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Jake de Villiers
Samba Member
Joined: October 24, 2007
Posts: 5911
Location: Tsawwassen, BC
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 Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 2:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Syncromikey wrote: |
| Got the Cibie lights from "aardvark international" ... "cibieusa" ... Pretty quick turn around considering it was shipped via USPS and had to go through customs. |
Thanks!
_________________
'84 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX
'86 Westy Weekender Poptop/2.5 Subaru/5 Speed Posi/Audi Front Brakes/16 x 7 Mercedes Wheels - answers to 'Dixie'
@jakedevilliersmusic1
http://sites.google.com/site/subyjake/mydixiedarlin%27
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
www.thebassspa.com |
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Syncromikey
Samba Member
Joined: September 19, 2012
Posts: 463
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 7:40 pm Post subject: |
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Had to get a few covers made for the sewer traps and back flow preventer for the house and I wanted them to be nice so I went with polished Stainless steel. I figured since I had them laser cutting the 1/4 inch steel I would draw up a new emblem for the van. Found a nice sketch off the net, traced a good chunk of it and changed it a bit to make it my own so I can't credit for the drawing but it really came out nice. Going to put it on the new SA grill tomorrow when I have a bit of time.
Cheers,
Mike
_________________
Love my Westy ...
My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=528954 |
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Jake de Villiers
Samba Member
Joined: October 24, 2007
Posts: 5911
Location: Tsawwassen, BC
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| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:10 am Post subject: |
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| Syncromikey wrote: |
Had to get a few covers made for the sewer traps and back flow preventer for the house and I wanted them to be nice so I went with polished Stainless steel. I figured since I had them laser cutting the 1/4 inch steel I would draw up a new emblem for the van. Found a nice sketch off the net, traced a good chunk of it and changed it a bit to make it my own so I can't credit for the drawing but it really came out nice. Going to put it on the new SA grill tomorrow when I have a bit of time.
Cheers,
Mike |
Nice, Mike - that's a cute little bully! 
_________________
'84 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX
'86 Westy Weekender Poptop/2.5 Subaru/5 Speed Posi/Audi Front Brakes/16 x 7 Mercedes Wheels - answers to 'Dixie'
@jakedevilliersmusic1
http://sites.google.com/site/subyjake/mydixiedarlin%27
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
www.thebassspa.com |
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Syncromikey
Samba Member
Joined: September 19, 2012
Posts: 463
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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| Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:23 am Post subject: |
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Finished the first long trip with the new conversion and besides the exhaust coming loose a bit causing a leak it ran pretty good. I was getting about 17-18mpg for the trip and cruised at around 70mph. And I mean cruising ... My girl didn't even slow down going up the mountain passes. Going up the Coquihalla highway from Kamloops we were able to hold and accelerate from 120km/hr! Really nice feeling to not have to sit behind the big rigs struggling to get up the hill only doing about 60 km/hr. Even my better half was happy. In total a trip with a fully loaded van, which would have taken a day and a half in the past only took about 11 -12 hours and that's stopping for lunch and a number of pit stops for the girls. Really nice. I'm quite happy.
First pit stop ...
Lunch stop near Merritt BC.
Did find a couple bugs I still need to work out though. Slight vibration in the drivetrain likely coming from the front end (driveshaft is currently removed), she still sputters a bit when I am kinda at that sweet spot of letting off the gas and just coasting. It was doing this before quite a bit (actually stalling out when I let off of the gas at the lights and consuming an enormous amount of fuel) until I tweaked the air intake system. I'm thinking now that it still needs a bit more work. I suspect I don't have enough distance between the MAF and the intake for the airflow to become more laminar. I think it's still a bit too turbulent to get accurate readings so it's causing the engine to run too rich. Getting a slight carbon film building up in the exhaust pipe ... Spark plugs are just fine though. Next project will have to be to make a new air box and snorkel and some sort of new intake to the turbo, then get her re-tuned. Also, the rear drivers wheel has a tiny bit of wiggle to it. Not much, just noticeable when I shake the wheel back and forth. I noticed it before we left and tried to tighten it down a bit more but wasn't able to get the next nut grove to line up with the shaft hole for the cotter pin. It tightened up a bit once I was done but it looks like it loosened again on the trip. Have a couple extra rear bear and seal sets in my tool kit just incase but it doesn't look like they are needed.
Cheers,
Mike
_________________
Love my Westy ...
My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=528954 |
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BLD
Samba Member
Joined: March 17, 2015
Posts: 3
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
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| Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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Mike,
Thanks for sharing so much detail of your build. Great work. I'm currently putting a 2.5 turbo from a 2005 Legacy GT into my 89 Syncro Westy. I'm swapping out an EJ22 I put in a number of years ago. Your posts have been extremely helpful.
How has your exhaust turned out? Did you resolve the heat issue and would you go with the same RMW header and custom exhaust style again?
Brent |
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Syncromikey
Samba Member
Joined: September 19, 2012
Posts: 463
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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| BLD wrote: |
Mike,
Thanks for sharing so much detail of your build. Great work. I'm currently putting a 2.5 turbo from a 2005 Legacy GT into my 89 Syncro Westy. I'm swapping out an EJ22 I put in a number of years ago. Your posts have been extremely helpful.
