Michael, I have put $10K+ into my '84 and I still have to put in new heater
cores, fan, etc.  Van looks like new on the exterior.  Has new in 2003 long
block, etc.  To get anything close in another non-Vanagon is going to take
much more cash.

John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Diehr" <md03@XOCHI.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 11:29 AM
Subject: Those dreaded 9 words...

> "Honey, I think we should consider selling the Vanagon?"
>
> Pardon?   "Shelving" the vanagon?  No honey, it's got shelves in it
> already.   And besides, why would we want to work on the interior
> when the engine is dead....the engine...the engine is dead....it's
> dead.  Uh oh. That's not what you said, is it?  What did you say
> exactly?
>
> It could happen to you.  The fear.  Those words...echoing in your head.
>
> How do I convince my sig.other that spending $4k to $8k on a engine
> rebuild/fix/swap actually is a good idea.   This is, after all, a 20
> year old car with 150k miles on it.     I think she's still mad over
> the 24 hours spent broken down in the middle of nowhere on our last
> vacation.   She's also concerned about global warming.    And
> societal breakdown.    So I'm thinking maybe start with the TDI
> conversion running biodiesel (reliable and good for the environment)
> and then negotiate from there?   Maybe the idea that the vanagon
> could be up-armored a lot easier than a Camry, and we'd probably look
> silly driving a Camry with mohawks and crossbows?
>
> Help me out here!
>
> :-)
>