TheSamba.com :: View topic - Bad Bad Leroy Brown Gets some more huevos.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:25 pm

This will be my build thread. Hopefully I can post some photos to document the process.

My wife Charla and I bought Leroy Brown in late September 2011 in non running condition for the paltry sum of $1550. Here he sits longing for attention.

A hairy trip on the tow truck and he's at his new home

Time to evict the spiders and see what I've gotten us into

Next up: bringing the 2.0 to life!

Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:34 pm

First up was figuring out where everything was supposed to go. A friend had told me about TheSamba and I dove in with the awesome search feature and started replacing all of the safety bits like fuel lines and such.

Then came tires, shocks, and CV boots to round out the rolling side. Time for a test drive to boulder.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of work went into repairs and I did start one little electrical fire with a re-man alternator having a too long stud. :lol3

Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:49 pm

After the successful trip of 60 miles to Boulder and back home the next logical step was a trip to northern New Mexico to ride at a motorcycle trials event. I didn't want to press my luck, so I had a friend haul our bikes.

No real drama to report other than a serious lack of power when loaded for camping climbing LaVeta pass at 11,000'. I almost needed second gear near the top, and I started thinking...

I love the bus and the pace change from everyday life, but with two growing boys and pulling a trailer, we would be a hazard on the road for other motorists. The camping set-up was, however, ideal.

I gave the type 4 a chance to show me what it could do in the foothills at a later trials event and was underwhelmed. Not impossible, but very slow and no doubt hard on the engine. It got us there and back (hello second gear again). Coolest set up in the paddock however, all kids flock to this camp.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:05 pm

Man sweet price ! Can't believe you paid so little and drove so far already.
You're correct though, It's not the right vehicle for you if you need to pull motorcycles and all .Kids growing up ...I guess I can help you out and take it off your hands :wink:

Great that you can drive it on such a long trip with no worries ! Lucky you!

Thanks for the pictures and the story :D

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:09 pm

Along comes Craigslist: WTT air cooled 2.0 for jetta engine currently in my baja.

Off to the internet for more info gathering, looking at photos and pondering the swap. Subaru is nice, but here in the Rockies, hard to find a cheap used engine. I looked at Mr. Unpopulars Ecotec thread, but was concerned with junkyard sparsity as well. I did find about a million VW jettas and golfs of various vintages, so the decision was made and I headed out to do the swap.
So long, type 4. Have fun in the baja.

Hello sexy new 2.0

Curiosity got the better of me and I had to mock it into place after stripping it down to a more manageable lump.

It sort of fit and the overall height was all right, but the coolant neck would require a serious fuel tank mod, something I'm unwilling to do.
Back to The Samba for more recon along with VWVortex and others to see if I hadn't just made a huge mistake.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:21 pm

Now the fun starts. I need a ton of parts for a head/ECU swap. A few hours in the junkyard and $138.00 dollars later I came home with a head, harness, airbox, intake and exhaust manifolds from a 1990 GTI.

I talked to an old school converter who told me to cut the hatch and thank him everytime I have to work on the engine. Thus, the cRaSHhole was born.

While I was in the mood for cutting shit up, I "flipped" a section of firewall for more clearance near the head. I don't know why, but I wanted to keep it there.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:31 pm

Winter slowed the project to a crawl. But I bought another Bently and did the wiring work. I also utilized the stock bus air filter pedestal to locate the new unit from the GTI. I'm super happy I didn't cut it off.

A short start up with no cooling plumbing hooked up, just to see if all of the used parts and my wiring skills were allright.

That was literally the first crank after assembling the engine. I still can't keep the cats from getting in my bus business.

That last one should be a video. Perhaps my wife can figure out how to fix it later.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:44 pm

Now on to the cooling system. I looked around the junkyard for large vehicles with v-6 or better engines, Knowing the airflow under the bus would be somewhat less than on the nose. I found a Mitsubishi Montero with a Copper and Brass radiator with good dimensions for fitting between the frame rails. I had a radiator shop move the upper hose to the "top" of the rad and seal the cap opening. I made a bracket to carry it and mounted the fan that came with the swap parts.