How has your exhaust turned out? Did you resolve the heat issue and would you go with the same RMW header and custom exhaust style again?
Brent |
Hi Brent,
Thanks! It was a pleasure posting on the site. I'll eventually be tearing her all apart to do a complete build from the ground up. All of this work will really help cut time for what is next. We just got back into our house from the flood in 2013. Still have quite a bit of work to do on the house before it's done and I can start on the van again but it's getting close. Will likely start work again in the fall.
As for the header I picked up from RMW ... It's great. They certainly do have a good product and I would definitely go back to them if I had to do it again. The rest of the exhaust is really nice too. Although there is a LOT of heat generated back there. One of the priorities for next winter will be to build a heat shield that'll protect the body and bed from the cat (where most of the heat is generated). It's definitely currently under control but it doesn't hurt to do a bit more work so the bed doesn't get too hot when you're out on the road. Nothing worse then trying to get to sleep on a hot bed during a warm evening. Still looking for a new (used) mattress pad for the back. May have to make one out of foam. Just not sure which density to use and where to get it up here in Canada. I digress ...
The turbo will be a big change to how your van drives ... Even from the 2.2 litre you have now. You're going to love it ... I wouldn't recommend burn outs though if you're going to use the original tranny. 
Cheers,
Mike
_________________
Love my Westy ...
My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=528954 |
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BLD
Samba Member
Joined: March 17, 2015
Posts: 3
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
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| Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2015 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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I'm glad you're house is coming along. That flood was devastating for the city. I knew of others that were affected as well. I hope you post what you're doing next with the van. This last one was a great read.
I'm currently trying to figure out what to do with the exhaust. I had hoped to run it around back of the motor but with the RMW carrier bar I seem to be limited. Were you looking at any other options before going with the RMW headers? They do look awesome.
My engine is just coming out of the donor now and going for a re-build, and getting the wiring ready to be modified. It's a canBUS so that poses some challenges as well but I've ordered the Subatronics canBUS emulator so hopefully that will do the trick.
I've upgraded the transmission a few years ago but nothing to the extent you have. I drive fairly calmly so hopefully it will hold up. I don't see any burnouts in my near future 
Brent |
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Syncromikey
Samba Member
Joined: September 19, 2012
Posts: 463
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2015 6:08 am Post subject: |
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| BLD wrote: |
I'm glad you're house is coming along. That flood was devastating for the city. I knew of others that were affected as well. I hope you post what you're doing next with the van. This last one was a great read.
I'm currently trying to figure out what to do with the exhaust. I had hoped to run it around back of the motor but with the RMW carrier bar I seem to be limited. Were you looking at any other options before going with the RMW headers? They do look awesome.
My engine is just coming out of the donor now and going for a re-build, and getting the wiring ready to be modified. It's a canBUS so that poses some challenges as well but I've ordered the Subatronics canBUS emulator so hopefully that will do the trick.
I've upgraded the transmission a few years ago but nothing to the extent you have. I drive fairly calmly so hopefully it will hold up. I don't see any burnouts in my near future
Brent |
Hey Brent,
"Run around the back of the motor" ... Do you mean the back of the motor or the back of the van ... Not sure it would fit behind the motor, beside the the transaxle. With the contacts I have now I would have the header made locally. Chris (Unobtainium Welding) makes custom exhausts and the cost would be about the same as going to RMW. Not knocking RMWs header ... It's good and I'm happy with it but it's nice to go local. When were you thinking about doing the conversion itself? Is the van running?
As for the harness, did you consider just building one and use an ECU from a WRX or the like? Might not be a big deal though ... I'm just not really familiar with the canbus system.
_________________
Love my Westy ...
My build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=528954 |
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BLD
Samba Member
Joined: March 17, 2015
Posts: 3
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
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| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Mike,
The van is running now. The 2.2 is still going well, but it was time to upgrade. I've decided to go with the custom headers like you recommended. RMW does make nice stuff but I'm going to see what I can get built locally.
I'm getting Tom Shiels to build the harness. He's done a lot of research on how to get the CANbus system taken care of. We will be using the Subatronics Emulator from Subagears so hopefully it works well. We had a complete donor car so I've got all the modules etc that I need for the harness.
Now it's time to build the motor, scope out and design the intercooler etc. then design the headers. Should be fun.
I'm looking forward to getting the van back and on the road.
Let me know if you know of any good places in Calgary or anywhere in Alberta that has good vanagon/westy parts. I'm looking for a power window motor to rebuild.
Brent |
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WillSharp
Samba Member
Joined: November 02, 2016
Posts: 199
Location: US 80424
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| Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 8:40 pm Post subject: Re: Subaru 2.5l turbo conversion into a 91 syncro |
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Sweet build! Has been very helpful for my swap of a forester xt 2.5 turbo into a 2wd.
I am wondering how you routed your PCV? Did you just tie it right into you intake?
Thanks! |
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