"European mechanics, and especially German ones,
are better trained
than mechanics here in the states, by far."

Bull.. Bunk.. and YNSHO
(your-no-so-humble-opinion)

Robert

1982 Westy

--- Matthias Kuster <matthiaskuster@VERIZON.NET>
wrote:

> Ok, so I finally jump in here also, and here is
> what I have to say (I
> have 2 SubieVanagon, one Wolfy and one Westy,
> both 84s, manual tranny:
>
> Subaru's EJ22 absolutely rocks in terms of
> simplicity, reliability,
> design, power and sound. As for the 2.5 DOHC,
> might be better to stay
> away, the 2.5 SOHC again seems to be
> bulletproof. Mind you  however
> that it is a lot of work and fiddling with
> variables and unknowns, no
> matter what. That's why they are expensive, yet
> cheap in the long run.
> Even so I did blow a rod bearing on my first
> install, at 180000
> miles, partly maybe because I had overlooked
> the o-ring on oil pick
> up tube, and it was burning oil the whole time.
> Still lasted 20k
> miles before it went. This first EJ22 also was
> an 89, which are
> rumored to have oil control ring issues. Still
> this is a used engine
> of unknown origin, me regularly going 80mph and
> loaded up. Then had
> to go to the junkyard, find a donor, do
> compression test, and swap
> out long block, which took about 3 days (with
> experience). I'm good
> to go again with a resealed engine that has
> 115k miles on it.
> I don't agree with the Subie being quieter: At
> idle yes, tooling
> around town it is definitely louder, and I have
> the VW WBX exhaust
> setup. At freeway travelling speeds it's about
> the same. The rumble
> is very "boxer", and sounds even better than a
> WBX (as well as WRX)
> me thinks. Mine are also louder because I
> opened up the intake. I
> have done a lot of soundproofing on the Westy
> and it is quieter now
> than any Vanagon I have ever driven. Will set
> off car alarms when
> accelerating, easily.
> Bottom line is: If you can stick to the
> original WBXers and get them
> reliable, my hat is off to you. I went through
> 2 years of absolute
> nightmares with my 1.9l, two different shops,
> both recommended on
> this list at the time, my Wolfy was in the shop
> constantly, and they
> both claimed everytime this time it was fixed
> (under warranty, which
> means you have to let the same deadbeats get
> their hands on it
> again). It sucked. One shop I sued and they
> ended up selling the shop
> before I could collect on a possible judgement.
> Absolute deadbeats,
> both of them.
> European mechanics, and especially German ones,
> are better trained
> than mechanics here in the states, by far. They
> have to be. (I know
> this is a generalization, and there certainly
> are exceptions). Add to
> that a finicky design by Oettinger, which
> slapped plumbing on an
> aircooled engine and added rubber gaskets, for
> chrissake, and you
> have your work cut out for yourself.
> The Vanagon is an amazing piece of automobile,
> from the days when
> Volkswagen still had a spic left of imagination
> and innovation.
> Thesedays VW only has those qualities regarding
> marketing. Their
> products have been inferior since at least the
> mid 90s, and Toyota
> and Honda (especially) whoop their bums. The
> Honda Element or Toyota
> Prius are cars VW might have come up with in
> their glory days,
> certainly now they seem lost with all their
> involvement in Bugatti,
> Bentley. They lost touch with their roots.
> Maybe Porsche can sort
> them out, but I doubt they will ever be what
> they once were again. I
> doubt there will ever be a book "How to Keep
> Your Volkswagen Alive"
> again. Tons of internal company memos however,
> without a doubt, will
> bear that title in the next couple years.
> So for you die hard Vanagonauts, keep up the
> good work. After all our
> Vanagons are from a time   worth remembering,
> and keeping them
> original makes sense also.
>
> UNITY - RESPECT
>
> Matthias
>

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com