4WD Conversion begins!

Subarugears · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 4:24 am Post subject:

Right - some more progress on the WRManX

First of all, we're getting the body fixed up - all the old holes filled and a flat base for the battery and ECU, plus clearance humps for the 6 speed AWD transmission glassed in.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Next, the front 'hump' to cover the differential, all nicely folded up and tacked in. Thee holes for the axles are yet to be cut. If you look through the tunnel access hole you can see the nose and flange of the differential in there.

On the other side, the clutch tube eyebrow and hole is gone, all smoothed out. Towards the left of the picture you can see part of the differential before the front sheetmetal was tacked back in place.

Moving to the rear of the pan, the torsion strengthener is now in place.

Cut us some rear torsion spline halves :

And now nicely inserted into the torsion so we can run short bars and not need coil-overs.

Oh and one last photo from my recent trip to Meyers Manx H.Q. in the USA, some of you will know this couple in the photo :

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weasel_ugs · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 5:34 pm Post subject:

Are you going to have to cut the tunnel open to do any service work on the front diff? Its been a while since I read the whole thread so I cant remember if that was mentioned.

Subarugears · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 10:39 pm Post subject:

Nope. You can drop the front beam off with 4 bolts, then undo the 2 nose bolts at the nose of the diff and the whole unit can slide out.
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Subarugears · Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 4:02 pm Post subject:

Just realised I hadn't posted pics of the 'Street' cage.
Have gone for a full hoop at the front, close to the windscreen frame.
This hoop bolts through the body and into the exoskeleton at around 1/3rd height.
Gone for a hoop with two headrest hoops behind the seats. The main hoop bolts through the body and into the exoskeleton at around 2/3rds height.

If the car sees competition, I can add overhead bars to tie everything together and ensure these hoops can't fold flat in case of a high speed roll. Or unbolt these front and rear 'street' hoops and bolt in a full competition cage.

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Subarugears · Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 4:00 am Post subject:

Here's how the body is looking now, after all the cracks, holes, previous repairs etc have been corrected. Ready for flat black paint and trial assembly and then she's gonna be wrapped.

The boonet (hood) which had a big crack through it from a previous impact

Front fender and light base which had cracks through them

The rear seat area which now has clearance for IRS traling arms and the bellhousing/hydraulic slave cylinder from the Subarugears 6 speed AWD transmission.

The rear of the body which previously had parts of the glass cut out to clear pulleys and to have some sort of funky air filter attachment. Back to smooth again. Once the VW tail lights are fitted they should sit fairly flush.

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Subarugears · Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 3:34 pm Post subject:

The body is all in one colour now. Applied a basecoat of black. Vinyl wrap featuring the Subarugears logos and brand will be stuck over the top of this.

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twowheeletex · Samba Member Joined: November 11, 2008 Posts: 13

what a disappointing end. the thread was a couple of pictures and a video of it driving away from being finished. not to mention the obligatory page of people giving much deserved kudos. any idea what happened? updates?

jsturtlebuggy · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:52 pm Post subject:

Tex,
From what I hear Todd has been very busy with his business "Subaru Gears" with making of the reverse ring & pinions. And he is also making adapters for using a VW engine to the Subaru 5speed. Also there is going to be a adapter to a common V8 engine used in the states from what I understand.
So it may be awhile to find time to finish his own projects.
Try contacting him at Subaru Gears and see if has any updates.
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Joseph
Fair Oaks/Orangevale, CA
Elrod Motorsports
Motion Tire Motorsports
Having fun with Dune Buggies since 1970
Into Volkswagens since 1960

Iguana · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 10:59 pm Post subject:

Actually it is all my fault as I stole his Fabricator with Offers of Beer and Big Bears.

Then when he got here I made him Build my Tow'd

Let him Drive it

And then it broke so he had a few more beers and I have given him back now so progress will follow..

My bad Very Happy

Subarugears · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 11:05 pm Post subject:

All of the above is true. Mainly Brad stealing my fabricator.
However, Subarugears has taken a lot of my time, just returned from Europe to put some deals together there to further promote the business.

