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Mon Nov 09, 2020 11:38 am

human compass wrote: never had the syncro tranny to begin with.

finding and building one oughta be cheaper than the boxeer swap though hah

Mon Nov 09, 2020 11:42 am

I see. I have not driven a van with subaru tranny, but speaking from lots of off road experience with the stock syncro tranny, attempting some steep challenging terrain in first gear can yield loss of traction and skid out. But then in that low granny gear can go up just about anything without any problem. If you want that off road beast you will really need lower gearing and think that the syncro granny gear is the only option. Plus you can get the rear locker which can come in really handy. And if you are concerned at all about the continuous AWD traction capability you might lose, just get a decoupler w/solid shaft (on a syncro tranny) for selectable full time 4WD and you wont be complaining. In fact I would argue it may even give you better traction than what you have now.

Lots of opinions on this stuff, but think that the granny gear and rear locker make these vans capable of beast mode. Even over some more modern vehicles, the lockers can be the difference in getting traction or not.

Mon Nov 09, 2020 12:16 pm

Thanks Burley, always respect your opinion. For now, so much time and money was put into this experiment that I'm gonna ride it out for a while!

Your suspension is just amazing, still blows me away how stable and capable the van is with it all in place.

Mon Nov 09, 2020 12:40 pm

valvecovergasket wrote: human compass wrote: never had the syncro tranny to begin with.

finding and building one oughta be cheaper than the boxeer swap though hah

for sure, but I want it all!! :twisted:

Sat Nov 14, 2020 2:37 pm

todays projects- added a fiamma (so much nicer than my old crappy no name!), pressure tested cooling system and found a couple leaks, bled it, continued tweaks on the new bike rack.

Sat Nov 14, 2020 3:21 pm

Such a deamn beautiful rig mate!!! Awesome work, you’re a magician!!

Sun Nov 15, 2020 7:48 am

JimSyncrogr wrote: Such a deamn beautiful rig mate!!! Awesome work, you’re a magician!!

thank you sir!

Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:10 pm

human compass wrote: Thanks Burley, always respect your opinion. For now, so much time and money was put into this experiment that I'm gonna ride it out for a while!

Your suspension is just amazing, still blows me away how stable and capable the van is with it all in place.

I'm always here to help in any way that we can :)
Thanks for the compliments on our BMS Radflo suspension system !
Radflo makes the best shocks !!
We just came out with our 2wd Radflo shocks , these are direct bolt on units that feature velocity sensitive valving and are nitrogen charged , ours have IFP technology ,not emulsion foam like the other high end shocks lol
Here's a link for anyone interested :
https://burleymotorsports.net/product/2wd-radflo-shock-system/

BTW this months news letter will feature an article on these new Radflo shocks

Mon Mar 29, 2021 10:15 am

Howdy, sorry so late to the party, but love your build. I am patiently awaiting the delivery of all of my Subarugears AWD conversion parts so that I can do my build. I do have one question about your build that has me very confused tho...you used the Syncro front diff with a Subie 6-speed gearbox, how did you do that? Is the Subie 6-speed available with a 4.86 R/P? If not, how are you running different gear ratios F/R? Another question relates to the cable shifter, was this a custom build by Integrity Auto, or something built specifically for a Vanagon swap...and where from?
My build will be a bit different than yours in that I am converting a WRX 5-speed with a 3.90 R/P that will be driven by a pumped up ALH TDi, and I plan to mount the Subie 3.90 rear diff up front since the axle issue has already been sorted out by various other installers. My Westie has been riding on a 2wd box since my Syncro box and front VC died about 10 years ago, but my desire the convert to TDi has existed that long and so I have been patiently searching/seeking some sort of gearbox options, whether it be aftermarket R/P's for the VW gearbox, or some other mod...then I found the Subarugears swap. As for the cable shift. I've resigned myself to the requirement for cable shift after another broken shift lever left me stranded in traffic up at Lake Tahoe, having to tear out my beautiful custom built console so that I could rig something up to drive the last 70 miles home. Turned out that a 14mm Deep socket fits perfectly over the remaining stub, and a 12'' extension gave me enough of a lever to shift with, although without a spring in the lever I was left without a gate to reverse and thus shifting as a major chore. But enough of my sob story, I have seen a few videos with guys running cable shifters on their vanagon, and I have decided that I will not settle for less since the linkage slop has been one of my only complaints about my Westie in the 27 years that I've owned it...even after a full linkage rebuild about 15 yrs ago. Thanks in advance for any information that you or anyone else on the thread can provide. Cheers.

Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:41 am

4.86 R/P for both the 6 speed and front diff in my van. 4.86 come from Subaru Gears.

Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:54 am

Ahh, I wasn't aware that they were doing 4.86...probably also due to the fact that I wasn't really entertaining that ratio with a TDi as it's not a diesel friendly gearset. So what can you tell me about the shifter? Thanks.

Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:48 pm

TurboSyncrobus wrote: Ahh, I wasn't aware that they were doing 4.86...probably also due to the fact that I wasn't really entertaining that ratio with a TDi as it's not a diesel friendly gearset. So what can you tell me about the shifter? Thanks.

