Our featured Volkswagen Vanagon is one of the earlier VWs to feature a traditional liquid cooled engine. The switch to liquid cooled engines brought VWs up to speed with other manufacturers and was meant to improve reliability and function. With that being said however, this VW’s original flat four engine was long gone and now featured a 1980s VW GX code 1.8 liter mechanically fuel injected upright four cylinder tilted on its side. But this swap was short lived as it arrived to our shop partially seized. The GX engine would be pulled in favor of a modern 2010 Subaru fuel injected EJ25 flat four motor. Though to Subaru swap is somewhat common and kits are available, the previous engine swap had cut out several key areas around the engine and two different swap kits would be combined to make to swap work. Using parts from Van Café’s and Small Car Peformance’s kits a solution was made and Subaru’s EJ25 motor found its way into the engine bay. With a modern engine comes modern performance, though the EJ25 single cam engine isn’t a powerhouse, its 170 horsepower was double the Vanagon’s original power and will surely make daily driving and camping journeys much easier.