No More Slow Lane

[Tomswesty]

Just drove my new suby conversion 120 miles back home and all I can say is WOW. I don't think I ever down shifted and it crused at 75 - 80 like no tomorrow, man what a difference from the old wbx lifeless engine. If ever you need to replace your engine you might want to consider this option. If you do it yourself it will cost a lot less than doing a GW 2.3 or 2.4 and have more torque and power on top of it.

Accelerating uphill was the best part, never could do that before without downshifting. Come on summer time to go camping!!!!!!

[[email protected]]

what motor did you put in? Did you change your tranny gearing?

what year vanagon? any pics?

thx

[Tomswesty]

I put in 95 EJ22 2.2L in a 87 Westy and I did put in a new rebuilt 4 speed but did not change the ratios. At 4500 to 5000 rpm your crusin around 80 -85 mph with another 1000 rps to go before redline. The torque difference is the biggest thing and it shows climbing hills. I will post some pics later next week. I am in the process of moving.

[Paintedbus]

what was the final pricetag on the conversion?
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Champagne Edition Roadtrip monster "Juakali"

~"Paintedbus" Ken~
The Mobile Muralist
WWW.PAINTEDBUSART.COM

[SlowLane]

Geez, here I thought someone was telling me to shut up...
_________________
Present:
'81 Westfalia: 2L, manual. Originally Canadian, now Californiated
Back in the day:
'72 Super Beetle
'69 Camper Van - Corvair powered
'71 Window Van - Transferred Corvair from '69

"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." - Internet RFC 1925

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance." - Sir Terry Pratchett

[levi]

[Tomswesty]

I don't like to take it to 7000 but you're right. The cost with engine, new clutch was $7K the tranny was extra from German Transaxel. I figured it would cost me half that to get most of the tools etc to do a decent job. I don't weld or fabricate. I will never recover the cost of doing this but you can't remove the priceless smile on my face as people try to pass me.

[joetiger]

Man I can't WAIT for my KEP parts to get here. It's been four weeks, they'll be here a week from tomorrow.

I haven't updated in awhile, but this is kinda where I am, plus I've run the new fuel lines, replaced the flange seals on the transmission, and done a few various odds and ends in anticipation...

www.josephtrussell.com/Vanagon.html

[eric kirkland]

hi there new subaru engine in the vw owner!!
i'm about ready to do my 87 syncro vanagan...........getting pretty excited about it. i think you put the 2.2 liter motor in yours? did you consider the 2.5 liter motor? i'm in california and the big issue is getting it smog certified. apparently, the 2.2 liter motor is ok without problems for smog certification, but, i'm not sure about the 2.5 liter motor, it might be more difficult. do you have smog certification issues in colorado, if any? also, what kind of fuel can you use? 87 octane??
it's great to hear your installation success!!
sincerely,
eric
laguna beach, ca

[Tomswesty]

If you visit the subaruvanagon yahoo group there is tons of information on California smog cert. I would like the 2.5 but it is also OBDII which is a little more complicated than the OBDI like I have. I would go with the 2.5 in the future more power more fun and fits like a glove under the engine cover. Plenty of room with the 2.2L to do mantenance. I had mine professionally installed and it took them about 30 days to complete it (working on it as they could while taking care of other customers).

I live outside of the brown cloud area so I don't have to get mine inspected but others have had no problems getting cert in the Denver area.

[Escorial Syncro]

On the 2.2 or 2.5 Subie question, I am firmly in the 2.2 camp. I just did my '87 syncro westy last month and I am very pleased with the performance of the '94 2.2 I installed. I did it all myself with a lot of fabrication and my price tag was around $2500 total, including the used motor and harness with 94K miles. My van never saw 75-80 mph on the highway on its own before, now I can fly along at those speeds at will.

Only catches are I almost never drive modern cars, so my power standards are probably lower. My other car is my wife's '91 Volvo 240 wagen, which I can safely say is no speed demon. And I haven't done any mountain passes yet, where I'm sure the weight of my rig will challenge this motor. But with so much more rpm's to work with, it has to be better. I can scream along at 60 mph with great power in 3rd gear, so climbing hills should be good.

