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Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:23 pm

Well, I have been busy lately. Not only do I have my own projects under way but I have also started a 3.3 Conversion for a fellow Samba member.

The engine is a Subaru SVX 3.3 and it is going into a '86 Syncro. I'm using a reversed coolant manifold from East Coast Vanagon (great guys), wiring, engine mount and exhaust header from SmallCar, and a bellhousing conversion from RJES (Richard at RJES is super helpful too).

So here we go with the pictures.

I got the sorry old lump pulled today and got the engine compartment and the gearbox cleaned up. What a mess!

Hey, that hole isn't supposed to be there! There is a chunk of connecting rod laying just to the side of the hole out of the picture.

The gearbox came out pretty clean. The RJES bellhousing replaces the original bellhousing so I didn't bother cleaning it.

THe nice thing about he RJES kit is that it allows you to use the Subaru starter, flywheel, pressure plate and throwout bearing. The bellhousing is one nice piece of engineering. The kit comes with everything that you need (not including the stock Subaru parts) including a very detailed instructional cd. This is the RJES "Turbo" kit that used a pull type clutch from a Subaru. I am VERY impressed so far.

Here is the Subaru WRX flywheel, pressure plate and throwout bearing along with a CB Performance "Heavy Duty" 228mm Bus clutch disk.

That's it for now. Next I will be installing the bellhousing a putting together the upper end of the engine.

Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:55 pm

nice van....
I'm anxious to see how the 6 works out for you....I think I've talked to you on the phone....

Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:16 am

Hello, I am plannig to do the same conversion on my 86 Syncro. Do you have to modify the engine bay in any way when using the bell housing instead of and adapter plate? Can you use the starter from the 3.3 or do you have to get one from a manual trans Subaru ? Good luck on your conversion I am waiting on an engine and some more cash.
Chuck

Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:31 am

Man, I wish I would have found the bell housing when I did my 3.3 conversion. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Wed Mar 28, 2007 10:08 am

O.K. Chris let me know when you can come and do mine, I'll put you up and you have access to all my tools.

Wed Mar 28, 2007 10:51 am

Dang, I really need to start looking around for a 2.2 motor and start my own conversion.

sigh.........someday :|

Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:53 am

Looking good. I want to do this covversion on my 90 Carat. I will be following your progress closely. :D

Wed Mar 28, 2007 12:15 pm

charlesnj wrote: Do you have to modify the engine bay in any way when using the bell housing instead of and adapter plate? Can you use the starter from the 3.3 or do you have to get one from a manual trans Subaru ? Chuck

The RJES bellhousing is almost identical in length to the original VW bellhousing so the only length that is lost is that of the adapter which is about 1/2". At this point, I'm not sure of what all I will need to do to gain clearance at the throttle bodies but I surely take pictures and post them.

You can't use the 3.3 starter since it is for the automatic. You have to find a manual starter out of a '99-up (I think) Subaru. Subaru used two different starters, a gear ruduction styule which is quite large, and a normal direct drive which is really small. Since this is a Syncro and space around the starter is tight due to the fuel tank, I chose to use the direct drive unit.

Houston, we have a problem! I drained the fluid out of the gearbox this morning and look what I found:

The fluid looks pretty discusting too.

I think that we're takin' a trip to see Daryl at AA Transaxle. Oh my, always something. But hey, better to find this out now than to have to pull it apart after the conversion is done.

Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:48 pm

Chris,

That ain't so bad what you see on the drain plug magnet. The gear oil seems odd, though. Like it had water in it. Since it is out and apart, it don't hurt to go through the box. That SVX is going to push the hell out of the box, so it needs to in superior shape.

-W

Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:11 pm

I'd say that's excessive wear (likely R&P), and that the color of the trans oil suggests that it hasn't been changed in ages.

Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:56 pm

This is a pic of my drain bolt out of my '87 manual 2WD tranny after changing over to full synthetic gear oil. My tranny has 215k miles at this point shown. It doesn't appear to have nearly the amount of shavings, and my old gear oil was like Texas tea, only VERY fine glimmer of silver in the drain off. :?

