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edgood1
Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004
Posts: 2049
Location: Plymouth, MA
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 Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:08 am Post subject: |
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thats cool. I saw their website before and the pictures of the kit. It looks to be a better deal than the small car package because the small car kit doesn't include half the things the RMW does....they are separate items, and I don't think you can even get a complete exhaust from them.
I like the RMW kit a lot better, I'm still not sold on the small car bellhousing, I don't like the internal clutch slave (not sure if they are still doing that).
Does anyone know if you can remove just the transmission in a syncro with this kit without pulling the engine? That is a big plus with the small car kit.
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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wasserbox
Samba Member
Joined: April 08, 2008
Posts: 533
Location: Durango, CO
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| Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:22 am Post subject: |
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| edgood1 wrote: |
| It looks to be a better deal than the small car package because the small car kit doesn't include half the things the RMW does.... |
That kit is a little hinky... they used to have all the components listed with individual prices. I totalled up the individual items in the kit vs the whole shebang, and there was about $800 difference (cheaper) buying it all individually.
When I tried to get a straight answer about why the kit seemed so much more expensive, they quit responding to my emails... 
The smallcar kit is a good start, but you still need to add on CAT, muffler, clutch, PS hose, flywheel, starter, and accel cable. I think it ended up being around $3700 for a "complete" conversion, vs RMW which appears to be around $5000 from Rubber Tramp's costs. Kit, Clutch, Oilpan, and he hasn't yet paid to have his manifold reversed.... |
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iltis74
Samba Member
Joined: November 20, 2003
Posts: 826
Location: Anchorage, AK
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| Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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| edgood1 wrote: |
| I'm still not sold on the small car bellhousing, I don't like the internal clutch slave. |
http://www.rjes.com/
Look into the turbo option for the SVX, but bear in mind the RMW engine carrier, and possibly other parts, was designed to accommodate the engine being pushed back by the adapter plate, while the bellhousing brings it forwards a touch. All good clean fun. |
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j_dirge
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007
Posts: 4641
Location: Twain Harte, CA
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| Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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| iltis74 wrote: |
| edgood1 wrote: |
| I'm still not sold on the small car bellhousing, I don't like the internal clutch slave. |
http://www.rjes.com/
Look into the turbo option for the SVX, but bear in mind the RMW engine carrier, and possibly other parts, was designed to accommodate the engine being pushed back by the adapter plate, while the bellhousing brings it forwards a touch. All good clean fun. |
Richard Jones (RJES) makes a carrier, too. They don't do many SVXs in England apparantly.. not many imported there. But in emails RJ indicated it would all work.
With either bellhousing the engine will sit closer to the firewall. So some additional modification is to be expected.
Loogy has a really nicely detailed photo collection documenting his SVX RJES swap.
Scott at Turbovans has also done one recently.
Both give RJES very high marks.. Both guys are very nice and have been very helpful to me in planning my own project.
I think that as you research your project a little more, you grow more comfortable with buying separate pieces. A "kit" was attractive to me initially, as well. Thought it would simplify things for me.. maybe. But niether kit addressed my complete needs. Sooo...
I'm going with RJES bellhousing and carrier.. and maybe input shaft.. haven't decided on that just yet.
Picked up a flywheel, used.
Haven't decided on a Subie clutch or ??
Other bits and pieces as I find them.. Not being in a big rush makes it a little easier to pull it all together.
And the WBXer seems to be running better every day.. Maybe it knows something's up.
_________________
-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.
-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5
| danfromsyr wrote: |
those are straight line runs with light weight race cars for only 1/4mile at a time..
not pushing a loaded brick up a mountain pass with a family of 4+ inside expecting to have an event free vacation..
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Rubber Tramp
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008
Posts: 385
Location: DFW, Texas
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| Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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I was also going to piece different parts together, so it would maybe come out cheaper and so I could customize it to my needs.
But the RMW kit seems top of the line. I really like the custom exhaust system and the carrier bar. You also don't have to do any modification to the firewall with their adapter plate. The customer service is great as well, I'm glad I made the decision to go with RMW.
