Well, finally doing it, I've been collecting conversion bits for the last couple of years, and I guess I've been a bit afraid of the unknown and put off starting this.
But I've got much inspiration from the likes of Helbus, Sunnyjim, and karman141, Joel etc.
Going to run twin radiators in the engine bay.
Please, don't be afraid to comment, especially if you see me doing something wrong!
This is a big learning curve for me.
Cheers Johno
Sunnyjim ·
chelliJ
congrats on making the move
where abouts are you? I am in brisvegas
post some pics on what you have and take it from there
good advice will come from all angles
tweety ·
Looking forward to following it.
helbus ·
There is a broad opinion on what is 'doing it wrong'. Just ask plenty of questions, read a few of our build threads, put up pics of what you are doing, and it should go along pretty smooth. But it won't, it will fight you a bit, but be strong, and make it happen.
chellejohno ·
First up I pulled the engine from the liberty, purchased in Canberra for $500, 200k on it, drove it home, ran beautifully
chellejohno ·
Engine came out fairly easily, wiring harness wasn't much fun, a quick call to Alan at AM autos steered me in the right direction. He told me what he needed and how to get it out.
Here it is all boxed up, sent it away 10 days ago, Miles called me yesterday to let me know it was on its way back, quick service.
chellejohno ·
I bought this sump from small car.com back when our dollar was better than the US.
Fitting was pretty straightforward, just had to make a 15mm spacer to lift the dipstick tube up.
chellejohno ·
Bought a volks conversions kit off ebay, hadn't been used. It fitted up quite nicely
chellejohno ·
Pulled the old engine out on Saturday
chellejohno ·
Couldn't wait to slot it in there and get an idea of where everything's going to go, couldn't believe how small the suby engine is, and how well it fitted.
ian.mezz ·
Take a tip from Volkswagen and put the radiator up the front.
Also copy the cooling system from the Subaru as you have the car .
Joel ·
Plenty of people have made the twin rear rad setup work.
Coming along well Johno, keep us updated.
be interested to see the oil capacity of the sump.
ian.mezz ·
Joel wrote:Plenty of people have made the twin rear rad setup work.
Coming along well Johno, keep us updated.
be interested to see the oil capacity of the sump.
yeah that sump looks small , wouldn't think you needed a small sump on a kombi .
put one radiator at front and it works.
no need to put two in rear and try and make it work.
Jak Rizzo ·
take the sump off, walk to the edge of your property & throw it as far as you can. Let it be someone else's problem before it becomes yours.
With the amount of work you are doing yourself, you seem more than capable to make your own with the correct oil capacity, if not more capacity like I did.
chellejohno ·
Engines back out, just playing around with the radiators and lower crossmember.
Got a question, whats the electrical plug pictured, is it some kind of ancient diagnostic plugin? Where do all the wires go and can I remove it? Or should I just move it?
Cheers Johno
chellejohno ·
Jak Rizzo wrote:take the sump off, walk to the edge of your property & throw it as far as you can. Let it be someone else's problem before it becomes yours.
With the amount of work you are doing yourself, you seem more than capable to make your own with the correct oil capacity, if not more capacity like I did.
Did you use one Jak and have problems? Seems to fit pretty well and is the stock oil capacity. Interested to know what the issue is with it.
Cheers
chellejohno ·
ian.mezz wrote:
Joel wrote:Plenty of people have made the twin rear rad setup work.
Coming along well Johno, keep us updated.
be interested to see the oil capacity of the sump.
yeah that sump looks small , wouldn't think you needed a small sump on a kombi .
put one radiator at front and it works.
no need to put two in rear and try and make it work.
I'm hearing you Ian, but not really interested in starting the whole radiator debate, plenty of posts on this forum about it already!
Cheers
Yogie ·
That plug is the VW diagnostic plug from the day. I just left mine where it was in our beetle but not sure what would happen if it was just turfed.
Yogie
vwo60 ·
Great idea putting the radiators in the engine bay, A friend of mine has the same set up using twin Porsche boxter radiators and has no issues for over two years in all types of weather, I see all the ugly front mounted radiators and it just kills the looks of the car, just have to make sheet metal panels around the radiator so all the air from the cooling vents pass through the radiators.
