Annie-other Subaru Swap - Build Thread

[deathman68]

After six years the day has finally come. Annie has completed her maiden voyage. It was 74F outside with engine temps sticking around 196F. I kept waiting for something to go boom or bang, but after five miles I only lost a hub cap as I was turning onto my street at the end of the journey (my fault for not fully seating it). I have a couple things I need to fix: sticking throttle cable, solar not charging, gauge coolant temp off. Quick and easy fixes. Time to rack up the break-in miles!


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1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker

[Gashog]

Outstanding. Congratulations!
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1972 DeLuxe, Skillsafied 2.5 Subaru
1960 Single Cab
1967 beetle (sold)

[Shonandb]

Nice, very nice!
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76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image

[superman73]

Nice.
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Chuck

Jesus Saves

70 deluxe bus
67 manx clone
various other parts cars.


http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=228364&highlight=superman73sb+bellsouth

[deathman68]

Minor setback this am. Went out to the garage to crawl under the bus to check for any leaks/drips/loose hardware. Everything on the engine/trans side looks GREAT! Not a single drop of oil, gas, or coolant; however, at the front there was a small puddle below the drain tube for my front evap...yep...it's definitely coolant.

That tells me that by heat cycling the heater core it is defective allowing a small amount of coolant into the bottom of the pan which is then draining via the drain tube onto the ground below. It only has five miles on it Already have a call in to Vintage Air to get their thoughts, but assuming it will be time for MAJOR surgery since I will have to remove all the electronics, dash top, dash etc etc AND recharge my A/C...major PITA. Alternatively I would simply just shut the heater off and worry about it later, but it just got cold down here in GA (heat works great btw!).

Will update everyone once I hear back from the Vintage Air folks. Hoping not to have to buy a whole new evap, but the units don't appear to be highly serviceable.
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1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker

[deathman68]

Couple updates:
Firstly, let me say that Vintage Air's customer service is AMAZING. I reached out to them after discovering what I thought was a faulty heater core yesterday at 9am EST. By 10:15am they had already called me back and offered to warranty my unit (which is NLA btw) if I sent it back (on their dime) in spite of the fact that it is FIVE years old, but only has five miles on it. Thank you Matt at Vintage Air for taking my call and standing behind the product.

Secondly, as I laid awake in bed last night dreading having to pull apart the dashboard, I got to thinking: it's highly unlikely that a new heater core is faulty unless I had used the a/c w/out the cooling system bled...according to Vintage Air the proximity of these components could lead to the heater core freezing and cracking if not full of coolant. I know for a fact that I did NOT do that, so that got me to thinking: why not pressurize the system overnight to see if I could pinpoint the leak beyond any doubt...so that's what I did.

I woke up today to a new, bigger puddle under the front. Mission accomplished. And GREAT news! It's NOT the heater core! Turns out I either didn't have one of my bulkhead coolant fittings fully tightened down OR I screwed up the o-ring by overtightening at time of install. This fitting is directly above the drain tube, so it was dripping onto the drain tube making it look like the coolant was coming from the pan itself.

Either way I just need to pull the kick panel and make the needed tweaks. MUCH simpler than performing dash dissection and hopefully puts me on-target to do the audio this week as well!
_________________
1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker

[Shonandb]

Good to hear that it is an easier fix than expected! Nice to have real heat (and A/C) in a Bus.
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76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image

[deathman68]

Post-build update: now have 25 mi on the odometer as I've been using the bus as often as I can to do the most mundane of things that are only 3-5 mi away at most so I can continue to shake it down.

- Coolant leak up front: Per my previous post, I removed my kick panel and tightened up the clamps. The leak is 99% gone. I say 99% because I borescoped it today after another 10-15 miles and I can see a couple drops of coolant. While it could merely be residual, I'm going to reconfigure the bulkhead fittings in a couple weeks...never liked the way I installed them to begin with, so no biggie. Simpler is better.

- Things that I forgot to tighten and resulted in some "oops" moments:
1. Steering wheel nut. I went to reclock my steering wheel with the fresh alignment and discovered I never fully tightened the nut. Now tightened to spec.

2. Steering column switch housing. Went to use my turn signals and the whole shebang rotated. Two tighened screws and voila...problem solved.

3. O2 sensor bung plug. After multiple exhaust revisions, I completely forgot about the little plug that sits between my two o2 sensors. I went to meet a buddy for dinner the other night in the bus (LED headlights are AMAZING BTW!) and when I was a mile or two from the house, I heard the most annoying exhaust sound and the bus was down on power. Yep, never did fully tighten the plug and it went flying. New one from Amazon and all is well in the world.

