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My middie
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Energy Concepts
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Location: Yacolt, WA
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Todd,

Great Information! Thanks !

To me, this conversion just makes way more sense!
It may not be the turn key Subbie conversions possible
But for someone that can fabricate & weld etc.
So much smoother ride! (Power and Mileage !

I'm just to the point where I don't want to pump the clutch
and do all of that shifting anymore.
I'll leave the Subbie 5 speeds to the kids Surprised)
and I was looking at 5-6K to re-do my 3sp Auto.
(of course that was with re-build, Turbo Upgrade, LSD, lower R&P.)
And in the end, I still would have that noisy, antiquated 3sp?
A Matched 4 speed auto is the ticket, in my mind. At least for me! Surprised)

Silly as it sounds the back seat is a concern to me.
It's got to still fold up & down.
I too use a couple of Mondo Thermarest air mattress's on top
So I don't mind if the seat is even 6 inches forward of stock position.
(it seems I'm always hitting the rear hatch with my feet, and I'm not tall Surprised)

Wiring is of major concern I'm way more mechanical than an EE for sure.
Although I did do my own Kennedy Wiring harness back in the mid ninety's,
that's about the extent of my skills. Surprised

I will do the seals, pumps & gaskets for sure.

I have a 2.5 on the Samba that I re-sealed.
I have 1K just in re-seal parts. Oil pumps, water pumps, head gaskets, head bolts,
New Timing Belt, Timing Belt Idler Pulleys, Timing Belt Tensioner etc.

I'm hoping that I can sell my WBX'er & Subbie engines to help fund this project.
It would be nice to roll out the old before I get too involved with the new
but we'll see.

Thanks for your kind offer to help!
I'm sure I'll have more than a few questions! ;o)
Although, I'm studying your Middie write up and you really did an excellent, bang up job with your descriptions and pictures !!!

Thanks again,
John


Last edited by Energy Concepts on Tue Jan 13, 2015 3:18 pm; edited 7 times in total
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sorry for the delay--I was up in the forest for a week and inet is a bit of a mystery-- The 97 trep or concorde or any other lh sedan is THE CHOICE for the first gen conversion. low miles and a gentle owner is also preferred. I bought my #2 donor, a 97 trep with 45k miles and an elderly couple as po's.
I resealed the injectors and the top/front of the engine and she is real strong. I was interested in the second gen high output 3.5 [1998-2001] but the cats are on the manifolds and require a clearancing where the van's frame is.

the blue hose is the return line and those screens are real important--If you have any trouble with an old tank, a new one is only 150.00, last time I checked. that for a clean tank, in n out. I put one in an 87 Wolfsburg I sold just to say I changed all the fuel lines-- and the old tank had a hole in it.

I am having a new design tank made --actually two with an added 8 gallons made of 1/8" 6061-t6 aluminum for the conversion. I have the oe modified tank aside which is great for certifications.
I'm getting back to photo capability after January--
Ah Chuey-- I wish I had talked with you more.. pm me anytime
and YES-this is a one of a kind installation in a vanagon. This power kit has been used in new for sale street legal indy style cars, a sand car, a single place off road racer and a 24 hours of lemons home built tubular racer in Canada. They also install this kit in the lesharo Winnebago motorhome , replacing the Renault kit it came with-- S-works in Bozeman Montana installs them and they state it will always bring you home.
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Energy Concepts
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 7:17 am    Post subject: 3.5 LHS CONVERSION II Reply with quote

Idea

Last edited by Energy Concepts on Tue Feb 17, 2015 2:23 pm; edited 8 times in total
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 6:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

