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Return-Path: <vintagebus-request@type2.com> Received: from rly-yb04.mx.aol.com (rly-yb04.mail.aol.com [172.18.146.4]) by air-yb02.mail.aol.com (v56.24) with SMTP; Sat, 06 Feb 1999 01:21:15 -0500 Received: from rotary.type2.com (rotary.type2.com [216.98.11.13]) by rly-yb04.mx.aol.com (8.8.8/8.8.5/AOL-4.0.0) with ESMTP id XAA04913; Fri, 5 Feb 1999 23:11:08 -0500 (EST) Received: (from slist@localhost) by rotary.type2.com (8.9.2/8.9.2) id XAA06517; Fri, 5 Feb 1999 23:06:32 -0500 (EST) X-Authentication-Warning: rotary.type2.com: slist set sender to vintagebus-request@type2.com using -f Received: from web1.rocketmail.com (web1.rocketmail.com [205.180.57.67]) by rotary.type2.com (8.9.2/8.9.2) with SMTP id XAA05379 for <vintagebus@type2.com>; Fri, 5 Feb 1999 23:05:08 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <19990206035442.18949.rocketmail@web1.rocketmail.com> Received: from [198.147.103.46] by web1; Fri, 05 Feb 1999 19:54:42 PST Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 19:54:42 -0800 (PST) From: George Lyle <physicshelp@rocketmail.com> Subject: Re: Subaru engine To: vintagebus@type2.com Cc: Veeduber@aol.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Veeduber@aol.com wrote: > From: the-mad-bastard@home.com >hello, i've been informed by more than one person that a subaru motor >is a good swap for the old buses. thing is, it hasn't been specified >which motor it is that swaps. apparently it is 145hp stock, but donor >what car am i going to have to find for this procedure? thank you. > jason > To All, > The most suitable Subaru engine for Type II's has proven to be the pushrod > 1800cc engine used in SubarufŸF‘ icles. > The later model Subaru 145hp OHC fuel-injected engines specify timing belt > replacement at 60,000 miles. The two belts (ie, one per cam) are expensive > and their replacement is NOT a trivial chore. By comparision, the earlier > pushrod 1800 is stone reliable, typically racking up 150,000 miles before > needing so much as a valve job. Best of all, the 90hp 1800cc engine's torque > & rpm closely match the requirements of the VW Transporter. > If you'd like more information on engine swaps a good place to start would be > with the catalog from Kennedy Engineered Products (KEP), who manufacture > adapters allowing you to mate a wide range of engines to the VW transmission. > See their ads in the VW-specific magazines. > When it comes to replacing the VW engine with one of another make, there's no > such thing as a 'bolt-up' but of all available donor engines, and their number > is quite large, the Subaru powerplant is closest in size, weight and > configuration to the VW engine, albeit nearly twice as powerful and at least > four times as durable. But even with the Subaru, such a conversion is far > from a 'bolt up'. Indeed, thanks to the adapter plates and converted > flywheels available from Kennedy, the mechanical assembly of such conversions > is the easiest part of the task. But a truly successful conversion hinges on > successfully dealing with a wealth of relatively obscure details, such as the > radiator plumbing runs, heater connections and the accelerator linkage. I'll agree with Bob on this one! Although the Kennedy adapter parts make the job a lot easier, you are still left to engineer a lot of the installation yourself. In particular, you must design a cooling system to keep the engine cool without hacking up the bus too much. I've seen Subaru conversions with large radiators that still had a hard time keeping up with the needs of the engine. Most of the fault lies in the installation of the radiator. Just as the aircooled VW engine requires good seals and compartmentation¼ˆ' the air from recirculating, a radiator needs a way to stop the heated air from finding its way back. The slickest installation I've seen was in a bus where a radiator was installed in the left side of the engine bay, drawing its air from the stock left side air inlet. The radiator was sealed to the engine compartment sheet metal all the way around, so only fresh air from the vent was pulled through the radiator. Except for the exhaust system, this bus was externally hard to tell from stock. Some Subaru installs put the radiator in the engine bay lid. This idea isn't bad, but the recirculation path is much shorter if the engine bay is left unsealed top-to-bottom. If the bay is sealed, then the path is from the original vents as VW intended and the radiator will only get fresh air. Another concern is the dusty environment of the engine bay if it is left unsealed. The rear of a VW is a lot dirtier than the front of a Subaru! When hunting for a Subaru engine, avoid the EA-71 model. They has separate cylinder sleeves (VW heritage showing there!) that have to be precisely matched with different thickness gaskets to the heads. As these engines age they tend to leak water into the oil and vice-versa. I still think that the ideal platform for a Subaru conversion is a late Vanagon. These can be had for a song when the PO finds out how much it costs to fix those leaky heads! George Lyle _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com