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ChesterKV Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2005 Posts: 1725 Location: El Cerrito, CA
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:20 pm Post subject: And so it begins - Subaru EJ22 in a 1984 Transporter |
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Ok dudes,
It seems the conversion Gods heard me getting serious about selling my 2.2 GoWesty motor and they decided to drop a 1992 Subaru Legacy in my lap. In the background you can see the future recipient which will soon be painted off-white.
$ 400.00 for a 5-speed, 4-door, blue/green exterior, tan cloth interior, small scratch across driver side door
180,079 miles on the odometer
Proof of purchase seal
Never cleaned engine bay
This car has been on many interesting trips
_________________ 1984 Wolfsburg 7-passenger stock sunroof
1992 Subaru Legacy EJ22 boxer motor installed.... van is now sold.... currently playing with a 1987 Toyota MR2 with 1.6 liter twin-cam motor. Better than the Subaru boxers....... I'm impressed. Well, okay, in an "apples and oranges" kind of way.
Last edited by ChesterKV on Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:14 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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ChesterKV Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2005 Posts: 1725 Location: El Cerrito, CA
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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Update #1
Here are the first set of impressions and thoughts. I'd greatly appreciate your feedback.
Engine: Felt strong and ran VERY smoothly. 75 mph in 5th gear at 2,650 rpms and it still had some power to accelerate on an uphill section of the freeway heading back through the wine country (Napa Valley to East Bay which took around 45 minutes). At my first stop-sign the engine idled down to 550-600 rpms and I thought the engine had died. My FIRST personal experience with that sensation. (I've now lost my EJ22 idle virginity)
Stock gearbox is VERY rubbery. I thought I was shifting a jello car
At stop-lights and with the transmission in neutral the idle kept surging up and down. Something to remember when I'm checking all the sensors and adjustments during the swap
The car is kinda a piece of poo. The shocks are gone, there's body damage, the interior is dirty although not torn, BUT THE ENGINE SEEMS O.K. The poor thing has been largely neglected......sigh
For the sake of simplicity and cost I want to purchase SmallCar's not-quite all-inclusive Subaru to Vanagon conversion kit. It's around $ 1,500. Does anyone have experience with this kit? Any yay or nay sayers ?
http://www.smallcar.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=99
So, time to remove the GoWesty motor and sell it for cash money. _________________ 1984 Wolfsburg 7-passenger stock sunroof
1992 Subaru Legacy EJ22 boxer motor installed.... van is now sold.... currently playing with a 1987 Toyota MR2 with 1.6 liter twin-cam motor. Better than the Subaru boxers....... I'm impressed. Well, okay, in an "apples and oranges" kind of way.
Last edited by ChesterKV on Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:20 am; edited 3 times in total |
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kenmag Samba Member
Joined: March 12, 2007 Posts: 275 Location: Toronto, Canada
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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Congrats on the decision. I know you will have lotsa fun.
Mine seems ok so far. Thinking about adding a fifth motor mount in the middle spot on the engine carrier. I've also seen a custom mount above the motor near the adapter plate. Might be overkill on the 2.2. Those motors are quite torqy compared to the vw bxr. I didn't bother with a shortened pan or back door dipstick access. I'm always back there anyways checkn' oil and other stuff. Old habits die hard I guess. Besides its kinda fun _________________ 87GL Westy/suby ej22
87GL tintop/suby ej22
05 Golf TDI
95 jetta GLX |
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ChesterKV Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2005 Posts: 1725 Location: El Cerrito, CA
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 11:52 pm Post subject: |
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kenmag wrote: |
Congrats on the decision. I know you will have lotsa fun.