She looks great-- is that the lhs model or is it a concorde? the new Yorker and lhs were larger cars than the concorde, vision and intrepid. I am very into making your efforts worth the conversion, and I spun a rod bearing with 175000miles on, so it isn't that much more trouble to take her down, polish the crank and re-bearing the bottom end-- a head rework will do wonders, although the cams just need polishing when they have roller followers, the rockers are over 600. a pair, and really don't need replacing. I replaced mine before I learned of the rod bearing. they have a very durable reputation.
a melling oil pump at autozone was 160 in January 2014 and is now over 200,00. I have one for my trep waiting. Its the only thing on the front I didn't replace. the belt is 35 bucks and the spring loaded tensioner is 105,00, but it too has a bulletproof rep, so I reused mine and it is fine.
I made sure I replaced all oil/water O-rings with Viton, not buna. the Viton kits in the red plastic case is 90.00 now and the buna are 20.00. they are Chinese buna and crack after a week. I also use ISO hose clamps, doubled on most everything- the slotted ss clamps from china that are everywhere just don't stay tight and produce drips.
this is blowing my mind that someone else wants to do this too. Since this is my first pioneering inet project, its no wonder I am ignorant of its scope/reach.
keep me posted. thanks john this is super cool
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the 1970 dodge and ford vans used the 90* brake booster bracket, but they also had a lot more room there. I am without a shop presently or I would mock something up. It seems the vanagon's environmental systems are so customized to use that space that it was just one project too many for me.
you look like you are on the right trail though.
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 11:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have two aluminum fuel cells made for alternate power vanagons, like mine, for one example. since all the 1990 + power kits require a top loading fuel cell, this configuration will be the norm for electronically controlled models. this will work for the LH and LS power options. I added 6" to the sides to get me over 300 miles of range. the steel tank has 260, and I get stuck at grapevine buying fuel every time [the most expensive gas in calif.]
this was the prefit
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and the weld up
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I clipped the front corners to clear the front wheel wells, and moved the filler outside the frame.
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my old pal at metalcraft industries in Huntington beach is a top notch tigger and fabricator--rod Osborn

I am planning for a GM based conversion over the next 2 years-- Its an L33 V8 commonly known as an LS v8 with a 5-DS25 ZF 5 speed transaxle. the LS is 6" longer than my v6 and 2" lower. its a Camaro engine from the late 1990's so I can score the cm and smog equipment with it. It should be a pretty exciting configuration, and the top gear could deliver mileage in the upper 20's due to the 300+ foot lbs of torque. This is not a smoggable configuration due to the transaxle, but in plumas county, I don't need to smog my stuff anymore due to low population.
peace!


Last edited by thummmper on Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:04 am    Post subject: my new digs Reply with quote

this is where I moved to--meadow valley, California republic.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

its 104 years old, all wood and needs wiring, plumbing and insulation. I'm having at it.
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dhaavers
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2015 6:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

^^^ And easy highway access... Wink Laughing Laughing
http://plumasnews.com/index.php/13164-meadow-valle...ring-place

Love this thread & your build - showin' us how it's done!

- Dave
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

time to install it--21 gallons--1/8" 6061-t6 alyoominium
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and with 100 miles on, it runs flawlessly....so far.
I leave north to home 560 miles away. It will be interesting to see.
up until now I thought I had a 30 mile reserve when the low fuel light came on, but I took over 4 gallons out of the steel tank, which is at least 80 miles, and this new tank has an even broader base.


Last edited by thummmper on Fri May 01, 2015 7:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 10:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just put 20 gallons of fuel in it and what did I smell?
NOTHING
and what leaked out?
NOTHING
It's sitting overnight absolutely full without a drop of leakage tonight..
this is my revenge against the oe design....
1.5" hose is fuel rated and only available at NAPA at 2.00 per foot. parker doesn't even have it..what lame--ohs....
http://stopthepirates.blogspot.com/
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Von Vanagon
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very Happy

