Advice for the Unexperienced: Subaru Swap for 71 Bay; yes or no?

[1971Marilyn]

I have a 71 Bus and am debating on a Subaru swap. Am only tossing around the idea but need advice from the experts. I am open to suggestions as well. The poor thing wouldn't stay charged and I tried everything I knew. Replaced the alternator, didn't work. Replaced the battery, didn't work. Replaced the alternator again, didn't work. Took it to a VW "specialist" company. $1,200 later it started smoking and died 8 miles down the road from the mechanics shop. They replaced they ignition switch and the alternator, fixed the wiring issue (they thought that was the problem) and it still will not hold charge for longer than 30 minutes.

I love this thing and just want the damn thing to run. I want to be able to get in it and go for miles and not have to worry about being stranded on the side of the road for hours (again...) Any advice/help/suggestions? Anything is helpful. Thanks in advance.

[richparker]

Where are you located?

How much money are you willing to invest? A quality Subi swap will be north of $20k, unless you’re are capable of doing it yourself.
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[TomWesty]

How handy are you with tools and a volt meter?
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[1971Marilyn]

[1971Marilyn]

[Wildthings]

Doing an engine swap to some weird custom design that no one has a manual for could easily lead to very perplexing problems. If you can't find someone who can figure out what is likely a very easy problem to troubleshoot on a 50 year old car, how are you going to find someone to troubleshoot a morphodite vehicle?

[calvinater]

Have you tested the voltage regulater? Does your gen light come on in the run position?
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[danfromsyr]

my advice is if you can't solve the alternator charging issue
you certainly aren't going to DIY a subaru swap
and if $1200 is alot of money, well it's alot of money for no/worse repair for sure.
that a Subaru swap done will be a whole bucket full of money more..

if you can even find a 'reputable' shop to do it.

but you've started a good thing..
by coming here and asking questions...

keep coming back and keep asking questions... a solution will eventually follow.
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Wildthings]

[1971Marilyn]

Maybe not rocket science but if he can't figure out how to fix a simple charging system and can't find a shop to do such, he is going to have trouble finding someone capable of doing a clean conversion. He needs an hour of shop time from someone who knows how to trouble shoot a fifty year old electrical system and not a $15,000 bill for a conversion that may more may not be done well.[/quote]

She, actually. Unrelated to the issue, however I didn't pay attention as much as I should have growing up around 3 men that worked on cars. Mostly body and paint, not so much motors. Point is, I am unexperienced and that's why I am here, to gain knowledge now. There have been a few people that have pointed me in the direction of a guy who does Subaru swaps is why I wanted an opinion. After reviewing all the comments here, seems like a swap probably isn't the best or cheapest option, therefore I will probably rule it out. Thanks for your opinion. I'm sure your tutu looks great on you.

[1971Marilyn]

[aeromech]

You’ll get lots of help now.

Go back and put in your details. Like where you live and what kind of bus you have. I see you just signed up so you don’t know that info like that is important to us. Figure out how to add some pictures. Puts a personal touch on your posts. Tell us a bit about yourself and how long you’ve owned your bus, etc. there are people here that will give you all the help you need because we love this or we wouldn’t be here. It’s just that some people cruise into the samba, get what they want, then cruise out so it’s up to you to convince us that you deserve our time.
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[Wildthings]

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[aeromech]

You’re calling me a creeper?
_________________
Lead Mechanic: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Licensed Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic
Licensed Pilot (Single engine Land)
Boeing 727,737-200-300-400,757,767
Airbus A319,320,321
DC9/MD80
BAe146
Fokker F28/F100
VW type 1 1962,63,65,69,72
VW Type 2 1971 (3 ea.) 1978, 1969
VW Jetta
VW Passat
Capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound

[notchboy]

[bigbore]

Hi Skills still hard at it I see.
Now I cant get the tutu out of my head.
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