Sunnyjim ·
johnno
great work
what rads are u using?
chellejohno ·
I'm using the same radiators that the busaru guy on YouTube used.theyre honda civic ek/ej.
They're triple core so hopefully will do the job. Size wise, they fit snugly between the chassis and top of the engine bay.
I've just taken them this afternoon to have the caps welded closed.
Got the wiring loom back today, feeling a little more confident about the wiring after seeing it, looks reasonably straight forward.....I think.
Ordered a throttle body reverser from RJES, that was getting posted today.
New clutch arrived today too, it's all happening.
I'll through some pics up tomorrow.
Cheers Johno
ian.mezz ·
you should be up and running in a few months
ian.mezz ·
you probably have to move one of the radiator out let fittings so the water flows from the top and all the way down to the bottom so its gets to cool correctly, the same way as it would when the radiator was mounted in the donor car . it the picture the bottom half of the radiator aint doing nothing with the outlet half way up the side of the tank. 🥲
chellejohno ·
ian.mezz wrote:you probably have to move one of the radiator out let fittings so the water flows from the top and all the way down to the bottom so its gets to cool correctly, the same way as it would when the radiator was mounted in the donor car . it the picture the bottom half of the radiator aint doing nothing with the outlet half way up the side of the tank. 🥲
Yeh Ian,
I've got the same concern re the outlet placement. I'll see what it does initially and worst case pull it out and move it.
Cheers
ian.mezz ·
chellejohno wrote:
ian.mezz wrote:you probably have to move one of the radiator out let fittings so the water flows from the top and all the way down to the bottom so its gets to cool correctly, the same way as it would when the radiator was mounted in the donor car . it the picture the bottom half of the radiator aint doing nothing with the outlet half way up the side of the tank. 🥲
Yeh Ian,
I've got the same concern re the outlet placement. I'll see what it does initially and worst case pull it out and move it.
Cheers
move it before, then you wont have to root around. as it was in the other car in one end and out the other end. not hard to see.
you need to look and see how car radiators work, its best not to just put one in sideways and see what happens . that half the trouble with the cooling systems, people don't under stand how a cars cooling system works.
karmann141 ·
Hi Johno,
I would'nt be to concerned about the location of the radiator inlets/outlets - gravity has nothing to do with the flow. The cooling system is pressurised and driven by a pump - some people just can't accept that radiators in the engine bay work.🤓
My first radiator actually flows in the bottom and out the top. As long as they are in series it won't be a problem. The only problem you may have with the outlet location is bleeding all the air out of the radiators. Just make sure your header tank/filler is at the highest point.
Looking good.
Cheers.
chellejohno ·
karmann141 wrote:Hi Johno,
I would'nt be to concerned about the location of the radiator inlets/outlets - gravity has nothing to do with the flow. The cooling system is pressurised and driven by a pump - some people just can't accept that radiators in the engine bay work.🤓
My first radiator actually flows in the bottom and out the top. As long as they are in series it won't be a problem. The only problem you may have with the outlet location is bleeding all the air out of the radiators. Just make sure your header tank/filler is at the highest point.
Looking good.
Cheers.
Appreciate your comments karmann141, to be honest it was your posts that finally inspired me to go with the radiators in the engine bay.
I will leave them as is at the moment, as for the filler, I'm going to fit it in the top tube that joins the radiators, that's the plan anyway.
Cheers
chellejohno ·
Got a couple of questions fellas,
Need to change the fuel tank outlet barb, but having trouble finding the right one, pretty sure Helbus did it but I need to know whether to change the whole fitting or just the barb?
If I use one of the two fuel tank breathers as the fuel return line, do I just connect the fuel return line directly to the tank inlet by drilling a hole thru the firewall panel? I don't connect to one of the breather pipes in the engine bay do I?
What's the black wire on the left side of the engine bay that connects to the coil and has an inline fuse?
11CAB ·
Black wire with the inline fuse is the power for the reverse lights
helbus ·
The outlet off my fuel tank had a thread I was able to fit a screw on barb with a hose size to suit a VL Commodore type EFI fuel pump. The return was put on one of the engine bay breather pipes.
chellejohno ·
helbus wrote:The outlet off my fuel tank had a thread I was able to fit a screw on barb with a hose size to suit a VL Commodore type EFI fuel pump. The return was put on one of the engine bay breather pipes.
