Date:         Sat, 24 Jan 2004 11:07:22 -0800
Reply-To:     laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Delanty <laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM>
Subject:      Re: Your Opinion:  Subaru or not to Subaru (Engine swap)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 09:50 PM 1/23/2004, Mike wrote:
>Like how expensive is the conversion?


Like about $3000 - $3500 and a lot of your time..
(although some folks do it for quite a bit less $$)

In truth, it depends a lot on how good of a deal you score on the motor.

I'd figure about $1400 for the KEP parts. Flywheel, adapter plate,
engine mount carrier, intake duct stuff and a pile of misc bits.
That price includes the full exhaust system, muffler, and Cat.
Spend about $400 *less* if you do something else for the exhaust.
I wanted no problems with the CA smog folks, so I coughed up the
extra $$ for full exhaust.

Figure around $1000 -$1500 for a good motor and ALL the required
wiring harness and EFI parts.
Some folks get a great deal and find a whole donor car for $300.
This is a total YMMV area...  how good of a deal can you score?

I ended up buying a pretty well toasted motor (with all the EFI and
other sube parts I needed) for a decent price and used the core to get
a rebuilt long block from a reliable rebuilder. That adds more to the
price, but then you've got a fresh motor with a warranty....

Figure a couple hundred $ more for misc, cooling hoses, hose clamps,
electrical connectors, fuses, tye-wraps, nuts, bolts, band-aids, etc.

If you pull out a running WBX, you can get a few hundred dollar "rebate"
by selling it, which helps offset the conversion cost somewhat.

In addition to the $$ you will spend, there is a great deal of labor involved.
I spent about 120 hours on mine, but in truth a lot of that time  was
spent on "non swap related" items like a thorough cleaning of the
engine compartment, replacing CV joints, rear wheel bearings and rear
brakes, and replacing and rerouting ALL the fuel lines all the way to
the tank, and replacing the long hoses to the front heater.
  The "swap related" tasks probably amounted to about 90 hours, with
nearly 1/2 of that spent on the wiring harness.

As has been mentioned... the swap is not for everyone. To successfully
complete it you WILL need some decent mechanical skills.
If you take your Vanagon to a shop and pay a mechanic to work on it
then it's probably not your cup of tea.

You should probably own and be comfortable using (on your car) tools
like a power drill, a jigsaw, a soldering iron, a propane torch, a dremel tool,
a floor jack, and a full host of hand tools.

You will be called upon to read instructions and follow electrical drawings
and do a great deal of wire sorting, cutting, spicing, soldering, etc to
complete the wiring harness. It's a bit overwhelming when you actually
*see* the wiring harness you're dealing with, but dealt with logically one
wire at a time it's not a big deal. It's just time consuming.
KEP's wiring directions are good and there's an immense amount of
online help if you get freaked out.

You will need to deal with the cooling system, which will probably involve
soldering some copper pipe, and dealing with the plumbing.

You'll probably want to make a hanger for the muffler so the exhaust
system is well supported, so it would help if you have access to a welder
and some metal working tools, although I've seen a couple photos of
"bolt together" bracket solutions.

If you didn't buy the heat shield plate (goes between engine timing cover
and exhaust system) then you will need to cut your own out with a jig saw.

There's plenty of little things you will need to do before it's all over, and
it will require some mechanical and minor fabrication skills and an ability
to work in a logical, organized manner.

It takes a lot of weekends and evenings of your time, and some of is likely
to be a bit frustrating.

If you don't have confidence that you can come up with the skills or the
time, then you're probably better off to stay away from the sube conversion.

But ask anyone who's successfully completed the conversion if it was
worth it and you'll almost always get a resounding YES!

Would I do it again?  You betcha!

Steve
EJ22 -> '86 Westy "Escape Pod"


---------------------------------------------

>On 1/23/04 5:24 PM, "Steve Delanty" <laurasdog@WEIRDSTUFFWEMAKE.COM> wrote:
>
> > Robert,
> > I love my subaru 2.2L conversion like crazy!
> > It's a night/day difference after having a WBX.
> > And yes, I've driven a Westy with a good, fresh, well tuned WBX.
> > It's absolutely no comparison to the subaru....
> > The proof is when you load up with a few hefty adults and all of
> > their camping gear, haul it up into the mountains and are able
> > to actually pass slow traffic in style going up the mountains instead
> > of *being* slow traffic, with everyone else praying for an opportunity
> > to get around you...
> >
> > I've had mine in for 5700 miles now and haven't had to touch the
> > engine except for oil and filters. It doesn't leak or burn any fluids.
> > I like that part a lot. (-:
> >
> > If we decide to keep the second Westy we recently bought, I'll
> > be converting it to subaru power ASAP.  It's mo bettah....
> >
> > Just my $.02
> > Pmail me for any further info if you like. I'd take you for a test
> > drive, but you're a bit far from North Ca...
> >
> > Steve
> > EJ22 -> '86 Westy "Escape Pod"