VanRex The surf and swoosh project. Pics 21/03/08 It Runs!

71EJVan · 2005-12-01T09:29:13+00:00

I’ve decided that here in Engine Conversions is the best location for my project. Here is an abbreviated story to get you all up to date. This was my first post as 71EJVan. Some of you will know me as GL1972 (Green German Look Super with 2110 and 17s). That car was originally bought to do up for my daughter's first car but I got carried away. Well I have decided to honour my commitment to her so I will be changing it by installing steel wheels and a standard 1600 twin port motor (she'll have the coolest car in school!). The motor is currently up for sale in the spare parts forum if anyone is interested in looking. The project I have decided to do for myself will be a 1971 Bay Panel Van with a Subaru EJ20T conversion (another one to the dark and wet side!), rear disc brake conversion and total sleeper look. I purchased the van and brought it home in late August It is quite solid but needs some TLC. The idea of a van is to get to the beach without having to tie my boards on the roof and also have some go to raise some eyebrows at the lights..... Surf and Swoosh! The will be no metallic paint or plush interior going anywhere near this Van. Waterproof ply and carpet for lining. 22/08/2005 Finally got it home yesterday after a 215 klm round trip. Its quite solid and straight however there is some rust to fix in the front floor, under the battery and the left A pillar. Love the lowlight look. I must have been ok at tieing it on..never moved an inch. What everyone's garage should look like! 24/08/2005 Well I have a motor! EJ20T WRX with only 70,000Ks good compression on all 4 pots. Came with ECU, Loom and Intercooler. I may even hook up the AC at a later date. It arrives Saturday. Bodywork starts this weekend with the removal of all non paintable bits (lights indicators etc). Removed bumpers, grilles, lights, indicators. Pulled engine and fuel tank. Pulled back wiring (this will be shortened back to a junction point near the ECU and new loom for connection). Removed sound deadening in engine bay. 29/08/2005 Bringing the WRX motor home. Note the envious look on the bug parked behind the trailer! The old and the new! Fuel tank removed also, ready to start modifying to fit the EJ20T. (modifying sounds better than cutting). [ Edited on 13-12-2005 by 71EJVan ] [ Edited on 27-4-2006 by 71EJVan ] [ Edited on 29-5-2006 by 71EJVan ] [ Edited on 25-8-2006 by 71EJVan ] [ Edited on 4-9-2006 by 71EJVan ] [ Edited on 8-1-2007 by 71EJVan ]

71EJVan Officially Full-On Dubber

352 posts · joined Aug 2005 · 7 Apr 2008, 8:23 pm

#640216

Gearbox mount is fine. I'd say I'm going to replace the clutch plate.

BTW got it registered today.

Brendan

A VW for everyone!!

1972 1302 German Look
1971 Bay Panel with Subaru EJ20T
1970 Type 3 squareback in progress
1971 Type 3 notchback in progress

ElusiveStranger Officially Full-On Dubber

330 posts · joined May 2006 · 6 May 2008, 9:49 am

#644414

BUMP!!!
Brendan, I certainly need my "Surf n Swoosh" fix!

71EJVan Officially Full-On Dubber

352 posts · joined Aug 2005 · 9 May 2008, 2:30 pm

#645123

An Update.
Found there was not enough bow in the bowden tube. It is driving ok now but the clutch slips in 3rd and 4th when you spool up the turbo. Not real bad but it is noticeable. The third gear synchro is that painfull that I bypass it altogether shifting back down and must wait an eternity for revs to drop to get it in shifting up if I have the revs up in second (which is easy to do with this motor). I might have the new gearbox tomorrow so the transplant will start soon.

Have done about 400 miles on it so far. The ride is great until you hit a bump. It looks great but it sits too low for my liking (and back). CBB delivered the rear adjustable spring plates during the week and along with adjusting the front beam which I originally purchased from Mike, the van will be raised about 1 to 1.5 inches to get it off the bump stops and allow the suspension to do it's job. This will also give me more peace of mind in relation to the radiator scoop and speed humps.

Temp has setled down without any changes to the system. Still using the original suby fill point as the highest point in the system. Temp get's to about 93c and the tstat opens. Temp stays around 90c but there is a bit of heat soak in traffic which pushes it up. To fix this I still have to seal off the cold air "box" around the air cleaner which is under the left hand air intake. Also will install a better heat shroud around the turbo and some wrapping around most of the exhaust. The radiator fans don't seem to trigger even with I force the temp over 100c but they do cycle on and off with the test mode connectors joined. I will test out the resistance on the temp sensor and see if it is up to scratch.

I built this van for "no bling" but with the low stance and the big exhaust pipe and a very non-VW exhaust note it does attract attention. Went surfing last Sunday and as me and my mate were kitting up we had three individual walk ups wanting to talk about the van. Not really what I wanted when I built it.

Maybe I need to bolt some pea shooters to the back and play fweeming tunes out a speaker at the back to fool the punters.

Brendan

A VW for everyone!!

1972 1302 German Look
1971 Bay Panel with Subaru EJ20T
1970 Type 3 squareback in progress
1971 Type 3 notchback in progress

ElusiveStranger Officially Full-On Dubber

330 posts · joined May 2006 · 10 May 2008, 9:44 am

#645250

71EJVan wrote:It looks great but it sits too low for my liking (and back). ...

I built this van for "no bling".....

we had three individual walk ups wanting to talk about the van. Not really what I wanted when I built it.....

I knew it would be a show stopper from day one. Stealth has passed you by.

