cotswoldiver
Well-known member
So here's the dilemma, you are lucky enough to own as near as damm it a stock bus but you know you want to take it away on longer trips, you promise yourself you won't make any modifications and plan a trip to France with all newly serviced. It breaks down and you end up having it returned home on the back of a trailer.
Didn't put me off the idea of travelling to Europe, but did make me think about what to do engine wise. I had already decided that it wasn't going to go into any more Show & Shines as we were lucky enough to pick up best T2 camper at Camperjam earlier in the year and that was always going to be a one off.
Considered three options when we came back, whatever happened the heads needed replacing, so that would have been probably the simplest and most cost effective way if I thought I could have done that myself, but space and my own small mechanical capabilities ruled that out. The bottom half of the engine was pretty good and had only covered about 10k as it had already been replaced by the previous owner in South Africa so it was a risk but probably a good one to take. Problem was the workshop costs to do the head work were likely to be more than labour costs for replacing the engine. So the decision was made to replace the engine.
The next question was which one? They seem to be so many debates about Vege or Remtec, most people agree that the out of the crate mexican engines were good but that source has long dried up and there is equal debate that the brazillian out of the crate are not so good.
Knowing that the bus was going to be a 'keeper' (I know, famous last words :lol: ) decided I wanted the security of a good engine warranty so went to the people offering a 3 year warranty for my own peace of mind to have a 1641 built from 'new' parts with the idea of having twin weber 34's fitted to give me the better economy.
So to cut a very long story short, bearing in mind the westy broke down in the middle of September I finally picked it up frrom the workshop with the new engine fitted this week.
In the end the spec included the 123 Ignition system because I'd read such good things about it not just from the VW forums, full flow oil system with oil filter not external oil cooler, having gone that far, in came new coil, new leads from a specalist company in Cornwall, new starter motor - because we thought there was a problem with the old one (but in the end that wasn't probably the cause of a poor starting problem) and oil temperature and pressure gauges to keep a close eye on the new build
So what's the purpose of the tale?
Well at the moment with the benefit of hindsight I think I would have just taken the more simpler route of replacing the heads, the frustration of this rebuild has been something else. Suppliers that say they have things in stock, take your money and then don't deliver for 4 weeks - each week saying its on the way!! Engine builders that have great customer service at the front end with a great willingness to put things right when they go wrong - why can't it just be right first time to save so much grief all round. Suppliers that still sell complete carb kits without mentioning that you will probably need to change all the jets to get the best results.
Once it's run in carefully I'll re-post with an update of whether this long drawn out process was worth it, at the moment its running, but I think a trip to Interpro once the running in period is complete will make a big difference. For the long term I hope the decision was right, but I have a feeling I might at some stage be asking Scott Wilson to keep his eye out out for a stock engine from one of his imports if a customer is having a new engine fitted and doesn't want the old lump.
But hey, the bus is back it's safely tucked up in the garage, plenty of trips have been planned for next year and for me the whole purpose of owning the westy hasn't changed - it's to be used and have fun and hopefully those smily days are just around the corner
Didn't put me off the idea of travelling to Europe, but did make me think about what to do engine wise. I had already decided that it wasn't going to go into any more Show & Shines as we were lucky enough to pick up best T2 camper at Camperjam earlier in the year and that was always going to be a one off.
Considered three options when we came back, whatever happened the heads needed replacing, so that would have been probably the simplest and most cost effective way if I thought I could have done that myself, but space and my own small mechanical capabilities ruled that out. The bottom half of the engine was pretty good and had only covered about 10k as it had already been replaced by the previous owner in South Africa so it was a risk but probably a good one to take. Problem was the workshop costs to do the head work were likely to be more than labour costs for replacing the engine. So the decision was made to replace the engine.
The next question was which one? They seem to be so many debates about Vege or Remtec, most people agree that the out of the crate mexican engines were good but that source has long dried up and there is equal debate that the brazillian out of the crate are not so good.
Knowing that the bus was going to be a 'keeper' (I know, famous last words :lol: ) decided I wanted the security of a good engine warranty so went to the people offering a 3 year warranty for my own peace of mind to have a 1641 built from 'new' parts with the idea of having twin weber 34's fitted to give me the better economy.
So to cut a very long story short, bearing in mind the westy broke down in the middle of September I finally picked it up frrom the workshop with the new engine fitted this week.
In the end the spec included the 123 Ignition system because I'd read such good things about it not just from the VW forums, full flow oil system with oil filter not external oil cooler, having gone that far, in came new coil, new leads from a specalist company in Cornwall, new starter motor - because we thought there was a problem with the old one (but in the end that wasn't probably the cause of a poor starting problem) and oil temperature and pressure gauges to keep a close eye on the new build
So what's the purpose of the tale?
Well at the moment with the benefit of hindsight I think I would have just taken the more simpler route of replacing the heads, the frustration of this rebuild has been something else. Suppliers that say they have things in stock, take your money and then don't deliver for 4 weeks - each week saying its on the way!! Engine builders that have great customer service at the front end with a great willingness to put things right when they go wrong - why can't it just be right first time to save so much grief all round. Suppliers that still sell complete carb kits without mentioning that you will probably need to change all the jets to get the best results.
Once it's run in carefully I'll re-post with an update of whether this long drawn out process was worth it, at the moment its running, but I think a trip to Interpro once the running in period is complete will make a big difference. For the long term I hope the decision was right, but I have a feeling I might at some stage be asking Scott Wilson to keep his eye out out for a stock engine from one of his imports if a customer is having a new engine fitted and doesn't want the old lump.
But hey, the bus is back it's safely tucked up in the garage, plenty of trips have been planned for next year and for me the whole purpose of owning the westy hasn't changed - it's to be used and have fun and hopefully those smily days are just around the corner
