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Pchill2
Samba Member
Joined: November 19, 2021
Posts: 406
Location: Georgia
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 Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 7:33 am Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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| MidwestRoamer wrote: |
Sent your thread to my one RL friend who is also a car guy, turns out he cut his teeth on K24's in the early 2000s, your swap has him, and I quote, "heavy breathing" haha
Definitely keeping an eye out for one of these engines for my 2wd eventually! |
I've been into Hondas for years now but things have really taken a turn recently. I'm constantly blown away by what people are putting these engines in these days.
Link
It truly is a great fit for the Vanagon even in stock form. The sky is the limit though.
The kit design is coming along very nicely. I'm working through DFM/DFA right now and have been through 3 rounds of prototypes already, all of which included incremental design improvements. I want to make it a painless bolt in solution where someone could remove a WBX and install a K series in one day.
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87 Syncro Westy
Honda K24 swap |
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SCM
Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2011
Posts: 3119
Location: Bozeman MT
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| Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 8:55 am Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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| Pchill2 wrote: |
The kit design is coming along very nicely. I'm working through DFM/DFA right now and have been through 3 rounds of prototypes already, |
I don't know what all that even mean but THANKS! The day will eventually come when my WBX doesn't cut the mustard and I'm glad that my options won't be limited to 20+ yr old Suby motors.
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'91 Westfalia GL Automatic (GTA "Turbo" Rebuild w/Peloquin) and 2.3L GoWesty Engine |
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Pchill2
Samba Member
Joined: November 19, 2021
Posts: 406
Location: Georgia
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| Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2023 9:13 am Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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design for ease of manufacturing/design for ease of assembly
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87 Syncro Westy
Honda K24 swap |
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ALIKA T3
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2009
Posts: 6360
Location: Honolulu,Hawaii and France
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DIYCarLab
Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2019
Posts: 1
Location: Cincinnati
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2023 2:54 am Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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Love what you have done here. I have a KEP adapter for K series to 6 rib and was thinking of doing the same with my bay or syncro.
I think these engines have more of a building torque curve from low RPMs which shouldn't hit the trans as hard while driving.
Nice to see you have more ground clearance than many subaru swaps as well.
Love the engine cradle you designed. |
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Pchill2
Samba Member
Joined: November 19, 2021
Posts: 406
Location: Georgia
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| Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2023 12:25 pm Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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| DIYCarLab wrote: |
Love what you have done here. I have a KEP adapter for K series to 6 rib and was thinking of doing the same with my bay or syncro.
I think these engines have more of a building torque curve from low RPMs which shouldn't hit the trans as hard while driving.
Nice to see you have more ground clearance than many subaru swaps as well.
Love the engine cradle you designed. |
Thank you! If you decide to do a k swap let me know if you have any questions. A bay window would rip with a k series!
I get a lot of satisfaction from not needing to down shift when climbing steep mountain roads. My theory is the lack of torque on WBX probably leads to premature gearbox failures due to the constant rowing of gears necessary to maintain speeds on roads of any incline. Banging a 4-3 or 3-2 downshift puts a massive peak torque load on the gear sets. In that case it’s not about engine torque and all about rotating inertia of the engine as it syncs with the driveline speeds.
It’s got great power where it needs it but I still drive it as if the gear teeth are made of softened butter.
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87 Syncro Westy
Honda K24 swap |
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thomas73
Samba Member
Joined: March 15, 2015
Posts: 13
Location: North Bay, CA
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| Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2023 8:39 pm Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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Really psyched to have another option on the horizon.
https://tenor.com/view/take-my-money-gif-20103453
(Also nice to see what life can be like when you don’t have the procrastination gene.  ) |
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deepseeman
Samba Member
Joined: January 13, 2004
Posts: 435
Location: san diego
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| Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2023 10:48 am Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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| Pchill2 wrote: |
My fuel gauge has been more than a minor irritant. I swapped out a brand new sender when I had the powertrain out but upon fueling the gauge would only reach maybe 1/2-3/4 of a tank.
The sender is the aftermarket (non-VDO) unit. Upon inspection of the sender that I pulled out, it was in fact an aftermarket sender as well.
