Hi Pat,

All things considered, I would consider the inline 4 a plus in terms of
serviceability. The waterboxer engine is getting a bit long in the tooth
and engine conversions are becoming more and more common.

I am going to generalize a bit here and suggest that your typical
"small-town" mechanic is probably more likely to be able to fix this
vehicle than a big city shop. "Out in the weeds" there will often be
more of a willingness to "make it work" vs. "make it like it used to be".

very few of the rerouted lines in a conversion are consumable parts.
There is not much of a wiring harness in a CIS setup. The throttle cable
may be custom. The exhaust certainly will be. The fuel lines to the fuel
pump and from the pump to the engine will be custom, but they are pretty
durable and are not hard to replace anyway.

If you have smog checks where you live you might want to inquire as to
the legality of the conversion; being as it's originally a diesel it may
be exempt from smog checks anyway, but I am in Ontario and know nothing
of BC's laws in this regard.

If it were my call, I'd say go for it.

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts
1973/74/79 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
www.busesofthecorn.com
www.pottsfamily.ca

Pat Sloan wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm a newbie with minimal auto mechanical experience, and would appreciate
> some help/opinions from you. The question is:
>
>
>
> If a 1982 Westy has been converted from diesel to gasoline (1.8L engine
> taken from a 1987 VW Jetta - the water cooled, fuel injected CIS engine)
> will that set up be easy or difficult for a mechanic to work on?
>
>
>
> I'm looking to buy a Westy for myself, and this opportunity has come up.
> Good vehicle; good price. The thing is, since I'm a retired geologist, I
> will be driving the van on secondary and forestry roads (no problem) and I'm
> thinking that if a mechanical problem comes up, it's likely to be treated by
> the nearest small town mechanic. I don't know how complicated the diesel to
> gas conversion is, and a friend (who doesn't know a lot about VWs) tells me
> that the re-routed connections would be difficult and expensive for an
> unfamiliar mechanic to work with. So I am putting my faith in the people on
> this list. You certainly sound like you know a lot about the insides of a
> Westfalia. Could you give me your opinions, please?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pat in Vancouver
>