I don't usually like to ask stupid questions in a public forum, but I just
can't help myself this time :)

I have an 81 Vanagon, excellent condition and of course, paid for. I love
it, my children love to camp and tour with it, and I have no desire to
sell it. In addition, I don't see very many around here for sale in a
condition close to mine even if I wanted one. It has 200K on it, and runs
clean as can be, but its slow, as you might guess.

I would like more power. I don't necessarily need a ton, I just want to
upgrade a bit, plus I think it is only a matter of time until I am forced
to do it, so I would rather get a head start before its necessary. I work
better with no stress ;-)

My dumb question is this: Is it stupid to consider upgrading to a bigger,
air cooled motor? I drool at the idea of a turbo diesel, or something
exciting like that.

Would it be more work than would be worth it to update the van to water
cooled? Can a radiator be rigged elsewhere besides waaaay up front? The
clutch is all but new, so I would rather not mess with the transmission if
I could avoid it.

Anyway, rather than ramble, I will leave the deal at that and see if I am
stuck in the world of air cooled, low power vanagons, or not :-)

Thanks for any comments or suggestions. If you want to call me an idiot, I
prefer p-mail for that :-)

Regards from SLC, Ut

John