Well, he would also have the option of breathing on the WBX while in there; bigger cylinders, cam, etc.
Stephen 

     On Friday, September 26, 2014 11:03 AM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
   

 Good fun learning about the WBX. I'd almost be tempted to do a rebuild
on one just for the knowledge. (and for taking pictures.    ;)

Neil.

  It IS fun going inside an engine if you're  doing it as a hobby.  In the
past I've had a lot of motors apart, but I rarely have the luxury of doing
them just for fun.

  I did get to do my current hybrid ABA/1.8 liter Jetta motor, the one
that's in my van now, as an "elective" project...I had another vehicle to
use at the time and a semi-warm shop with no pressing time-frame to get it
running again.... and I found the ABA motor at a reasonable cost ($300).  I
did the project for fun and to learn. Underlying the ABA bottom-end
project, however, there was the expectation (gained from the research I'd
done beforehand) that I'd hopefully end up with a better motor, one that
would be worth the minor money I DID spend for gaskets, bearings and
belts...

  People would probably give you their old WBX motors to mess with.    If
you had two or three, you might be able to combine them all and make a good
one without spending  a bundle...but if you were to do a proper
conventional rebuild, looking to have a 'dependable' one at the end of your
project, wouldn't you need to spend quite a bit of cash for parts?  From my
reading on the list here,  I've come to understand it's pretty expensive to
properly rebuild a WBX motor, which is why people often do a conversion to
something else.

  Still, hanging one on an engine stand in front of the woodstove and
messing with it during the winter, that might be kinda fun...But so would
doing a Subaru or a Fiesta or a TDI or a 1.8 turbo, and in the end you
would have a fresh motor that some would consider a more useful motor for a
Vanagon.    Happy Friday everyone.