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German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t?
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dustyrhodes
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 12:20 pm    Post subject: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

Hey everyone,
Just picked up an '89 westy and unfortunately, it seems like the motor is bad. I'm probably going to just have it rebuilt but I'm window shopping engine swaps.

I don't love the raised deck lid, but the 1.8T seems like a great option. GMW and SAH have very similar prices for crate engine installs and both are CARB legal.

Does anyone know how different the kits are? As far as I can tell from what limited information is out there, the GMW option comes with stainless exhaust be default and uses a raised lip on the deck lid vs raising the whole rear area.

Other than that???

Thanks
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Zeitgeist 13
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 12:58 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

A W K W A R D
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dustyrhodes
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 2:29 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

Zeitgeist 13 wrote:
A W K W A R D


What's awkward about my question?
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ScottShelley
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 3:00 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

You will get a great job either way. I have talked to both Stephen and Paul, they are both great guys. I would go visit the shops and talk to them. They both had examples of their installs at Syncrofest. I'm guessing the wait might be shorter at GMW.
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syncrodoka
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 3:04 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

GMW has diesel style carrier bars made for them while stephan reuses the factory carrier bar. I like the GMW system more as it looks more factory.
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casey79westfalia
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 7:11 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

I don't think there is much of a difference. I have stephans 1.8t kit and it 'looks as clean and factory as a 1.8t could. I have not driven mine yet so I can only dream of how it will drive. Stephan always answers my questions. I will say this kit is not the easiest thing I have done. The manual is vague in areas and really takes some thought. This conversion is certainly for more advanced mechanics. But it stays vw and the 1.8t motor really just feels right in the vanagon. Stephans kit had an upgrade for stainless exhaust,cruise,ac,chipped. Which produces in the range of 250hp. I chose that version since I was saving money doing the labor myself. Doesn't look like germanworks has a kit out just yet?? I wanted to do the build myself since I was painting my own van and doing the rest of the restoration at my shop. Not to mention Stephan is 2600 miles away. I had stephan regear and rebuild my gear boxes and added a decoupler.
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zeohsix
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 8:38 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

syncrodoka wrote:
GMW has diesel style carrier bars made for them while stephan reuses the factory carrier bar. I like the GMW system more as it looks more factory.


The SAH engine mount wouldn't work with my Burley Syncro 16 trailing arms....The GMW mounts were made by Burley and they are like the factory VW diesel carrier bars. I also think the GMW engine cover spacer is better design than the SAH spacer.
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:03 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

GMW
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Herr Motorspiele
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:04 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

Popcorn
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Mountain1.8t
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 10:39 am    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

To the original poster, are you going to do the install yourself, or have GMW or SAH do the install? I recently installed the SAH kit myself. At the time I was considering which kit to go with, GMW did not offer a DIY kit. That made my decision right there.
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Reventlos
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 12:03 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

<The SAH engine mount wouldn't work with my Burley Syncro 16 trailing arms....The GMW mounts were made by Burley and they are like the factory VW diesel carrier bars. I also think the GMW engine cover spacer is better design than the SAH spacer.>

Interesting! I also have Burley's trailing arms, and I'm not aware that Stephan had any issues installing my 1.8T. He did have to alter my Burley skid plate, however, as would be expected. I'll check with Stephan to see if the trailing arms were a problem.
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Zeitgeist 13
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 12:39 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

I'm having a hard time understanding how an engine mount of any kind interferes with a trailing arm of any kind.
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greebly
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 2:02 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

zeohsix wrote:
I also think the GMW engine cover spacer is better design than the SAH spacer.

I am rather fond of the storage space that the SAH engine cover spacer provides for small spare parts and tools.
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greebly
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 2:06 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

I cannot comment on GMW never dealt with them. I can say that you can deal with Stephan with confidence. He really went the extra mile in my dealings with him.
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ThankYouJerry
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 11:06 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

greebly wrote:
I cannot comment on GMW never dealt with them. I can say that you can deal with Stephan with confidence. He really went the extra mile in my dealings with him.


I can enthusiastically second that!
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modelttouring
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 4:42 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

Stephan's autohaus did my van conversion 6 years ago and I am still smiling .Both shops do great work and have good displays of their conversions.You will enjoy retraining your right foot after the conversion is done.
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Bills85Westy
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 10:00 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

ThankYouJerry wrote:
greebly wrote:
I cannot comment on GMW never dealt with them. I can say that you can deal with Stephan with confidence. He really went the extra mile in my dealings with him.


I can enthusiastically second that!


Same here.....Mine was a DIY kit from Stephan and he really went the extra mile to be available and answer questions for me.

One question you might ask is "How many now has each shop done?" which might provide a little insight into the depth of their experience in not only installing, but troubleshooting and servicing the vans they've worked on.
I asked Stephan at the last Syncrofest and I think they had produced 81 conversion kits (both sold as kits and sold and installed by SAH).

I know my kit was #75

Bill
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 10:28 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

Bills85Westy wrote:


I know my kit was #75

Bill


Geeze, so how many of these conversions are out there?

- SAH = 90 or so
- Bostig = 420? 10 - 15 per the early releases = 200 - 300, 15 X RG 8 = 120

So less than 1,000? This is a small market. Or so it seems.
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Michael4104
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 11:14 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

How long did it take to do the conversion. From either GMW or SAH? I've heard 6 months to a year?
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:45 pm    Post subject: Re: German Motor Werks vs Stephan's Auto Haus 1.8t? Reply with quote

Difference also is that GMW uses a custom build harness and SAH uses the original 1.8T Harness and modifies it. Another difference is that SAH has a CARB sticker and registration and smog seems to very easy. GMW needs to do trip to the CARB center for every conversion they do but they told me that is not a problem.
I talked to SAH and GMW and only SAH has the DIY kit I need to do for my conversion. GMW is working for 2 years on the DIY version but not out at the last time I talked to them.
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