_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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Rubber Tramp
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008
Posts: 385
Location: DFW, Texas
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| Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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I did some poking around today and found the source of my coolant leak. There's about a 3mm size hole on the bottom side of the water pump right behind the pulley... weird. When the engine is running and the coolant gets warm it just flows right outta that hole.
My plan for now...
since it's just my water pump I'll go ahead and fix that now. This will buy me more time in finding a quality engine and then I'll still have a vehicle while I'm rebuilding the svx motor.
I found an svx in Dallas that I'm going to look at soon. I didn't get much info on it other than it's in a salvage yard I believe and the guy got it from theft protection.. the seats were stolen and the steering column broken. If everything looks good to me I'm going to get a mechanic to take a look at it, and we'll see where I go from there.
_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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wasserbox
Samba Member
Joined: April 08, 2008
Posts: 533
Location: Durango, CO
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| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:28 am Post subject: |
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| Rubber Tramp wrote: |
| I did some poking around today and found the source of my coolant leak. There's about a 3mm size hole on the bottom side of the water pump right behind the pulley... weird. |
That's the weep hole. It'll leak for about a week or two before your waterpump craps out entirely. |
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Rubber Tramp
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008
Posts: 385
Location: DFW, Texas
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| Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:49 pm Post subject: |
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So does the hole basically serve as a warning sign?
I've had a very minor leak, just a drop or two, for the past year and have never found the source. Glad to finally figure it out!
_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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74VWBUGproject
Samba Member
Joined: October 29, 2009
Posts: 56
Location: Maryland
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| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:46 am Post subject: |
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| I had an SVX. That motor pulled hard in the 3600 lb awd car. |
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Rubber Tramp
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008
Posts: 385
Location: DFW, Texas
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 12:44 pm Post subject: |
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-------------update---------------
I bought a donor car!
The car is in great condition and at first I was steered away from it because it was listed for $2,600. Luckily for me, a few weeks ago the transmission went out and won't shift into 4th gear so he dropped the price to $650. The only thing I'm worried about is that he swapped in a 30K mile JDM motor a year ago. I wasn't planning on getting a JDM but I can't pass this deal up. He hasn't had any problems with it since the transplant and as long as nothing is wrong inside the block I should be okay since I'm replacing all components, seals, gaskets, head gaskets... For $650 I felt like it's safe to take a chance on this. If it craps out a month later I can make my money back from parting out the car and buy another engine. Since I'll already have all the conversion parts it will be an easy swap.
The car is in wonderful condition with a lot of new parts so I might just keep it for a future project:
I still haven't received my RMW kit yet. I called the other day to find out what's taking so long and was surprised with the response. Mike says they have been working on building some custom parts that will be better than the previous kit, so I'm very excited to be trying out the updated verison. I'm sure I will be more than satisfied with the work they are doing, wonderful company to do business with! The car and conversion parts should be arriving in a week or so.
In the meantime I've been working on my water pump, but had a big fail today. While taking out the studs holding the upper coolant pipe that slips into the water pump, I broke the stud in half 
With all the trouble I'm having getting this pump out I'm thinking of just going ahead and dropping the engine.
_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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smokin_dodge
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2008
Posts: 169
Location: East Texas
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 5:57 pm Post subject: |
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if i ever do another svx swap it will be RMW. the biggest problem with the svx is the header/mount combination. small car's mount is the biggest POS on the market if you ask me. they just modified the stock mount for the waterboxer and put it under the svx at the rear of the motor, when the factory motor mounts are next to the transaxle.
if you use the small car mount, you have to modify the mounts and order grade 12.9 bolts for the mating to the transaxle. with the small car mount all the strain is where the motor meets the transaxle, so its the weak link in the chain. nothing would suck more than driving down the road and ur motor and transaxle fall out from underneath the van because the studs broke in half.
a large portion of the RMW kit is the exhaust system. i believe the whole system runs around $2100 (dont know if its in the kit or not) but its headers and everything.
im going with small car headers and hopefully build my own mount similar to RMW, something that mates to the stock mounts.
