Syncro SWB Project - The Lightweight.

[SyncroGhia]

Cheers Andy,

I'll be in touch.

MG
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1989 Syncro 16 S6 Westy Limey
1991 Syncro Lightweight SWB
1989 S8 Bluestar
1990 Tristar

[noganav]

Looking forward to seeing how the maestro lights are fitted.
That in itself would make a fantastic thread.

[SyncroGhia]

After a few phonecalls, I've now got a dead Subaru 2.5 block for mocking up purposes... Thanks Andy.



Which I've had a quick trial run of the Small car mount again, just to get some ideas of how much clearance I can gain underneath and length too.



The bottom of the side mounting bars sit 89mm from the bottom of the block.



Whereas the lowest part on the block otherwise (not inc sump) are these castings.



My ideal would be to have nothing lower that 40mm from the bottom of the engine case. If I used the Smallcar mount, that would involve modifying side mount bars, using a 2WD bar at the back and mounting it further up.

I'm still looking at the RJES setup and then possibly a one of mount similar to a Porsche 911 setup where the mounts are in the top rear corners of the engine bay and have a flat bar running across the back of the engine.

MG
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1989 Syncro 16 S6 Westy Limey
1991 Syncro Lightweight SWB
1989 S8 Bluestar
1990 Tristar

[SyncroGhia]

I've found a donor for the Lightweight



The trip was interesting with the roof like this!



It's a 2002 model Subaru Legacy GX 2.5 Auto.

It was a cheap ebay buy as the Auto transmission had started to play up, the brakes were dead, windscreen cracked, blowing exhaust and suspension was fairly dead. At just 123,000 miles, it's about run in

After a day, I had the engine out, loom out and was ready to start putting stuff into position in the Shell.



The car was disposed of fairly quickly...



It's a lot easier to remove the last bits when it's like this



So with the engine and mock gearbox in place



I was able to look again at the distances between the rear cross member and the crank pulley but this time know that I am actually dealing with the engine that is going to stay in the van.

I'm still not that happy with engine bar but I can't move it any further forwards due to the timing belt covers...



But I could move it up a bit underneath the crank pulley...



With this in mind, I will be looking at using a 2WD engine mounting bar as it's around 50mm shorter in height than the Syncro bar. I can then make up a new mounting plate which bolts to the back of the VW bar and the Smallcar plates which are bolted to the engine. This will gain a fair amount of clearance and leave less of the engine bar sticking down either side of the engine which has always been a concern as this will be the lowest point behind the wheels.

Looking again at the engine bar brackets, if I draw a line up following the angle of the bar through the plate, I can lose another 50mm from the back of the flange. I'll add the same amount (or more) to the front of it to put the strength back in.



As the distance between the crank pulley and rear cross member is now only about 70mm (just over), this will give me about an inch clearance. I'm happy with that.

I had planned on making the rear panel removable and having the crank pulley actually sitting inside the rear cross member but if I can do this without spending lots of money and make the back of the shell stronger by welding it up as VW designed, I'm happy.



The end result should be that the whole engine mounting bar etc should move up 50mm but the engine stays where it is.



The other thing I've been looking at again is the sump (surprise surprise!). Now that I've got an engine in place, I can see that even if I dry sump the engine and use my own design of engine mount setup to remove any brackets from underneath, the thermostat will still be sticking down lower that anything else. I can't really do anything about that so I'll use that as a reference and try to make everything no lower than that.



This means that I can still use a wet sump and I'll go back to my previous idea of copying Burley's Sump and engine mount brackets all in one but also as a bash plate so it'll be very thick and won't break when offroading!

While I was spending time up there looking at the syncro shells. I suddenly realised that I have ended up with a shell which has Syncro 16 chassis strengthening!

Here's the chassis I'm using...



And the chassis I'm not using...



This is nice as I was planning on adding these extra strengthening parts in order to stiffen up the shell!

MG
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1989 Syncro 16 S6 Westy Limey
1991 Syncro Lightweight SWB
1989 S8 Bluestar
1990 Tristar

[I am Wildcat]

Looks like you're coming along. Keep up the great work!
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1991 Syncro 1.9 mTDI aka Wildcat

For Sale:
2.5 TDI - AAT 5 Cyl Engine Conversion 2WD/Syncro

[SyncroGhia]

Small update:

I finally managed to get together all the parts to be able to bolt on the front wheels... amazing how hard these things can be

With the tyres that I'm planning on running and the wheels offset, I need to run big wheels spacers. So I've bought some 30mm bolt on spacers and I took along a pair of 6mm spacers as well just in case I needed that little bit extra...





Plenty of clearance...



But rather tight on full lock to the top wishbone



No problems at the front though







Looks fairly chunky from the front.



Enough room everywhere else apart from that previous shot when on full lock.



It's got a way to go yet...



I need to take into account that these tyres are part worn so new ones will be another 10-30mm bigger in diameter.

