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Subject:Re: body work vs. mechanical work
From:Scott Daniel - Shazam
Date:Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:41:12 -0700

You act like it's 'dreadful work'.
It's fun and rewarding doing a Subaru conversion,

And the results are great, if you do a really good job at it.
A waterboxer seems like a lawn mower engine in retrospect.
And it's not just 'a little better' - it's a WHOLE OTHER world, going from
wbxr to Soobie power.
Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
VW Doka
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 7:20 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: body work vs. mechanical work

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against conversions or doing it yourself.  I
just think it is unrealistic for anyone to say that their time is free.
Everything has a cost, including "free time".  Sorry, it's just those damn
economics classes that I had to take in college kicking in...  TANSTAFL

So... just how much of your "free time" went into the conversion?

Cheers,

Jeff

On 3/10/08, Rob <becida@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Time? Of course there was time on it and that time didn't cost me a
> dime, hell I enjoyed it!
> More time than I expected but this isn't about what I or you do with
> our free time, it's about "I have never heard of anyone doing a
> conversion for less than just replacing the waterboxer with a rebuilt
> one".  Now you have.
> Now if he had said  that it was a lot faster to buy a ready to go
> engine I'd have to agreed with him. Not more fun, not cheaper but faster.
> <shrug>
>
> Rob
> becida@comcast.net
>
> At  3/10/2008 05:38 PM, VW Doka wrote:
> >How many hours?  And what is your time worth (be honest)?
> >
> >I know that some people don't count their own time as part of the
> conversion
> >cost, but does add up.
> >
> >Cheers,
> >
> >Jeff
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
> >Of Rob
> >Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 5:00 PM
> >To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> >Subject: Re: body work vs. mechanical work
> >
> >
> >At  3/10/2008 02:55 PM, Kenneth Wilford wrote:
> > >Andrew,
> > >I have never heard of anyone doing a conversion for less than just
> > >replacing the waterboxer with a rebuilt one.
> >
> >Here is what it cost to put a '91 Subaru 2.2 into my 1987 Vanagon
> >after the VW engine put a rod thru the case. This is from a post I
> >sent to the Subaruvanagon list after I was done.
> >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
> >$2109.87 was the total spent (near as I can tell) including shipping and
> >taxes.
> >
> >The header, mount, wiring guide, throttle kit, PS hose, Shiels thermo
> >housing, adapter/flywheel, was $1137.94
> >
> >When you include a new radiator (my helper over torqued the bleed
> >bolt and cracked it), oil psi gauges, clutch & cat converter I spent
> >$500.42 at BusDepot.
> >These things were not necessarily part of the conversion, just things
> >that needed to be done.
> >
> >$164.08 at the Subaru dealer (on-line). This was a new timing belt
> >and assorted seals & o-rings.
> >
> >The donor ended up costing $185.
> >
> >I have $122.23 in misc receipts from assorted FLAPS & hardware stores
> >including the hoses & hardware.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Rob
> >becida@comcast.net
>

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