Well said Angus.

I suppose my previous comment about not being as excited as I should be about putting in a 2.5 subie engine is really based on fear of the unknown. I was familiar with the 1h800 digifant in my old I4 install and I liked it a lot. Was simple and very reliable. My WBX scared me at first, but jeez, the oily old thing just keeps plugging along. The van is not fast, but I don't do much long distance freeway travel, and I don't drive hard and fast on logging roads. I place reliability above all else, I do not want to be stranded anywhere. I'd trade hp for security any day.

alistair

On 2013-05-10, at 9:04 AM, Angus Gordon wrote:

> On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 9:48 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>wrote:
> 
>>  What does the novice do when he realizes that he has no hope of getting
>> it running again?
>> 
> 
> 
> Turns to the Vanagon list for help!
> 
> Everyone has to start somewhere, and you must admit the interweb has been
> an enormous help in spreading the needed information. The expertise of
> people like Dennis and Mark has traveled well beyond their neighborhood. I
> think it's an amazing time for DIY's. Access to people and parts like never
> before. Just bring a well-developed sense for information sifting and
> you're on the way.
> 
> I do agree that the waterboxer is not infinitely sustainable Stuart and
> ultimately most of us will be looking for an alternative engine or vehicle
> somewhere down the road, but in the meantime the budget-minded owner can
> still extract a lot of life out the the original technology by being
> creative. There are still 2.1 bottom ends out there with 100K miles of life
> remaining, and the advent of so many conversions has had the benefit of
> reducing the price of used waterboxer bits. Easy enough to piece together a
> spare engine. Durable, powerful and cheap (choose any one or two).
> 
> Angus