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ALIKA T3
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2009
Posts: 6360
Location: Honolulu,Hawaii and France
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mtnhome 
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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 Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:49 pm Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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So I've been spending as much time as I can working on the van and usually too tired to keep up with the posts. I've discovered that I'm getting a great workout working on this. Amazing how many times you go back and forth under the van working on everything there. I haven't taken as many pictures since I'm trying to get this done and I get pretty absorbed in all the details. It didn't help that it pretty much snowed nearly every day. when I wasn't working or clearing snow , I've been working on this.
I went ahead and replaced the oil pump seal. I had to show the parts guy at the local Subaru dealer where to find it.
Hopefully won't have to go back in here for awhile...
I lubed the cable for the 10c heater valve. I clamped a scrap piece of tubing to the cable housing, sprayed some lube in, and even used an air nozzle with very gentle pressure to push it through the housing.
Installing the valve is pretty straight forward. Hard to tell if lubing the cable made much difference but it can't hurt. Chris does advise to let the coolant warm up before operating the valve. I'll probably leave the valve open for a while since I want to see how the self bleeding works.
I did use a couple of these to support and guide the bleed tube. I've been using some of these in a few places I wanted to zip tie something. I clean the area with acetone and they seem to stick very well. We'll see how they do with the heat from the radiator.
Replaced the plastic heater hose coupling with an aluminum one.
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'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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GreggK
Samba Member
Joined: May 17, 2008
Posts: 898
Location: Colorado/Philidelphia
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:08 am Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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Hi Gregg! When did you send the axle? I never received it. Just to get this moving, I bought a couple of cheap axles from the flaps, I'll swap them out when I get things sorted.
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'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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skills@eurocarsplus
Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007
Posts: 16883
Location: sticksville, ct.
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| Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 11:34 am Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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if you ever decide to repaint this i'd buy your sliding door and get you a clean replacement. i've been hunting for an original paint sliding door for a while now
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| gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
| Jake Raby wrote: |
| Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
| Brian wrote: |
| Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 9:26 pm Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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| skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
| if you ever decide to repaint this i'd buy your sliding door and get you a clean replacement. i've been hunting for an original paint sliding door for a while now |
I actually like Assuanbraun so I'm not planning on a repaint.
I will put it in the back of my mind that you're wanting a good slider in this color though. What I really need is a seam reseal.
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'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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skills@eurocarsplus
Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007
Posts: 16883
Location: sticksville, ct.
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| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 9:56 pm Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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it for sure wasn't my favorite color but it grew on me. i actually kind of like it now. you'd figure for such a common color i'd be able to scare up a decent slider. mine is fine, just had some funky paint work done to it. i'm assuming for a scrape as i see no indication of a dent anywhere when i had the door panel off.
anyway, keep up the good work 
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| gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
| Jake Raby wrote: |
| Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
| Brian wrote: |
| Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 10:34 pm Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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So a rundown of things I've managed to get done over the last couple of weeks.
Replaced the OE starter cable with 1/0 marine tinned cable. I bought it from BatteryCables USA, I have a hydraulic crimper but hard to beat getting it with crimped lugs and adhesive heat shrink for under $60 shipped. I had them make it 10' to be safe since I hadn't pulled the old cable out. I routed pretty much the same as original nut had to detour where it went through a hole in a bulkhead. I added a piece of heat shrink anywhere I zip tied it and a piece of heater hose where I re-routed through an opening. These push in zip ties fit a 6mm hole and there are a few places on the van with a perfect hole.
Replaced the oe steel coolant pipes with RMW SS pipes. Also ran new heater hose. I found a 25' roll of silicone at a good price on Ebay. It was just enough since I am deleting the rear heater. I'd really recommend installing new pipes with the radiator in place. I had to adjust the pipes to match the radiator hoses when I put the new radiator in.
Since the new pipes are bigger than the OE, I had to cut this opening a little bigger. Used some edge trim to cover the cut edge. This $19.99 tool from HF has been a great deal and used multiple times.
I made new clamps to hold the pipes to the frame. I modeled after the OE clamps. I know someone makes these but figured I could do this. 3D printed a form and cut some strips from a sheet of 1/16" aluminum. Used my shop press to shape them. Added a bit of heat shrink on the front clamp that also holds the hoses.