I put a sheet of metal across the front of the subframe mounting pads and put the steering on full lock to get an idea of how far forwards the tyres would reach.

This will help me when I'm trying to figure out how far back to mount the cab.



I've just had some steel delivered which I've been waiting for to make a jig up to extend the rear trailing arms. I'm hoping to get them mocked up soon to see how the CV joint angles will cope.

MG
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1989 Syncro 16 S6 Westy Limey
1991 Syncro Lightweight SWB
1989 S8 Bluestar
1990 Tristar

[FrankenSubySyncro]

[SyncroGhia]

Thanks for the tip.

I found this photo earlier showing the two different types and you're right, I can gain quote a lot of clearance from the other type.

It's on the list!







I'm now looking again at the engine mounting system and thinking that I'll sell the Smallcar mount setup and make my own which hangs the engine from above using Porsche engine mounts or something similar.





Anyone need a Subaru engine mount setup!?

MG
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1989 Syncro 16 S6 Westy Limey
1991 Syncro Lightweight SWB
1989 S8 Bluestar
1990 Tristar

[andy syncro-nutz]

2.0 turbo water pump! Dam wish i knew that sooner Any more specifics on the pump?
Im picking up 2002 OutBack tomorow for a winter beater, Im tierd out of the 2.2
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1990 syncro,EJ22, Been a mechanic too long

[GrindGarage]

+1 ditch the small car / mustache bar setup, mount the motor on suby mounts, I wish I did at the time RMW was not selling their mount but with all the work you are doing adding some engine mounts should be cake

does the 2.0 turbo pump work across the board on ej22?
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-cliff

91 Vanagon AUTO
97 Single Port EJ22 all smallcar.com

[FrankenSubySyncro]

The turbo pump is from an early 90s impreza. It works on 2.2 and 2.5. Some have an extra nipple for an oil cooler and some just have boss for one. It can be used as a coolant bypass also. Sorry don't have any part numbers.
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1987 Syncro (converted 2WD auto)
2004 2.5 SOHC Subaru
F & R lockers, decoupler, SS, 6.17 R&P
EMPI race prepped 930 CVs and axles
Bilstein coilover front, rear ProComp MX-6066R shocks, hypercoil springs
30x9.5 15" BFG Muds
Custom skid plates
Nose job (custom front bumper) http://www.flickr.com/photos/subyvanagon/sets/72157624970330925/

[syncrodoka]

Hmm.. that part will find it's way onto my van as well if I can figure out the part number. Thanks
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SyncroFest Schadenfreude!

Insert every car that i have ever owned list here.

[syncrodoka]

'92-'94 legacy sport water pump looks about right?
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SyncroFest Schadenfreude!

Insert every car that i have ever owned list here.

[ShowaBraun]

Have that water pump on an EJ22T ('91-'94 Legacy Turbo), I think it is on most/if not all turbo Subies

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1269480,parttype,2208
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__________________________
83.5 Westy 2.2 Subie
98 Outback 2.5
96 Impreza Outback 2.2
66 912

[syncrodoka]

'91 EJT water pump(like the late turbo motors) has another unnecessary nipple pointing to the left where the '92-'94 only has the 2 pointing to the right.
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SyncroFest Schadenfreude!

Insert every car that i have ever owned list here.

[SyncroGhia]

I was chatting with RJES last night and he thought that the 2.5 4 cam engine came with both due to an exhaust design which was similar to the turbo. The nice part is that it doesn't come with extra pipes that you need to block off like the turbo pump does.

I'm changing the timing belt on my twin cam 2.5 so will replace the water pump then.

Now to start looking for dry sump parts and a way of sealing a cover around the belt drive for the external pump.

MG
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1989 Syncro 16 S6 Westy Limey
1991 Syncro Lightweight SWB
1989 S8 Bluestar
1990 Tristar

[SyncroGhia]

Last weekend presented an opportunity to start hacking away (carefully!) at the cab from the single cab body.

I also took the roof sections from the hightop westy so that I could remove the brackets which have been holding me back from moving on with that part of Limey's roof.

A Syncro buddy turned up with his very shiney (freshly painted) Syncro panel van (converted) which has a 2.0 8V Inline AGG engine. Very neat too I might add and he's even managed to integrate the immobiliser so that it's all on one key. It's good to know that it can't be stolen easily!









And the engine install...





From what I understand, Gary gets around 28-30mpg (UK/Imp MPG). Not bad for a petrol. It's running stock 5.43 diesel syncro gearboxes and 215/75/15s.

Thanks for your help on Saturday Gary

Moving on...

I grabbed some new tips for the Plasma Cutter and set too removing sections out of the cab and cutting on a carefully thought out line... well vaguely carefully thought out atleast!

Strip out the cab...



Doors off, everything out and starting cutting.



This really is a very rusty Syncro!



