Build Thread: Subaru 5 speed Transmission into Vanagon

[wbx]

Truly impressive write-up. While I'm sure it wasn't such a clean thought process as you've written down, it is great see how you figured stuff out. I like the simplicity and clarity of your approach. You've got some serious van mod cajones, btw!
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'84 Westy (first owner).......but my daily driver has pedals
My "perspective" mantra:
A Volkswagen Vanagon is just a material thing,
As such, it is of the earth,
And if i need to, I can let my Van go.

[Alaric.H]

What size tires are you going to run?

[jeremysmithatshawdotca]

[240Gordy]

so what Subaru models/years do these transmissions come in?
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Tencentlife said,
"So, now that you know what you're doing, go to town."
2010 GOLF TRENDLINE 2.5
1985 GL now with more! a 2.1L
H&R SPORT(RED) Springs FRONT , SLAM SPECIALTIES RE6 AIRBAGS REAR

[Tristar Eric]

Brilliant! David, you are a pioneer.

[jeremysmithatshawdotca]

[240Gordy]

[EvanDJ]

Very informative. Thanks for sharing your adventure with the rest of us.

[mathieux46]

My favorite thread since a long time... Just awesone...

Just a question like that, would it be possible or simpler to use a automatic subaru transmission to start with? I could have been easier for linkeage maybe?

Can't wait to see the final results!!!!

Mat

[240Gordy]

the aussie guy that makes the subagears originally started out with a couple of automatics, but they were too long for what he wanted to do, which was put them in a Type 1 chassis, (Beetle)

look on e the subagears website, he lista what transmissions you can use these mods on.
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Tencentlife said,
"So, now that you know what you're doing, go to town."
2010 GOLF TRENDLINE 2.5
1985 GL now with more! a 2.1L
H&R SPORT(RED) Springs FRONT , SLAM SPECIALTIES RE6 AIRBAGS REAR

[Syncroincity]

Just FYI, if you're stuck moving the motor forward, the Subaru intake manifold is reversable, so you can run it with the throttle body pointing aft.
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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[D Clymer]

[D Clymer]

[D Clymer]

Entry #3: Centering Up the Engine and Building the Front Trans Mount

With the engine cradle bolted to the frame and the transmission held into position by a jack, I was anxious to put the drive axles into position so I could check them for length and appearance. The first step was to center up the nose of the transmission between the rear trailing arm pick-up points.

This ended up being a difficult task, and it was one of those where your eyes told you the center was in a different place from what the actual measurements showed. After quite a bit of fiddling around I got the transmission centered. I had removed the inner CV joints from the drive axles because I was planning to attach the drive axles to the output shafts with pieces of heater hose since I had no flanges. When I went to attach the passenger side shaft, I found that it actually touched the output shaft on the Subaru transmission. That got me thinking that the shafts were simply too long, until I tried the driver side and found that it cleared with room to spare. After studying things and making a few measurements on that van and my own Wasserboxer van, I suddenly realized the engine sits 10mm to the right of the Vanagon body centerline. As soon as I looked at the original 091/1 transmission I figured out why.

The input shaft actually sits to the right of the transmission case centerline. The photo above shows how far the input shaft sits from the centerline of the tranny case and differential. Naturally, Subaru conversions also need to sit offset to the right because they are usually mated to the VW transmission. I next looked at the Subaru transmission and noted that the input shaft on that trans is perfectly centered with the parting line of that case. With that discovery, it became clear that I needed to move the Subaru engine to the center of the van in order to center up the transmission.

I was using a three piece Smallcar rear mount. The rear portion of the mount approximates the design of the Wasserboxer rear mount bracket. Luckily for me, Smallcar designed their mount with elongated holes to allow the rear portion of the mount to accommodate production tolerances. I loosened the bolts and scooted the engine as far to the left as I could. I was actually able to get a surprising amount of movement. However, the engine was still not quite centered. I ended up removing the Smallcar mount and extending the length of the elongated holes by 1/8”. This gave me the extra adjustment room I needed, and I was able to get the engine centered up.

