Reliable repair shop, West coast

[JerikaB]

I bought a 1990 Vanagon with a Subaru conversion (EJ22). The work was done by California Westys and I'm beyond disappointed with their work. The engine was obviously not rebuilt - though we were told that it was rebuilt with only 7,000 miles on it. Looking at the engine it was not rebuilt, the hoses are all old and starting to crack. Long story short - we have a blown head gasket. I'm willing to travel to find a good shop that will rebuild my van into something (mostly - it is a vanagon after all) reliable. I was looking at going to Small Car Performance in Seattle but after looking at some reviews online it looks like they sold the business a few years ago and maybe don't have the best reviews now. I'm located in Reno NV. I called Buggy Barn and was told that they will only work on the VW parts of the van. Ultimately I'm looking for a good shop that will rebuild my engine and in the future do suspension upgrades and probably put in a new refrigerator and heater.

[Red Ryder]

Sorry you had a disappointing shop experience. We recently had a lot of work (new SS exhaust, SS coolant pipes, automatic transmission cooler, brakes) performed by Small Car Performance. Great owners and staff. We’re not a Subi convert, but their work is top notch. Stephan’s Autohaus in Sacramento is closer, but I don’t know their experience with Subi’s.
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“Most everyone’s mad here. You may have noticed I am not quite all there myself.” — Cheshire Cat, Adventures of Alice in Wonderland

“Scarlett” — 1990 Vanagon Carat Wolfsburg Edition (Tornado Red)
“Nigel” — 1999 Jaguar XK8 convertible (Alpine Green Metallic)

[livethevanlife]

Its unclear who you are putting on blast here, the previous owners who sold you the van or the shop who did the conversion? How many years has it been since the conversion was done? Modern fuel lines combined with modern fuels are garbage and dont last long. Thats not necessarily a fault of the shop who did the install. Head gasket, can just be one of those things. Not necesarily bad work. Did you reach out to California Westy's? They have a good reputation, and every shop out there that does any volume is going to have an upset customer here and there. You have to weigh the negatives versus the volume of positives.

[JerikaB]

The point here was not to put anyone on blast. If I wanted to put a shop on blast I would put the specifics of the absolute absurdity I've gone through with this van. The point of this is to find a good shop on the west coast that will do good reliable work. I don't find myself inclined to reach out to California Westys due to the stream of poor work that was done. I see they have a good reputation which is why I initially went to them for my van. I'm not trying to create drama. I just want to find a good shop on the west coast.

[livethevanlife]

The best options that stand out to me (there may be others) for a subaru rebuild are SmallCar in Tacoma and Peace Vans in Seattle. Both rebuild their own Subaru engines in house and do great work and are run by good people. A solid rebuilder of just the motor is Steve Johnson at S&S Performance in Alpine, CA which is where I understand that California Westy's gets their motors from. Steve is a solid guy and would likely help you out if you approached him nicely.

[bertobarb]

I've had good experiences with BusLab in Berkeley, The Old Volks Home in Santa Cruz and WestyWerks in San Luis Obispo. BusLab has been knocked for being expensive but I did not find that to be the case. And the day I was there they received a Subi for a conversion they were about to do and asked me if I was interested in one too (I was not). Hope that helps!