Mine seems ok so far. Thinking about adding a fifth motor mount in the middle spot on the engine carrier. I've also seen a custom mount above the motor near the adapter plate. Might be overkill on the 2.2. Those motors are quite torqy compared to the vw bxr. I didn't bother with a shortened pan or back door dipstick access. I'm always back there anyways checkn' oil and other stuff. Old habits die hard I guess. Besides its kinda fun |
Yeah, I'm not so "keen" on the shortened oil pan idea. I NEVER take the van off-road so there's no sense to it for me at the moment. The motor mount situation seems to come in many different flavors so that's one thing I want to ask the dudes over at the Buslab (Berkeley shop) about. So many things to figure out. _________________ 1984 Wolfsburg 7-passenger stock sunroof
1992 Subaru Legacy EJ22 boxer motor installed.... van is now sold.... currently playing with a 1987 Toyota MR2 with 1.6 liter twin-cam motor. Better than the Subaru boxers....... I'm impressed. Well, okay, in an "apples and oranges" kind of way. |
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ra_der Samba Member
Joined: April 08, 2006 Posts: 46 Location: west michigan
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 5:27 am Post subject: |
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Be sure to do a compression test to assess the subie motor. My donor had 160k and still had excellent compression and oil pressure, miles don't always count against you with these guys.
Then follow the yahoo/subaruvanagon list of preemptive repairs, timing belt, seals, water pump, etc. That will almost guarantee 60k trouble free miles.
I shortened my oilpan. There is a picture at yahoo of someone's pan who backed into one of those parking lot yellow 'logs'. That convinced me. |
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Christopher Schimke Samba Member
Joined: August 03, 2005 Posts: 5391 Location: PNW
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 7:57 am Post subject: |
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My opinion? Order as many parts from Vanaru as you can and if your not going to do your own wiring harness, have Tom Shiels do it or at least test it when it's done. Go with the shortened oil pan. It is not a detriment to the engine (you still run the same amount of oil as you would with a full length pan) and you don't have the pan hanging down as a liability just waiting to connect with a semi truck tire chunk laying in the middle of the freeway.
I am not the biggest SmallCar fan. I feel that some of their parts are just OK/barely good enough. There are better parts out there. I know that I seem to be in the minority on this so let's just leave it at that. _________________ "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] |
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Raynor Shine Samba Member
Joined: November 07, 2005 Posts: 552
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:25 am Post subject: |
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They didn't have a "kit" when I did mine, but I purchased just about everything from them for my conversion, quality parts for sure. Plus they are cool to deal with. your other choice is Kennedy which I am told are very good too. I am sure you are reading subaruvanagon in yahoo. Tons of info there. |
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ChesterKV Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2005 Posts: 1725 Location: El Cerrito, CA
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:10 am Post subject: |
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Update # 2
The previous owner handed me a stack of receipts when I purchased the car. I have just gone through them and here is the following information; the car, as you'll recall, has 180,079 miles on the odometer.
1. Timing belt, water pump, and thermostat (w/gasket) replaced at 167,093 miles !
2. Rear seal replaced at 170,361 !
So, of course, I have been led down the road of temptation. Should I say, "those jobs are done ?" and count myself lucky ?
Quote: |
Be sure to do a compression test to assess the subie motor. My donor had 160k and still had excellent compression and oil pressure, miles don't always count against you with these guys.
Then follow the yahoo/subaruvanagon list of preemptive repairs, timing belt, seals, water pump, etc. That will almost guarantee 60k trouble free miles.
I shortened my oilpan. There is a picture at yahoo of someone's pan who backed into one of those parking lot yellow 'logs'. That convinced me. |
I now know what I'm going to do with the saved money.... purchase a shortened oilpan.
I do indeed check out Subaruvanagon. It's full of great information but I really HATE the format. It's painful (yet enlightening) when I'm there so I'll stick with TheSamba for most of my posts/questions.
A compression check is on the to-do-list, of course.
I'm interested in the SmallCar kit only because it's "complete", well, sort of. I wouldn't mind changing a couple of their parts over the next couple of years if it means the installation was headache free with my brain not overloaded with too many options.
I'm currently leaning towards Tom Shiels for the wiring harness work.
Later dudes.... _________________ 1984 Wolfsburg 7-passenger stock sunroof
1992 Subaru Legacy EJ22 boxer motor installed.... van is now sold.... currently playing with a 1987 Toyota MR2 with 1.6 liter twin-cam motor. Better than the Subaru boxers....... I'm impressed. Well, okay, in an "apples and oranges" kind of way.
Last edited by ChesterKV on Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:14 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Antelope Samba Member
Joined: November 12, 2006 Posts: 38 Location: West Seattle WA
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:13 am Post subject: Subaru Kit |
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I have had my hands in 5 ej22 conversions. Here's my perfect kit - requires almost no fabrication - just nut & both work Also the kit then just uses stock or generic parts that you can get at any parts house.
Small car motor mount
Small car coolant tank mount
H&R Reversed coolant manifold and Stainless coolant pipe
H&R Throttle Cable wheel - You can keep your stock Throttle cable
H&R Slash Shield
KEP flywheel & adaptor
KEP Airfilter hosing - Don't bother with their hose just use the stock one
KEP Bleeders - Only use the front one on the rad - Makes bleeding a snap
KEP Power steering hose
exhaust - My favorite set up is the KEP Header but you have to have a generic cat and muffler setup welded up, KEP will sell you the flange, you can also purchase the KEP exhaust set up w/o the flange welded on so you can have that done so it all lines up w/ small car mount
I do have a small car header on my personal van and it works but having the J Pipe is just another place for an exhaust leak and more crap to line up
Oil Pan - I kept stock on mine but I have used an H&R with the small car mount modified for the licence plate. Super nice - My next conversion I will probably try the new H&R engine mount oil pan as all of Seths products are super nice.
Well that's my $.02
Kevin |
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fatboypaul Samba Member
Joined: August 24, 2004 Posts: 432 Location: Emeryville, Ca, SF Bay.
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 11:49 am Post subject: |
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Island Westy and I have the exact same setup, and it works for me to. Takes a couple of weeks for everything to arrive so order early.
How about taking the donor car in for a pre smog check before taking it out of the donor, make sure it passes, costs around $20.00 and well worth it in my book. That was a good buy Freakness, I'll drop by and you can check out my conversion.
Paul. |
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levi Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2005 Posts: 5522 Location: Las Vegas
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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Just a couple things...
Make sure that the new t-stat they put in there is a genuine subaru stat and not a cheapo aftermarket. There's a big difference in size/quality there.
Same goes for the water pump. If they had a flaps pump put in it may fail after only 30,000 miles.
I'm assuming you'll reverse the manifold? shiels has a price that's tough to beat, including his t-stat housing, which is pretty cool.
I threaded the temp sender hole (no need to drill, soft aluminum, just tap it), and put a vw sender in. |
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nealcapener Samba Member
Joined: November 12, 2005 Posts: 48
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:48 pm Post subject: Re: And so it begins - Subaru EJ22 in a 1984 Transporter |
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$ 400.00 for a 5-speed, 4-door, blue/green exterior, tan cloth interior, small scratch across driver side door
I'll take it |
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oldskewlsk8ter Samba Member
Joined: June 13, 2004 Posts: 347 Location: Texas
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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Check out the coolant kit from East Coast Vanagon. Priced right, easy to install, and works like a champ. |
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ChesterKV Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2005 Posts: 1725 Location: El Cerrito, CA
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 10:28 pm Post subject: |
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Update #3
Thanks for all the input so far. I'll be checking out sites, checking prices, talking to the Buslab dudes. I'll take Levi's advice and verify if the replacement pump and t-stat are genuine FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES. Paul's smog suggestion I had previously thought about but now I'll definitely do it.
I added some Seafoam to the oil and gas. Right away, the idle dropped and now it seems to idle around 500 rpms....so it's doing SOMETHING. I just want to make sure when I do the swap any old crud is cleaned out of the case with the old oil and the fuel supply is pristine short of rebuilt injectors. I'll do the direct inject smoke-a-thon for kicks over the next couple of days. _________________ 1984 Wolfsburg 7-passenger stock sunroof
1992 Subaru Legacy EJ22 boxer motor installed.... van is now sold.... currently playing with a 1987 Toyota MR2 with 1.6 liter twin-cam motor. Better than the Subaru boxers....... I'm impressed. Well, okay, in an "apples and oranges" kind of way. |
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lovedavdubs Samba Member
Joined: April 30, 2004 Posts: 1597 Location: New York, NY.