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Steve M.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have you thought about a steel skid plate under that aluminum tank? Just curious!
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chazz79
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ouch...the time you have in that tank has to be massive.
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 3:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

the labor for layout, shearing and tigging is 550.00 each. the material for both was 300.00. I also spent a day and another 60.00 machining the pump rings where it seals down on the top for both tanks. I had two made.
problem with this design is easy filling when the gas pump has clear filters, but it clicks a lot with clogged pump gas filters.
I get this clicking off problem with other 'normal' vehicles, so bottom loading isn't an issue.
The E needle hits the peg and I still have 150 miles of fuel. It costs 70.00 to fill it up--21 gallons and its almost 400 miles of range. I can make it to Stockton from orange county with less than a gallon left, but with such a broad base, It might fail on a hill. I like it better than the smaller tanks, and I was able to cut and use the plastic vanagon filler.
I will have inet this Friday via dish satellite--if that screws up I'll get Verizon.
when I have the other tank made, I will make the bottom out of 1/4 " aluminum. I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
I can't get around the plunge below the engine and trans-- the trans pan actually sits an inch lower than the engine pan, which is why I nosed it down slightly.
I am considering another totally different conversion/ donor candidate for my 90 tinny [oxblood color with the 2.2 suby conversion]. the donor will be a 2000 Camaro with an all aluminum 5.7L LS3. I will endeavor to simplify the systems aboard, so I am researching midengined transaxles. its either going to be the ZF 5d-25 or the corvette aft transaxle. I like the compactness of the ZF, and that its an inline differential german box, non sequential unlike the English dog shift grand prix boxes, but because the gt40 guys are snapping up all the rebuilt boxes, only a new box will be available, and at 12.5 grand my curiosity will be sorely tested. but the torque will be unparalleled. torque = lower rpms at cruising hwy speed. I could get upper twenties in mileage with it, and it would be somewhat badass.


Last edited by thummmper on Fri May 01, 2015 7:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLBDqchND0s
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 9:58 pm    Post subject: Re: My middie Reply with quote

February seems so long ago now--the "having at" this old gas station sums up this season to 700 wheel barrel sized loads of dirt removed from under for access, simply to be able to crawl on my hands and knees. I used a cut off garden claw, cut off shovel and a long hoe plus a pick and worked from February last to just three weeks ago and the backyard is two feet higher now as well.
last week I decided to stop alongside the 8 mile road to town and pickup the summer garbage from the lake tourists and on my last stop vanny began to overheat so I shut her down and she boiled over, bursting the coolant burp tank [dorman brand replacement] on the side of the road. turns out I didn't have enough coolant in her-with a big air bubble in the radiator.
an hour later she started right up and I parked her at the ranch, my new digs in the valley. neighbors land I helped out with a trench last month.
I have a new bottle on order so I will still be able to drive her down.
I kept digging out rotten beams and my bedroom was hanging in space, so I deviated for a month and repaired beams and poured a 22 foot stemwall using 50 8lb concrete sacks. now shes level and like a rock. I repiped her with abs drains and pex water supply. I was able to shower and wash dishes by the end of april.
then I aluminum screened all the smart meters on my block [5] and can now opt out on the two headache-makers on this building.
taking it easy as the build season is done, and any moisture in the soil under the station is frozen now, but I also got all five piers poured and 3 of those jacked leveled and blocked. Ill do the other two in the spring.
the work is so strenuous that 6 hours a day was enough. I sustained injuries like bad shoulder and tennis elbow, so I hope to nurse them away.
lately I am researching radiant floor heating for next year. busy and cold up here, but nice.
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 1:16 am    Post subject: Re: My middie Reply with quote