Pulled out the filler tube to see what was going on in there. You can see in the pictures that the float is hovering above the fuel line and the armature is contacting the stop tabs. Just as a note, the van was jacked up on one side so the fuel level looks higher on the sender side than it actually was.
I didn't feel like puling the sender out and calibrating it according to the GoWesty instruction and attempted to bend the float arm downwards without disturbing the limiting tab on the sending unit.
I did this with the jack handle from my engine hoist by engaging the armature rod with the slotted tabs on the end. I twisted the arm until it came in contact with the bottom of the tank.
End result is a slightly mangled looking armature rod and a fully functioning fuel gauge...
Also worth mentioning that I drained and flushed the fuel tank while I was swapping the engine. You can see all the debris in the bottom of the tank that has accumulated in only a few fill ups. |
Thank you so much for posting this. I was pulling my hair out on how to view the inside of the tank. even tried a boroscope. I called go westy and asked how to verify the float is on the bottom per their directions. They had no answer.
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in the barn:
61' Double Cab-restored driver
91 SYNCRO |
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Pchill2
Samba Member
Joined: November 19, 2021
Posts: 406
Location: Georgia
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| Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2023 12:03 pm Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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| deepseeman wrote: |
Thank you so much for posting this. I was pulling my hair out on how to view the inside of the tank. even tried a boroscope. I called go westy and asked how to verify the float is on the bottom per their directions. They had no answer. |
I should pull it off and measure the angle with a protractor but as you can imagine it's hard to motivate myself to do that.
Fuel gauge works perfectly with the angle shown in the picture though.
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87 Syncro Westy
Honda K24 swap |
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bosruten
Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2011
Posts: 551
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 6:34 am Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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This build is very interesting, I completed a Bostig swap many years ago into my Syncro. It's been super reliable and my wife has traveled with our children to so many destinations, I've lost count!
I'm considering a K24 and these threads really help to understand how it comes together. Thank you!
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'87 Syncro Weekender |
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deepseeman
Samba Member
Joined: January 13, 2004
Posts: 435
Location: san diego
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 6:54 am Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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| Pchill2 wrote: |
| deepseeman wrote: |
Thank you so much for posting this. I was pulling my hair out on how to view the inside of the tank. even tried a boroscope. I called go westy and asked how to verify the float is on the bottom per their directions. They had no answer. |
I should pull it off and measure the angle with a protractor but as you can imagine it's hard to motivate myself to do that.
Fuel gauge works perfectly with the angle shown in the picture though. |
BTW, how did you get that pic? Did you remove the seal too?
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in the barn:
61' Double Cab-restored driver
91 SYNCRO |
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 9618
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 10:32 am Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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LOVE the in-tank pics !!
| Pchill2 wrote: |
| I get a lot of satisfaction from not needing to down shift |
Addressed this in a cross-post (new thread) /PSA with 'theories' hatched by many discussions and collaborations and study with Tom Lengyel.
See post Big engine + NOT downshifting.... damages 4th gear
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
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Pchill2
Samba Member
Joined: November 19, 2021
Posts: 406
Location: Georgia
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| Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2023 9:28 am Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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| deepseeman wrote: |
| Pchill2 wrote: |
| deepseeman wrote: |
Thank you so much for posting this. I was pulling my hair out on how to view the inside of the tank. even tried a boroscope. I called go westy and asked how to verify the float is on the bottom per their directions. They had no answer. |
I should pull it off and measure the angle with a protractor but as you can imagine it's hard to motivate myself to do that.
Fuel gauge works perfectly with the angle shown in the picture though. |
BTW, how did you get that pic? Did you remove the seal too? |
I removed the filler tube and held my cell phone as close to the hole as possible and took a picture with the flash on. I did not remove the grommet.
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87 Syncro Westy
Honda K24 swap |
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unibagel
Samba Member
Joined: December 02, 2004
Posts: 529
Location: Bflo, NY
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| Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2023 4:32 pm Post subject: Re: Honda K24 Swapped 87 Syncro Camper Build |
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Great build. Great thread. 
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Founder: uniWerks Design, LLC specialty 3D printed Vanagon parts
www.uniwerksdesign.com |
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