There's a lot less to do to the engine, and bell housing, if you do it that
way.
Doing it the diesel vanagon way......almost everything on the outside of the
engine ....
Oil pan, oil pump pick up tube, flywheel etc. etc. has to be to be swapped
over.
If you have a water boxer, then you need a diesel vanagon bell housing and
input shaft, and starter  and all that work.  Especially if you are starting
with a waterboxer vanagon, and not a diesel one.  With a diesel one you have
the engine cradle bars, aluminum mounts etc and of course you'd just fit it
all into that configuration.   But if you have a waterboxer vanagon, and
none of those parts.............well, perhaps you can see the attractiveness
of not chasing down all those parts. 
   Thus it's is tempting to some people, though, to just keep the engine in
the same configuration it came in, from its original jetta home, plus not
needing all those DV parts.   That's where  people are coming from with this
approach, I think. 
 It's a toss up, both methods have advantages. 
Scott 
www.turbovans.com 
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Don Hanson
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 1:22 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: 15 degree engine? Why that?

  Just curious.  Am I missing something?  Why does the 15 degree engine
transplant keep getting questions?  It seems pretty wrong..like there are
all kinds of reasons why you  ( well, reasons that *I* would consider as
'deal-breakers')  wouldn't probably choose to do it that way..Unless I am
missing something, the diesel type 50 degree install seems like a
no-brainer..It fits under, has just as much clearance as a regular van, no
messing inside the motor or swapping major components around  with other
motors..Cheap as dirt and dead-nuts reliable..How many Rabbits, Golfs,
Jettas etc are out there running on and on?  Anywhere in the world you can
find a mechanic that will know how to work on the inline four VW motors, and
if you don't want to bother fixing it, should it ever break, just get
another from the junkyard for a few hundred bucks..
  Would a 15 degree install be cheaper somehow?

  Just curious...Not saying there is anything wrong, if that is what you
want to do.
  Don Hanson