At 09:01 AM 7/16/98 -0400, John S. Cronin wrote:

>I too lust after a 911 powered Vanagon-Westy.  I don't need a turbo or

>anything, just six air-cooled cylinders and at least a five speed

>transmission.

It would seem that converting an air-cooled Vanagon to an air-cooled Porsche would be an awesome conversion.

But, the expense and trouble of "ripping out" the water stuff on an '84 or later water-cooled Vanagon makes no sense to me.

"Practical" options for the water-cooled Vanagons are:

1.) TDI diesel -- 110hp/170ft lbs, $8,000+ installed, great mileage, modern design, low-revving engine requires different gearing for transmission

2.) Porsche Boxter 6 -- 150hp?, $12,000+ installed, poor gas mileage, impossible to find used, modern design, no need to change gearing

3.) Oettinger 6 -- 150hp, $12,000+ installed, poor gas mileage, impossible to obtain, "ancient" design, no need to change gearing

4.) Subaru 4 -- 120hp/150ft lbs, $6,000 (or less) installed, fair gas mileage, easy to find, relatively modern design, no need to change gearing, odd maintenance issues

For sheer coolness, I'd go with the Boxter engine.

But for practicality, I will be installing a TDI engine next summer.

Cheers,

<bold>Michael J. Sullivan

</bold><italic>Director of Catalog Design

Open Market, Inc.

</italic>

'87 GL Syncro Westfalia

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