'sfunny how things turn out 😉

Swap you if you like, mine looks like a shed

71EJVan Officially Full-On Dubber

352 posts · joined Aug 2005 · 10 May 2008, 8:49 pm

#645321

I have not even polished it yet also.

Got the new 091 gearbox today. Will clean it up ready to install along with the new clutch plate next weekend.

Brendan

A VW for everyone!!

1972 1302 German Look
1971 Bay Panel with Subaru EJ20T
1970 Type 3 squareback in progress
1971 Type 3 notchback in progress

pete wood 23 Windows of Awesome

6,828 posts · joined Jan 2004 · 11 May 2008, 4:47 pm

#645403

71EJVan wrote:I built this van for "no bling" but with the low stance and the big exhaust pipe and a very non-VW exhaust note it does attract attention. Went surfing last Sunday and as me and my mate were kitting up we had three individual walk ups wanting to talk about the van. Not really what I wanted when I built it.

Maybe I need to bolt some pea shooters to the back and play fweeming tunes out a speaker at the back to fool the punters.

Brendan

[pete assumes aircooled anal purist voice]
"werl if you'd put a proper motor, an "aircooled" motor in it, no one would be interested in it at all..."

😂 It's funny coz it's true. 🤓

BTW, where is your temp sensor? I ended up moving mine to the top of the motor, of course I'm using an aftermarket one, not the factory ECu output.

"stoopid is stronger than axles"
http://drivingnotpolishing.blogspot.com.au/

71EJVan Officially Full-On Dubber

352 posts · joined Aug 2005 · 16 May 2008, 1:32 pm

#646169

Pete,
My temp sensor is the one in the water manifold above the motor which is next to the ECU water temp sensor.

Brendan

A VW for everyone!!

1972 1302 German Look
1971 Bay Panel with Subaru EJ20T
1970 Type 3 squareback in progress
1971 Type 3 notchback in progress

71EJVan Officially Full-On Dubber

352 posts · joined Aug 2005 · 18 May 2008, 10:04 pm

#646592

On my engine there was two sensors. One for the gauge which I changed to suit the new one, and the other for the ECU.

Brendan

A VW for everyone!!

1972 1302 German Look
1971 Bay Panel with Subaru EJ20T
1970 Type 3 squareback in progress
1971 Type 3 notchback in progress

pete wood 23 Windows of Awesome

6,828 posts · joined Jan 2004 · 20 Jul 2008, 9:59 pm

#659053

any update brendo?

"stoopid is stronger than axles"
http://drivingnotpolishing.blogspot.com.au/

ElusiveStranger Officially Full-On Dubber

330 posts · joined May 2006 · 27 May 2009, 5:32 am

#714823

Are your ears burning Brendan?

BUMP

71EJVan Officially Full-On Dubber

352 posts · joined Aug 2005 · 27 May 2009, 10:05 pm

#715006

Pretty much 12 months of trouble free motoring (apart from the clutch).

It's got a stripe and Audi A4 wheels on it now (Blinggg!)

Doing some further mods.
Am remaking the hydraulic clutch setup after I found that the lack of movement in the slave cylinder during the throw of the clutch arm caused the slave piston shaft to bend and destroy the seals.

Got a rebuild kit and also some Heim joints both ends, along with remaking an old clutch arm with a clevis at the end. Also will be changing the 19mm master cylinder for a 17mm one to make the pedal a bit softer. Will be fitting it all this weekend.

Also have been working on a new coolinng system as I am adding air conditioning to the van for next summer. Bought a new WRX alloy radiator, modified the outlets, new fans along with a Liberty condensor in a new mount. Will also be replacing all the exhaust grade steel radiator pipes with stainless and mandrel bends. (a long weekend fitting all of this!).

I also added a second intercooler radiator underneath beside the main radiator. Had an immediate improvement in bringing intake temps down quicker after some heavy running.

I've done about 12000klms since the van was registered in April last year. I drove it most days and it always puts a smile on my face.

Brendan

A VW for everyone!!

1972 1302 German Look
1971 Bay Panel with Subaru EJ20T
1970 Type 3 squareback in progress
1971 Type 3 notchback in progress

ElusiveStranger Officially Full-On Dubber

330 posts · joined May 2006 · 27 May 2009, 10:26 pm

#715014

Great news Brendan.
Hope you sort the clutch.
Chuffed for ya 🙂

71EJVan Officially Full-On Dubber

352 posts · joined Aug 2005 · 1 Jun 2009, 8:49 pm

#716062

Have you ever ordered something from overseas and subsequently found that the quality was not that good?

"Billet" clutch slave cylinder US $56 plus ninetytwelve million USPS. Two goes at getting a replacement seal kit (the web site part numbers suck and don't match the actual items displayed).

Fabricated a new all in one bracket that mounts to the side of the 091 that takes the hydraulic slave cylinder and the bowden tube. Also made a nifty turnbuckle system to adjust the clutch by myself without having to use a big screwdriver.

Got to the part of bleeding the system at 8pm last night (wet and cold night out in the open). First pressure after bleeding the boot exploded off the end of the cylinder and sprayed me whilst I was laying underneath it. #*^%^!!

Put it all back the way it was with the clutch tube about to break free and escape!

I'm going to a Jamar slave cylinder as at least you can get parts for them from multiple dealers.

A VW for everyone!!

1972 1302 German Look
1971 Bay Panel with Subaru EJ20T
1970 Type 3 squareback in progress
1971 Type 3 notchback in progress