A Subaru or diesel seem to be the more popular for reliability from what I can gleam. How does the Subaru fair on fuel?
my scooby, still in the scooby got me the 200 odd miles from w.wales to london on less than £45 is that good? i know it'd be good to do that in a bus but i fear with the aerodynamics of mahoosive loaf of bread it wont be quite that good
My 1975 VW type 2 pick-up was originally customized by an engineer in South Africa who made two of these pick-ups. They were shortened by 20 inches with a custom rear flatbed. The standard air cooled engines were not suited to the hot climate so following other conversions a water cooled engine was fitted. It now has a 2.4 litre petrol engine from a Toyota Hilux to give extra power whilst staying cool.......My only wish was to find a suitable 5 speed gearbox as i think the revs are too high with the VW gearbox that's in it.
The South Africans used to bolt together two almost scrap junk cars.. A VW bus and a Porsche flat 6 3.6 engine out of the wrecked Porsches that dotted the landscape, beer, animals and incompetent drivers ensured a supply . Thats what my South African dentist tells me.. He also told me stuff about the Vela Incident too..
Actually I found a video on Youtube pointing out what goes wrong with old Subarus.. Oil starvation caused by hard driving and pickup sucking air, and poor servicing with oil sludging leading to knackered crank and big end bearings.. Head gasket leaks coolant to oil .. .maybe lack of bolt torque. Piston ring oil scraper failure leading to oil shortage leading to bearing failure.. Piston ring lands breaking. And they are a lot more complex .. All the time they are falling out of old cars you just fit another.. bit like Bay Windows in the 80s and 90s.. But in the end a Type 1 engine is still available 100% new and a bit over half the price of a well done Scooby conversion..
Not Sure,mind the turning circle is good. They made 2 in South African and one came over to Wales in 2014 and the other went to Australia. A few people have had this before me,but ive now finished it and it is being used for Weddings and Funerals......
I can tell you Subaru petrol cars are not great on fuel consumption. I think this is more to do with them being 4 WD rather than an inefficient engine. Over the past 10 years or so working on them I would say engines are pretty strong. Ragged STI’s which were 2.5 turbos were the main failures with piston land fractures. That was mainly customers getting them remapped that caused the problem.
I install a younger, stronger hamster. And a slightly bigger wheel for him to run on...with a bit more lift and duration.