4. Roof mechanism rollers - I'm a moron and forgot to check the way my interior hooks were hanging. These are the ones used to secure the roof in the down position. So when I lowered the roof w/the linear actuators, they got snagged on the wooden frame and the weakest link in my system broke...the shower rollers that ride in the rails when the top goes up and down. New ones on order. I also installed magnets next to my hooks so now I can place them up and out of the way for the next time I forget.

- Power awning. Shout out to Scirocco Crazy for his FB Marketplace finds...a couple years back he found a lot of awnings from wrecked campervans. I drove up and met him in TN where he handed me a shiny 10ft motorized Thule awning. I dusted it off, had a gallon of L90D mixed up at my local auto paint shop and went to work:

Grabbed my GoWesty awning mount brackets and put my father-in-law to work on the front bracket to clearance it for my top (apparently my Rivi top is wider than the Westfalia so it was hitting on the side on the front mount:

Sweet!:

Next up: Tomorrow I'm going to tune my audio system! Going to be bumping with my fancy DSP and amps...and by bumping I mean true audiophile sound....not just a bunch of subs pumping crazy bass.
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1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker

[deathman68]

Quick update: Got my DSP (digital signal processor which provides active crossovers to my tweeters, mids, and lows) all dialed in today and all I can say is WOW. I want to do nothing other than drive and listen to tunes now. What are your favorite cruising songs?

I have prob the most ecclectic mix ranging from classical to classic rock all the way up to 90s hip hop. Audiophiles unite!
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1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker

[Shonandb]

[deathman68]

Added to the playlist. Thx Shonandb!
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1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker

[TomWesty]

I still have an upright VW engine in my bus, so the only path to audiophile quality sound is good headphones. That’s a very sweet Riviera by the way. All that ass busting paid off! May I ask what brand of LED headlights you went with?
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If you haven't bled on them, you haven't worked on them.
Visit: www.tomcoryell.com and check out my music!

[deathman68]

Thanks for the compliment. The headlights are JW Speaker 7800 Classic model. Got them for 50% off a couple years ago. You might be able to find a good Black Friday deal.
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1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker

[deathman68]

Post-Build Update: 92 miles

Requisite xmas tree shopping pic w/the dawg:

- I replaced the front bulkhead coolant fittings with 90 elbows that go through grommets at the front of the bus. Much simpler setup and completely eliminated my leak; however, I've not successfully vacuumed out all the air in my cooling system so when I cruise in low gear or stay on it for several min, my temps start to creep up...max so far has been 214F. Not close to melt down w/the EJ25, but I want 185-200F consistently without having to depend on my fan to cool things down. This was where I was at before replacing the bulkhead fittings with a proper vacuum/fill.

I'm going to throw the bus on ramps ass-end up this weekend and do a proper vacuum pull/fill. I realized that when I swapped the coolant fittings I didn't completely block off the overflow nipple on the filler neck and my vacuum adapter can allow some air to escape past, so that's likely the reason there is still some air in my system. Easy fix!

- Hubcap madness. For some reason, my chrome stamped hubcap on the front right wheel likes like to let loose and make me hunt the road/woods for it's landing spot. I banged it back on really hard for the third time and dented it beyond repair. That said, it hasn't let loose in the last 30 miles I'll order a new one and hang the old one on the wall as a reminder to not be a gorilla with a tool.

- Heated seats. LOVING them as it's been 17-32F in the mornings here. Bus starts on the first try every try no matter how cold outside.

- Solar. Charging like a champ from my 300W solar power. Gone from 42% on my LiFePO to 76% in the few hours I've had it outside without doing any hybrid charging from my alternator.

- Parking heater. Fired it up for the first time and lots of smells as things burned off, but again it fired right up and is teed off my gas tank for virtually unlimited gas supply and no need to deal with messy diesel or a separate tank. It's got a low fuel shut-off so I shouldn't ever be able to completely drain the tank. I put my hands all around it while running at 79F and cool to the touch in the all the right places. Just need the insulation to burn in and for me to prove it won't light up my undercoating in the process.

- CO alarm. Pulled the bus into the garage w/the engine running (garage door open of course) for under 15 seconds and my alarm went off. Good safety check for when we go camping w/the parking heater on.

- Door seals. Still hard to shut but getting easier. i originally had the German quality seals from Airhead and ordered their molded in-house ones. Passenger side fit much better than the driver's side which nearly pulled my door off its hinges trying to get it to shut in spite of having adjusted out the hinges and catch. Quick call to Airhead and I was instructed to "tweak" the seal w/a flap disc...nah. They also agreed to send new seals free of charge just in case. Great customer service! I just threw the German seal back on the drivers side and left the passenger side alone.