if your going to rebuild the svx, get ready for a headache. there are alot of "chinese" parts available (chinese motors on a jap car - stupidest thing in the world if you ask me) i got on the svx-net-world something forum and these guys were praising a timingbelt/idler kit for $150. after doing my research they are using sub par parts, u have to use NSK or KOYO idlers and they are very pricey. gaskets are a little more as well than compared to the 2.2L
another thing to consider is that subaru doesnt recommend full motor rebuilds. according to them if your motor needs boring you should just junk the motor case and get a new one, so if you get anything over 120K-130K (in my opinion) your playing russian rulette with your motor. nothing would suck more than spending all that money on a conversion with a high mileage motor only to find out it craps out 5K miles down the road. |
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edgood1
Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004
Posts: 2049
Location: Plymouth, MA
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| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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| smokin_dodge wrote: |
| the biggest problem with the svx is the header/mount combination. small car's mount is the biggest POS on the market if you ask me. they just modified the stock mount for the waterboxer and put it under the svx at the rear of the motor, when the factory motor mounts are next to the transaxle. |
I think you are mistaken. the small car exhaust puts the muffler next to the engine..with some tight clearance to the wheel well.
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if you use the small car mount, you have to modify the mounts and order grade 12.9 bolts for the mating to the transaxle. with the small car mount all the strain is where the motor meets the transaxle, so its the weak link in the chain. nothing would suck more than driving down the road and ur motor and transaxle fall out from underneath the van because the studs broke in half.
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this used to be a problem, but I'm 99% smallcar addressed and resolved it on the latest version of the bellhousing.
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a large portion of the RMW kit is the exhaust system. i believe the whole system runs around $2100 (dont know if its in the kit or not) but its headers and everything.
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Last I checked it was $4200.
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im going with small car headers and hopefully build my own mount similar to RMW, something that mates to the stock mounts.
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You should check out the Kennedy mount as well.
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if your going to rebuild the svx, get ready for a headache. there are alot of "chinese" parts available (chinese motors on a jap car - stupidest thing in the world if you ask me) i got on the svx-net-world something forum and these guys were praising a timingbelt/idler kit for $150. after doing my research they are using sub par parts, u have to use NSK or KOYO idlers and they are very pricey. gaskets are a little more as well than compared to the 2.2L
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this goes true (maybe even more so) for the waterboxer...theres lots of crap parts out there for any car
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another thing to consider is that subaru doesnt recommend full motor rebuilds. according to them if your motor needs boring you should just junk the motor case and get a new one, so if you get anything over 120K-130K (in my opinion) your playing russian rulette with your motor. nothing would suck more than spending all that money on a conversion with a high mileage motor only to find out it craps out 5K miles down the road. |
I really gotta disagree with you here. If you reseal the heads, replace the timing belt, tensioners and pullys, seal everything up good while the engine is out you can expect well over 200K miles on ANY subaru if it is well maintained.. 250K is not uncommon. If you get a suby with 120K miles on it you can expect to get just as many miles as you would from a stock wbx rebuild (or top end rebuild at the least).
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia |
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j_dirge
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007
Posts: 4641
Location: Twain Harte, CA
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| Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 8:21 am Post subject: |
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| Rubber Tramp wrote: |
-------------update---------------
I bought a donor car!
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Congrats!
Patience pays off.
Now.. If RMW still hasn't delivered your goods, I'd suggest you look at this:
http://rjes.com/html/bellhousing_kits.html
_________________
-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.
-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5
| danfromsyr wrote: |
those are straight line runs with light weight race cars for only 1/4mile at a time..
not pushing a loaded brick up a mountain pass with a family of 4+ inside expecting to have an event free vacation..
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Rubber Tramp
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008
Posts: 385
Location: DFW, Texas
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| Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 10:42 am Post subject: |
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| smokin_dodge wrote: |
if your going to rebuild the svx, get ready for a headache. there are alot of "chinese" parts available
another thing to consider is that subaru doesnt recommend full motor rebuilds. |
Thanks for the concern. I only plan to use Subaru OEM parts. I wasn't planning to do a FULL rebuild, just the essentials that you should do while you have the motor pulled, as in:
| Quote: |
| reseal the heads, replace the timing belt, tensioners and pullys, seal everything up good while the engine is out |
...new water, oil, PS pumps, complete gasket/seal kit, filters, pcv and egr valves, alternator, plugs, thermostat, hoses..