Maybe an inch of ground clearance loss.

I used some super heavy hydraulic suction line (1.25"/32mm) for hose to the engine compartment, where I used two 32mm gauge adaptors. the upper adaptor has an air bleed, and the lower has the fan switch. When the temp gets to 180 degress returning to the engine, the fan turns on.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:46 pm

nice work =D>

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:50 pm

you REALLY need to learn how to post pics.

edit: thanks!

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:51 pm

Aside from bleeding the cooling system which was a small fiasco with a coolant volcano or two, this was a fairly straightforward swap. I'll be adding a heater soon. I've been driving it for the last four or five days to work and on "test" drives, and the cooling system is working perfectly. Our first trials event is in two weeks, and I hope to report on more drama free driving.

On the first test drive, I gave it about half throttle in second gear and knew I'd made the right decision. Conversion is certainly not for everyone, but for Leroy Brown, it was a match made in bus heaven.

Thanks for following along and a big thanks for TheSamba (and others) who allow the sharing of information and ideas that make things like this happen.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 6:55 pm

hazetguy wrote: you REALLY need to learn how to post pics.

Can you not see them? I can see them but there's some funky tagging around the photos. Sorry, maybe my wife can fix it when she gets home.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:05 pm

Lose the [ url ] links and just stick to the [ img ] ones.

(I put spaces in the tags above to keep them from being interpreted)

Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:14 pm

That's a nice bus and looks like the motor fit well.

My only "regret" is I didn't put a VW water cooled motor in the bus.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:22 pm

tristessa wrote: Lose the [ url ] links and just stick to the [ img ] ones.

(I put spaces in the tags above to keep them from being interpreted)

Is it better now?

Thanks for your help.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:28 pm

Mr. Unpopular wrote: That's a nice bus and looks like the motor fit well.

My only "regret" is I didn't put a VW water cooled motor in the bus.

Thanks. I followed your build and seriously considered the ecotec, but the VW swap parts landed in my lap and I'm truly a cheap bastard, I couldn't pass it up. I really like what you've done, maybe a whole new era of conversions.

I'm looking forward to seeing Raby's cooling solution, it's probably way out of my price range, but will probably be effective.

Hopefully he lets the unwashed masses see it.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:45 pm

looks like you went digifart for the FI. not a bad system, but it HATES vacuum leaks and tired coolant temp sensors. truly bullet proof. now, go to techtonics tuning, get a nice cam and a adjustable cam gear and play with the adjustments. i have a built 2.0 in my 86 jetta and that thing pulls like a billy goat on crack

good job!

Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:05 pm

Nice job. You don't mess around. Have you given any thought to the heater you'll use. I was thinking of using two Vanagon rear heaters if I ever did a conversion. One heater would go under the rear seat the other would go under the van/bus and plumbed into the heater duct.

For effortless coolant bleeding do a search in the Vanagon forum for the "Libby Bong". Good luck with your bus.

Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:45 pm

moxnix wrote: With all due respect to your wrenching skills Sir, I gotta say I'm really sick of all these threads about folks wrecking nice buses with all this cobbled together modern engine swap crap.

Next I suppose we'll see a swapped in V-10 Ford or Turbo Cummins to "handle the hills", no doubt ?

What the heck - why not just cut it up and mount it on an S-10 chassis- that way you can use a 350/350 combo with a Ford 9inch and a hoodscoop....

Then I'm guessing you wouldn't like this fella's solution to a powerplant switch in his splitty either...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=503175

It's a big enough world for each of us to be happy in our own sandbox. :wink:

Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:34 am

Damn. Its 3:30 AM, I just got home from a 12 hour shift, and I read this thread.
Cool. I need more!
Nice job with the radiator - mine works great down there also.

Subscribed! :lol: