It's not just the actual work

I just saw a hilarious image on imgur that I'm sure many people can relate to. It's got profanity, so sorry if you're offended but man is it funny:

It reminds me that it's not just the time spent actually bolting things together in most automotive projects that really takes up most of your time. It's also easy to forget just how much of a time suck and headache inducing situation it is when you aren't all planned out and organized, especially when you are doing a project for the first time.

 Without knowing what is in store when setting off on a project, it's easy to miss things and honestly, you can't know what you don't know. Because every other conversion available in the market is essentially a one-off each time it is performed, no two are ever identical and therefore the project itself is never identical either. Add to that the fact that no other vendor offers a truly complete, repeatable, formula for success with their parts, and you might not anticipate what it really takes to pull off a DIY engine conversion in your vanagon.

This is an area where a system like ours really helps, we can guarantee the outcome, and you can avoid huge amounts of wasted time and effort. Not even to mention having the most proven, simplest, and reliable engine possible in your vanagon!

Reply and tickets

This is an open reply to two threads on thesamba, rather than repost, I will post here, and past in links:

Sorry to Marvin if the replies to the MCHS ticket thread were insufficient, they were much slower than I had realized and sorry we didn't answer all your questions.

The reason we don't support variation to the kit is that we don't have experience with it, nor can we support things we didn't sell/develop. We don't oppose it at all, in fact we welcome it (the airbox dev work people have been doing is great, and we will likely shift to one of those variants) don't get me wrong, but we can't support it unless that is part of the specification.

For instance, in the MCHS thread, it was posited that the fasteners for the MCHS were installed heads up for appearance, but the reason is for access/convenience. It you put the head the other way through, the head will spin when you loosen the nut. Having captive nuts behind it makes this easier.   We've also flipped the fasteners and weld two stainless bolts to a strip and then have the nuts on the front, it is unclear which lasts longer currently.

Also we used to use all stainless hardware for it, but unless copious amounts of anti-seize are used (which is not typical, even when specified) they gall and break. So we have to mix the material to avoid galling.

In the case of the exhaust, anytime you have stainless that gets exposed to high heat, even the highest grades, it loses much of it's corrosion resistance with carbide precipitation. So your quest to find a "do it once" solution unless you go with extremely obscure (read expensive and hard to source) materials is often a second runner up to doing it such that the maintenance interval is acceptable.

But I still think yours happened very quickly, I looked through the ticket system and my email and I can't find have any datalogs from you Marvin.  If you could send or resend a recent drive log, we could see if perhaps there is an issue and you're overfueling which causes excess radiant heat as the extra fuel is burned in the catalytic converter. This would also cause the melted loom in the picture I saw.

By the way (not directed at Marvin specifically) someone asked me the other day "do I really need to send a datalog?"  to which my reply is: it's like coming out of heart surgery and asking the doc, "do you really need to monitor my vitals?"  The answer is actually of course no, but you have the capability with the kit, and expertise on this side that's already paid for so why wouldn't you?

Lastly, as Jeff relayed I prefer the questions that are kit/install specific to come through our systems. The close feedback loop is one of the things that makes everything better than the alternatives. If we just offered the parts and said "here's your adapter plate and flywheel have fun" like many others do, then there wouldn't be vendor specific questions, nor would we catch any additional criticism for having incomplete docs because we aren't even trying. Our goal isn't to simply sell parts, our goal is to keep vanagons on the road and owners driving along happily. We are trying to achieve what nobody else is attempting, and it is made more difficult if information is all over the place.

As far as visibility of problems,  it depends on the nature of the problem. If there is a systemic problem, then sure it should be known to all, if however it is a specific problem to the user then it should not. It can cause extra work and worry for people that shouldn't have either. As far as determining which is which, only those with the most data can actually determine that. That would be us, and our customers pay us to know the right info, and make those calls so they don't have to and that's what we work hard to do.

If one wants to go along the route of it should all be unmanaged/non-currated public information and we shouldn't be the first touchpoint and authority on information (which is perhaps the single most valuable aspect of the system) then there are plenty of options that will allow one to figure out every aspect for him or herself and post endlessly online about it and wade through answers. That's what we're trying to avoid from the start as that does *not*, despite what anyone believes, provide the best results.

