Now that you have given up on the original conversion engine it will be
interesting to see what kind of service the new setup gives you over
time. Preemptively resetting the clock as it were. Different motor and
different exhaust. Sounds like a step up in both cases.

A 5 speed will generally outperform a 4 speed in the hills, so compare
apples to apples if truth is of any concern.

Mark

Don Hanson wrote:
>
>    My van, before I *pre-emptively* swapped in the ABA 2.0 liter block, when
> it came to me with it's '92 Golf/Cabriolet motor... it had the "rather
> dorky" diesel exhaust manifold.  Yes, it was pretty restrictive looking and
> the hanging system was very crude, to say the least.  The guy who did the
> conversion, he was a door builder, not a mechanic.  He welded on a really
> tight bend right below that cast diesel manifold and ran a pipe right
> straight back to a  "fart can" muffler that stuck straight out back, with a
> steel hanger welded to the frame.
>
>    I added a magnaflow muffler across the back of the motor just ahead of the
> bumper, hanging that on a flexible mount to the frame. I drove it that way
> for two years without any problems.  That diesel exhaust manifold...strong!
> Even as restricted as that exhaust manifold must have been,  I still often
> drove past WBX vanagons on hills.
> .................
>