I considered rjes when I was deciding on conversion kits. A new bellhousing would be great, but I like the simplicity of the RMW kit much more. And with all the help mike at RMW has given me, I have no reason to go with another company. If I decide I don't like the product when it gets here, they offer a full refund.
I believe you have to modify the firewall with the rjes bellhousing as it seats the motor a couple inches closer to the tranny, this is not necessary with the RMW adapter plate. For this reason, I'm not sure if the rjes bellhousing would work with the RMW carrier bar system.
_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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smokin_dodge
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2008
Posts: 169
Location: East Texas
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| Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 3:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
another thing to consider is that subaru doesnt recommend full motor rebuilds. according to them if your motor needs boring you should just junk the motor case and get a new one, so if you get anything over 120K-130K (in my opinion) your playing russian rulette with your motor. nothing would suck more than spending all that money on a conversion with a high mileage motor only to find out it craps out 5K miles down the road. |
| Quote: |
I really gotta disagree with you here. If you reseal the heads, replace the timing belt, tensioners and pullys, seal everything up good while the engine is out you can expect well over 200K miles on ANY subaru if it is well maintained.. 250K is not uncommon. If you get a suby with 120K miles on it you can expect to get just as many miles as you would from a stock wbx rebuild (or top end rebuild at the least). |
i apoligize i somewhat misspoke. as far as the rebuild im talking about reboring the motor and putting bigger pistons in. everything ive found said junk the case if the bore is out |
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Rubber Tramp
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008
Posts: 385
Location: DFW, Texas
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| Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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Well since I'm waiting for the conversion parts and the car, I figured I would go ahead and get started on dropping the old westy engine. Here's some before shots for future reference when the conversion is complete:
Everything is unhooked, labeled, and engine/tranny ready to be dropped. what a mess:
_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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Destructo
Samba Member
Joined: July 31, 2006
Posts: 405
Location: Westhampton, MA
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| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:09 am Post subject: |
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"Everything is unhooked, labeled, and engine/tranny ready to be dropped. what a mess:"
What a mess is right! This was exactly what I thought when I pulled my 1.9 for a Bostig Conversion.
Not sure if you've emptied the coolant yet, but using a shop vac was the best advice I got during my project.
Good luck and may the force of the Samba be with you! It seems that conversion threads with pictures get lots of views!
_________________
1985 Wolfsburg Edition Westfalia Camper Bostig conversion
Dude, where's your van? |
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Christopher Schimke
Samba Member
Joined: August 03, 2005
Posts: 5390
Location: PNW
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| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:30 am Post subject: |
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| Rubber Tramp wrote: |
I considered rjes when I was deciding on conversion kits. A new bellhousing would be great, but I like the simplicity of the RMW kit much more. And with all the help mike at RMW has given me, I have no reason to go with another company. If I decide I don't like the product when it gets here, they offer a full refund.
I believe you have to modify the firewall with the rjes bellhousing as it seats the motor a couple inches closer to the tranny, this is not necessary with the RMW adapter plate. For this reason, I'm not sure if the rjes bellhousing would work with the RMW carrier bar system. |
I just wanted to clarify that the RJES bellhousing positions the motor 16mm further forward, not "a couple of inches" and the modifications to the "firewall" are incredibly simple and cause zero problems with either the fuel tank or the structural intergrity of the van. Just for the record!
_________________
"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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Rubber Tramp
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008
Posts: 385
Location: DFW, Texas
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| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Destructo wrote: |
Not sure if you've emptied the coolant yet, but using a shop vac was the best advice I got during my project.
Good luck and may the force of the Samba be with you! It seems that conversion threads with pictures get lots of views! |
Using a shop vac is a wonderful idea! I got out most of it but I'll see if I can vacuum out any more. My coolant reservoir had a quarter inch layer of brown sludge resting on the bottom! I'm sure I'll find many more surprises during this conversion.
loogy: Thanks for the clarification. Do you have the rjes bellhousing? I think I remember reading somewhere you did the svx conversion.
_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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funagon
Samba Member
Joined: March 09, 2006
Posts: 1308
Location: SLC, UT
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| Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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After you put an SVX in that van I think it's mandatory to install some big rims with fat rubber.
_________________
1990 GL 7-passenger
2.2 liter WBX |
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