Luckily it seems we aren't wrong about that or the two of us wouldn't have any ability at all to support the now 423+ kits out there, but we do. Unfortunately not as quickly or perfectly as we or anyone else would like all the time, but it's not for lack of concern,  please understand that.  I also still think that comapred to just about anything else including big companies, our support is very good. You have to remember there are two human beings back here though and we do have lives, problems, and troubles too, there is actually no such thing as Bostig except to the government and the lawyers, and most of the time I try to avoid their perspective. We like the arrangement very much of our customers supporting us, and us supporting them. It allows both to achieve things that neither would have been able to do without it.

Jim Akiba

No Regrets Rebate up to $1000 off the RG2 Bostig Conversion System!!!!

Tax refunds and no regrets rebates! This spring is the one to stop making yourself promises and start getting out there and travelling in and enjoying your van. We've all done it, we say this is the year I'm going to make that big trip happen. Of all the customers that have finally done their big trips, they almost all say the same thing afterwards... Why didn't I do this sooner?

In thinking about why that happens, we decided we could help!  We're offering the "No Regrets rebate".

With MOST automotive projects, people start to collect parts before there's a project plan. This often leads to lots of part collecting dust for years, and leads to questions like "Honey, what are you going to do with these parts, can't we just get them out of here so we can have the space back?"

Yeah that happens to all auto aftermarket niches and all enthusiasts, and for all kinds of reasons.  SO what we've decided to do is offer a rebate for your miscellaneous parts that you may have started collecting for your engine rebuild or even another conversion!  Things like:

• Engine cores
• Bellhousings
• Adapter plates
• Exhaust parts
• Coolant parts

The way it works is this:

1. Take up to 5 digital pictures of your parts
2. Fill out the online form here
3. We review your story and make a rebate offer up to $1000 off an RG2 Bostig Conversion for your parts
4. Free up that space and send us those dusty unused parts!
5. Buy that RG2 Bostig
6. Finally hit the road and rack up those (s)miles

Make sure to really tell us your story.  We've all been there, and the more we relate, the more likely we are to get all sappy and give a bigger rebate. And yes, we might even pay you more than the parts are worth :)

This offer will run until April 17th 2014, and is only good for RG2

HC Oilpan draining, and Bostig as Apple

I just replied to a recent thread on theSamba that might interest some folks, it was about not being able to get all the oil drained when doing an oil change with the High Capacity oilpan. Original thread is http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7119695

On the draining of the HC Oilpan, without the skidplate you'll get just about eveything out other than the height of the threads and gasket radius needed to seal when level. If you put the driver's wheel up on a ramp or jack it you can get more, but it shouldn't be enough to be worth it.

If you have the skidplate installed all the time, then you need to lift the driver's side and use a bit of cardboard or plastic with a crease to drain it. This is so that no low point (as seen in OEM stock pans) is needed, which increases cost, adds a lower hit point, and would require the entire skidplate to be that much lower.

If you are still suspicious you aren't getting enough, call, email, or submit a ticket and we can figure out if anything else/weird is going on.

furrylittleotter wrote:

I am pleased my stock Subaru pan drains just fine and is still higher that a bostig.

Neil2, if you're game: with your van on even pavement, can you measure your ground clearance at the lowest point, along with the distance from the ground to your wheel arch (body panel, middle of the bottom edge of the arch) height?

If you have subie stock pan, you should be a couple inches worse off than a Bostig with the HC Oilpan. Early versions used to have worse ground clearance but we are now equal or better to recent subaru based installs we have data for. For instance Syncro Bohttps://www.facebook.com/SyncroBo gained .5" when it was converted from a 2.2L subaru based RMW install, and the Bostig has significantly higher departure angle than all conversions, 1.8t being the lowest departure angle.

