Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:10:06 -0800
Reply-To: dylan friedman <insyncro@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: dylan friedman <insyncro@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Boston Bob....AVP....GEX...???
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Bob has my vote as well.
We talk on the phone from time to time and he really knows the wbx.
Give him a call and discuss it for yourself, highly recommended.
And if you are looking to try another power plant, Bostig's Zetec conversion is a work of art.
Way to go East Coast!!!!!!
dylan
----- Original Message ----
From: Jim Akiba <syncrolist@BOSTIG.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 5:24:00 PM
Subject: Re: Boston Bob....AVP....GEX...???
I'll have to chime in here also... just talk to him.
Call him and ask him how he's different from the other rebuilders out
there. There are some big differences that stem from his many decades
of experience specializing in these motors.
Bob is a good friend of mine, and I have nothing but respect for not
only his work, his knowledge, and his integrity. You can find some of
those elements in other options, but not all three... not like Bob.
I've heard of horror stories from GEX and AVP. Also heard of issues
with Gowesty rebuilds, although they seem to do a very good job of
standing behind their warranty if something does happen which is
important. But failures with BB motors that I've heard of have always
been support system failures... which is obviously not an indicator of
anything but the owner.
When we hang out and talk engines, it constantly amazes me the kinds
of things that have to be watched out for when building one of these
boxers(from machining techniques, to factory replacement internals
that shouldn't actually be used because they aren't made correctly
anymore) . I'd bet that if you put Bob in the same room with anyone
else that builds boxers, and tried to figure out who knew the most,
Bob would be your man. In fact if you've been paying attention long
enough, you can see others that picked up wisdom from Bob and then
incorporate it into their work. There's a reason for that :)
Happy New Year to everyone!
Jim Akiba
On 12/31/07, Larry Chase <roadguy@roadhaus.com> wrote:
> Richard,
>
> IMHO a Boston Bob rebuild is Hands Down the "BEST BANG" for the Buck
if you
> have to stay with the wazzer platform.
>
> I agree with the herd on staying away from GEX and would suggest AVP
is
> almost as bad.
>
> I recently pulled a AVP rebuild that had a set of mysterious problems
from
> day one.
>
>
> good road,
> good adventure,
> good life,
>
> larry chase
> www.roadhaus.com
> www.roadhaus.com/recipes.html
> www.roadhaus.com/camp.php
> www.roadhaus.com/shops.php
> www.roadhaus.com/tires.html
> www.roadhaus.com/face_book.html
>
> - - -
>
> Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 07:58:36 -0500
> From: Richard Golen <rgolen@UMASSD.EDU>
> Subject: Boston Bob....AVP....GEX...???
>
> Good New Year's Eve Morning!
>
> It appears that my 87 Westy (150K miles) has a compromised head
gasket or a
> cracked head. Fortunately it made the 850 mile trip to my son's house
and
> back this weekend, even though it was spitting lots of coolant out
the back
> for the last 300 miles...
>
> With 150k miles, it doesn't seem to make sense to pull the engine and
> replace the gaskets or heads. So the question is what is the best
> replacement engine out there? I really don't want to spend big bucks
on a
> Tiico, TDI, or Bostig conversion, so that pretty much leaves a
rebuilt
> wasserboxer. Of course, all of the websites for the rebuilders state
their's
> is the best (and ok, I'm leaning toward a Boston Bob engine), what's
the
> consensus out there? What are your experiences - good and/or bad with
AVP,
> GEX, and Boston Bob.
>
> I'm assuming that it's going to end up costing an extra $1500 or so
for new
> fuel lines, water pump, exhaust and labor to put it in.
>
> Anyone interested in a "engine replacement"party??
>
> Happy New Year!
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> Ric
>
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