hey there,
here is the cliff notes

2/95 - mercury cougar dies
3/95 - buy 85 vanagon from dealer
4/95 - blow a head, have it replaced
12/95 - van loses oil pressure, try to make it the last few miles home, 
van stops dead.
1/95 - do the cheap repair job of replacing mercury cougar engine
3/95 - find '82 vanagon L at used car store.
So,  i called the previous owner.  he rebuilt the engine according to 
Muir replacing everything.  ran the bus for 3 years to work (school) 
putting 6000 miles on the engine.  Now, teh engine is a Porsche 411?  

so, what is my question.....well, i guess the question is what is an '82 
vanagon with this engine worth.  
second, there is a small amount of oil on the bottom of the engine.  he 
tells me that it used less than half a pint every 2 or 3 thousand miles.
minor leak?  standard leak?  or, a problem?  what to check?

i still have the '85 with a blown engine, wondering what to do with it 
also.  i don't want to have two vanagon's DID.

any help would be appreciated.

chuck peterson
st. augustine, FL