The shifter is a headache for me. I mangled a Subaru shifter by trying to flip the shifting pattern and it kind of works. I think you can flip the shifting pattern inside the transmission, so a normal Subaru shifter would work with out a need for moding. Talk to Todd about that one.

Cables are long and the best company I found to make them was Push pull.
P.S. wrap the cables around the trans like OEM and attache to factory mounts. Much easier then the system I made up.

https://push-pull.com/

Mon Mar 29, 2021 9:13 pm

Quote: The shifter is a headache for me. I mangled a Subaru shifter by trying to flip the shifting pattern and it kind of works

I don't mind the different shift pattern, as somebody previously wrote about that subject, "could be a theft deterrent, LOL".
But I've actually been mocking up the cable shifter from the 2000 Beetle TDi donor car, as it looks like I could use it flipped around from its Beetle orientation, which would put the reverse gear in the Subaru position. Also, with the shifter flipped around, makes for a straight in approach for the cables, anchored to the front of the bellcrank assembly that I'm fabbing up, which will be bolted into the two empty holes on the side of the box, and likely some other supports if I can get the basic shifting to engage properly. If I can get the mock-up working then I will definitely look into that much appreciated link to push-pull.com. Who knows, I may be just wasting a bunch of time, but I enjoy the frustration of building something from my hairbrained ideas. Cheers.

Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:55 pm

TurboSyncrobus wrote: Howdy, sorry so late to the party, but love your build. I am patiently awaiting the delivery of all of my Subarugears AWD conversion parts so that I can do my build. I do have one question about your build that has me very confused tho...you used the Syncro front diff with a Subie 6-speed gearbox, how did you do that? Is the Subie 6-speed available with a 4.86 R/P? If not, how are you running different gear ratios F/R? Another question relates to the cable shifter, was this a custom build by Integrity Auto, or something built specifically for a Vanagon swap...and where from?
My build will be a bit different than yours in that I am converting a WRX 5-speed with a 3.90 R/P that will be driven by a pumped up ALH TDi, and I plan to mount the Subie 3.90 rear diff up front since the axle issue has already been sorted out by various other installers. My Westie has been riding on a 2wd box since my Syncro box and front VC died about 10 years ago, but my desire the convert to TDi has existed that long and so I have been patiently searching/seeking some sort of gearbox options, whether it be aftermarket R/P's for the VW gearbox, or some other mod...then I found the Subarugears swap. As for the cable shift. I've resigned myself to the requirement for cable shift after another broken shift lever left me stranded in traffic up at Lake Tahoe, having to tear out my beautiful custom built console so that I could rig something up to drive the last 70 miles home. Turned out that a 14mm Deep socket fits perfectly over the remaining stub, and a 12'' extension gave me enough of a lever to shift with, although without a spring in the lever I was left without a gate to reverse and thus shifting as a major chore. But enough of my sob story, I have seen a few videos with guys running cable shifters on their vanagon, and I have decided that I will not settle for less since the linkage slop has been one of my only complaints about my Westie in the 27 years that I've owned it...even after a full linkage rebuild about 15 yrs ago. Thanks in advance for any information that you or anyone else on the thread can provide. Cheers.

sorry for the late reply! yes, subaru gears does have a 4:86 and thats what i'm running. the cable shift is a dream, youll love it!

Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:57 pm

today's fun little project. hardwired in an old cell enabled ipad mini. Now its just like a tesla, except slow and with more carbon emissions....

Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:46 pm

I want to do that!

We tried to do it with our old iPad then discovered the non-cell unit has no GPS so it can't run a map.

Tue Oct 12, 2021 4:03 pm

today's project, still need to add the stove decals and paint the screws brown. used GW plastic and metal paints with satin clear coat, as well as there laminate. pretty good match. still need to see it in the daylight. It's snowing here so stuck in the shop. Great mod, so much more space. I will be converting the stove to small LP bottles and dropping the big tank. I hardly ever cook inside, just coffee in the morning. Will be putting an air compressor under it for the next project.

Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:51 pm

well, after much back and forth I've decided that an svx will be the best fit for my beast. easier install than the tdi, great low end torque, easy to work on. I'll be sourcing extra parts to hoard so I can deal with that down side. got my donor rig already!

Wed Jan 12, 2022 12:52 am

human compass wrote: well, after much back and forth I've decided that an svx will be the best fit for my beast. easier install than the tdi, great low end torque, easy to work on. I'll be sourcing extra parts to hoard so I can deal with that down side. got my donor rig already!

Nice plan of action. Have you got any plans for the gearbox & drivetrain to support this beast?

Wed Jan 12, 2022 3:28 am

Schnippzle wrote: human compass wrote: well, after much back and forth I've decided that an svx will be the best fit for my beast. easier install than the tdi, great low end torque, easy to work on. I'll be sourcing extra parts to hoard so I can deal with that down side. got my donor rig already!

Nice plan of action. Have you got any plans for the gearbox & drivetrain to support this beast?

Welcome to the vanagon rabbit hole.