As far as stronger CV's/axles go, I heard someone say  the stock ones
circuit breakers for your transmission.  Make them stronger and the next
part to break is inside your transmission.  Sounds pretty smart to me.
    I also think the 1.8T is a great motor that comes close enough to
fitting in a vanagon to make it worth the effort.  Syncros it definitely
is a decent fit.  Many 2wd Westy owners will balk at loosing the rear bed
or ground clearance.  I personally can definitely get over the bed thing.
    I read an interesting article  about reduction gearboxes used on
aircraft.  It isn't just power that kills transmissions, but the way the
power is transmitted.  TDI's use a dual mass flywheel to help that issue,
if I am not mistaken.  The article went on to say that out of over 50
different auto engines tested for power delivery "smoothness", the SVX
engine was the smoothest engine they ever tested.  They went on to say
that because it was so smooth, they had no idea how to rate their gearbox,
which they normally rated as being able to handle 200 hp.
   300+ ft lbs is a lot of torque, almost enough actually. I would love to
try one of David's TDI's.

   John
   Vanaru.com