Andy-

Increasing the power for an 2.0 is fairly straight forward, but the pivotal
word in your question was "in-expensive". There are members of this list
(including this writer) who have invested $3,000-$5,000 to rebuild a motor
and introduce meaningful improvements to the power (both air and water
cooled). We have a list member who has a V-6 (or is it a V-8 Sudhir?) in
the pursuit of more zoom.

The truth is, your Vanagon is NOT a speedy vehicle. Air or water doesn't
matter. It is big, heavy and (by today's standards) slow. Period. If you
are interested in going fast up hills, you bought the wrong vehicle.

Now on the flip side, you were wise to purchase the air-cooled model,
rather than the fluid cooled. The type 4 motor was fully mature in its
development when used in the Vanagon. As the owner/former owner of nearly a
dozen vehicles powered with this motor I can tell you, the 2.0 will provide
trouble-free service with minimum maintenance concerns for many years. The
fluid-cooled owner would love to make the same claim of the water-cooled
box, but it never quite lived up to the reliability the bug, bus, and I4
motors are known for. With a little research (search the archives for HP,
2.0, air cooled) you can greatly improve the performance of your motor
without tremendous cost, or tremendous risk. Further, you will learn how to
reduce or eliminate unnecessary failures through maintenance and careful
driving.

Further, with some study at http://www.bulley-hewlett.com/VWindex  you can
bake the critics out of your van with heat that will wither any feeble
water-based heater. Remember, 240 is the max temp for H20 heaters. Your
heater uses the exhaust system, and *can* offer heat at upwards of 350
degrees. THAT'S warm. :)

Enjoy, and welcome.

G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett
Corporate Communications Counselors
www.bulley-hewlett.com
Cary, NC USA
888.468.4880 tollfree