3.3 Subaru SVX/Vanagon Syncro conversion

[shagginwagon83]

[dbose]

Hi Chris, I know it has been a long time since you did this build but any chance you know the part number on that starter. I have an 86 syncro with the RJES housing and I have been using the Subaru WRX direct drive starter (23300AA420) and keep having problems with them. Was hoping to switch to the one you used there. From what I can find on subaruparts.com it looks like it is part number 23300AA390R1 (1992 SVX auto transmission), can you confirm, do you know if it has been working good for him?

Thanks, Dave

[VanaConn]

All good info. I am obtaining a 58k mile svx for a similar conversion however I plan to use a Subarugears converted WRX turbo gears 5 speed transmission. RMW no longer offers 3.3l parts so it's likely to be all small car.I know fewer people are doing the 3.3 over the 3.0 but I can't pass up a good donor. 2005 and later H6 CANBUS motors require aftermarket ecm which I hear won't account for elevation changes. Have to wait for the "black box" to be available so we can all use the stock ecm.
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[Zeitgeist 13]

[JWPATE]

Chris,
That was a first class job you did on the syncro. I am just in the gathering parts and tools stage of the project, but plan to use many of your ideas.

I will not use that small car support, or exhaust. The RMW looks best, but may be a problem when using a Jonas bell housing. Also, the two wheel drive Vanagons may have a different aspect than the syncro you did (I seem to remember that they mount higher).

I am also looking at your suspension improvements. All in good time.

Regards,
James

[DeMinimis]

[mcsyncro]

made it almost 3 pages without seeing the subaru word..sigh.

[wwVanayakagon]

I have updated the ad for this Van.

Just an FYI to everyone that called me. Thanks for the interest and I am sorry about the out of town issues and being gone right as I posted it for sale. I am back now!

Come by and see this thing in action. I have a nice 4x4 area just down the road that is great to drive too!!!!

For those that I never called back, I'm really sorry I probably lost your number. Please feel free to call if interested. The Van is Still for sale.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=723143

James
206-853-4047
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86' 3.3L SVX Syncro - (battleCat) - Sold
84' GL - (Chuckie) - Sold
80' Westy - (Taylor) - Sold

[wwVanayakagon]

I am going to put up a for sale ad here on the Samba to but in the meantime here is the link to my page, and the youtube video.

http://www.professorpaddle.com/battlecat/



Link



Thanks for viewing.
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86' 3.3L SVX Syncro - (battleCat) - Sold
84' GL - (Chuckie) - Sold
80' Westy - (Taylor) - Sold

[wwVanayakagon]

I know this is going to catch some flak on theSamba but I bought a new van and it is not a VW....

In about 1 week I will have a new E350 Quigley 6.0L Diesel. I just had to. With the amount of back country and number of people I haul around, I just needed a bigger beefed up rig.

There is quite a bit left on this Syncro that needs to be done. Most of it is cosmetic, but there are a few little issues that need to be resolved for a 100% top notch van.

I will make another For Sale post and put up all the updated photos etc...

I just wanted to toss up a quick message so anyone that is shopping or interested would know.

~James
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86' 3.3L SVX Syncro - (battleCat) - Sold
84' GL - (Chuckie) - Sold
80' Westy - (Taylor) - Sold

[wwVanayakagon]

Whoaa now... I did run out of gas but the pressure regulator's lack of O-ring is what caused that...

Only a real mechanic knows to check the gas before towing it home a few hundred miles.

mMm ok, you got me but lets keep that information on this forum. If the folks I paddle with knew they would make me drink a bootie beer for sure!

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86' 3.3L SVX Syncro - (battleCat) - Sold
84' GL - (Chuckie) - Sold
80' Westy - (Taylor) - Sold

[Christopher Schimke]

[wwVanayakagon]

What an awesome job .... no doubt.

This little van has sure given me it's fair share of suprises though.

Thanks to chris I have had telephonic support from 2 different countries and 3 states as I have worked through different little terds that popped up.

Lets see we went through the fuel pressure regulator on the maiden voyage about 150 miles from home.