Yep, mines got the threaded outlet, seems like it's an m18 size or close, just can't find a female 10 mm barb. I'll keep looking.
As for the return line into the breather, does it matter if it's the left or right one in the engine bay?
Sorry for all the questions, it's all the little fiddly things that have me scratching my head
Cheers johno
karmann141 ·
Hi Johno,
I initially used one of the tank breather lines as a fuel return but was never happy with it and at times had the smell of fuel in the cabin.
I later returned the fuel low down into the filler neck with a larger diameter fitting and much happier - no more fuel smell. Probably worth taking the time at this stage to create a dedicated large bore return into the tank as its much harder later on.
Cheers
chellejohno ·
Got a bit more done today, welded in the crossmember mounts( before anyone comments, welding isn't my strong point!). Also cut a hole thru the rear floor and fed the harness thru.
chellejohno ·
Cleaned a heap of the loose paint out of the engine bay and gave it a supa dupa rattle can matt black paint job.
Then set about setting up the electrics under the back seat.
chellejohno ·
Also ran a five core trailer cable from the rear seat area thru to the front cabin, so I can connect up the tachometer, temp gauge and vss.
helbus ·
My fuel return line was fed directly into the tank on the RHS. If you unscrew the tank cover that is very accessible while the engine is out, you will see the vapour outlet on the RHS. I put a rubber fuel hose the same diameter as the fuel return line on the Subaru engine, into the vapour outlet of the same diameter on the bus fuel tank. I cut a hole in the top of the tank cover, and slid a rubber gommet into the hole for the return line to go through. The breather line on the tank is the same size as the return line on the fuel rail of the Subaru engine. I did not actually attach it to the fuel line that runs through the engine bay tubes that run up the air vents up the top of the air inlet vents at the top of the quarter panels.
I attached the other LH fuel vapour line from the bus fuel tank to the vapour line on the Subaru injection manifold that runs to the emissions cannister. The engineer signing off the certificate paperwork for the state registration was happy with this setup, as it is as the original Subaru engine was setup. It passed all emissions tests, and the paperwork has only ever been asked for once by the Highway Patrol, however it was a good investment, as it means our insurance is also valid, as they also asked for a copy of the engineers report.
Sunnyjim ·
chellie
you are going gangbusters
when you say you welded in the crossmember..? do you just mean the brackets?
i did mine all with big 12 mm nuts and bolts as I used the original subie crossmember
I found there was a real art in jacking up engine and gearbox to find the ideal height so as to avoid a low hanging sump
chellejohno ·
Sunnyjim wrote:chellie
you are going gangbusters
when you say you welded in the crossmember..? do you just mean the brackets?
i did mine all with big 12 mm nuts and bolts as I used the original subie crossmember
I found there was a real art in jacking up engine and gearbox to find the ideal height so as to avoid a low hanging sump
I used an rjes crossmember and the side brackets needed to be welded onto the chassis.
The later kombi like mine has the upper gearbox crossmember, don't think the lowlight does? It's made it much easier to position.
You seem to be getting pretty close now, how long before you're on the road.
chellejohno ·
helbus wrote:My fuel return line was fed directly into the tank on the RHS. If you unscrew the tank cover that is very accessible while the engine is out, you will see the vapour outlet on the RHS. I put a rubber fuel hose the same diameter as the fuel return line on the Subaru engine, into the vapour outlet of the same diameter on the bus fuel tank. I cut a hole in the top of the tank cover, and slid a rubber gommet into the hole for the return line to go through. The breather line on the tank is the same size as the return line on the fuel rail of the Subaru engine. I did not actually attach it to the fuel line that runs through the engine bay tubes that run up the air vents up the top of the air inlet vents at the top of the quarter panels.
I attached the other LH fuel vapour line from the bus fuel tank to the vapour line on the Subaru injection manifold that runs to the emissions cannister. The engineer signing off the certificate paperwork for the state registration was happy with this setup, as it is as the original Subaru engine was setup. It passed all emissions tests, and the paperwork has only ever been asked for once by the Highway Patrol, however it was a good investment, as it means our insurance is also valid, as they also asked for a copy of the engineers report.
