TheSamba.com :: View topic - Bostig drivers, show us photos of your rear end

Sun Jul 12, 2009 1:35 pm

The van, that is.

There are mighty few photos on the Interweb of the touted Bostig conversion.

I'd like to see the view from the back, specifically how low does it hang. There is an image on the Bostig website, but it's not as clear as I'd like.
(Ver 2.0 looks to ride a lot higher than Bostig Ver 1.0)

So all you Bostigers, get your camera, go sit crosslegged in the driveway behind your van, and post up the photos. Maybe a close up with a ruler/yardstick under the lowest part of the engine, too.

I am close to ordering a kit and this may well make up my mind. Maintaining the van's great ground clearance is important to many of us.

Thanks!

Sun Jul 12, 2009 3:32 pm

Hi

This is the onlly one I have installed from the back
I can tell you mine is a 90 westy 2 wheel drive with tired springs and smaller tires than stock the motor cradle is my lowest point nd I have 6 inches of clearence I have never hit anything and i have a little over 5000 miles on it.
Kevin
Here is a link to the pics I took during my conversion if you want to check it out
http://web.me.com/kadavid/Bostig_Zetec

Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:38 pm

Kevin,

Thanks for the photo.
Is yours a Bostig ver 1.0 or 2.0?

Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:47 pm

ver 2

Sun Jul 12, 2009 5:01 pm

I dont have a picture on my computer. And i cant seem to find a SD card here in mexico. But mine rides at 7 3/4 inches. I talked to Jim a few days ago and he was telling me about a high capacity oil pan that will add 2 inches of ground clearance and a quart of oil or so. pretty cool.
So in a couple of months when that hits the market i hope to have around 10 inches of ground clearance. And that is with tired springs and no spacers. I know some of the bostig converts have added spacers to the rear instead of going for new springs.

Sun Jul 12, 2009 5:24 pm

For a quick look, look left :)

Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:26 pm

This image is from the Bostig website, on this page

http://www.bostig.com/products/bostig-20/what-is-the-bostig-v20

Bostig v2.0(left), and Bostig v1.0(right)

Tue Jul 14, 2009 6:29 am

Heres a rearend shot of the V1.0

Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:23 am

Here's a photo of v.1, just prior to installing a new rear bumper from www.rockymountainwesty.com.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=576042

As a previous poster has said, the bottom of the oil pan is clearly the low point, and the rest of the engine compartment appears to ride about the same or higher than the waterboxer.

- Kevin M

Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:18 am

Williamtaylor3,

2 things.

1) That is a crazy photo! I hope everything turned out okay after that little adventure.

2) I'm confused. On the Bostig website in the photo I posted above, they have a photo (of what has to be your) van, calling it Ver 2.0.

But in your own rollover photo, you call it Ver 1.0. (The engine appears to hang pretty low, so it looks to my untrained eye like a Ver. 1.0, so I'm inclined to believe you.)

So, can you please clarify this discrepancy?

Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:27 am

I saw a zetec installed in a carat last week and when I noticed the lack of clearance, it appeared to be about 6" max, I was glad I chose the subaru for the conversion.

Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:39 am

climberjohn wrote: Williamtaylor3,

2 things.

1) That is a crazy photo! I hope everything turned out okay after that little adventure.

2) I'm confused. On the Bostig website in the photo I posted above, they have a photo (of what has to be your) van, calling it Ver 2.0.

But in your own rollover photo, you call it Ver 1.0. (The engine appears to hang pretty low, so it looks to my untrained eye like a Ver. 1.0, so I'm inclined to believe you.)

So, can you please clarify this discrepancy?

Pretty sure that van belongs to one of the guys at Bostig, so it may have had both versions in it at some time. Kinda a test mule. Still confusing though.

Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:40 am

climberjohn wrote: Williamtaylor3,
2) I'm confused. On the Bostig website in the photo I posted above, they have a photo (of what has to be your) van, calling it Ver 2.0.

But in your own rollover photo, you call it Ver 1.0. So, can you please clarify this discrepancy?

That's not William's van, the rolled-over van belongs to Brady, one of the Bostig partners. The photo of the roll-over shows his V1 setup, while the photo on the Bostig site shows Brady's van after being converted to V2. Brady's van is the perpetual test rig for Bostig and thus generally has the latest version of what ever they're working on. I assume it's sporting a groovy turbo now...

Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:58 am

climberjohn wrote:

Look closely at that picture and you can see the rear door doesn't quite line up correctly with the rear quarter on the passenger side. The beltline contour is off by a little bit. Obviously got tweaked in that rollover!!

Looks like the awning is mangled as well.

Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:39 am

Here ya go, Ver. 2

Sorry it's on grass, but you can get an idea how low. 90 Syncro.

Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:52 am

mtnwater wrote: climberjohn wrote: Williamtaylor3,
2) I'm confused. On the Bostig website in the photo I posted above, they have a photo (of what has to be your) van, calling it Ver 2.0.

But in your own rollover photo, you call it Ver 1.0. So, can you please clarify this discrepancy?

That's not William's van, the rolled-over van belongs to Brady, one of the Bostig partners.
To answer the PM. mtnwater is right. It aint my van....Its bradys old van. I think brady bought another syncro to trade the drivetrain into. Because well....for obvious reasons...haha

Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:43 pm

Franklinstower wrote: I saw a zetec installed in a carat last week and when I noticed the lack of clearance, it appeared to be about 6" max, I was glad I chose the subaru for the conversion.

Hi Franklinstower,

Do a quickie for us would you? Grab a tape measure and measure from the ground to each of the bottom edges of your rear wheel arches(should be the same or roughly the same if you're on level ground) then measure your lowest spots to the ground, and finally that distance(the lowest spots) to the wheel centerline, and we'll know exactly how you stack up as compared to a zetec since we'll be able to tell you what your clearance would be with a zetec. Perception is good as a guide, but alone can't be trusted, better to simply measure and know, although you're likely right the carat is very low and 6" at the cradle bar might be right.

Thanks,

Jim Akiba

Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:07 pm

We took some pics today of the v2 pan and the HCHC (High Capacity High Clearance) Oil pan that is going to be available in a couple weeks.

Currently it stacks up like this on ground clearance:

v2.0 pan low point is .875" lower than stock over a 3" width, full 4.5 Qt
v2.0 cradle bar is 1.125" lower than stock over an 8.5" width, and 4.5" rear of wheel centerline within wheel shadow

HCHC pan is 1" better than stock, with departure angle on a stock syncro moving to right in the middle between a syncro and syncro 16. 6 Qt capacity. 3/16" steel construction, rock bars and skid plate pics sometime in the next 3weeks as well.

The animated gifs of the attached syncro with a 30.25" wheel arch height(which should always be included with ground clearance measurements to qualify them) have the following clearances:

v2.0 low: 7.875"
v2.0 cradle bar low: 7.625"
HCHC low: 9.75"

Driver's side

Pass. side

Hope this helps folks understanding,

Jim Akiba

Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:34 pm

Sweet! I must have one.....

Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:03 pm

Williamtaylor33 wrote: Sweet! I must have one.....

Me too, it also has the turbo lower mount bracket on it as well, the turbo drainback(neat idea to make as many of the turbo kit parts useful to NA installs as we develop them to help gain scale, keep it affordable, and keep dev rolling). It also has an oil level sensor... so all those people that insist that checking their oil through the license hatch is important can re-think that while I check my 6 quarts without moving from my driver's seat :D

Jim Akiba