tiico vs. gowesty

[levi]

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.

[ChesterKV]

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

[levi]

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

[vwbrain]

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

[Captain Pike]

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.
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LEARN TO SELF RESCUE
59 Panel bus, 1966 Single cab. 73' 181. 73 Westy. 91' H6 Vanagon 3.3L.
.....................All Current.......................

[busses2vanagons]

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.
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*New* '84 Vanagon GL

Daily Drivers:
'94 GolfIII GL
'87 Vanagon GL

Projects:
'71 Type 2 Deluxe 9 Seater
'82 Doka (Imported to Hawaii new)

[Captain Pike]

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.
_________________
LEARN TO SELF RESCUE
59 Panel bus, 1966 Single cab. 73' 181. 73 Westy. 91' H6 Vanagon 3.3L.
.....................All Current.......................

[levi]

[essjayarr]

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!!!!!!!!!!!

[TheBlueTurtle]

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.
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84 Westfalia (Goldie)
GoWesty 2.2

[riceye]

[ProvoCyclist]

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.
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Clark
Current: 1986 Tintop GL 2wd, stock 2.1L, manual trans, Flash Silver LP7Y.

Past: 1985 Sunroof GL, 2wd, Subaru 3.3L, manual trans, resprayed to Diamond Silver L97A

[snoop]

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

[agreendaya]

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.
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'74 Bug - Gone
'69 Westy - Gone
'74 Westy - Gone
'78 Transporter - Gone
'69 Baja - Gone
'91 Vanagon Carat - Gone
‘71 Bus - Gone

Current: ‘74 Westy 2.0L, hydraulic valves, dual EMPI 34s

[tencentlife]

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.
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Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

[ChesterKV]

[TheBlueTurtle]

" 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?
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84 Westfalia (Goldie)
GoWesty 2.2

[psych-illogical]

I've now had my GW 2.2L for 4 years/40,000 mi. Still runs like a champ.
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83 1/2 Westy waterboxer
'57 Beetle-sold
Coupla '81 BMW motorcycles (R80G/S; R100RS)
'96 BMW R1100GS

[djs94124]

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)
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1987 2WD Westfalia
Modifications: GoWesty 2300 engine & rebuilt transaxle, 16x7.5 tire/wheel kit, South African "Big Brake" kit, Bilstein HD shocks, Whiteline front sway bar, 2WD Lift Springs, 2nd deep-cycle battery.

[tclark]