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Tue Mar 22, 2005 11:46 pm

Okay.....I'll admit it....I think I can feel a slight vibration at exactly 800 rpm.
Otherwise its like glass. And noise? well, I can hear it when I'm on the gas, but cruising, even at 70, all I can hear is the wind. As for cost, this is an 86 westy with a perfect body, new paint, rebuilt auto tranny, 16 ronal, bilstein, nokian tires, upgraded brakes, new upholstery, and the suby engine for 8900$. That's my total cost including the vehicle purchase. And I'm not a serious gear head, just a guy who likes to play a little poker, and travel the tournament circuit in my westy.

Wed Mar 23, 2005 10:09 am

You got yourself a deal.....wanna bet the vibration will get worse over time ? :wink:

Wed Mar 23, 2005 9:27 pm

I'll take that bet. Conversion was done 1 1/2 years ago..........

Sun Mar 27, 2005 1:08 pm

Hey guys the subus are having head gasket problems on the 2.2 and mostly on the 2.5. Have seen it happen with less than 40K on them later and have fun Mark Dearing Salem Import Service

Mon Mar 28, 2005 6:39 am

All this inline 4 bashing..... Mine doesn't shake, just replace the mounts and do not let the engine touch the frame.This van (86) has over 200000 on the body and 100000 on the engine. I have had 1 problem in all that time(10 years) and it was my mistake.(oil filter)If I need it an engine is any yard away at 100$ if that.I can rebuild inframe,parts are cheep and everything is still VW. Starts every day with no BS and can go 100mph with no red line. I have heard of injection problems with the tiico, I use straight CIS injection so I have almost no electricial load(fuel pump,hall unit) This bus just flies. :twisted:

Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:50 am

I just bought an '82 crewcab. It was converted from a deisel with an '85 1.8l Jetta engine. I just got it, so I do not have any long term experience, but it started right up after sitting for a long time and drove the 20 miles or so to my place like it just did it yesterday. My only complaint would be the diesel tranny.

Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:20 pm

Try to find a air or water trans and swap the diff, my first conv was like that and I test drove it once. Brought it right home and put the larger diff in. This is really a must do.

Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:34 pm

vwbrain wrote: Hey guys the subus are having head gasket problems on the 2.2 and mostly on the 2.5. Have seen it happen with less than 40K on them later and have fun Mark Dearing Salem Import Service
If this was true wouldn't you think that at least one of the 2000+ members of subaruvanagons group would have made at least one post of this occuring?
Maybe you're thinking of the head warp issue of the 2.5 when the coolant system isn't bled. That situation is pretty well known and easily taken care of with many different continuous self bleed systems.

Tue Mar 29, 2005 8:18 pm

My 2 cents on the 2.2 and 2.5 Subaru engines.
I've owned a few 90-94 2.2 Legacys with well into 250,000 plus miles and one with 313,000. The one with 313,000 I bought from a co-worker who owned it from new had it regularly serviced. This engine still runs quiet, does not smoke and is still quite zippy. I love the 90-94 2.2 Subaru engines; overhead cams, coil pack ignition, 4 valves per cylinder and most important NON-INTERFERENCE valve and piston timing. I believe some of the later engines are interference engines.
On the other hand, our experience with a 2002 Subaru Legacy 2.5 has not been so good. At 35,000 miles both head gaskets had to be replaced. At 37,000 it was diagnosed with piston slap. It turns out that Subaru shortened the piston skirts to save on weight and improve performance and fuel economy. Subaru gives their dealers a script to read and hand out to their customers who are complaining of engine noise upon start up.They say this is "normal" and will not hurt the engine. In most cars the noise will go away in a few seconds to a minute or so. In our car, the piston noise continued for about 20 minutes. By the time I would drive to the dealer, the engine had warmed up enough to make the sound go away. Finally I left the car overnight and the dealer agreed there was a problem and would replace #2 and #4 pistons. During the time we were waiting for the parts to come in, with our 18 year old daughter behind the wheel, my wife and I as passengers, a SUV driving soccer mom made a left hand turn in front of us ending the need for the #2 and #4 pistons.
Late model Legacys ARE really good in the offset crash per the Insurance Institute!!!!
I would also say, "Our experience with the late model Subaru is the exception, not the rule". We had other non-engine related issues with our particular car. I think we just had a bad one which can happen with any make or brand. All our issues were covered by the factory warranty.
So if any of you in the New England area happen upon a burgundy 2002 Legacy sedan with 37,000 miles, and wrecked in the nose...this one is not a good donor! I don't think Subaru will any longer honor the 5 year 60,000 mile drivtrain warranty.
I will continue to repower all my future Vanagons with 90-94 2.2 Legacy engines!!!!!!!!!!!

Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:40 pm

Reviving this topic with a reliability Question.

i saw a few people ask about long term reliability of the gowesty 2.2 or bigger.

any members have the motor installed for over a year?

chester.. i gather u had it. then switched to your suby. then sold it?.. if i follow your posts correctly..

ne ways.. revive.

Tue Mar 03, 2009 6:13 pm

TheBlueTurtle wrote: Reviving this topic with a reliability Question.

i saw a few people ask about long term reliability of the gowesty 2.2 or bigger.

any members have the motor installed for over a year?

Yep. GW 2.2 for three years. Go with this instead.

PM me for details.

Tue Mar 03, 2009 7:00 pm

Seconded, Riceye.

My GW 2.2 seized at the end of December. Pulled up to a light, got a lot of lifter noise then... finis. Changed the oil earlier in the week, still had 4-5 qts at seizure. 76,333 miles. At ~30k miles, the oil pump (installed by GW) failed, and I replaced it with the CB Performance Maxi Pump 1. Not another lick of trouble til it seized.

A 3.3 Suby is in the works as i type. :D

Tue Mar 03, 2009 7:48 pm

No problems with my GW 2.4L...2.5 years and 12K miles. Still, I third riceye's recommendation of the 10cent motor.

Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:00 pm

Doesn't anybody else make 'em? A stock replacement, I mean. Even with the old aircooled 2.0, there were a variety of options. Only thing I've heard about for vanagons is GW or a conversion...
I drove by gowesty the other day, never before have I seen so many vanagons in the same place, but I'm yet to buy anything from them cause they're so expensive.

Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:11 pm

GW's OK on a lot of parts.

Boston Bob was your man for a Type4, but since his passing I don't know who's top o'the heap for aircooled. The guy who worked with him is carrying on with it, so presumably the same methods.

And thanks for the props, guys. Doin' what i can.

Wed Mar 04, 2009 1:24 am

TheBlueTurtle wrote: Reviving this topic with a reliability Question.

i saw a few people ask about long term reliability of the gowesty 2.2 or bigger.

any members have the motor installed for over a year?

chester.. i gather u had it. then switched to your suby. then sold it?.. if i follow your posts correctly..

ne ways.. revive.

I only had about 7,000 miles on the GoWesty 2.2 when I sold it to Volkscafe. No problems with it. I sold the van with the Subaru 2.2 after about 4,000 miles (I think?) because I simply didn't need the van anymore, not because of any issues with the motor conversion. It was a great experience but I'm currently flirting with Toyota 1.6 motors at the moment...... it's a serious crush I cannot lie :oops:

IF a van without an engine were to suddenly appear in my garage I would install a Subaru 2.2TURBO (from around '92 to '94) in it and call it a day. I will NEVER go back to the WBX.

TIICO ? I don't think so.

VW/Audi 1.8t ? Maybe . . . but installing another Subaru would be a lot easier for me.

Subaru 3.3 ? No way, atrocious gas mileage F.T.L. no matter how fun/fast that experience is.

I'm VERY into the Bostig Zetec but in California it would be suicide to even attempt it.

- Chester

Wed Mar 04, 2009 4:08 pm

" I will NEVER go back to the WBX. "

why not?

would u still recommend paying for the suby to someone with little to no mechanical experience?

Wed Mar 04, 2009 4:36 pm

I've now had my GW 2.2L for 4 years/40,000 mi. Still runs like a champ.

Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:35 pm

Have around 11k miles /2.5 years on my GW 2300 in my '87 camper.

So far, absolutely no problems with it, runs like a champ! (even better with the NGK BP6ET spark plugs)

Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:54 pm

tencentlife wrote: I don't know who's top o'the heap for aircooled.

would that not be Jake Raby and the cs
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=320759&
Build here
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=326567