We did the Arching Alternator Leads & Blown Fuses in BC about 300 miles from home.

Luckily the snapped pulley bolt on the idler was close to home and with on 15 miles to get back I was good to go. The shredded Timing Belt and melted covers were bumming though.

Of course my personal favorite would just have to be the snapped axle and CV join up past whistler earlier in the month. That was a 340 mile journey of 10mph patience.

All said and done I am still in love with this hot little van and were getting ready for the next stage.

I just slapped in complete axles all around w/ new old man emu's too. Next are the coils, and new rims and tires.

More Pics.

But were still rollin

James
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86' 3.3L SVX Syncro - (battleCat) - Sold
84' GL - (Chuckie) - Sold
80' Westy - (Taylor) - Sold

[TSR53]

Very nice work Chris. Inspired me once again... Guess I better start saving for this conversion now.

[pete000]

Nice Work, great fabrication !
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1990 Vanagon
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Koni Shocks
Witech Springs
Addco Sway Bars Front-Rear
OEM Porsche Wheels
Recaro Power-Heated seats
JL Audio, Kenwood, Soundstream, MB Quart, Audiocontrol

[Crankey]

that 6 legged manifold looks soooo good

I was looking at the MPG ratings of the SVX vs other Subies and it didn't seem much worse than the 4 bangers. overall, ya think the SVX swap will be much more than other Subie swaps ? seems like alot depends on the deal you get on the engine. even after what you were saying about the cat location, I do like the muffler can on the side like that.

[Christopher Schimke]

Sad day here at the house. James' Syncro left last night. I was kind of fond of the thing and hated to see it go.

The engine wiring harness did the trick. It fired up instantly and ran beautifully. I had to put a new radiator in it (which I should have done in the first place) as the original one was plugged up so bad that very little coolant was making into the return pipe.

I put 100 miles on it yesterday and man, what a joy to drive. That 3.3 has so much torque that, even in a Syncro, it flat hauls booty.

Just a James was on his way over to pick it up, I was checking things out and discovered that the alternator had quit working. Kind of weird because the indicator light would come on while cranking and then go out but if you just turned the ignition to the run position, the light would not come on. Checking revealed that it was not putting out anything. Luckily I was able to get ahold of James and he picked up a replacement on his way over. 5 minutes worth of R&I and it was all good to go.

Anyway, anyone who is considering installing a 3.3, I say DO IT! You will not regret it.

The last of the pictures. The muffler was put on without a cat because the way SmallCar designed the header, there is VERY LITTLE room between the 90º bend and the rear shock. Not only that but the angle at which the cat must be attached to the header is just not right. It takes WAY to steep of angle to gain enough room for all of it to fit. The solution to adding a cat? Not sure yet.

More pictures can be seen here:

http://public.fotki.com/loogy/33-svx-vanagon-conv/james-syncro/page12.html

If anyone else is interested in have a conversion done in the Seattle area, let me know. I really enjoy doing it.
_________________
"Sometimes you have to build a box to think outside of." - Bruce (not Springsteen)

*Custom wheel hardware for Audi/VW, Porsche and Mercedes wheels - Urethane Suspension Bushings*
T3Technique.com or contact me at [email protected]

[Christopher Schimke]

Here's the parts and price breakdown. Keep in mind that this is full retail, the SVX engine had to be converted from automatic to manual spec for use with the RJES bellhousing and some of the parts on this list were necessary for replacing worn or broken parts on the engine.

Basic installation parts:

$1218.29 – RJES Bellhousing Kit (R J Engineered Solutions Tel. 07761 788669)
$ 75.00 – Used WRX Flywheel
$ 214.95 – Starter (WRX 215 Part# F5000-165663 from Autopartswarehouse.com)
$2460.03 – Wiring, Engine Mount, Exhaust Parts, Throttle Cable, Power Steering Hose,
Etc. (SmallCar Performance Tel. 253-473-2474)
$ 91.95 – 228mm Clutch Disk (CB Performance Tel. 559-733-7967)
$ 185.00 – WRX Clutch Kit (GripForce Clutches Tel. 562-905-3233)
$ 804.63 – Reversed Coolant Manifold Kit and Shortened Oil Pan (East Coast Vanagon Tel. 570-561-2023)
$ 33.28 – Bellhousing, Starter and Clutch Bolts (Subaruparts.com)

