FYI-
Detlef Hanscke of Livermore, Ca is working on, as i write this, putting an
Audi 5cyl into an AUTOMATIC Vanagon....and.....WITHOUT raising the engine
acccess lid!!!!!
and he will be doing actual conversions, as well as selling kits..
The audi 5000 engine is basically bulletproof ( i have an '84 5000 turbo,
never even had the valve covers off, has 160k mi, most dependable car ive had)
they can be found in junkyards anywhere (99.9% of audi 5000's are junked
because of power steering system, or other acessory (non engine related)
failures)
ive never heard of an audi 5000 w/ major engine probs...
this way, you'll be able to keep your vanagon "all vw" without putting a
Subaru engine in, which are generally more expensive to find (if you have to
find a '90 up legacy) wheras you can install any 5 cyl audi engine from '78
up....
the thing that was stopping me before was the fact that they had to raise the
engine lid - but theyve come up with a way to keep the whole 5cyl under the
lid, so everyone with weekenders or westy's can still use their beds..
more power, dependability, (no head gasket leaks :<), ease of finding used
parts -
i'll be one of the first in line for their conversions!!  :<)

chris