On Tue, 22 Jun 1999, Brian W. Block wrote:

> Gary-
>
> Thanks for the response.  I was unaware there were other engine options for the
> vanagon.  Do you have any recommendation on where to look for engine and who could
> do the transplant?
>
> Thanks
>
> Brian

Brian --

Someone recently wrote to the list asking about the available engine
options, with the caveat "have you actually done that yourself"?  Since
I have not done it myself (the closest I come is an underway swap from
a 1.6NA diesel to a 1.6TD diesel), I hesitate to give you specific
advice.  There are three main varieties of swap, the inline 4 Rabbit/
Jetta/Golf(?) engines, the Audi inline 5, and the various diesel/turbo
diesel/TDI engines.  Many people have gone the I4 route, fewer the
I5, and fewest of all have switched TO diesel... generally people
are fleeing the diesels screaming, since the Vanagon diesel was a truly
wimpy critter.  There are vendors on the list who do the I5 swap, it's
the current craze, at least in this teacup.

Here comes the "look in the archives" pitch.  The recent thread I
referred to above is a great place to start.  You'll find references
to the web sites where a lot of the information about different engines
is archived, and lots of first-hand experience.  Go to www.vanagon.com
and find the archive search page -- it's an excellent search system.

        Gary