Good morning, Ric,

I've done lots of research, head scratching, agonizing, etc. and I've
decided, rather than to do a conversion, to get a Boston Bob rebuilt 2.1
for my '85 Westy.  I've been paying attention to what's been said about
various wasserboxer rebuilders over the last 5 years and I feel
confident that what he does is the best.

BTW, when I bought my '85 Westy it had 162,000 miles on it and blew the
big rubber gaskets after the first 280 miles.  I redid the gaskets
myself and it now has over 209,000 miles with no engine problems.  It's
just tired and uses a quart of oil about every 500 or 600 miles.

Mike

Richard Golen wrote:
> Good New Year's Eve Morning!
>
> It appears that my 87 Westy (150K miles) has a compromised head
> gasket or a cracked head. Fortunately it made the 850 mile trip to my
> son's house and back this weekend, even though it was spitting lots
> of coolant out the back for the last 300 miles...
>
> With 150k miles, it doesn't seem to make sense to pull the engine and
> replace the gaskets or heads. So the question is what is the best
> replacement engine out there? I really don't want to spend big bucks
> on a Tiico, TDI, or Bostig conversion, so that pretty much leaves a
> rebuilt wasserboxer. Of course, all of the websites for the
> rebuilders state their's is the best (and ok, I'm leaning toward a
> Boston Bob engine), what's the consensus out there? What are your
> experiences - good and/or bad with AVP, GEX, and Boston Bob.
>
> I'm assuming that it's going to end up costing an extra $1500 or so
> for new fuel lines, water pump, exhaust and labor to put it in.
>
> Anyone interested in a "engine replacement"party??
>
> Happy New Year!
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> Ric
>