I wouldn't state it that strongly ...
I had a 2.1 with 248,000 on it ..it had 'high miles issues' but no thrown
rod.

short of rebuilding the bottom end. you can remove and inspect rod bearings
..
if those look good, install new ones with new rod bolts/nuts .  That'll
extend the life of the bottom end..
check crankshaft end play too.
- 'if'   you just want to freshen up the bottom some without taking it
completely apart.

going through it properly gives you a much better idea of what you have and
how good it is of course.
178,000 is getting up there for sure.

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Beierl" <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, September 06, 2010 4:47 PM
Subject: Re: Should I rebuild the bottom end? Questions & photos.

> At 05:35 PM 9/6/2010  -0500, Tom Lambas wrote:
>>My '86 Vanagon has 178k miles on the odometer.  The PO had headgaskets,
>>oil
>
> Someone who actually knows will no doubt speak up, but by my
> understanding you're about 30,000 miles overdue to throw a rod, due
> to fastener spec changing from 1.9l to 2.1l.  Reverting to the 1.9l
> bolt spec cures the problem.
>
> Yours,
> David