While it is debatable, overall the best engine swap would be the 2.2
liter Subaru engine from a Legacy. Extremely reliable. 50% more power
than a stock 2.1. It's a flat four just as the 1.9 and 2.1's are. It
fits in the engine compartment like it was made for the vehicle.
Several places do the installs, if you don't want to do it yourself
(East and West coast.)

Once you run a subaru in a Vanagon it will change your view of the
vehicle entirely.

On Jun 29, 2006, at 1:33 PM, Mike Rocket J Squirrel Elliott wrote:

> If a fellow had a 1.9l WBX -- an engine that labors mightily when
> climbing long grades in hot weather -- and if his Westy didn't have
> A/C
> . . . and if that fellow was wondering about beefier engines and
> climate
> control . . . and if he once managed to change out the engine in
> his 71
> VW bus, but doesn't care to change out another engine in his life
> unless
> at gunpoint . . . what options are available to that fellow? (Other
> than
> selling his Vanagon and buying another, I mean?)
>
> --
>
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
> KG6RCR