Impressive! You've got quite the grit and determination to get all that accomplished! Applause
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 1:51 pm    Post subject: Re: My middie Reply with quote

this week I am clearing out an ancient big beam shed with tin roof and preparing a concrete floor to move my junk into for a cool labor exchange without cash rent. more cash for my land purchase next year. all this so I can put vanny on stands and use a creeper once again. just a quarter mile down the road from the old gas station. a 1958 oliver 550 front loader tractor is at my disposal now. grader on back or a 12" auger for footings, etc. the owner wants me to build a berm shelter on site and it will be good practice for lightning ranch. I'll have a service bay once again by summer '16.
my van purrs like a kitten--I'll be posting a video on that subject coming up--does anyone know of a good place to post a viddy BESIDES yoootooob?
I'm coming to hate them--well, I don't really hate them, I just......don't..........want them.............. to.........................................live.
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 02, 2015 11:01 am    Post subject: Re: My middie Reply with quote

just found this of a 1990's Toyota previa I was going to do the same treatment to, but the instrument cluster was the stopper--
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the spare swapped places with an inline four that was laying down
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thummmper
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 11:24 pm    Post subject: Re: My middie Reply with quote

Maritime disaster!! titanic strikes iceberg in meadow valley!!
I came to this cool little pine forest valley a year ago after dropping in from a recon to Idaho, and my last remaining step sister invited me to stay. I thought why not--she had just bought an 104 year old gas station and it needed MAJOR foundation work, just for starters.
this is a vanagon story and warren--which is the name of the ghost I came to be friends with who owned it from 47 to 06. he raised his children in the apartment I lived in for a year, during the sixties. warren jung was a multi faceted fella. he sold gas to the lakesters in the summer, and had a pharmacy [like old doc gauher], hunting and fishing licenses, ran a general store, a grocerie with a meat locker, did peoples taxes and had a soda jerk.

Sis has a 89 westy and a 90 syncro I did extensive maintenance work on, including the too short power steering belt wire harness short and burn repair that wasn't ending at the electricians in town until I cracked a Bentley open and helped him cut to the chase. at 250 a week for 3 months he wasn't getting his sea legs in vanagons and I still had to rebundle the harness so it would fit back into the plug box again. then the clutch cylinder went out and the clevis was oblong and about to fail--with welding and clevis replacement its back on the road for winter with the stud tires on put on for her on a moments notice and straitened a tire bead after she drove over a wedge of firewood that fell out of someone's truck on the road...and attended to her alignment on the same day last month--
and the 10 months of hard digging labor under her gas station to place 22 feet of concrete stem wall and 5 bulky concrete piers under a rotten wet wall, and the entire replacement of the drain and supply water system.
I was donating my labor as a good will effort which exceeded 22k and the materials I spent out of pocket are 8k, which 4700 is still outstanding.

I had problems with her wife..a big mouthed heavy woman, difficult to be around that demands respect but knows nothing of how to inspire it--and a sister who politicked me with statements like "I want you to feel safe here"

what an illusion--I have been duped by my last surviving relative--I have tendonitis in both shoulders and elbows and cessation of heavy work is the only cure--having done yet another favor to the haircut and fatmouth by storing their washer for 11 months, and delivering it to another rental they own, and fatty calls me, which sis told her not to do-demanding I move the washer and I told her she was lucky to see it again and I am disabled w/o a hand truck goodbye and I hung up--good ol safe haven sis gives me 30 days to GET OUT 20 days before Christmas in a region that is dominated by college students with no vacancies--I told her I was snowbirding south until march one, and she has me staying after the heating oil ran out trying to build shelves in my storage unit with a gererator that has a failed obsolete fuel pump---its a living hell because of two fratophobic lesbians I thought I was helping--I earned the years rent in February--I was supposed to stay at least two years---but I wont have to sleep 8' from two smart meters anymore, or deal with a Gilligan-like mentally ill nephew they installed in the attic who thinks he is a top electrician [pothead loser]

dear lord--I had a bad start in 2015--but my vanny is running like a top--anyday now we could get snowed in and I don't have studs--I wasn't planning on being here this late in December--Its like Christmas is ruined and my sister died. that's the problem with the forest--you can't just go burn down someones house like down on the good old flatlands---[joke]
tomorrow I am a kohler mechanic--


Last edited by thummmper on Tue Dec 15, 2015 12:06 am; edited 1 time in total
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