Eric, I also just had a more thorough read of the thread re the ADub engine re-build.
I agree with what Knightrous has said, and in fact would probably go further to suggest that you don't consider too many internal mods at all. I know that there are many who like to tinker with these cars, but an observation I'd make is that there often seems to be a lot of discussion about "fixing" and not much about "driving".
Now like myself you have one of each kind (I am also considering a Spyder just to round up the collection)
it will be great to have them both running reliably to experience the huge difference between the cars.
As an example of this, I could not have done the recent Tassie Nationals comfortably in the ADub because it really is not a "GT" (Grand Tourer) like the auto NA SDub. My 1989 SDub went fantastically well - 6.9L/100km on 98 octane - and in one stretch we did 1480kms - Brisbane to Albury - in one go in 22 hours. If this had been in the ADub we would have had to undergo surgery to be removed from the car.
Yet funnily enough I did miss the "cornerability" of the S/C ADub in some circumstances in Tassie where more instant grunt was needed and you really notice the difference in size of the cars, despite the ADub being taller than the SDub.
I don't know if your ADub is an Aussie delivered one or not, but if it is then this is another reason not to play around with it too much. There were only 940 of these sold in Australia, and I doubt if more than a third are still going. As the Shannon's rep remarked at the Nationals, original Japanese cars are a real sleeper that must appreciate in value as time goes on. In the long term originality is also cheaper and will give a better return. I wish I had a dollar for everyone who has been on the "For Sale" part of the Forum saying their car with gold plated coil-overs owes them $25K but it either doesn't sell, or they have to knock it down by two-thirds.
Walter