J
John Mcshea
VIP Member
Hello,
We recently arrived back in the uk having left our 1995 Westfalia in Croatia in the capable and helpful hands of a local garage. We have a hole in our engine and I am told it is not so good for successful driving. please see attached pic. Anyway, clearly we need a new engine for our wagon of dreams and have basically three options it seems; And old engine from a scrap yard (£500ish +labour), a reconditioned engine (£2000ish + labour) or a new engine (£5000ish + labour).
Our van is 1995 which is 24 years old the engine is a 1.9TD (ABL) Not the fastest on the road but was fine for us, economical and frankly fast enough for something packed with loads of gear, family inside and bikes strapped to it. Some would say that basic economics would suggest an old engine is best as she is an old van, but the thing is apart from her engine and likely other mechanical parts she's mint, as though straight out of the factory, not a flake of rust, original paint, excellent factory fitted Westfalia interior.... She has done around 90,000miles in her time and I suspect has been stored well and unused for periods (she's left hand drive).
My query is for advice, its obvious that the more you spend the better the result, money can always be found but we don't have an abundance of it and need to be as careful as possible. We hope to keep our van for a long time as she is perfect for us being small enough to get into the mountains and old enough for me to be able to repair en-route myself by mechanical means (excluding replacing an engine on the roadside...).
Have people had good experiences with recon engines?
Has anyone put a new engine in?
Is it a good opportunity to put a different engine in? (I'm not someone who expects to drag race a t4 cali)
Can anyone warn me of the impending mistakes I might be close to making?
All advice would be very welcome,
Many thanks,
John.
We recently arrived back in the uk having left our 1995 Westfalia in Croatia in the capable and helpful hands of a local garage. We have a hole in our engine and I am told it is not so good for successful driving. please see attached pic. Anyway, clearly we need a new engine for our wagon of dreams and have basically three options it seems; And old engine from a scrap yard (£500ish +labour), a reconditioned engine (£2000ish + labour) or a new engine (£5000ish + labour).
Our van is 1995 which is 24 years old the engine is a 1.9TD (ABL) Not the fastest on the road but was fine for us, economical and frankly fast enough for something packed with loads of gear, family inside and bikes strapped to it. Some would say that basic economics would suggest an old engine is best as she is an old van, but the thing is apart from her engine and likely other mechanical parts she's mint, as though straight out of the factory, not a flake of rust, original paint, excellent factory fitted Westfalia interior.... She has done around 90,000miles in her time and I suspect has been stored well and unused for periods (she's left hand drive).
My query is for advice, its obvious that the more you spend the better the result, money can always be found but we don't have an abundance of it and need to be as careful as possible. We hope to keep our van for a long time as she is perfect for us being small enough to get into the mountains and old enough for me to be able to repair en-route myself by mechanical means (excluding replacing an engine on the roadside...).
Have people had good experiences with recon engines?
Has anyone put a new engine in?
Is it a good opportunity to put a different engine in? (I'm not someone who expects to drag race a t4 cali)
Can anyone warn me of the impending mistakes I might be close to making?
All advice would be very welcome,
Many thanks,
John.
So the chances of getting a good second hand engine should be high.