We have been developing adaptor plates and flywheels to run V8 Chevrolet motors, V8 G.M. Holden motors, G.M. Ecotec Motors, VW aircooled motors and TDi watercooled motors. We have pretty much completed mounting brackets for engines and transmissions for all aircooled VW cars. Lots of work.

Update on the WRManX is that I need to get the appropriate rack and pinion steering rack up to the builder so the steering can be completed.

I have purchased a 2010 EJ25T 280hp motor for this car so that will get shipped up to the fabricator fairly soon as well. That will give it some shove.
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http://www.subarugears.com

Disc · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 3:51 am Post subject:

It's time for update, uh?
How us more, please!
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The glory never gets old, just need new paint.
-------------------------------------------------
Nick

Subarugears · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 2:47 pm Post subject:

OK time for an update. There has been plenty going on behind the scenes with this build.

Firstly, we have the 2009 EJ25 turbo motor. In Australia (and many other countries) in order to get a car licensed with a late model motor, you have to run all the emissions equipment on that model motor so it meets the emissions requirements of the day. The easiest way to do this is to continue to run the standard computer. Otherwise, if you run an aftermarket computer you have to get it on a dyno and tune it to the correct nox etc levels and then have it certified by the roads authority/whoever and have the unit sealed. What a PITA. I suspect this is a similar PITA for CA residents (and any other USA states that are big on emissions testing).

From MY07 models onwards, Subaru used the CANbus system in their cars. This is basically a computer network using a pair of twisted wires that goes through the entire wiring loom and lets all the electronic pieces talk to each other. So the computer talks to the dash and the ABS brake system, the traction control unit, the body control unit, steering wheel angle sensor etc. If one of those units is unplugged (e.g. the ABS brake system) as it would be in a buggy conversion, the engine computer gets unhappy, turns on the check engine light and goes into limp mode to get you home. Not a very satisfactory experience.

To get around this, we created the Subatronics CANbus emulator. This box plugs into the wiring harness and sends dummy code to the engine computer so that it still thinks things like ABS, traction control etc are connected. This way the factory computer is happy, runs in a non-Subaru environment and retains all it's factory code, programming, maps and failsafes. Runs just like it should and keeps all the emissions happy.

This MAY also be the silver bullet to run engines outside of the old EJ22 in California and have them OK with the authorities there. This will require further investigation and we have someone on the ground in CA following that up.

The extra piece of the puzzle is the immobiliser system and dashboard. Subaru now runs an integrated immobiliser system that has the computer talk to the matched dashboard and the matched body control unit. If any one of these pieces is missing, or doesn't send the correct code back to the compuiter, the engine won't start. Of course, not many people will want to run a Subaru dashboard in their buggy/VW. Since we had all the matching pieces, we sucked the codes out of my particular matched dashboard and included this into the CANbus emulator used on my engine. This then mimics the codes that the dashboard would send back and allows the engine to start.

Importantly, we are not removing or reprogramming the Subaru immobiliser system in the engine computer. We think it's important to retain this as you wouldn't want your nice buggy/vw conversion to be stolen. We simply mimic your MATCHED dashboard so you don't have to run it. This code is individual code match to each engine computer, so it's not a 'one size fits all'.

So now we have the engine running on its standard computer and without the dashboard. I will mount the CANbus emulator to the Manx dash so that it displays real-time engine data that the CANbus system transmits. Should look pretty cool.

For more information please visit our new website www.subatronics.com

Link

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http://www.subarugears.com

Subarugears · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 3:05 pm Post subject:

Now, with the electronics out of the way, we have more progress on the transmission side of things.

I wanted to run one of Subaru's new 6 speed 'split case' transmissions in this buggy. These were released from 2009 onwards and are a revision of the 5 speed. They were redesigned to cope with the 350nm of torque from Subaru's diesel turbo boxer engine and late model turbo engines. The have a MASSIVE first and second gear and of course double overdrive from the 5th and 6th gears. Cable shift from the factory which is useful for me since the tunnel is full of tailshaft.....not much room for shift rods.

I developed the reverse ring and pinion for these 6 speeds and my first unit has arrived. I have chosen to go with the 4.44:1 ratio as this is the shortest Subaru ratio - front and rear differentials must have matching ratios.