$5083.13 - Total

Misc. additional items:

$ 259.98 – Various Subaru Specific Hoses- vacuum, coolant, etc. (Subaruparts.com)
$ 395.62 – Oil filter, Air filter, Knock Sensors, Oxygen Sensors, etc. (Subaruparts.com)
$ 251.54 – Purge Valve (duty solenoid), Back Pressure Valve. (Eastside Subaru)
$ 25.00 – Various nuts and bolts not included with engine mounting kit.
$ 26.62 – 15W40 Oil, CableTies, Fuse Holder. (NAPA)
$ 166.57 – Fuel Injection Hose, Hose Clamps, Fuel Filter. (NAPA/CarQuest)
$ 22.22 – PCV Valve, Vacuum Hose (B&B Autoparts)
$ 11.77 – Heater Hose, Check Valve (NAPA)
$ 52.20 - Transmission Fluid Redline MT90 6qts
$ 18.60 – Screw Clamps for Intake Boot (AircraftSpruce.com)
$ 50.74 – Misc. Bolts, Clamps, Hoses, Adapters (NAPA, Tacoma Screw, McLendons)
$ 56.16 – Subaru Approved Coolant (Eastside Subaru)
$ 150.00 – Engine Mount Adapters (East Coast Vanagon Tel. 570-561-2023)
$ 31.53 – Exhaust U-bend 2 ¼” steel
$ 4.98 – Exhaust bolts
$ 3.39 – Power steering fluid (Shell Dextron II)

$1526.92 - Total

$6610.05 - Grand parts total

This list is VERY complete as so depicts a very accurate estimate of the final parts cost. I used factory Subaru parts in areas where I felt they were necessary and justified. Note that this list does NOT include the cost of the engine, the cost of rebuilding the engine or any of the items that would normally get replaced on a donor engine since they were already included in the rebuild (like the timing belt and pulleys, various gaskets, etc.)

By the time I am done (completely), I will have well over 100 hours into the project. Much of that time was spent repairing damage caused to the engine and it's sensors and wiring by the engine rebuilder and also building factory looking brackets and such. I like things to be clean and easily serviced as well as look like they could have come from th factory that way. Sometimes it takes longer to do thing "right" than it would to just get the job done using a minimal effort but in the long run, it can end up costing a person in either time or money.

I'm sure that this job could have been done for much less but I take pride in my work and will not do something if I done feel that I can do it to the best of my abilities. It's just the way that I am.
_________________
"Sometimes you have to build a box to think outside of." - Bruce (not Springsteen)

*Custom wheel hardware for Audi/VW, Porsche and Mercedes wheels - Urethane Suspension Bushings*
T3Technique.com or contact me at [email protected]

[Van-go108]

Hey Chris,
What is the overall material cost at this point? Beer time or "Labor" aside
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1973 Thing
1957 Continental Mark II Click to view image

[Christopher Schimke]

Thanks, it's fun.

Here are the pictures that I mentioned in the last post.

When extending the skid bars, the assembley must be dropped down slightly to prevent the skid plate from hitting the SmallCar header. I used a thick paint stir stick to act as a spacer bewteen the header and the skid plate while I tacked up the assembley. The finished product has some groovy curves in bet I guess it looks factory enough. I still need to paint it though.

When SmallCar does their wiring harness, they use the high pressure oil pressure sensor wire to operate the check engine light at the dash. This yellow wire has to be moved from it's original position on the dash wiring connector to the position previously occupied by the blue/green colored oxygen sensor counter light (which is no longer needed).

_________________
"Sometimes you have to build a box to think outside of." - Bruce (not Springsteen)

*Custom wheel hardware for Audi/VW, Porsche and Mercedes wheels - Urethane Suspension Bushings*
T3Technique.com or contact me at [email protected]