Build Thread: Subaru 5 speed Transmission into Vanagon

[0cean]

[JeffRobenolt]

Yes, David is the man. I think he said the Syncro shift linkage is modified the same way as the 2wd linkage, but the Syncro linkage is a little different so you need the linkage from a Syncro.

Pretty exciting stuff going on.
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[D Clymer]

I've always tried to keep everyone up to date on my 5MT Vanagon efforts, so here is a report of what I've been up to.

Over the last year I have sold out, built and delivered a "beta" run of ten 5MT installation kits like the one in the photo further back in the thread. These kits have found homes with people as far away as North Carolina and Ontario, Canada, and as close to me as Yakima, Washington. The kits have been well-received, but they have been completely hand-built, and have taken literally all my spare time over the last year to build. While I'm very pleased to have ten copies of my kit out in Vanagon-land making 5MT conversions possible, this production model obviously isn't sustainable.

So with that in mind, Todd at Subarugears and I are joining forces to get many of the kit components CAD modeled and manufactured. We have made significant progress with this, but we still have a ways to go. We are concentrating primarily on the shifter and shift linkage parts at this time, and this will allow another run of ten kits to be produced. The reason it's limited to ten is because at this phase (Phase 2) I'll still be supplying my shortened and TIG welded transmission housing. This part is very time consuming to make. I've ordered up parts to make ten more of them, but I'm still going to be investing significant time into building these housings - and I don't want to build more then ten more of them. But that will at least allow ten more kits to go out the door to customers

In the third phase, we will finally transition to a special sand-cast transmission housing and a modified version of my front transmission mount that bolts to it. At this point, nearly all of the parts will be manufactured, and we will at last have a product that's practical and feasible to sell in volume.

I wish I had better news regarding availability, but productionizing the 5MT kit is a big undertaking. The good news is, I have continued to refine the kit, and I now have the shifter guide rail perfected. I now supply a set-up shim to get the gap set up correctly between the shift relay cup and the guide rail. I also have the clutch slave cylinder properly dialed-in so it uses the full pedal travel of the Vanagon clutch pedal and releases about half way up. These are all details that have taken a lot of trial and error to make right, and I'm pleased with the function of both of these aspects of the conversion.

Hopefully this gives all people who are interested in the 5MT conversion a better picture of where things are at and what has to happen before the kit will be readily available. As usual, I'm always here to answer any questions about the 5MT conversion or anything else I have knowledge about.

Regards,

Dave Clymer

[Matticeman]

Dave,

Thanks for the updade. Looking forward to seeing this become a reality, and our vans can run solid, passing on the uphills. I'll keep checking back to see your and Todd's progress. I know there are many others out there that will be stoked to finally have a subaru 5MT solution. Cheers!

[VanaConn]

I finally got my 4.11 subarugears kit from Todd for my 86 westy build. I decided to go with a 58k mile svx engine with a stage one chip and use the JDM wrx hydro pull clutch box. It's got a HD clutch arm set up over my other two legacy boxes. It should be a blast to drive . Hopefully things will work out for the 5MT components in 2015. hope you have good luck .Probably will do a youtube video series instead of another build post.
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[greggearhead]

I've been in smaller companies that have rushed things out, and with sub-standard results as you would expect. I think anyone that has seen how D Clymer works would agree that he is concerned with quality - and that will take longer but benefit everyone. Thanks for doing that, Dave.

Good luck - I'll be watching as well.
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1972 Porsche 911E
1973 VW 412
1984 VW Doka
1991 Vanagon Syncro Westy


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[D Clymer]

[D Clymer]

[wtcumby]

http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/currenci...22qwz.html

This is a good time to buy Oz stuff!
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I've got the vanagon fever

[Slate]

Comments removed by poster.

[240Gordy]

You should start a new topic for that
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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

[Dave0730]

Hi,

I am about to under take this conversion and I have seen a link to your email address in relation to purchasing a kit for when i do my conversion. I would be really grateful if you could let me know prices and delivery costs.
This system is awesome and I would love it on my van.
Thanks.

[wyldryce]

Reviving this old thread, and posting some details of my build that might be helpful to those who have a Kennedy (KEP) conversion. I have an 85/86 with a KEP kitted EJ22, installed by a prior owner. Stock VW gearbox works...well, like a stock Vanagon tranny. Fine, but not great...balky shifting compared to a modern box, and screams along at 4000-4200 at 75mph freeway cruising. So for my needs out here in the big west, A suby trans made sense.

After ordering tranny through subarugears and being in touch with Dclymer (Dave) for a while we pulled the trigger and he delivered me a top-notch piece of kit. There is obvious love put into the construction of this kit...the quality is top notch.

As the van had already been converted and I foolishly parted with the studs that likely would have made my conversion easier when I sold the KEP adapter plate, I instead used 10x1.25 bolts, roughly 90mm long I think. You may find that on an earlier EJ22 vs an EJ25, when you use a late model 5MT (mines a 2009 I think) there may not be a provision to mount the starter easily. The engine side has one boss for for the through bolt, but the newer trans doesn't have a stud in place in the lower position, the way that older subaru trans' seemed to have. A simple helicoil into the tranny and threading in a stud solved that issue.