This will get the car moving off the line quickly but I will still be able to cruise in 5th and 6th. The trans I sourced is out of a Subaru diesel and so have 5th of 0.63 and 6th of 0.56. Very long ratios.

Here's some pictures of the long pinion - it has support for the center differential bearings on it past the pinion nut.

I am running the rear of the trans unchanged since the straightest setup for my tailshaft is running from the top of the trans rear, to the upside down differential unit in the front. VW Syncros have a chassis beam in the way so we make a Syncro kit that moves the output to the lower part of the trans - but no need for that in this build.

Some pics :

I'll be tearing this unit down today, machining and clearancing the case for tomorrow's build. This will be fitted with an OBX torsen LSD to take care of any wheelspin. The front differential unit is a 4.44:1 viscous factory LSD unit so all three differentials in the driveline are limited-slip units.
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wythac · Samba Member Joined: August 02, 2004 Posts: 2791

I just looked at when this thread started...7 years. Quite a complex project to keep moving forward while running a business at the same time. Any idea when you might have it on the road?

I joke with myself sometimes on long term projects that I could invent a personal jetpack in the same amount of time it takes me to re-engineer an old car. Think about it...no driveshafts....no suspension...

Subarugears · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 4:11 pm Post subject:

Oh man don't I know it. I could have had it finished a couple of years ago if I had taken the simpler route and kept it 2WD, but I want to complete what I started.

I guess inventing solutions along the way also slows things. Actually most of the thinking behind the solutions was done a long time ago, it's the execution of them that takes time. For example the 6 speed reversed ring and pinions. Over a year to get it done.

I had hoped to have this finished by the end of May this year to show at the Australian VW Nationals but my builder is going away in April to race the Manxter Baja edition in the Norra Mexico 1000 and I am going to Hannover in Germany for the Mai Kaeffertreffen - big VW meet to promote Subarugears and Subatronics.

That puts a big hole in our timeline especially with all the last minute jobs that take 1000 hours to complete on a buggy.

I would say though, it will be driving later this year, in time for the Australian Summer which is December to end of February.
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Subarugears · Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 4:29 am Post subject:

Here's the gearstack out of my 6 speed split case AWD transmission.
That thing has a BEEFY first gear and is going to HAVE to see some 6000rpm AWD launches!

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Subarugears · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 4:12 am Post subject:

One of the front wheels mounted up. She's going to be a mean machine!

Looks like I got the offset and width just right to have it just sit inside the front guard.

MX5/Miata seats mounted. Had to have a small relief cut into the rear of the tapered tunnel to allow the seats to slide all the way back (I am 6ft 2). These will be boxed in and welded up.

Pedal box and master cylinders are in

200kw 2009 WRX EJ25 turbo motor on it's way up to the builder to get shoehorned in soon.

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Subarugears · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 3:32 pm Post subject:

Now...shoehorn this into this :

These particular Subaru engines have a factory intercooler that is too large to fit inside the Manx engine bay area so we are going to replace it with a PWR water to air barrel intercooler. The factory turbo has a flanged outlet so that the intercooler bolts directly in place, plus a flanged outlet on the cool side for the blow-off valve to bolt directly to the intercooler.

As the barrel intercooler has simple round ends suitable for silicon hose, I will need to design and manufacture billet inlet and outlet pieces that bolt to the turbo and intake manifold that make the transition from bolt-on flange to circular hose ends. Watch this space.
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Oz Towdster · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 4:23 pm Post subject:

I can feel some itchy days comming on soon , luckily for you we locked up all the grinders while the Iguana man was here and we'll just do some gentle cuts to get that great lump into the back of the car
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Working at getting my Baja Bus and the Towdster back on the road

Subarugears · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 5:29 pm Post subject:

Measure twice, cut once. Tread carefully.
I explained to Paul yesterday that I will likely make a removable custom fiberglass subwoofer enclosure to fit over the top of all this anyway, so more cuts to adequately clear turbo and intercooler etc is not really a problem.

Shoehorning should begin next week then the 6 speed and mounts get there.
It's going to look awesome seeing this thing take shape.
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http://www.subarugears.com


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