If it's so much 'better', why is the crank rusty and the baked-on oily
dirt still present on the inside of the oil sump?  Makes you wonder what the
insides of the oil galleys must look like, eh?  The cylinder head gasket
surface on the case edge does not look very clean, and that's one the most
critical points on this engine.
  Paint detail and a few bolt-on go-fast goodies look pretty decent, but do
not make a reliable, long-term engine.  Painting the aluminum case gloss
blue does not make it run cooler.

Mike B.

----- Original Message -----
From: "B Feddish" <bfeddish@NETREACH.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 11:18 AM
Subject: Re: Nice WBX....

>> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=514460
>>
>> This man has  WBX skills.   Discuss amongst yourselves.......
>>
>> --
>> Ken Lewis
>> http://neksiwel.20m.com/
>
> Nice "looking" engine but if I spent $3500 for a WBX it would be with
> GoWesty since I know who they are.  Not that this guy doesn't build great
> engines, it's just that it would never pass the wife "sniff test".
>
> Me-"Honey, I decided to get this cool engine on the Samba for $3,500".
> Wife-"I thought you were only going to spend $1,500-$2,500 on the engine."
> Me-"Yeah, but look at all this "stuff" this guy adds!"
> Wife-"What do you need that for?"
> Me-"That makes it run better and last longer."
> Wife-"You mean the one you were going to buy was no good?"
> Me-"No, it's just that this one's better!"
> Wife-"How do you know it's better?"
> Me-"Look how he's painted the manifold that cool color and look at these
> cool parts I don't even recognize as being from a WBX.  Plus read this
> description of how great it is."
> Wife-"If it's twice as much as the engine you were going to get, will it
> last twice as long?"
> Me- "I dunno..."
>
> Some of you may recognize this conversation.
>
> Bryan