Ryan McGee <ryan@falcon.cc.ukans.edu> Writes:
> My father is considering buying his first vanagon--an '81 diesel "partial
> camper".
:
> I told him I'd ask the list for some more opinions (I guaranteed him
> we'd have a lot to share), both pro and con, about the wisdom of this
> purchase. So, here's your chance to influence a VW virgin--what does anyone
> have to say about '81s or diesels or both, or about the vanagon experience
> in general?

Two appealing things about the diesel are economy and simplicity. 

Economy:
My diesel Westy gets an average 28.5 mpg mixed city and highway. The
engine is reliable if not abused, and spares are plentiful and relatively
cheap.

Simplicity:
For the home mechanic's viewpoint I'd say that a diesel westy is as simple
as an early (pre emmisions, pre fuel injection) aircooled bus, but in
a modern, more roomy (but arguably less charmy) package. There is no
computer or strange electronics, and the vw diesel was (perhaps) the
only diesel of the 80:ies to pass NOx emmissions without EGR. The only
emmission imposed equipment is a small hose between the valve cover and
air filter box (crankcase ventilation).

The pros and cons of the vanagon diesel comes up for discussion every
so often here and on r.a.vw. There is a compiled list of some net.wisdom on:

	http://www.rpi.edu/~bossoj/diesel.html

Jack Ewald has some more technical vw diesel info:

	http://www.fdt.net/~crest/repair.html

Another source of (uncompiled) info would be to go to the list archives:

	gopher://halfdan.med.umn.edu:70/11/Miscellaneous/Vanagon

and search for "diesel" or some other relevant keywords (e.g. slowest ;-).

Martin ('82 westy diesel 125k)