_________________
'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:16 pm Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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Semi new radiator in with new GoWesty baffles. This was an almost new SA Behr that furry Neil pulled out when he did his mid engine Subaru conversion. Pretty straight forward. Only thing I did was to cut a notch in the edge of the baffle at the radiator fan switch since there wasn't enough room to allow the edge to snap into place. Also, Had the radiator shroud powder coated.
As long as I was under there and everything was out of the way, I replaced the steering couplings since they showed some cracking. I had a spare steering rod that I had powdered along with the rad shroud and radiator brackets. I plan to replace the steering rack and bushings after getting the van moving. I have a super clean rack I pulled at the pick & pull.
Most of the crusty looking stuff in the pics isn't rust but just dirty original under coating.
I removed the OXS counter and replaced the speedo cable with a 1 piece cable. I plan to use the OXS wire in the cluster connector for my tach signal since I'm replacing the analog clock cluster with one from an 84/85 Wolfsburg. My van also has the wire in the 14 pin connector for the diesel glow plug so I'll use that for the check engine light. I won't have to source any of the plug pins.
I'm using an RJES throttle cable kit and installed that but didn't get any pictures...
Next I start on the really fun stuff of engine and trans...
_________________
'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16508
Location: Brookeville, MD
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sanchius
Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2007
Posts: 1456
Location: IN
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4Gears4Tires
Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2018
Posts: 3054
Location: MD
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| Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:38 pm Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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New bolts on the steering coupler too? Minty!
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition |
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:57 pm Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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I appreciate the compliments from you guys whose threads have motivated me. Even though I've been reading build threads for years, I find I spend a lot of time rethinking and overthinking just about every step of the way. When I hit a "roadblock", I would jump to another part of the project.
My original inspiration to do a Subie conversion came from GreggK when I heard him talking about his first conversion done in Colorado. Not long after that I bought the $300 1993 Legacy....
I had bought a Black Friday SubaruGears kit along with Todd's LSD and of course, it sat on the shelf for a couple of years. Like the harness, I originally thought I'd do it myself. After reading and watching some videos, I decided I did not want to risk all of those pretty and expensive parts on my first attempt ant building a transmission. I had done some research a couple of years ago and found a guy in Denver who has a stellar reputation as THE Subaru transmission builder in this region. Zach Fothergill-ZF Designs in Denver. His shop is pristine in cleanliness and it is obvious that he is a total pro. I finally took my SubaruGears kit and a couple of transmissions I had scrounged up to him and discussed having him build the trans. He had not done any of these but was familiar with Subarugears. I said to use the best parts for my build and keep any extra parts that might be useable. Within a week or two of me bringing in my stuff, he had two other customers bring in their Subarugears projects. So I told him to do the others first....
I'm glad I went with him! He is a consummate craftsman. He takes the transmission completely apart, cleans and checks every piece, and this is what you end up with, looks like a new transmission. He even clearances the case on a CNC mill.
I had him install an upgraded 1st gear synchro since he said that one takes the most punishment. He offers an upgraded 2nd gear synchro but he said mine were perfect.
Just after Christmas, this arrived. Time to get to the real work.
I needed to finish prepping for the SubaruGears. I have Dave Clymers 5speedbus shifter and trans install kit. I should mention that Dave is a first class act. When I ran into some questions, he always responded quickly to my text and in fact called me to discuss some things in the evening.
Laid out and cut holes in the rear bulkhead for the modified selector shaft.
I didn't like the overlapping holes with sharp points so I trimmed to an oval.
Shot it with some primer and installed a bit of heater hose to protect the RJES throttle cable.
You probably noticed in earlier pictures I had mounted the shifter box and front rod. I used new shaft bushings and rebuilt a shift lever assembly with some new bits. I also printed a boot to fit over the shifter mechanism. I tried to make it just stiff enough to hold the lever centered in neutral and not be vibrating or flopping around. I thought it might keep the lubricated parts a little bit cleaner.
_________________
'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:01 pm Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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| 4Gears4Tires wrote: |
| New bolts on the steering coupler too? Minty! |
I know, I have this problem with typically not liking to reuse rusty fasteners. I don't even want to know what I've spent on all the misc bits and pieces.....