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 11:09 pm Post subject: Re: And so it begins - Subaru EJ22 in a 1984 Transporter |
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freakness wrote: |
Ok dudes,
Never cleaned engine bay
This car has been on many interesting trips
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Hippies don't clean things _________________ 82 Air-cooled Westy (Lola)...My other vehicle is a subway. |
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r39o Samba Polizei
Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 9800 Location: San Diego
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 8:02 am Post subject: |
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First thing I would is to clean that engine while it is still in the car. I would just go to the self serve car wash and leave a mess there. Maybe take some covers off first. If it don't run after that. Let the AAA take care of towing home. EVERY Vanagon owner should have an AAA card! _________________ "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) |
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getset Samba Member
Joined: March 07, 2005 Posts: 437 Location: PNW | OLY
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 9:10 am Post subject: |
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I second the reverse coolant kit from east coast vanagon. It was very affoardable for what you get, which is everything needed for an easy install. I have the KEP mount and header on my syncro, and am pleased with them thus far. I like the simplicity in the design. I just have to figure out how to re-mount my rear skid plate. I now have 2000 wonderful smooth effortless miles on mine. Good luck. |
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droogvan Samba Member
Joined: July 29, 2005 Posts: 258 Location: Grand Rapids, MI
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 9:20 am Post subject: |
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Lets get down to brass tacks man, how much for the goddamned ape (2.1)!?! _________________ 89 Westy zetec
Some ol bullshit |
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ChesterKV Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2005 Posts: 1725 Location: El Cerrito, CA
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 9:27 am Post subject: |
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droogvan wrote: |
Lets get down to brass tacks man, how much for the goddamned ape (2.1)!?! |
You mean the 2.2 GoWesty ? I'm going to talk to the dudes at the Buslab in Berkeley and chat with them about a fair asking price as well as get some other information regarding the conversion. They have their own reverse coolant manifold design so I'll see what's up with that.
Washing the engine sounds like a good idea..........a REALLY good idea _________________ 1984 Wolfsburg 7-passenger stock sunroof
1992 Subaru Legacy EJ22 boxer motor installed.... van is now sold.... currently playing with a 1987 Toyota MR2 with 1.6 liter twin-cam motor. Better than the Subaru boxers....... I'm impressed. Well, okay, in an "apples and oranges" kind of way. |
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ChesterKV Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2005 Posts: 1725 Location: El Cerrito, CA
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 12:03 am Post subject: |
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Update #4
Ok dudes,
I've managed to complete a few things.
Cleaned up the engine bay a bit just to start things off right
Before pic
More importantly I did a basic compression check of the engine to see how healthy it is.
Cylinder # 1 - 195 psi
Cylinder # 2 - 193 psi
Cylinder # 3 - 193 psi
Cylinder # 4 - 183 psi
1992 Subaru Legacy compression comparison
I'm pretty happy with the results of the compression check. My maximum variation between cylinders is 12 psi which is well within the allowed maximum of 28 psi. All four spark plugs were identical in appearance; light grey indicating a happy engine. Tomorrow I'm going to clean the MAF sensor, examine the air filter, and finally make a decision on how much to ask for the GoWesty 2.2 motor that I want to sell. I'm so sleepy now.....
Healthy spark plugs
_________________ 1984 Wolfsburg 7-passenger stock sunroof
1992 Subaru Legacy EJ22 boxer motor installed.... van is now sold.... currently playing with a 1987 Toyota MR2 with 1.6 liter twin-cam motor. Better than the Subaru boxers....... I'm impressed. Well, okay, in an "apples and oranges" kind of way.
Last edited by ChesterKV on Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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