In the photo you can see that the space between the left engine mount stud and the crank pulley is significantly less than the same dimension on the right. That illustrates how far I had to move the engine over to center it up.

With the engine and transmission now perfectly in the center of the van, the next step was to design and fabricate a front transmission mount. I had planned from the beginning to model the front mount after the standard VW mount and to bolt it to the stock mounting holes in the transverse cross member. With this in mind, it worked out well that the cut down end housing was able to retain two of the Subaru mounting bosses.

The stock VW mount basically consists of a mounting plate, a profiled clevis portion, and then the bolt on mount bushing holder with body mounting plate. I decided to fabricate a mounting plate and attach it to the transmission end housing. It was a no brainer to recycle the profiled clevis portion of the VW mount since it could be cut off cleanly from the VW mount plate. Locating the clevis portion of the mount on the fabricated plate would take place under the van with the clevis and top mount bolted to the body, and the fabricated mounting plate attached to the transmission. The exact positioning of these components is one of those that cannot be completely calculated without an actual physical mount up.

My mounting plate was going to have to be more complex than the simple flat VW unit. I had to pick up two horizontal mounting holes at the Subaru mounting bosses as well as two more vertical ones I had planned to provide in the aluminum block off plate to be welded into the front of the shortened end housing. I decided to pick up the horizontal mounts with 1.5” steel angle stock.

Because of the 20 or so degree angle of the mounting bosses, I decided to drill the angle pieces and mount them to the end housing. With the angle pieces installed, I could then put the end housing back on the mill and accurately mill the ends of the brackets to be perfectly vertical.

I chose to make the mounting plate from 3/16” steel plate. It was only slightly thicker than the VW mounting plate and was readily available. I started with a 6”x8” piece. It was the correct width at the base to perfectly match the location of the angle pieces. I wasn’t sure what I needed for height, so I cut it down a little bit, but left it generously long in case the profiled clevis had to be higher than I had anticipated.

Once I had it cut, I clamped it to the carefully milled angle pieces and brought it to my friend Brad to weld. For the time being we just tack welded it in place since the end housing didn’t allow very good access to the rear of the mount. Before I called it quits for the evening, I cut the profiled clevis from the original VW mounting plate.

While the overall design of the front mount was straightforward, I knew there was one critical dimension that had to work out – and that was the location of the shift selector rod in relation to the edge of the profiled clevis. With this on my mind, I turned out the shop lights for the night.

To be continued…

[greggearhead]

Subscribed. Thank you for documenting your hard work, David.
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1972 Porsche 911E
1973 VW 412
1984 VW Doka
1991 Vanagon Syncro Westy


Period Lights, VW & Porsche wheels and Recaro/Scheel Seats for sale

https://www.facebook.com/greggearhead

http://greggearhead.com/soco-swap---september-vw-swap-meet.html

[Lakesurfer]

Fantastic exploration, really interesting.
Just bought my first Westy (89 w/J22)) and drove it home 1000 miles @ 4200rpm. It's really unnerving driving a 3 speed auto when your used to 5 speeds.
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1989 J22 Westfalia

[Christopher Schimke]

Nice job, David! I am enjoying watching the process.
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"Sometimes you have to build a box to think outside of." - Bruce (not Springsteen)

*Custom wheel hardware for Audi/VW, Porsche and Mercedes wheels - Urethane Suspension Bushings*
T3Technique.com or contact me at [email protected]

[MarkWard]

This is great documentation of how much custom fabrication is required with these types of modifications. It is one thing to lay in bed dreaming something up. But then not to just implement it, but do so with quality. Nice catch on the centerline of the engine. mark
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☮️

[brad131a4]

With as many ideas Dave has for these vanagons . It should keep Dave and me busy probably until we retire.

[Robw_z]

-Rob