Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 21:01:39 -0700
Reply-To: Rob <becida@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Rob <becida@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Engine Conversions
In-Reply-To: <d1ea9acf0810071715k3d16acedub0ab6e15ff1a77c3@mail.gmail.co m>
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At 10/7/2008 05:15 PM,craig cowan wrote:
>The reason i have found the subaru isn't soo interesting to me anymore (But
>i still think when completed, it can be a GREAT conversion), is all the
>misconceptions. For instance, the $1500 kit is NOT a bolt together kit.
The $1500 kit is something SmallCar sells. In a previous post I
included the Smallcar URL so you can check it out yourself.
I can speak about the Subaru conversion. I've done a couple, I have
a '93 Subaru 2.2 in my '84 Westy right now.
FWIW you do NOT have to modify the water manifold, shorten the oil
pan or do the 100k mile maintenance. The stock engine with the
conversion items will go in just as it comes out of the Subaru but it
would be silly not to do the maintenance.
Three parts to this conversion.
1) the Subaru engine
2) the conversion parts
3) the wiring harness.
1) I drove the engine before I pulled it and did a compression test
to make sure it worked right. The engine can go right in but doing
some maintenance is a smart thing. On this last one (a '93 2.2 with
128k) I changed the cam seals and o-rings, the oil seals at both ends
of the crank, checked the oil pump screws for tightness, made sure
the plate on the back of the engine was metal and not the plastic.
Changed the head gaskets and put on a new water pump, thermostat and
timing belt. The timing belt is a 100k mile maintenance item.
I did put a reversed coolant manifold in mine, I like the looks
better <shrug>. I also put on an electric dual oil pressure
transmitter for the idiot light and a gauge.
2) You are going to need an adapter/ flywheel or flexplate. KEP,
Outback and Smallcar all sell them and other conversion places resell
them. On my first one I bought a KEP adapter from Mastercraft. There
is a guy in England that makes a bellhousing adapter and there was
some talk that SmallCar was going to manufacture one also.
You are going to need a mount and the header for the exhaust. There
are several places/people who sell them.
You are going to need the plumbing, the hot water out to the radiator
and the return water back to the engine. There are several ways to do
this with or without reversing the coolant manifold and you can just
buy the parts needed for that.
You will need to hook up the throttle and there are a couple of ways
to do that. There is a whole new cable set up, there are modified
Subaru cams that use the stock Vanagon throttle cable (these can be
made or purchased).
For the power steering there are several different power steering
hoses that will do the job from a few venders and this too is
something you can do yourself.
3) You will need to convert the harness. It's not rocket science but
it does take a bit of time. There are several different ways to
accomplish the harness besides doing it yourself, I can think of at
least 3 different people/places who can sell you ready to go or do
yours for you. A ballpark figure for the harness (as I recall) was $700.
4) There are the options. The reversed manifold, a shortened oil pan,
dip sticks that come to the licence place hole, gauges. Some source
for a variable speed sensor is probably going to be needed, my '91
2.2 did not need one but my '93 does.
The best place for information and help is the Subaruvanagon group at
yahoo, the FAQ in the files is the best place to start.
http://www.outfrontmotorsports.com/homepage.htm Outfront
http://www.kennedyeng.com/ KEP
http://www.subaruvanagon.com/ Tom Shiels (active on the Subaruvanagon list)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=567637 Leon
Korkwood (active on the Subaruvanagon list)
http://www.smallcar.com/ Smallcar
http://www.vanperformance.com/ Mastercraft
http://www.burleymotorsportsdirect.com/ Burley Motor sports
http://www.vanaru.com/ Vanaru
http://www.weidefamily.net/vanagon/ Brent Weide (a really good site
by a guy who is willing to share)
Here are my costs from my first conversion.
$2109.87 was the total spent (near as I can tell) including shipping and taxes.
The header, mount, wiring guide, throttle kit, PS hose, Shiels thermo
housing, adapter/flywheel, was $1137.94
When you include a new radiator, oil psi gauges, clutch & cat
converter I spent $500.42 at BusDepot.
These things were not necessarily part of the conversion, just things
that needed to be done.
$164.08 at the Subaru dealer (on-line). This was a new timing belt
and assorted seals & o-rings.
The donor ended up costing $185.
I have $122.23 in misc receipts from assorted FLAPS & hardware stores
including the hoses & hardware.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob
becida@comcast.net
An '84 Westy with a '93 Subaru 2.2 in Western Washington state