On to the Kennedy crossbar/cradle. In mounting it up, I found that when the front tranny mount was bolted to the body crossmember, the kennedy crossmember holed were about a 1/2" shy of lining up with the motor mount studs on the engine. The simplest option was to drop the cradle, and using a rat-tail file and dremel with stone, elongate the holes to about 15/16" in length to allow the engine to shift forward slightly. No need to shift the whole KEP cradle forward.

Final hurdle I'm still dealing with, is that the KEP header is tucked up quite tightly around the engine and tranny, but was designed to work with the VW box, and fouls on the bottom of the Suby box. Current solution is that I've ordered another set of EJ22/25 exhaust flanges (1/2" thick) and gaskets, in an attempt to create enough clearance to avoid modifying the exhaust or the tranny. Will know in a week or so when the flanges show up.

As a side note, the tranny as built by the US builder for Subarugears has a sight glass installed, which is fortunate, because they ran in on a test stand/bench after completion, and I would have (wrongly) assumed that it had oil still in it. The sight glass seems to indicate otherwise, yet there was NO INDICATION OF ANY KIND on the tranny or in the shipping crate that oil was needed prior to service. That should be addressed in future customer builds to avoid someone torching their brand new trans.

[0cean]

[wyldryce]

I went with the 4.44:1 to be better able to pull grades with the Westy weight. At $430 for the Small Car header + more $$ for the cat and a muffler, it makes sense for me to try and make my perfectly functional KEP exhaust work. A prior owner had it ceramic coated, and though the coating has started to fail, the exhaust has held up pretty well. I think gaining an additional 1/2" with the flanges ought to get the job done, assuming I can get it all to seal.

When I first purchased the rig, the exhaust had seen better days, and clearly it was an early KEP header, as there was no slip joint in the middle of the long run from one head to the other. It had fractured at the right side collector as a result of the stress and vibration. My local muffler guy in White Center welded up the collector and welded in a flex joint. Should be good for quite a while, though I'll need to get it coated now that I'm moving to the Mid Atlantic (though it will be garaged and wont be winter driven). Looking forward to a good speed sensor setup...had been contemplating using a speedo driven one, but will utilize the tranny sensor now.

[D Clymer]

Thanks for the kind words about my installation kit, Ross. It makes me very happy to see installations like yours coming together so well.

Your idea of using loose header flanges to space the header down is a good one. I actually did this very same thing on my original prototype. There was minor interference with the early Smallcar header I had and I bought some extra flanges from them, double gasketed them, and then bolted up the header. The studs were actually long enough (just barely), so I didn't replace them. It's still holding up five years later. I'm not sure if this will give enough extra clearance for the KEP header because I've never mounted one, but the spacer concept will work.

Dave

[wyldryce]

A little update:
Still haven't put many miles on her yet, as I am packing the house like a mad-man to go on the market this Wednesday, and working out details to get us moved to Maryland. ANYWAY. Took it for a spin about 25 miles last night to pick up a few pieces of staging furniture.

MAN. What a difference. This shifts are crisp (for a Vanagon) and positive. Clutch action feels beautiful. The gearing recommendations I received from Dave are SPOT ON. If you have a full Westy, I STRONGLY urge you to go 4.44:1 if you have a 2.2L. Honestly, I would still recommend that even with a 2.5L. If you've got a 3.3L or Turbo Suby then I would go with the taller 4.11 gearing. 1st through 3rd are great, with no giant hole between 2n'd and 3rd as before. 4th is a cruiser gear for flat land 40mph and up. 3rd pulls willingly from as low as 2k. As is, 4th is pretty similar to my old VW 4th, if ever so slightly shorter (Stock 14" w/ 25.9" diameter). On my 2.2L, if you can't be turning >3200 or so RPM, you are gonna start losing steam on any incline in 5th.

I took a storming run up the SR 509 hill on the way home (decent climb for about 2.5mi) an it would hold between 75-80 in 5th. To my horror as I neared the top of the hill, I looked in the rearview mirror to see a mosquito fogging worthy cloud behind me. In a panic I jerked it over to the shoulder and shut down. Climbing underneath I confirmed what my nose was telling me: Gear oil being spit out the vent tube and getting on the exhaust.

I can't really confirm how "empty" Subarugears California builder got the tranny before shipping, but I went by the general specs I found online showing a 4L capacity. There is a sightglass installed on the tranny, but after adding the 4th liter, I did note that oil completely filled the sight glass. So I'm likely a bit overfull. I'll suck a bit out and see how it does.

Overall...I'm loving it...though I'd love another 100 ponies.

[Sodo]

[Jac25]

Can you post pics of the flanges spacing KEP header? Also where did you purchase them? Thanks

[wyldryce]