I'm not so sure. I have driven a '91 syncro with one and somehow it didn't impress as much as I thought it would. Don't get me wrong, it is a very nice engine and makes this particular van probably the nicest I have driven. What surprised me was the relative lack of power below 3k. From 3k up I like it a lot.

Ah but it is all academic, 2.5 subie to expensive forme right now.

alistair

On 2012-11-27, at 7:46 PM, Dennis Haynes wrote:

> Subie 2.5!
> 
> Dennis
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Alistair Bell
> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 10:18 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: coolant leak story
> 
> Maybe, but to tell you the truth when I first opened the hatch the engine
> did not seem very hot at all. Plus it was a good 30-40 minutes before I got
> going again and the buzzer went off. OIl level was fine.
> 
> I have thought about all of the swaps and I still have the (irrational?)
> desire to put an I4 in. I had such good service from the one in my '82 westy
> that I lean that way. I do not care about more power, I just want
> reliability. I have all the mounting stuff from my '82 but that damn syncro
> gas tank stopped me from putting in the I4 I have in the workshop. I might
> ditch the diesel bellhousing and buy an adapter plate... but then I think if
> I do that why not do a subie 2.2?
> 
> subie 2.2/I4 2.0 - that is the question.
> 
> alistair
> 
> 
> PS thew buzzer went off only after revving above 2k
> 
> 
> On 2012-11-27, at 7:11 PM, neil n wrote:
> 
>> Any chance the engine over heated enough to thin the oil and cause the 
>> buzzer to go off?
>> 
>> (though that's the high pressure warning, so.....)
>> 
>> Maybe this is hopeful thinking on my part.
>> 
>> But the real question: which engine swap!     ;^)
>> 
>> Neil.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 6:19 PM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
>> 
>>> My '86 syncro still has the original engine in it. I admit to only doing
> the bare minimum of work on it mainly because I have been planning (read:
> procrastinating) on putting a different engine in it. Yesterday afternoon I
> had time to do a couple of things on it which needed doing. One was to
> replace the alt/waterpump belt and the powersteering belt. Both were old and
> were making noise. The other thing was to clean the temp II sender
> connection (it has a broken bit in the plastic and does not make the best of
> connections).
>> 
>> 
>>> .... About 500 metres from bus stop I notice the coolant warning light is
> flashing AND the needle is still on cold.
>> 
>>> So what had happened was the 8 mm ID hose that runs from head just under
> PS bracket to the coolant "ring" that circles the engine had split. I think
> the flashing coolant light was due to the low coolant level, the engine was
> not, or did not seem to be, overheated. The temp gauge was not working
> because I had knocked off the sender wire when I was mucking with the temp
> II sender.
>>> 
>>> ..... The van started up fine after the repair and it seemed (yes, using
> "seemed" again) that I did not loose very much coolant. But when I revved
> the engine the low oil pressure buzzer went off. Oh darn, I said.
>>> 
>>> What to do? Did I really toast the engine? To hell with it, I'll drive
> the 2 miles home. Buzzer was going as I drove, but halfway home the buzzer
> stopped sounding. At home a restart and revving did not cause buzzer to
> sound.
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Neil n
>> 
>> 65 kb image Myford Ready For Assembly  http://tinyurl.com/64sx4rp
>> 
>> '88 Slate Blue Westy to be named.
>> 
>> '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"  http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>> 
>> Vanagon VAG Gas I4/VR Swap Google Group:
>> 
>> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-
>> engines
>