About the only full time air-cooled vw mechanic left in the area is Jim Lockhart on Rossville Avenue. I've met him . . . seems like he knows his stuff, but I've never had him do any work for me personally. Some of our other members have and they might want to chime in here and give you some first hand feedback (and phone #).
If all you are wanting to do is change from a 1500 to 1600 and the bottom end of the engine is good, I recomend you do it yourself. With just a little guidence this can be done in just a few hours for under $150. If you need new heads, add about another $250. If you need to split the case or you want to change from single port to dual port heads, it can get more involved and lots of folks will want to pay a pro to do the work . . . not a "bad" idea IF you have a lack of mechanical skill and a big budget. With some guidance though, this can also be a do it yourself (and do it right) project.
You could also purchase a brand new 0 mile "crate" motor . . . around $1200 plus shipping. Look in VW Trends or Hot VWs magizine and you'll find lots of mail order vendors that have them.
