensing.  A used 1.6 TDI conversion will cost
> $5000.  I'm ahead at least a grand.  How long will it take me to buy
> and
> sell vans?  A month?  OK, I'm behind a week since they can't start for
> three weeks and it will take two to do the conversion.  So I lose a
> week,
> save a grand, and keep a truly beautiful old van that could have come
> with
> the 1.6 as stock.  I know a conversion is a lot of work, that's why I'm
> letting a professional do it.  I don't really care how much work it is
> since it's way out of my league to begin with.
>
> So, again, back to the original question...anybody have any sources for
> such a conversion in the Southwest?  I've been in contact with ZS
> Imports
> and they're the likely vendors so far, but they're the ones with the
> three
> week waiting list.  Also gotten a couple of possibilies in the Bay
> area.
> Thank you, BTW, to those of you who have forwarded that information.
> It
> has been very helpful in a sea of notes telling me to scrap my van.
> Also
> thanks to the one person who kindly forwarded their experience with 1.6
> and 1.9 TDI's.
>
> I'm sorry if I sound snippy here, but I genuinely need some help rather
> shot-from-the-hip suggestions from people who clearly didn't read the
> original post.  The van has 80K original miles!  Not a candidate for
> the
> junkyard and while it would make a great conversation piece for a
> purist
> van owner (the only person that would buy it without an engine) it has
> a
> practical future with the right powerplant.  Another big thank you to
> those of you who have been able to help and many warm thanks to anyone
> else who can point me in the right direction here.
>
> Skip
> '80 Westy
>
>