Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2006 00:29:19 -0500
Reply-To: vw.bus@MAC.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Warren Lail <vw.bus@MAC.COM>
Subject: replacing the engine
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Greetings everyone,
I ought to weigh in on this discussion since I recently installed a 1994 Subaru 2.2 engine in Billy Bones. It took me a day to pull the engine and wiring harness from the donor vehicle. I sent the harness to Tom Shiels in Canada and he adapted it to use with my Vanagon. Obviously some time to study the conversion process is required, but not a lot. I lurked on the SubaruVanagon list for a while and paid attention to the issues being addressed there, cut and pasted bits and pieces of the discussions, and printed it all out before I began.
I purchased everything for my conversion from SmallCar.com with the exception of an intake piece which I got from Kennedy Engineered Products (KEP). Both companies had the items I needed in stock.
Once I had everything on hand, I took a week off from work and jacked up my bus in a friend's level driveway. Seven days after I removed the WBX I started the Subaru engine up and drove the bus around the block. Since that time, I've driven over 4,000 trouble free miles and I am about to go on a 3500 mile trip beginning next week. On my first long voyage (2300 miles) I averaged 22.4 miles per gallon and drove up and down hills and into headwinds and crosswinds at 75+ miles per hour. The truth is that the Subaru 2.2 will get you going way faster than is safe for a Vanagon. Some people have driven their Subaru-powered Vanagons well in excess of 100 mph, which would be easy to do if you are not afraid of going that fast. I am. I'm happy to just plod along. I just enjoy plodding along reliably.
I am not a mechanic. Two years ago I had never done more than changed my oil or a set of spark plugs. Like Sam, I am an attorney (and now a PhD candidate in Anthropology). These professions do not prepare one for major engine replacement work, but I accomplished it without any real difficulty. Believe it or not, the most difficult thing I did was to install the muffler (*#&$!) I just went to Sears and bought some tools and went at it.
If you are contemplating a conversion, just use good judgment in choosing an engine and in choosing your suppliers. The work is not difficult. Communicate with people who have done it. Find someone to turn to for help when you need it, or for encouragement, or just someone to check in with from time to time. When you come up against something of which you are uncertain, just relax and think it through. I had the privilege of calling on my friend (and listmember) Dave Milo for encouragement and technical support and I called Tom Shiels several times to clarify the wiring setup. Like our Vanagon list, the people on the Subaruvanagon list are a great group of individuals. Many of them are on both lists for the same reasons I am.
I love my Vanagon. I've been driving VW buses since 1970 (first one was a 65 Kombi). And I plan on driving Billy Bones for many years to come. There may come a time when I want to install a TDI or some other power plant if gasoline prices continue to rise, and if I do decide to take that step, I'll probably do the work myself.
I'll close with this, however. I drove over 100,00 miles in a 2.1 WBX engine and enjoyed all of it. With the exception of a few nagging electronic issues, the WBX is a very sturdy engine. Although I had some anxious moments while out on the road, I was stranded only once. There are people out there driving Hondas and Toyotas who can't say that!
Enjoy those Vanagons!
Warren Lail, BA, MA, JD
PhD Candidate and Instructor
Department of Anthropology
University of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma 73019
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