i see that there have been a few comment regarding the subaru engine conversion, they can be very expensive if all the work is done by others or a diy compromise can be made... im weighing up the costs following seeing some vans at stanford with scoobys fitted.. a mock up of the fitting.. fitted into a bay another fitted .. and another
I am half tempted sometimes,but I don't need to go much faster and the fuel economy improvement would never be recouped from the conversion cost, what plus's for you are there to want to fit one? I know someone who had the conversion and wouldn't do it again
It depends upon the reasons you have for doing it. If my reasons were to save money through fuel economy, I wouldn't have done it. It cost me a big wedge to do, and it would take me years to recover the cost in fuel savings.
we are in the process of converting ours. just looking for a scooby to buy. ours is not about fuel economy but peace of mind and reliability. it was a big decision to make, but each to their own.
I've ordered one and can't wait. Yes it's expensive, but I want a reliable and more powerful bus and this seems as good a way of getting it as any. A mate spoke to Stateside about a 140 bhp type 4 and it was going to cost more than the scooby conversion.
What would you charge as a ball park figure for a 140 bhp type 4 Paul? Turn-key and installed etc. Cheers
Personally I am not to keen as the slow aircooled engine is what makes the character of the van for me Its about taking your time and making the journey part of the holiday, It's a lot of money and I would just buy a T5 instead
Each to their own. If I wanted a T5 I'd buy a T5. The fact is I love the character of my bus but want it to be as useable as my car. I love trekking around France in it and my brothers just moved to Sweden so I'm going to rack up the miles.
Each to their own but there are a lot cheaper alternatives. My mate is fitting a boggo Golf engine to his T25, cant be that much different in engine dimensions? But the biggest headache for him is the wiring loom which is probably 80% unused but finding out whats what is time consuming.
Depending on what you have to start off with parts wise, as carbs and exhaust can come to £1800 on their own, you'd be looking at around £4k to £7k... Obviously the £7k is a more detailed engine, that is going to give you 160+BHP Just depends on what you want... 140bhp really needs to have an upright cooling system, as the engine is likely to destroy the fan, as you'll be able to go above the rpm range that the engine was originally built for... lots of little details to take into consideration
That's what I thought which is why I'm going water cooled. As my starting point is a 1600 type 1 with small twins, a powerful air cooled would be more expensive and less reliable!
Reliability is all down to who, and how it's built... And subaru engines have their own reliability issues!!
This one is my bus. There are some variables - there are different ages for the EJ-20 engine like mine and baybirmingham - the newer ones have more power and the ecu sits on the engine (rather than on the bulkhead under the rock and roll bed) but they are heavier on fuel. Baydreams has the quad cam 2.5 which has major grunt but again is heavier on fuel. There is also a 2.2, but these are rare as they are used for light aircraft and dragsters. The pro's over a stock VW bus engine are - modern efficiency and tolerances (far more accurate fuelling), usually less wear (donor cars are about the same to buy as an engine - so you get the full vehicle history if you want it on a newer vehicle), a LOT more power and an engine running well within its design tolerances. You do get better fuel efficiency - but I don't think anyone nominates that as a primary driver. The con's are cost - to do the full monty Fellows conversion is expensive. I can't agree with nominating sound - the subaru does not sound far off the original engine at all to mine ears and is far quieter most of the time. My reasons for conversion were as simple as I found my bay dangerously slow, and it needed new heat exchangers, exhaust, cables etc. I reckon to get it up to somewhere near 80bhp would cost me around £3k, probably a bit more (Type 1 1600), and for that it would have been still heavy on fuel. For less than twice that outlay I get around 140bhp, a simple reliable heater and thus far it works all the time on the first turn over. I can understand the going slow thing - for me, now I get a choice, I also can tow my motorbike if I want and run fully laden and not worry - I tend to drive at 60mph - but it will pull far more than that if I want. I stood back at the show for the most part and heard some positive comments, and a lot of negative e.g. if you wanted a porsche you should have bought one. I've owned porsche's and its a stupid statement - I have cars and bikes for those 'need for speed' moments - now I have a choice to accelerate past lorries on hills, pull out into modern speed traffic as I would in my car etc... I absolutely appreciate its not for everyone - but then not everyone owns my bus and makes my financial decisions for me!
How much work is there in putting a 2.1 wasserboxer in 112 brake and I assume mates straight up to an 091 (dont know that though). Use the underslung rad arrangement and youve a pretty standard VW set-up. Or am i talking poopie!