I laughed at myself the other day when I told someone I wanted this to be good for the rest of my life...which will be less than the van is old....
_________________
'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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skills@eurocarsplus
Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007
Posts: 16883
Location: sticksville, ct.
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:05 am Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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| mtnhome wrote: |
I laughed at myself the other day when I told someone I wanted this to be good for the rest of my life...which will be less than the van is old.... |
that's the spirit! go big or go home. no need to 1/2 ass anything.
_________________
| gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
| Jake Raby wrote: |
| Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
| Brian wrote: |
| Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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GreggK
Samba Member
Joined: May 17, 2008
Posts: 898
Location: Colorado/Philidelphia
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 7:03 am Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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This looks good
Had to text Jeff a couple of times to get the manifold harness on, I didn't quite "see" how it was to fit.
Engine together and mated to trans
Had a friend come by and help me push it under the van. I don't an engine hoist so built a small hoist to fit over the engine bay. It worked out pretty well. I put umhw tape on the aluminum angle so it wouldn't scratch the paint. I could push it side to side and the HF boat winch can slide front to rear. I put a small floor jack under it just in case...
Mounted the moustache bar to locate where to drill holes to bolt it up. I shifted it as far as I could to the left to get the Subieflanges as centered as possible.
I should mention through all of this, I was able to text Dave Clymer and he answered promptly as well as bugging Jeff at Autoventures. I probably spend half my time thinking how to do something, double checking online and bugging my friend John who's built a beautiful van. Another quarter of the time is spent looking for the damn tool I just had in my hand....
_________________
'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 7:37 am Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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Next I just spent a lot of time hooking up hoses and installing the wiring harness.
I had flipped the fuel pressure regulator so I could return on the left. I repurposed the original mount by bending a 90 and using an existing hole in the firewall below the black box. This was a last minute idea so maybe I'll paint it later....
I used the RMW expansion tank, thermostat pipe, and reversed manifold so it all hooked up pretty nicely.
I had decided to use the Subaru fuel filter in the engine compartment along with the Subaru charcoal can mounted by the expansion tank. I also used the firewall fuel fitting from RMW.
_________________
'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2022 9:27 pm Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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Been a slacker on updating!
I pretty much spent a bunch of time getting all the bits and pieces installed so I could get this running and out of my friend's space.
I used a Subaru hose for the brake booster. It's shaped pretty much perfectly if you move the hose nipple to the driver's side. It also has the check valve built into the hose.
I used the RMW airbox. It's nicely made but seemed to be a really tight fit with my ej22 and SubaruGears. I felt like I was going to be in a wrestling match putting the pipe on and off when changing the air filter. I had cut the elbow to the throttle body as short as possible and the elbow to the MAF is a tight fit. ended up using the 1-1/2" piece of the silicone elbow I had cut off on the MAF elbow, cutting the aluminum pipe shorter on the TB side and using it as a connector. Now I can loosen the two left clamps, side the piece of hose over and pull the pipe up and out. RMW supplies fuel line for the crankcase vent hoses. I found them to be not very flexible, so I ended up using an assortment of Subaru breather hoses and was able to use preformed bends to fit. They're also much more flexible.
_________________
'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight=
Last edited by mtnhome on Mon Jan 31, 2022 10:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 500
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2022 10:09 pm Post subject: Re: Just another '84 Westy Build |
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Had to come up with a heat shield. I wasted time trying to modify the OE shield but didn't like how it was fitting.
I came up with one that I mounted to the Burley system. I had a piece of 3/32 aluminum sheet laying around. Cut some slots to fit around the muffler mount and an opening for the dip stick. I riveted some thin angle to stiffen it and added a third piece across the front.
The Smallcar SS header fit nearly perfectly. It slightly touched the trans so I ground off a little bit by the bottom stud on the driver's side. I had read that some people used a second set of flanges and gaskets to drop it down a bit but this should work well. The Magnaflow mufflerdidn't quite fit the way I wanted with the j-pipe so went with the RMW "Stealth" muffler. The offset outlet allowed me a little more adjustability. I also used the RMW tailpipe. It all tucks nicely in place.
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'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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