My trusty and perfectly running 90 Westy shocked me beyond all belief last
night as I was heading up to Snoqualmie pass for a little night skiing.  The
power seemed a little low as I could barely keep it above 45mph up the last
steep pitch when suddenly the engine just shut down.  A quick push of the
clutch and a coast to the side of the road, then that sick feeling in the
root of my stomach.  It's over.  Tried to crank, no way.

I had the heads replaced two years ago, but no rings.  I did notice a little
bit of smoke from the tailpipe last week, but it didn't seem to cloud up
when I revved it, so I didn't think about it too much more.  The van has
always run perfectly.  Good power, always starts etc.  About a month ago, a
woman ran a yield sign and I t-boned her, putting a few nice dents in the
front end and trashing the spendy fiberglass bumper cover.  I haven't fixed
it yet, but can expect to get several thousand from the insurance.

Anyhow, I am now pondering what to do with this rig next.  Do I find a used
one to throw in and move on?  Do I rebuild this one (169k miles) since I
already have good heads?  Buy a reman?  Conversion?  Sell the whole lot to a
handy person who could put humpty dumpty back together again with lots of
labor and find a new rig?

My family and kids love this van.  I am committed to the Westy experience,
but am torn on what to do next.  I have enough mechanical experience to fix
it myself, but not enough time to devote to the project, so I will end up
paying shop rates on labor.

Option 1.  Find a decent used motor and have my mechanic install.  Cost?
$2k?

Option 2.  Have them tear apart the old and rebuild if the crank looks OK.
Cost:  $??

Option 3.  Reman longblock,  $5k?

Option 4.  Conversion.  Suby, Tiico, TDI $7k?

My mechanic has done a few tiico's and won't do any more.  Not worth it for
him and too many iffy parts that break later he said.  Does any one know
someone who can handle a conversion in Seattle?  I'd be interested in
learning more about the pros and cons from experienced installers.  At this
point in my life, I value reliability.  I don't need any more projects.  I
don't mind brakes and maintenance, but can't devote full weekends to chasing
gremlins.

Does anyone in the Seattle area have a good used 2.1 that would get me back
on the road?  I'm not in a big hurry since this is a third rig, but was
hoping to do some ski camping with the kids this spring.

Sorry for the long winded message, I appreciate any help and information you
can provide.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Jim