I have an as-is Frankenwesty for sale if anyone's interested.  This is an
'85 Westfalia GL, full camper with poptop, stove, etc., white exterior,
generally good condition in and out.  Interior decent and relatively
complete, no significant rust, only minor dings and dents, in other words
pretty good shape for an '85.  The previous owner used a conversion kit from
some West Coast performance specialist to put a used Ford engine in the van.
2.4 liter, 2.6 liter, something like that; I don't know much about Ford
engines but I know he said it was bigger than a 2.1 liter.  Apparantly the
engine is not doing well, supposedly runs but blows oil.  Other than that
the camper's in decent shape.  Previous owner says he feels that the engine
rev'd too high at highway speeds and perhaps that's why it wore out. He also
noted that the trans (standard VW 4-speed) whined slightly but demonstrated
no shifting or performance problems other than that.  I have not run the van
myself, having no particular interest in Ford engines or frankenwesties, so
all I know is what he told me about his escapades with the van.

Apparantly the modifications he made to use this engine were minimal, thanks
to the adaptor kit.  He used the provided adaptor plate at the trans end of
the engine, and he drilled new holes in the existing trans mount and moved
the trans forward a couple of inches.  Supposedly it could be converted back
to a wasserboxer very easily, or you could try your luck with another Ford
engine.  However, if you opted to convert back to a VW engine, you'd of
course need a complete engine (i.e. fuel injection, exhaust, alternator,
etc.), not just a longblock, since the ancilliary items attached to the
present engine are not for a wasserboxer.  This would be a great project for
someone with access to a good used engine (VW or Ford :-) who wanted an
inexpensive Westy.

In any event, the price is $1900 firm, as-is.  It's probably worth about
$5000 once un-Forded (or even Forded, for that matter, as long as it had a
good engine - think about it, no head gasket problems!).  So you save the
money, you take on the project.  If nobody from the list is interested, I'll
probably find a good used wasserboxer for it and it will reappear for sale
in a couple of months, with a VW engine, for closer to $5k.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  http://www.busdepot.com
  (215) 234-VWVW