2.1 or Subi...What to do, what to do???

[elizer]

I haven't done this swap or anything, but I was curious will you be going with their ems?

[hdenter]

I can say from experience that the RMW/tencent exhaust makes a noticeable improvement in performance. The tuned design will translate that improvement to any size WBX engine. GW's exhaust is basically just a stainless steel version of the stock exhaust. If I lived in a snowy place that salted the roads, I'd consider the GW unit for it's longevity. Otherwise, it's a choice of whether you'd like to spend the $$ on the RMW unit for the ponies or just stay stock.

Hans
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'79 triple white convertible bug
'84 sunroof vanagon
'85 weekender

[shagginwagon83]

[CurtisS]

Our GW 2.3 wbx lasted about 140K miles in our 1990 Westy before ending it's life in a very dramatic way (#3 rod created a really big oil leak in the top of the case). I think the 1 quart of oil every 1000 miles is a pretty close to what we experienced.
I am tired of dealing with 30 year tech so we are going with a Bostig conversion. Besides better reliability we get to go back to running regular gas as the 2.3 needed premium.
Cheers!
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If "con" is the opposite of "pro", what is the opposite of "progress"?

[dobryan]

[Ahwahnee]

[thomast]

Hello all - Just wanted to tie this one off with a semi-quick update. After much thinking and reading all the comments, I had settled on getting the GW 2.3. Along with upgrades to my fuel tank and coolant lines, I was looking at $11k+ for all the work. Some I would do, but most would be done at my shop. I came to that decision on a Saturday night. Monday I was going into the shop to put a down payment on the GW and to get the ball rolling. Was feeling good about it all....then came the Syncro ad....

As I've been doing for longer than I can remember, I would go search the Samba Syncro ads to see what's out there. A Syncro's always been my end game, but whenever I would see one that ticked my fancy, it would be way beyond my unfancy budget. About a year ago, a syncro was for sale with a SVX for 45k. Way out of reach, but that didn't stop me from looking at the ad over and over and scheming and racking my brain on how i'd someday have one. I've been through all the arguments of why they are great or horrible or whatever. I just wanted a Syncro and didn't care about any of the pitfalls. I am not a practical person by any means.

After a few months the ad went away and I was sad and relieved. I kept looking, but was happy with the thought of getting a new spunky engine in my 85 2WD.

Late that Saturday night while looking at Synco ad's, there it was again, but at a significant price drop. YIKES!!! Oh boy... The wheels started spinning and two weeks later after many highs and lows, i was on a plane to Oakland CA to pick up the van and drive it back to MN. It was a whirlwind of the likes I've rarely seen or created. Just ask my wife!

The owner was awesome in working with me and the whole deal was pretty amazing from beginning to end.

Sorry to have wasted all of your time with comments on something that was so easily derailed by the allure of a 10 year dream. It was all a part of the process for me and I really appreciate it!

The pics are from my drive back (2200 miles in 78 hours). The warm one is somewhere in California or maybe Nevada and the snowy one is in Rollingsville CO (the van was great in the snow!).

Cheers!!

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1986 Westy Syncro SVX

[shagginwagon83]

Congrats man. That's a sick Syncro!
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Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan

[seventyfo]

Wow talk about a happy ending! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
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85 Vanagon GL Westy GW 2.2 (Rebuilt by YT)


"I don't know you well enough to care about your comments". Watkins Cravey

[bobbyblack]

Someone is already scheming on the one you were going to drop the 2.3 into ... Minnesota is pretty damn close to me... and I go to the twin cities quite often.

Got to put another sweetheart into this line-up

EDIT: Just saw the grin on the passenger in your Vanagons in the Snow thread... I think I know who is getting the other one.

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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[thomast]

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1986 Westy Syncro SVX