My Ecotec swap into Baja Bug Thread.

[turbodon1776]

Decided to make the switch and thought I'd document it along the way in hopes that other people interested in doing this swap can get an idea of cost & work involved.

I'm a die hard VW guy so it was hard to ween off the ol' aircooled VW engine.
The former power plant was a 2276 type1 that I built.
Ran good, made good power and never gave me any problems.
But I still had to do my fair share of tinkering with it and deal with the hiccups and sputters in the bigger bumps.

I Bought a used 2.4L LE5 Ecotec with MEFI 5 Computer and Humphrey Harness off of a Class 10 race team for $1400.
They were stepping up to the newest direct injected variant of the ecotec that makes more power. (Reportedly 20-30 more hp)

So Far Here's some cost breakdown
$1,400 2.4 Ecotec with ECU and Harness (race-dezert.com)

$112 Solstice Harmonic Balancer pulley w/ accessory drive for Power
Steering. (New, Amazon)
$30 Used Pierburg Fuel Pump for EFI. (craigslist)
$50 Used GM typeII Power steering pump w/ pulley (Swapmeet)
$20 Used Chevy Cobalt Gas pedal (Fly by wire, All steel for easy
modification/ integration into buggy)
$534 Kennedy Adapter plate to 091 VW (Moore Parts.com)
$62 Daikan HD 200mm Clutch Disk. (pacific customs)
$134 Stainless Cavalier Tri-Y Header. China's Finest (Ebay)
$32 Single Chamber Muffler. Flowmaster China knockoff (Ebay)
$40 2'' and 2.5'' L-bends ands U-bends to build rest of exhaust (B&C ind)
$18 (5)Bosch style relays for fuel pump fans ign etc for ecotec. (ebay)

So Far that's all I've purchased. And if my Math is right that's
$2,432

I still need:
Lots of fuel plumbing hose and fittings.
Fuel pressure regulator.
Upgraded flywheel bolts. (The ones in Kennedy Kit look Cheap)
Radiator Shroud & Fans
Radiator plumbing matl.
Water temp gauge & sender
New oil pressure gauge & sender ( old gauge maxes at 80psi. Ecotec is
suposed to make 80-90 under normal driving condition.)
Steel for rear engine mounts.
And more I'm sure.

During the swap I also added a little extra work of building a new more modern looking rear bumper/cage, moved front seats forward, adding junior sized bucket seats in the rear, and building new fuel tank to fit under and behind front seats.

Here are some pics.
Feel free to ask questions or add input.
_________________
Donald Michaelson

had a bad ass car but it has departed

2276 Turbo motor
fk87
superflo heads
490HP
9.56 ET

now I clunk around in a 65 baja bug
Chevy Ecotec Engine
091 trans
coilovers, bypasses and all the fun $tuff

[turbodon1776]

The Car.
65 Baja

The ol' VW engine.
Sold it for $2,00 turnkey 2 weeks ago

Ecotec engine shoved into the car.

Had to cut the firewall to make it fit!

_________________
Donald Michaelson

had a bad ass car but it has departed

2276 Turbo motor
fk87
superflo heads
490HP
9.56 ET

now I clunk around in a 65 baja bug
Chevy Ecotec Engine
091 trans
coilovers, bypasses and all the fun $tuff

[turbodon1776]

Made a power steering bracket out of pieces of angle iron.

PRP "Booster" Bucket seat install under way

_________________
Donald Michaelson

had a bad ass car but it has departed

2276 Turbo motor
fk87
superflo heads
490HP
9.56 ET

now I clunk around in a 65 baja bug
Chevy Ecotec Engine
091 trans
coilovers, bypasses and all the fun $tuff

[turbodon1776]

The ebay header

Working on the new engine cage last weekend

Hoping the final product looks something like this. With the paneling and air screens.

_________________
Donald Michaelson

had a bad ass car but it has departed

2276 Turbo motor
fk87
superflo heads
490HP
9.56 ET

now I clunk around in a 65 baja bug
Chevy Ecotec Engine
091 trans
coilovers, bypasses and all the fun $tuff

[ORANGECRUSHer]

good luck on the build. I like your taste on the engine cage.
Have you heard anything about gear changes being needed with 091's when converting. I thought I would be doing never ending wheelies after I put in my 2.4 but it ended up being the opposite to my surprise. First gear barely gets it moving. I wonder if I got something wrong with my clutch? Reverse feels good though.
_________________
Brian H.