Of course I'd do a 2.5 or SVX 6 if I had the money, but I wanted the most proven and supported subie conversion out there, and I didn't want to spend a lot. So the 2.2 suited me. On the 2.5, I've been told to avoid the late '90s "phase I" motors due to head gasket issue, and any 2000 or newer motor I've found ran almost $1000 more for just the motor alone. So budget wise the 2.2 fit me better. Probably the perfect motor for any 2wd van. Also the 2.2 is a non-interference motor, so if I do break a timing belt the motor is not trashed. Not so with the 2.5. My $.02
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Joel Lane
1985 Vanagon converted to syncro, ALH TDI, Reimo Primus top with Westy interior
2002 Toyota Tundra 4x4
1974 Honda CL360 Scrambler (for sale!)

[Mad-Max]

how many miles until a new engine is necesary? how long does a vanagon engine usually last?
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my parts for sale
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[r39o]

You guys give me a headache!

Just when I am almost certain I want to put a stockish engine in to replace my well running but underpowered 1.9, I read this. UGH!

Thanks!
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"Use the SEARCH, Luke" But first visit the Vanagon FAQ!

1990 Multivan EJ 22, Rancho trans 0.82 4th, Small Car front AC, CLKs w/ 215/65-16, homemade big brakes 303mm, Konis, Recaros, etc....

Click to see my ads for Cup holders, Subaru clutch fix and CLK wheels (no wheels currently)

[Tomswesty]

My 2.1 had less than 50K on it when the head started leaking, it was a reman from the Canadian VW manufacture. For my self I wanted something to last a little longer and when I found someone to do the conversion I thought was reasonible I jumped on it. I could not think of putting a nother leaker for as much money as they cost.

Even driving the van this morning was a thrill compared to the old tired lifeless engine. I plan on keeping this until the wheels fall off so the investment for me was what I wanted. If you plan on selling your van soon, don't do the conversion, you might get a few more $ for it but not recoup all of the cost (this is if you have someone install it professionally). If you do it your self you just might make money.

[Tomswesty]

Here are a couple of shots of the engine installed;

and the back of the van:

[lilweasel]

Hell yeah- nice work on the conversion! I too am going to do a 2.2 conversion for my aircooled westy- it's going to be a little more work than all you waterleakers had, but the smile on my face will be that much bigger when I'm cruising at 70 up a hill. I all to intimately know how slow the westys can go on a highway...

I am finalizing a deal to get a donor legacy right now and then I am going to rebuild the engine and do my own conversion based around the small car parts. I can't wait!

I choose the 2.2 because of the cost, the fact that it's non-interferance as mentioned before, the support, and the fact that it's not OBD II as I've heard it's a little less finicky.

My goal is to do it before my big road trip to new mexico later this summer.

[vwjedi]

Joetiger-

Welcome to the site, lotsa good people and info here, your website looks like you are coming right along with your conversion! My 2.1L runs just too well for now, 70mph cruise and 93mph top speed at redline with no leaks it will be a while befor I convert but a Subie 2.2 will probly be the answer.

Tomswesty- Congrats, you are lovin' it! 50k seems like a short time for a WBX engine, I have read that with proper care/maintanace and phosphate free antifreez that the over 200k on my engine are the norm.
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1987 Wolfsburg T25 still riding out. A bunch of other VW's passed on...

[Volksaholic]

This is probably a "DUH" question, but humor me... what's the advantage of OBD I over OBD II?

[Tomswesty]

The OBDI has fewer fault codes to deal with when you cross over the vw wireharness and the subaru harness when talking to the brain. OBDII is possible, it is just tricker.

[r39o]

OBDII has more information too. Damned if and damned not! It is just trying to keep the fault codes away so the smog Nazis will not bunch their collective panties that is the big trick. The OBDI flash codes are OK, but OBDII tends to give you a better idea, just like intended. Although the root cause of some of the codes can be pretty odd. That is the other trick about the OBDII. That is knowing what to do for a particular code. Many of the weird VAG codes have common solutions that you can find out about by searching the web. Fixed my wife's A3 that way once. Also, fixed other cars that way. Many codes have weird solutions, I must admit.

Now I have spotted an undamaged 1990 Legacy for $1000. Wish they would get rear ended so I could get it cheaper!
_________________
"Use the SEARCH, Luke" But first visit the Vanagon FAQ!

1990 Multivan EJ 22, Rancho trans 0.82 4th, Small Car front AC, CLKs w/ 215/65-16, homemade big brakes 303mm, Konis, Recaros, etc....

Click to see my ads for Cup holders, Subaru clutch fix and CLK wheels (no wheels currently)