Kathleen,
Listen to Tom....! Besides being hopefully your best friend he is stearing you in the right direction as well in regard to the Subi. They are not like your previous 1970's experiences that you had at all. I also own a 2001 Subaru Legacy GT AWD, now that would be a new concept for a Manxter AWD, and if performance of this vehicle and extremely low maintanence so far is any example of what a newer built Subi in a Manxter would feel like well.....one can only imagine a similar engine in a 1600lb curb weight vehicle like a Manxter.
Certainly far more dependable than rebuilding a VW performance motor over and over again not to mention all of the added options available with a water cooled
LIKE HEAT and
DEFROSTERS that could actually work! I know that I, for one, am up for longer driving times and my wife and I just love to get out in #37 as often as possible and this will make driving on cooler fall evenings more of a pleasure in the future. Not that I can afford to add the Subi engine anytime soon myself either, I just really like the look of the newer Side-Pods that Bruce designed for his Subi Manxter and it changes the entire appearance of this vehicle to a more sporty killer look.... as though it is moving when it is actualy sitting still. I personally think that our Manxter's at least deserve this upgrade for now anyway and glad to hear that you are also now interested. Great winter upgrade. We also need to remember asking Winnie about the modified rear bumper when it becomes "Subi Time" for both of us. :drinking: Maybe we should also consider getting them now as well and have them shipped with the pods. Probably won't add to the shipping cost on the poads and prices usually only go up as time goes by anyway and now might be the best time to consider getting the rear bumpers and any other needed assemblies for it even without upgrading engines right now. Just a thought! What do you think Kathleen??? Maybe when that time arrives for us, financially that is, with the later upgrade to the Subi we can do the same thing and maybe get a break on multiple purchase pricing and shipping expenses for two engines instead of one? I know I will not be upgrading to the Subi for a while myself so we both have more time to ponder, pay off what we still owe from the first, second, third, forth, etc. parts purchasing and financing rounds and then start saving towards the engine upgrade. I know that once this day actually gets a little closer that I will also need to seriously consider changing out my stock trans as well because I am only currently running my original 1973 Type-1 at the moment and it would probably not handle the added horsepower of the Subi very well or for that matter for very long. I will probably consider a Rancho trans upgrade in that department. It still amazes me however that this original, untouched other than power flushing and re-filling, has performed like new. Then again, also consider that I have owned this 1973 chassi and trans since 1982 when I put it in storage, it was a Southern Texas vehicle that only saw snow one time, and that this original Type-1 vehicle only had around 20K-23K or so miles on it then... I consider myself very lucky that I have not had to invest in this area as of yet. The trans has worked flawlessly since I got #37 on the road a couple of years ago with absolutely no problems what so ever. So I'll keep checking the forum or give me call directly once you have heard back from Winnie next week sometime and we can both go from there. Olli....please do the same so we can all stay on the same page. If needed, I have a 888 toll free number that you both can use into my office or I can establish a conference call from here between the three of us as I also have monthly flat rate on my business phones in order for us to speak directly and at the same time if this would help. Just let me know what works best for everyone. Have a great weekend. The weather is great here in Indiana, PA today and we will be heading out in the Manxter shortly in a little while. Thanks for everyones input and efforts in all of this. That is what makes buggies fun in the first place. Everyone willing to help each other. What a Concept!
That will be a big enough project for this winter (along with a rebuild). Kathleen