TheSamba.com :: View topic - Need help running radiator hoses on a 20r swap.

Sun Aug 24, 2014 10:56 am

Hey guys

I recently purchased a 1975 Baywindow Bus with a Toyota 20r swap. Im in a prediciment and need some advice. I need to know the best way to run these hoses. The radiator is mounted on the left hand side if you are looking from the rear of the bus. I know these swaps are common but i haven't been able to really find anything out, some help would be much appreciated.

Sun Aug 24, 2014 11:00 am

I've worked on buses since about 1979 and have never come across this engine swap. What makes you think it's common? As far as ways to run the lines it would be best if you could post pics of the engine and radiator from underneath. Then we can talk about options.

Sun Aug 24, 2014 11:29 am

Thanks for the response. Not sure if i posted the pictures in the right section but here they are.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_cat.php?cat_id=16

The bus has an old KEP adapter plate sticker on the back window so i assumed that it is common for people to do these swaps. Im gonna have a heck of a time running the hoses.

Sun Aug 24, 2014 1:10 pm

Maybe you can lay out the runs and use something like soft copper tubing to configure the curves and lengths. Then take the copper to a muffler shop and have them make some stainless tubing the correct diameter for each pipe. Use a small section of radiator hose between the stainless pipe and the radiator and engine connections. Muffler shops have tube bending machines and the raw material you'll need.

Sun Aug 24, 2014 1:18 pm

I think the Toyota is more popular with the sand crowd, nice engine but it's got to be a real tight fit in a bus.

I'd look into turning that thermostat housing cap 180 degrees or finding another that has the bolt holes 90 degrees from that one. You may also want to ask a radiator shop about moving the fittings around on the rad tanks for better placement. I once parted a bus with a Pinto motor hacked in and that guy used copper drain pipe and soldered elbows to fab the rad tubes.

Sun Aug 24, 2014 1:22 pm

Just do a small amount of cutting like so:

Sun Aug 24, 2014 1:31 pm

I guess the first question in my mind is did the conversion ever run or did the guy give up on it? Radiator hoses may be the least of your worries.

Next I would ask why the hose is not there because the logical solution is to put it back like he converted it unless there is something wrong like the motor shakes so bad the hoses tear.

Mon Aug 25, 2014 11:19 am

Thanks again for your help. I've always wanted a bus. No one said this swap is going to be an easy task, nothing custom ever is. The motor is in good shape and has never been ran in this bus by the looks of it, most likely because the previous owner gave up. Whoever did the swap though did it right, the motor mounts and adapter kit are solid so I plan on keeping the 20r. A couple other problems im running into is the throttle linkage and what to do about the exhaust sensor and will it run like a dog if it's not hooked up?

Mon Aug 25, 2014 11:22 am

The radiator hoses, exhaust nor linkage was ever hooked up. No ones ever seen this swap done?

Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:23 pm

glockluke wrote: The radiator hoses, exhaust nor linkage was ever hooked up. No ones ever seen this swap done?
Not in a bus, sandrails and bajas but not a bus.

Mon Aug 25, 2014 2:40 pm

Brian wrote: Just do a small amount of cutting like so:

Man, my phone takes good pics :).

Try this post, I didn't have the time to go through all the pages but it thought someone had a 20r. I know there is a ej22 and a 20b. Good luck.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5...mp;start=0

Mon Aug 25, 2014 2:46 pm

What i did was go to the FLAPS and ask nicely to peruse their radiator hose section. I walked back and forth staring at the walls, and finally purchased several hoses along with some adapters and things that looked like they might work.

Took the whole mess home, stared at it for awhile, and figured out what I needed to use.

Be a little creative; what I bought needed an end cut off one part of a hose to make it fit properly.

Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:21 pm

richparker wrote: I know there is a ej22 and a 20b.
EJ22 is Subaru and (L)20B is Nissan, Toyota made the 18R, 20R and 22R as well as 22RE.

Sun Aug 31, 2014 1:47 pm

Figured out the radiator lines, turned out great! Now im trying to hook up the heater core lines .I don't understand the heating process for the 1975 bus, does it have an actual heater core or a heater air blower?

Sun Aug 31, 2014 2:23 pm

Ummmmm..............it was air cooled, you'll need to get all that stuff either from a donor water cooled car or a universal one like school buses and trucks use.

Sun Aug 31, 2014 2:26 pm

Ok I looked at a diagram and figured out how the original system works. Now one last question, since I got most of the ducting system under the bus would it be easier to buy a heater fan and go that route?

Sun Aug 31, 2014 2:27 pm

Possibly duct a fan and one side and heater fan on the other?

Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:06 pm

I'd go with something like this up front, you lose alot of heat and flow through that long duct but water stays hot all the way up to the front. Truck cab heaters is what you want to look for.

Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:15 pm

Perfect, thanks man!