TheSamba.com :: View topic - cheapest least amount of wiring conversion

Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:08 pm

Ok I am going to put up a poll to see who has done what and what was the cheapest and had the least amount of wiring. I will be doing this all myself so labor wont come into play. My biggest dread with a conversion is the wiring. I am leaning towards keeping it vw I really like the bostig and And strongly thinking about getting a loan to go that route, But i like the mileage of diesel conversion Yes I wont get as of good of gas mileage as what is being stated due to having an auto but it will give me a reason to go to a manual later on. So all that considered here are the options I have seen. and would consider.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:28 pm

I paid 0$ for the wiring part of my ej25 conversion, but I like doing wiring, and have experience doing it.

If you are going to do it yourself, they should all be relatively the same price. In terms of the least amount of wiring, the older the engine, the less wiring it should have, the 1.6 probably has the least.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:45 pm

Either Diesel is going to have very little wiring. Just a few senders, a fuel cut off and a cold start system. Unless you just love wiring the Subaru is going to drive you nuts. When I did my Subaru I was really disappointed with the wiring diagrams I could find. My wiring harness must have had ten different color ground wires in it and there was not a good correspondence between the color of any wire and what was in the Subaru manual, the Kennedy conversion stuff, any online diagrams I could find, and my actual harness. At least on a VW brown is always ground. My wiring harness came out of a very early production 2.2 which may have accounted for some of the variances in colors.

I spent a lot of time drawing my self up a wiring diagram that matched my wire colors and exact peripherals to help with trouble shooting down the road. I would really like to do a VW style current track drawing, they make trouble shooting much easier.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:59 pm

Wildthings wrote: Either Diesel is going to have very little wiring. Just a few senders, a fuel cut off and a cold start system. Unless you just love wiring the Subaru is going to drive you nuts. When I did my Subaru I was really disappointed with the wiring diagrams I could find. My wiring harness must have had ten different color ground wires in it and there was not a good correspondence between the color of any wire and what was in the Subaru manual, the Kennedy conversion stuff, any online diagrams I could find, and my actual harness. At least on a VW brown is always ground. My wiring harness came out of a very early production 2.2 which may have accounted for some of the variances in colors.

I spent a lot of time drawing my self up a wiring diagram that matched my wire colors and exact peripherals to help with trouble shooting down the road. I would really like to do a VW style current track drawing, they make trouble shooting much easier.

For what it's worth the EJ25 wiring harness is supposed to be a lot easier to modify vs the 1990-1994 EJ22 harness; I went through the ej22 "wiring hell" as well. Having said that, I'm not qualified to vote at all.

- Chester

Sun Jun 29, 2008 3:40 pm

Least amount of wiring would be either of the diesels, but as a 1.9 TD is usually just as expensive as a TDI south of canada it doesn't make a lot of sense IMO. An M-TDI has just as little wiring as the 1.6 or 1.9 TD, but will cost you more for the M-pump, but you can recoup ~half of that cost by selling the ECU and e-pump.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:33 pm

allsierra123 wrote: ... having an auto ...

... not sure what the max rpm is for a 1.6 or 1.9 TD, but with an auto you'll want to consider gearing too.

I'd like (sorta planning) to do a TDI. My current use would be an urban/suburban bus so I plan to live with the gearing until I can find a lower (numerical) final drive.

I haven't done a swap so I haven't voted, but sounds like an I4 would fit your criteria (less expense, easy hookup, good RPMs, etc).

Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:45 pm

magician wrote: allsierra123 wrote: ... having an auto ...

... not sure what the max rpm is for a 1.6 or 1.9 TD, but with an auto you'll want to consider gearing too.

I forgot about the auto, that sort of rules out the TDI, cost wise, even with a stick you'd need a good chunk of coin for the trans...

Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:49 pm

Max rpm for the 1.6TD is 5,100 +/- 50 rpms. I'm not sure on the 1.9TD, but I do know that it is lower due to the longer stroke.

Andrew

Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:58 pm

Also, your poll choices are a little odd. Both the 1.6TD and 1.9TD ARE Inline 4VW engines as are a TREMENDOUS number of other variations. Probably the cheapest conversion with the least wiring would be a 1.8 or 2.0 gas inline 4 8-valve running CIS (non-E) and non-knock sensor ignition. 1.6TD would be more expensive with similar wiring requirements. The 1.9TD would be significantly more expensive in the U.S. You could probably do a carbed 1.8 subaru for cheap and not have to do any significant wiring... :lol: YUCK! :lol:

Andrew

Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:14 pm

A little curious here...
What is your target *normal* cruising speed on the highway?
and
What is the highest cruising speed you would want to have?

Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:31 pm

normal cruising here is 60-65 With high side of cruising being 70-75. Never go any faster than 75 even in my commuter. Just cant get away with it on the highways here.most have a speed limit of 60.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:34 pm

I was kind of thinking the 2.0 16v would be better suited to the auto trans. But I was told it wont do a 50* mount. would be nice to be able to rev that high.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:03 pm

allsierra123 wrote: My biggest dread with a conversion is the wiring. I am leaning towards keeping it vw

why removing a VW engine... for another VW engine?

Also, if you want to do it yourself, you should get over a few wiring problem, wire are far from being your main problem.

Good luck, Ben

Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:17 pm

I am just looking for the one that takes less wiring. I have done wiring I have rewired a few aircooled cars. I just dont like doing it. I prefer the engine work. I just like the idea of staying vw for cheapness sake. I can use the diesel parts and it is a little cheaper than the subie kit and much cheaper than the bostig kit.

Sun Jun 29, 2008 10:36 pm

I think that a 1.6TD might work pretty nicely with the automatic. I've heard that you can use a torque converter from an earlier vw Bus and get a much lower stall speed. You'll have to get an adapter from KEP or make your own and I'm not sure if you mount it at 50 degrees or 15 degrees.
But the small diesel is a good revver, makes 68 hp in stock form, and uses 1 wire to control the motor
Furthermore, they respond well to an intercooler and some other mods and it probably would be pretty easy to get 80hp from one with little drop in mpg.
Andrew Libby has a lot of good ideas about this setup. If you decide to go this way, keep in touch. I'll probably be doing one myself soon.
Al

Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:51 am

I think you should consider the wiring, but put it a lot lower on the list than cost of the conversion and what conversion will meet your needs. If you have to pay to farm out the wiring or just bite the bullet and do it yourself, keep in mind that you're making a long term investment and whatever direction you go you're likely to live with for a long time.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 7:10 am

Or import an auto trans from Germany with the Diesel bell.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:43 am

As a newb, I found that wiring the Motronic 2.9 engine management system into my air cooled Westy, was a PITA. I would guess that no matter which engine management system you're dealing with, if you're a newb, the wiring will *likely* be a challenge. I would suggest that if wiring isn't ones' strong point, farm it out and if possible get them to send an accurate wiring diagram (interface between wiring harness and your model year Vanagon).

And remember: it's not just getting the right wires to the right place. It's **inspecting** the wires and connectors that is really important. Time consumming no matter which harness you're dealing with, unless it's really "new" and has been removed properly from the donor. i.e. not yanked out! :)

Cheers,

Neil.

Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:59 pm

I am leaning really strongly towards diesel just due to the fact I can make bio diesel and have a very large supply of WVO I can get on a regular basis.