I don't take offense to your comments about Apple, I take it as a compliment, and you have an excellent point. The evil part isn't true, but we are very much like Apple. We offer a unified system that will definitely work for anyone that wants to use it. The other options like subaru based installs are more like DIY PCs. You can indeed get excellent bang for the buck if you know what you are doing and put in the time, but you'll have to do a lot more work, and have a lot more expertise to do it. In addition the risks will be higher down the road, just like the Apple vs. PC debate except in gremlins not viruses/malware.

You can read about our philosophy in the blog on the site as to why we believe this is a better approach for those less interested in building/modding vanagons and more interested in travelling/driving vanagons, which is who we build for.

As for the slogan. We just have more conversions/miles than any other vendor (and we are not nearly the oldest either), and all those people trusted us and our products with their money/time/effort. They wrote it for us.

-Jim Akiba

The point of a Vanagon!

A quick note I wanted to share from a customer that I just got:

Headed up the Oregon coast to Portland and then back to New Mexico. >3000 miles round trip. I'm no "mechanic" (had troubles with burping the cooling system), but I have learned about every system with the Bostig and don't really feel like there is anything that can't be fixed. So, why not stray far from home? That's the point of a Vanagon!

Couldn't put it better myself!

Getting Vanagon priorities straight when it comes to DIY engine conversions.

I just ran across a post on theSamba in which conversions were being discussed. One quote popped out at me because while it's not uncommon, it is the single root of so much known and largely unknown misery in vanagonland that it needs to be addressed!

The quote was (in reference to the Bostig):

"what about power Wise ? 
fuel economy ? 

I understand the reliability side ,...but reliability without other qualities is so/so ...... "

This is exactly upside down. Without reliability, NOTHING else matters. It doesn't matter one bit if you've got loads of horsepower potential but the engine isn't running! It also doesn't matter what fuel economy potential you have if you aren't running.

People often make the mistake if thinking as follows:

"Well, I'm going to a lot of trouble and expense to re-power my vanagon, so I need to make sure that it has enough power so I don't regret it, decent fuel economy and miles per tank, and it would be great if it was the same shape as the original install (or anything else arbitrary, like country of origin for instance)."

The trouble here is that the most important aspects of the whole project are assumed! Namely: reliability and consistency of result!

Ask yourself these three questions:
1) Is there such a thing as a perfect system that will never experience a problem?
2) Which is easier, troubleshooting consistent systems, or inconsistent ones?
3) Will you be allowed to fail?

The answers are:

1) No
2) Consistent systems are easier to troubleshoot
3) No, we ensure our customers don't fail

Without reliability and consistency of the product you're purchasing to install and use in your project, you simply have no basis for an expected outcome, good or bad. That is what sets the Bostig apart. No other offering can guarantee an outcome because they fundamentally lack consistency. Sure Dave's subaru 2.5 conversion might have been trouble free and awesome for the last 25,000 miles... so therefore your subie 2.5 will be also right?  

Absolutely not. In fact they may be so far divorced, that the best analogy would be to say that since Grandma makes the best cookies, and she uses eggs in her cookies, if I use the same eggs... I'll make the same cookies. Would anyone in their right mind claim that?  No, and guess what... engine conversions are a LOT more complicated recipe to prepare and execute than cookies. 

Roll the dice, or roll with us, entirely up to you. 

Organically grown car guys/gals

We want to avoid turning Vanagon people into car hobbyists organically. That's the hard way. Eventually we all learn that as the car hobby depth increases, it actually turns into more down time and less travelling, for a painfully long period of learning the hard way.  Worse, it wastes a lot of money. It doesn't mean you won't reach the point where it can go the other way again, but many people can't bridge that gap and abandon the whole idea of the vanagon if the failures are frequent or large enough in cost.

The phenomenon of cars being worked on until they're totaled (like in an accident, and the car is so screwed up by the owner that it no longer has any value) is little known outside of gearhead circles. The worst one I've witnessed personally was about $80k poured into the car before eventually being parted out to try and recover.

We remove the hard part of the learning curve to ensure success in things you set out to do to with your Vanagon to begin with. If you want to geek out on upgrade paths, cool, there are lot's of options and loads of people to talk online all day about finer points with. If you want it to work so you can get out there, and stay out there till you're done, come talk to us.