I'm planning on leaving a section of the bulkhead in the old shell and add on top of some of the bulkhead on the new one.





Plasma cutters make things a lot quicker!



First cut into the main chassis rails.



Now set to removing the arch. I'm moving so far away from stock that none of the original will be used. Anyone need a good pair of original Syncro arches?







At this point... the plasma died

I'd had forgotten to bring the electric hacksaw with me so that was game over. Gutted.

Hoping to do more this coming weekend.

MG
_________________
1989 Syncro 16 S6 Westy Limey
1991 Syncro Lightweight SWB
1989 S8 Bluestar
1990 Tristar

[SyncroGhia]

Small update on stuff...

This is regarding drive shafts.

I'm going to be using after-market gearbox flanges and hub-shafts. I'm waiting for the hub-shafts to arrive from Todd at Avery's Aircooled Parts (http://www.averres.com/). Once they have arrived, I can do the final measurements and work out how much wider the rear track will be.... the reason for that is...

I'm using Porsche Boxster S rear drive shafts.

Now from the factory, the Boxster rear drive-shaft comes with a 108mm inner CV joint (which can be changed if it dies) which is the same size as the Syncro 16, uses the same splines and is physically the same size (width etc). The outer CV joint is similar to the front outer CV joint on a Syncro T3 but it is not meant to be removed from the drive-shaft. If this dies... you replace the whole shaft!! That's nuts to me but hey, if you can afford to run a Porsche everyday...

So, as I used to work on Porsches everday, I had a Boxster S come in with a dead out CV joint. As a result, I ended up with the old drive-shaft and decided to see if I could pull the outer CV joint off.



Remove the boot...



The pressing that the boot fits to is crimped onto the CV joint and needs to be chiselled off.





Now the CV joint will move enough to get the balls out of the joint.



Now you can get to the circlip and pull the rest of the joint off.



Here's a Syncro 16 drive-shaft and the Boxster S drive-shaft next to each other.



Yes the Boxster S drive-shaft is longer.



Note that the spline length etc is the same.



Part number for anyone wanting to do similar things...

And here's the measurement as to how much longer the Boxster S shaft is.



The Syncro 16 is 524-5mm. The Boxster S is 34mm longer.

I'm going to be lengthening the rear trailing arms a lot... like almost 150mm longer. Yes I'm nuts and no it might not work but hey, there's only one way to find out!

As a result of moving the hub so much further back and after market flanges and hubs tending to be further apart, I won't need to go the full 34mm wider per side but probably around 15-20mm per side wider.

I want to go wider anyway as the front is going 35mm wider per side just to get the tyres to clear the suspension.

I was originally going to have some spacers made up to bolt between the rear hub flange on the arm and the hubs but I figure that I can simply add the extra width when I lengthen the arms.

If anyone else wanted to use the Boxster S shafts, you could just add a 35mm spacer between the rear wheel bearing hub. This would help with your CV joint angles as well.

I picked up a pair of Boxster S drive-shafts on ebay (with dead outer CV joints) for £50. They're cheap! and if the inner CV joints are ok (which they usually) you save money there too!

I've also been making up my jig for lengthening the rear arms today but ran of drill bits. I need a 13.5, 14 and 14.5mm drill bit!

Our clocks went forward this weekend so I've now got another hour of light to play with after work so I'll try to get over there and continue to chop up the bodyshells.

MG
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1989 Syncro 16 S6 Westy Limey
1991 Syncro Lightweight SWB
1989 S8 Bluestar
1990 Tristar

[SyncroGhia]

Delivery!!

Just had the hub-shafts arrive from Avery's. Thanks Todd!



I shared postage/customs charges with another of Avery's customers who is upgrading his offroad buggy so he's having the Type 1 930 shafts.

I've got an order in for some more drill bits so hopefully I'll be able to get on with modifying the rear arms over the weekend.

MG
_________________
1989 Syncro 16 S6 Westy Limey
1991 Syncro Lightweight SWB
1989 S8 Bluestar
1990 Tristar

[SyncroGhia]

Update:

I've been extending the rear arms... a lot!



The back of the tyre (35s remember) is in line with the cambelt covers of the Subaru engine. Only the crank pulley will sit further back. Departure angle should be very good.

Lots of clearance at the front of the tyre...



Driveshaft and CV joint angle is fairly severe. Definitely need 930 CV joints for this.





Clearance under the arm is good.



As is under the van.



I will be making the most of the Land Rover wheel arches.



I've just tack welded the arm up for the moment so that I could test fit.

Driveshaft length is good, there was atleast 1 inch of slack in the shaft while in what I would expect to be normal running position. I need to grab some 930 CV joints so I can do a proper check with full compression and full extension.

Oh.. I need longer rear shocks!

MG
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1989 Syncro 16 S6 Westy Limey
1991 Syncro Lightweight SWB
1989 S8 Bluestar
1990 Tristar