>X-Sender: jscohen@m2.sprynet.com
>Date:         Fri, 12 Dec 1997 00:21:18 -0500
>Reply-To: James Cohen <jscohen@SPRYNET.COM>
>Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@GERRY.SDSC.EDU>
>From: James Cohen <jscohen@SPRYNET.COM>
>Subject:      Re: Conversion Commotion
>To: Vanagon@GERRY.SDSC.EDU
>
>Jim makes some very fine points, but some beg the question.  If the Waser
>head leaking is a design defect, it then makes the engine inherently
>unreliable!
>
> VW says the coolant doesn't need to be changed any more than once in 100K
>miles because of the type of metal used in the cooling system...aluminum.
>Which is not supposed to cause acidity.
>
>Jim, have you actually compared the ph of new and used coolant?  Old
>coolant MAY in fact cause a build up of acidity, but it should be tested
>and not merely postulated.
>
>But the other problem with the Wasserboxer is it's absurdly small size.  85
>or 91 hp is rediculously low for a vehicle the size and aerodynamics of the
>Vanagon. So, increasing power alone might be reason enough to do a
>conversion.  (And that's what I'll be doing next summer!  150 hp for me!)
>
>As for using other engines, I don't think anyone who isn't going to be
>doing the work himself should be doing this for all the reasons Jim
>outlines.  Too many things can go wrong, and if you're in the middle of
>nowhere, it's going to be tough to find anyone to touch it.  OTOH, anyone
>who can work on a say, Subaru, can fix a Subaru engine.
>
>Besides, Subaru spelled backwards is: U r a BUS !  Is this Kismet or what?
>
>And finally, Subaru fixed the head problem?  I've heard this before. WILL
>SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW?  WHAT DID THEY DO? I have YET to get an answer
>on this.
>
>James

Once & for all - has anyone else ever heard this one??? Many years ago
Subaru licensed the ol' 40 hp air cooled from VW with the stated intention
of developing a water cooled version, which, when VW saw it, decided it
made sense after all & proceeded to do their own (our beloved boxer), but
of course never bothered to fix the (Subaru) design problems: Subaru did, &
we got stuck with still another VW half-effort.  Any morsel of truth to
this, or pure bs??  (What always catches my eye when checking out a Suby is
the remarkable similarity of the gearbox cases to ours - ZF's too, by the
way <Mangustas/Panteras>).

Austin