OrangeCrushERBerrien Warrior-2.4L Quad4-2x3 arms-1.5Fox coilovers-094-930CVs
LAZY MARY1970 Baja 2110cc-82mm CB forged crank-AA pistons/cylinders-Grant rings-1.1 vw rockers-CB serpkit-CB chromoly PRs-CB maxiflow filter pump-wix51515 filter-Dual 44IDF-cut/turned front beam-AEM wideband-Auber CHT

[turbodon1776]

Couple progress pics...
Little bit of exhaust work this afternoon:

_________________
Donald Michaelson

had a bad ass car but it has departed

2276 Turbo motor
fk87
superflo heads
490HP
9.56 ET

now I clunk around in a 65 baja bug
Chevy Ecotec Engine
091 trans
coilovers, bypasses and all the fun $tuff

[1fastbigguy]

Nice work! You will enjoy the smooth power of the ecotec.

Welcome to the Wet Side!
_________________
Cheers!

59 Ragtop
61 Ragtop Baja
69 Squareback

@Dustydrone
#Ohibaja

Our Build
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545394

[no1clyde]

I like your cage, I built one kind of like it a couple of weeks ago.

I am going to move mine in a little more after I get the exhaust done.

Ed

[turbodon1776]

^^^ Yeah they do look a lot alike. I'd be interested to see how the final product came out with your radiator and mounting.

I'm in a toss up between running a jeep cherokee radiator in the rear (35'' x11.5'')or mounting a radiator up front under the fiberglass.

Going to get back at it today.
Time to torque the flywheel with the ARP bolts i got, install the clutch and pressure plate (Kennedy Stage2 with HD Daikan Disk.) Get the engine back in and finalize the rear seat mounting! pics likely to follow
_________________
Donald Michaelson

had a bad ass car but it has departed

2276 Turbo motor
fk87
superflo heads
490HP
9.56 ET

now I clunk around in a 65 baja bug
Chevy Ecotec Engine
091 trans
coilovers, bypasses and all the fun $tuff

[brooksinc1976]

cool build. Got my 4 seater on the back burner till I decide to pull the trigger on the same.

[turbodon1776]

Little progress shot:

Went with a Jeep Cherokee Aluminum radiator, reconfigured the inlet & outlet and made an aluminum fan shroud for it.

Engine wise everything is about wrapped up and will be moving on to wiring and fuel system soon.
_________________
Donald Michaelson

had a bad ass car but it has departed

2276 Turbo motor
fk87
superflo heads
490HP
9.56 ET

now I clunk around in a 65 baja bug
Chevy Ecotec Engine
091 trans
coilovers, bypasses and all the fun $tuff

[turbodon1776]

Got the car running.
Liking the Ecotec power so far, Also love the sound with the Tri-Y header and single chamber muffler.
Cant wait to get this thing out to the desert.

_________________
Donald Michaelson

had a bad ass car but it has departed

2276 Turbo motor
fk87
superflo heads
490HP
9.56 ET

now I clunk around in a 65 baja bug
Chevy Ecotec Engine
091 trans
coilovers, bypasses and all the fun $tuff

[1fastbigguy]

Nice job on the installation! I think you are really going to like the smooth power delivery off-road and the fuel injection is great at any elevation.

We are running a different header and muffler so the car is very quite under 3000 rpm's but from 3k to redline she is a whole different animal!
_________________
Cheers!

59 Ragtop
61 Ragtop Baja
69 Squareback

@Dustydrone
#Ohibaja

Our Build
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545394

[LoopyAg02]

Great build. What was your final cost for the engine swap?

Seems more economical than the CB engine builder kit (2110), plus smoother more reliable power.

[Cul-tech]

Nice Build, you do good work.

I love the wing by the way.
_________________
I'm just trying to recreate my RC buggy's as a kid to a real life buggy.