>
> On Jan 1, 2008, at 12:44 PM, Pensioner wrote:
>
>> The ongoing repairs to my otherwise-running-fine-when-it-went-to-
>> the-shop
>> for a timing belt change and an upgraded exhaust system, syncro
>> are now into
>> the twentieth calendar day.
>
> O, Hell, that's nothing! My folks drove their I-4 conversion westy
> out here (Des Moines) from Maine. Before they left, they had jiffy
> lube change the oil. By the time they arrived here, we concluded
> what they'd filled the crankcase was was ATF, ruining a perfectly
> good motor.
>
> My mechanic said he could swap another I-4 into it, no problem.
> Along the way, my dad decided he might as well get the trans
> rebuilt (syncro was out of third, and it was very noisy), along
> with a new clutch, repack the CVs, etc. That job started Oct 13,
> 2006. The van is still not done, 14 months later. Endless
> complications, some due to the previous conversion being wired
> wrong and it taking huge amounts of diagnostic time (including lots
> of expensive dead-ends) to discover, some due to parts wholesalers
> selling the wrong or mislabeled parts, which weren't discovered to
> be wrong until they were installed, etc. The trans has been in and
> out of the van 4 times now.
>
> It has cost huge amounts of money, and my wrench, who is at least
> honest, has not charged for more than one trans rebuild for at
> least some of the dead-ends, and has lost far more money in parts
> and shop time than I've spent on it. I feel like gogo in waiting
> for Godot: Not today, but surely tomorrow. Meanwhile, my dad has
> developed macular degeneration, and can no longer drive!
>
> I think I'll end up selling my keep-it-forever 1.6TD Westy to pay
> the bill, and buy my dad's from him, since he can't use it anymore
> and since no one else would pay him what he's got invested in it
> now, which is far more than his van--or even my diesel--is worth.
>
> Lesson: Stick with the mechanics on this list who are known experts
> in these rigs, even if the job seems duh! simple, and the
> specialists are a half-continent away. I think the van will be fine
> when its all sorted out, and fortunately, it's now a spare, but
> cheese louise!
>
> Dan
> 82 Westy 1.6TD (probably for sale when the gasser is finally done)
> 83 Westy 1.8 I-4 (still in pieces)
>
>