My tranny shift quite smooth with no probs so far, good luck, hope it isn't a big issue. :wink:

Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:04 pm

r39o wrote: The gear oil seems odd, though. Like it had water in it.

That milky color in the color is actually fine metallic powder. All glittery and pritty!

The owner claimed that there was a slight high frequency grumble or vibration in the drivetrain. Maybe the r&p or bearings? Who knows, it seems like it's time for a rebuild any way you look at it.

Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:53 pm

How much was it to get the bell housing from RJES? They are in England correct?

Sat Mar 31, 2007 12:49 pm

wolfsburged wrote: How much was it to get the bell housing from RJES? They are in England correct?

We are using the "Turbo" version of the bellhousing which costs £540 ($1062 right now). The "N/A" version costs £470 ($925 right now). The Turbo version costs more because it requires a newly fabricated clutch slave cylinder and a modified cross shaft. I ordered two of these bellhousings at the same time so I don't know how much shipping would be on just one. I do know that the shipping was lightning fast. I had them at my door in 3 days.......... from the UK!!! Great service I think.

If you email RJES about the shipping, he is good about returning emails.

We are at a bit of a standstill right now as we are having Darryl at AA Transaxle rebuild the ailing gearbox. I'll hopfully have it back in a week or so and I can get moving on it again..

Sat Mar 31, 2007 1:08 pm

that's such a cool bellhousing =drool=

Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:02 pm

Darryl at AA called today to tell me that the gearbox is done. I'll pick that up tomorrow. We had him put in a 1.18 3rd, a 0.77 4th and a SA intermediate housing. Should be nice with the torque of the 3.3. Oh, and the shards of metal ended up being the remains of two loose bolts that were bouncing around inside the box.

I had to replace EVERY hose, vacuum, fuel and other, on the engine. Not that it's a bad thing but man there are a lot of them on a 3.3. Most of them Subaru specific as well. You can also see the reversed coolant manifold from Vanaru.

I am going to be using the SVX Vapor Canister in place of the original Vanagon unit. This will simplify the routing of the tubing. In addition to this, I plan on removing the maze of related hard lines that are bundled with others under the manifold and replacing them with one hard line from the Purge Valve. This will eliminate the three existing lines, which are not really in the correct position to be efficient, with one line that will be placed in a position that will keep the engine compartment clean and keep the hose a short as possible.

Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:10 pm

MAN ! that is one sweet hunk of stuff ! I hope your keeping notes ! you may be doing this again next summer.
=P~

Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:56 pm

Made some progress on the engine yesterday. If your familiar with the Vanagon/Subaru conversion, you might know that it is easier to use the Subaru charcoal canister for the vapor recovery system than it is to integrate the original Vanagon canister to the SUbaru engine. The Subaru canister only has two connections, one that goes to the fuel tank vent and one that goes to the purge valve. Subaru uses a somewhat elaborate tubing system under the intake manifold that integrates the fuel rail feed tubes and the vapor recovery tubes all welded into a neet package. This works great for the Subaru but ends up being a bit clumbsy in the Vanagon.

I decided to remove the original vapor recovery tubing (three tubes in all) and replace it with just one tube that is placed in a convenient place in which to hook up to the charcoal canister.

Here are some pictures of what I did.

This is the front fuel rail feed tube with the two vapor recovery tubes attached and removed.

This is the rear fuel rail feed tubes with one vapor recovery tube attached and removed.

Here is the newly fabricated tube welded in place.

And here it is as it exits from under the manifold. Much cleaner I think.

This is the fuel inlet and return with the vapor recovery tube removed.

Here's the SmallCar engine mount installed. Not a lot of grip area under those bolts, eh? No washer are supplied with the kit so I added them under the bolt heads to help increase the grip area.

The Vanaru shortened oil pan comes powder coated and is pretty darn nice.

Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:37 pm

That pan is teh SeX as some people would say.......

Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:29 am

Where do you live so I can buy the house next door and have you come over and help me out with my toys...Man do you do nice work.

sean