Subaru conversion start

Discussion in 'Alternative engine in bus' started by pkrboo, Mar 27, 2017.

  1. My neighbour has a 3l in his legacy Estate.....he tells me he only gets 20mpg.

    Imagine what a 3.3 would be like in a bay
     
  2. 200+ bhp in a beetle is mental
     
  3. so Matt you've had several engines in your bus, which one is the best suited to it.
    replacing original engine 75hp
    EJ 2.0 116 hp
    EJ 2.5 165hp (100 more than the original !)

    Mines an old 1995 2.0 but I figured economy would be good. I would have thought a 3.0 would be a bit to OTT.

    I'm still waiting on sump from NTune and exhaust from somewhere
     
  4. I like the 2.5 as it has more torque but the 2.0 was fine. One difference I also notice and @agaric will back me up by the difference between phase 1 and phase 2 is obvious. Seems a bit smoother and more refined.
     
    agaric likes this.
  5. Check with nick again about the sump. He doesn't have much luck with postage.

    Where are you planning for exhaust?
     
  6. 280 on a WRX engine!!

    I spoke to someone who had a fellows turbo beetle conversions and he said it's scary and doesn't drive it often, or words to that affect. Just too fast
     
    Merlin Cat, Kruger, paradox and 2 others like this.
  7. yes i messaged nick again , he was tied up but hopefully its on the way now.
    Once fitted up I could actually get it started.

    So apart from the refinements would a later phase 2 be a direct swap for an earlier engine. Might be something I can look into in the future.
     
  8. Basically a straight swap but would need the newer wiring loom, but you'd get that with an engine/car anyway, then it would need converting
     
  9. When you'll be asked why you've swapped your ej25 for an ej33 will you again say:
    :D:p

    Can I get your ej25 when you do the swap? ;)

    Yes. There's also a small power difference between phase1 and 2. Something like 10 hp I think.
     
  10. while the forum was down I made a heater mod.
    I haven't got anywhere decent to mount it but measured up and figured it will sit inside the radiator itself so its protected but the problem is how to get it to feed into the outlets of the camper chassis.
    There's 2 outlets in the chassis (just in front of where the rad mounts). A big one, the old mega tube that used to run down the middle for the front and one just at the side that feeds in behind the seats. 2 outlets, different sizes.

    The outlets that come with the heater I bought (which is mentioned in earlier posts) isn't suitable i.e it doesn't fit the camper body obviously.
    So I decided to mod it. These steps makes more sense if you look at the second to last picture first to see where its going. The takeaway is it will fit inside the rad.

    Need pop rivet gun and rivets, jigsaw and metal blades, ally sheet 1.6mm thick 300mm x 300mm, JB weld cardboard and scissors. Bit of velcro (both sides) and some glue.

    Make sure you've got it all wired up and plumbed ready to start.
    so
    1. Ally sheet off ebay, 300 x 300 mm 1.6 thick should be enough. About £2.50
    2. remove old 3 hole cover from heater matrix (it unscrews enough to release it)

    20180512_115127.jpg

    3. using old cover as a template draw out and cut the rectangle profile..
    cutter.jpg
    Cut remaining bit of ally in half - this will be folded/bent round to make 2 new tubes.
    On card draw out 2 circles 1 for 55mm hole and 1 for 90mm (check your sizes as I lifted them from memory). These will be new outlets cut out of your square replacement cover so using card you can offer it up plenty of times to get it right. Make sure its (the faceplate) goes as high as possible.
    20180512_123225.jpg

    To get a good roll as 1.6mm sheet is quite firm, I used an aerosol (shaving foam) and baked bean tin to get close with the 2 sized tubes.
    Snip about 1cm off the ends and flare them out. Offer up and make each tube fit its corresponding hole in the chassis. The use pop rivets to hold them together. You will have overlaps to trim using tin snips.
    Use your cardboard template 'heater front'work out where each hole is and mark off, then copy to your ally and cut out using hole cutter and I found a jigsaw worked quite well.
    20180512_173834.jpg

    20180512_173920.jpg

    JB weld it to make airtight
    20180516_211611.jpg
    Looks a bit of a mess but no-one will ever see it. Re insert into heater.
    20180518_152022.jpg

    refit your water pipes (I didn't have to remove the wiring)
    20180518_152050.jpg

    Then in it goes. I glued velcro on the bottom to stop it moving but its snug so doubt it will anyway.
    20180518_162116.jpg

    all done, just need to connect tubes/outside air pipes. That's my earth wire coming out.
    20180518_170642.jpg

    I haven't tried it yet as I'm not up and running but no reason why it shouldn't, the bonus is it will be able to draw in warm air from the rad so should work quite well in winter.

    PG
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2018
    pkrboo likes this.
  11. Throttle body reverse hiccup.... when the throttle body is reversed there is a tang/lip on the rollers. These were originally on top I guess to stop anything catching the throttle cables.

    When its reversed they are underneath and stop the throttle having full movement. Took me a few days to figure out wtf was going on. I asked RJES for some help.. yeah, that was like walking on a landmine :-/
     
    StuF likes this.
  12. Razzyh

    Razzyh Supporter

    I just bent/cut mine out the way. All ok so far
     
  13. theres 2 rollers, one for throttle, one for overdrive but does it actually matter which one is hooked up as they both do the same job when throttle cable moves?.
    I haven't got overdrive fitted so one looks redundant.(and for the life of me I don't actually know which one is which so I just fitted up on the outside roller as its easier to get to.)

    I'm now at the stage of turning the engine over by hand every couple days, filled with water and oil and so far no leaks. I'm going to fill up the oil filter today to give the pickup a boost.
    Just the exhaust which is defeating me (lack of funds but saving hard :). Doesn't help Mrs Tips' birthday is coming up, a big one, I keep running this scenario in my head.....

    "morning luv... happy birthday... guess what this is !"
     
    Valveandy likes this.
  14. Razzyh

    Razzyh Supporter

    One is for the cruise control one is for the throttle, they are different sizes and the RJES throttle cable only fits to one of them. I’ll try and get a picture of mine.
     
  15. mines a 94 engine, i found out rjes throttle cable doesn't fit either (the barrel nipple is different size), I've had a real slog with it to be honest, had to cut cables, buy addons, rework the whole thing, wasn't as simple as it should have been.
     
  16. Razzyh

    Razzyh Supporter

    That’s a pain. That explains quite a bit then as mine is a later 2005 phase 2 engine.
     
  17. if I could go back in time I would have waited for a later engine but at the time it came up it seemed like a reasonable option. It'll still be ok and one day I might 'upgrade'
     
  18. Razzyh

    Razzyh Supporter

    Shouldn’t be too difficult to upgrade down the line
     
  19. so fantastic progress, I finally cranked over the engine last night. :hug::)

    It didn't catch fire and no fuses blew, no electrical wire sparks - (I'm an optimist really !)

    It wouldn't catch though, not enough oomph which I'm putting down to a flatish battery at the moment which is on charge.

    The FI 1.8/2.0l campers minimum have 60ah and beetle ones/1.6 are smaller at 45ah.
    Mines 70ah and 620 cca. The Subaru 2.0l should be happy with a 60ah/and anything incl or better than 480cca so my original camper battery should be more than capable.

    Edit: Well its charged but its still struggling to turn over so i guess my battery is kaput, it turns over like its still flat.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
  20. Check your uhave a good earth from the normal gearbox earth, but I also added an earth from engine to main earth point to be extra "earhty"
     

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