- Propane tank. Had it filled for the first time since replacing all the hardware and powdercoating. The fill valve has a very very slight leak Called up the place I bought it from two years ago and they sent out a new one free of charge. Now I just need to find a place to pump out the three gallons of propane so I can replace it.

First camping trip tentatively scheduled for next weekend. Pics to follow!
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1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker

[richparker]

Six years I a long ass time, way to stick with it!

What’s the plan with that tire cover?
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’71 Double Cab

[deathman68]

[deathman68]

Post-Build Update: 126 miles

First allow me to share a video I made:


Link


My daughter and I set out to go camping for the night since the weather down here in GA is nearly 70F with clear blue skies. The bus ran like a top at 70mph on the freeway and stayed nice and cool on twisty backgrounds as we made our way to the strategically chosen campground only 27 miles away. Then it happened: my front brakes froze AND within seconds my fuel pump died. We were just nine minutes away from our destination.

Requisite tow truck pic:

I originally thought my brake issue was due to insufficient pushrod clearance at the master cylinder since the last couple of times I’ve gone on extended drives my brakes were heavily dragging on all four corners so I pulled apart the master and booster and shortened the pushrod to slightly more than the 1mm spec. After a couple test runs it seemed all was well. Apparently not. I’m suspecting swollen seals/debris in my master cylinder are causing the front brake return port to be blocked when the brake fluid heats up. Thinking I’ll order a new proper German made master cylinder and call it good.

Amazingly at the same moment my brakes froze the engine quit. I had back fed my fuse panel earlier in the day due to a wiring short in my awning which triggered the thermal management alarm in my house battery’s BMS so the fact that my BT dongle quit reading my ECU’s OBDII output leads me to believe I popped a fuse or that my ECU itself slowly went bad as I was driving. Quick and easy to diagnose.

Bus problems are to be expected during the initial 500 mi shakedown. But the disappointment my daughter experienced after waiting six years for us to camp just the two of us is absolutely crushing. Especially with the final destination less than three miles out.

The bus is back home. I’ll order up the parts and run some diagnostics and report back in a couple of weeks. Happy Holidays all!
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1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker

[deathman68]

Post-Build Update: 220 miles

Good news! The bus is back in action.

My suspicion on the brakes was correct. In spite of having soaked everything in brake cleaner and blowing out the lines with compressed air when I first rebuilt the brakes, sediment was blocking the return port as you can see in the below pic.

I went ahead and swapped out the whole master cylinder with a new German one and am keeping the old one for a rainy day (also German).

With regards to the engine suddenly dying, I ordered up a “new” ECM thinking that it was the prob since I had power at the 12V post at my fuse box but no juice going to the computer. After removing half my kitchen to contort myself enough to swap the ECM I still wasn’t getting any power to the circuits in my fuse box. I removed the fuse box only to discover that the threaded post had worked its way loose below the plastic base and therefore was getting power but no continuity to my bank of circuits on that side of the fuse box. I tightened it up and added some locktite for good measure and voila!…she fired right back up.

With the two big probs sorted I hastily threw some supplies in the bus, bled the brakes, and hit the road for attempt no. 2 at camping with my daughter.

She ran like a top for the hour-long drive where we met my friend at a local campground (no I did NOT tow his airstream in spite of what the pic below makes it look like):

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset hike followed by the requisite campfire and s’mores.

On the way back home I hit 214F on a long uphill highway pull at 70mph so I decided to see if adding an external oil cooler would help lower temps by 5-10F at minimum. Just finished the install which looks pretty slick; however rain has hampered any hopes of a test drive to see what, if any, effect it has on my coolant temps. More to follow when the weather clears up. In the interim, here are some pics of the install.

Happy New Year
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1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker

[richparker]

Thats an interesting location.

Glad you had a good trip, thanks for sharing!
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’71 Double Cab

[deathman68]

Post-Build Update: 225 miles

Took the bus for the first spin post-oil cooler install. With IATs hovering around 55-60F overall temps seem to be approx. 10F degrees cooler all around. Without deviating from my engine break-in rule of 3500rpm and ~30% throttle position, I took a long uphill climb which historically has resulted in 205-210F...I was running 195-201F the whole way.

That said, of course two of the 10-AN fittings going to the oil cooler have a slight leak so I had to take it all apart and reassemble with PFTE tape as I should have done the first go-around.

I'll throw a couple quarts of SAE30 oil in tonight after work to make up for the oil I lost fixing the fittings and cross my fingers that all systems are leak-free.
_________________
1973 Riviera “Annie”
Build Thread: 1973 Riviera+Subaru 2.5+5 Speed
EJ25+5 Speed Conversion Part/Cost Tracker