I'm in portland oregon, i just bought a diesel vanagon, and turns out "burns a little oil" meant "burns oil like the devil" to the guy who sold it to me. i would like to just get a rebuilt short block as the head has just been done and the IP is fresh, but let me know what you got, or if you know of somebody in my area that could do a rebuild for me when i leave town next month. (or maybe an AAZ swap
I would at least step up to a 1.6 TD, if going to the trouble of pulling Vanagon engine.
I got a few NEW AAZ's when they were available online for $1500 (circa 1999). Hopefully you can find one of those, Halsey sold a bunch in that price range. I found a used Golf with one last yr in Portland. There are also quite a few AAZ's in Salem area, as a jobber sold them there too. The AAZ really helps a vanagon and caddy, (TQ) but nothing special in a car. ('cept lower economy, my experience)