Thanks Helbus, you've confirmed what I had planned and that was to go thru the tank cover, seems the most logical. Did you still us a canister or did you get rid of it completely?
Joel ·
What year is your Kombi?
I'd assume aussie Kombis got charcoal canisters same time as aussie beetles in beginning of 75.
if your car was originally equipped with one you have to keep it but if its before that you dont require one.
I did install the subi one in my bug as it only just predates cansisters but the engineer told me it wasnt required, no harm in having one though.
chellejohno ·
Hey Joel
Mines a 74, no canister but think I might leave the suby one on, there's plenty of room in there. Can't hurt.
helbus ·
The engineer stated when I presented the bus. "The emissions test is based on the vehicle or engine, whichever is the newest" So a 1993 EJ22 Subaru engine fitted to a 1975 bus must pass 1993 emission tests. Vapour cannister and catalytic converter were checked for me, and found to be fitted correctly.
Sunnyjim ·
chellie,
I went to see Pete at CVD and he made a new bigger outlet in my fuel tank for me . I now use the original outlet as the fuel return.
I also have my bosch 044 pump mounted close to where u have yours... god it still is noisy!
helbus wrote:The engineer stated when I presented the bus. "The emissions test is based on the vehicle or engine, whichever is the newest" So a 1993 EJ22 Subaru engine fitted to a 1975 bus must pass 1993 emission tests. Vapour cannister and catalytic converter were checked for me, and found to be fitted correctly.
Must be the difference between NSW and Vic, I only had to fit the cat and not the charcoal canister.
chellejohno ·
Throttle body reverser arrived today from RJES. Looks great, a lot more comprehensive than I thought.
I'll put it on this weekend.
Cheers johno
helbus ·
I would lick that. It looks so nice
chellejohno ·
helbus wrote:I would lick that. It looks so nice
Already did, that's why it's so shiny!!!
chellejohno ·
Bolted up the throttle body today using the RJES kit. I can't recommend highly enough this reverser kit, it went together without a hitch. Came with a support bracket, air flow meter manifold with connections for breather pipes and also the large diameter breather pipe was included as a different shape is neede once the body is flipped.
chellejohno ·
I've been having trouble finding a larger diameter fuel tank outlet barb, so today I went and got a brass one from the rural supply store, stuck it in the drill press and filed it down until I could fit it into the outlet nut. Then I shortened it a bit and drilled a 12mm hole in the nut and sat it in. It's also got a rubber o-ring inside, so fingers crossed it doesn't leak once I fit it.
Should get a bit more fuel through than the old one.
chellejohno ·
Bit more done today, fitted the temperature gauge and also the matching sender(thanks Sunnyjim for your post re correct temp sender).
Fitted the VSS, took all of 5 minutes, and then started doing a bit of soldering.
Also drilled a hole through the tank cover and plumbed some fuel hose into the tank breather.
Fitted the fuel filter and bracket as well, then refitted the cover.
The radiators are finished and ready for pick up but gotta go to work for the next four days.BUGGER!
Sunnyjim ·
chellie
you are a kombi dynamo, so quick, you have left us in your wake.
You are the Usain Bolt of the Kombi conversion world !
Sunnyjim ·
chellie
I had had same issue with the fuel connections and just bought few of them on ebay
You can work out other fuel line sizes and fittings when using a surge tank, which you can gravity feed, as the bus tank is high enough. You don't HAVE to fit one, and I didn't fit one to our bus. However on hard cornering to the right when fuel is low, I have had fuel starvation a few times.
chellejohno ·
Sunnyjim wrote:chellie
I had had same issue with the fuel connections and just bought few of them on ebay
Sunnyjim,
I'm surprised too at how quickly it's coming together, I've been planning it for a couple of years and reading a lot of stuff, taking ideas from everyone's builds. It's amazing, when i get stuck with something I go back through the builds on here and often find the solution. I've got a deadline to meet and that's Old Bar weekend in October, I'm running out of time pretty rapidly! But we'll see.
All the fuel barbs I found are the right diameter thread but too coarse, it's a really fine thread on the tank, anyway, as long as it doesn't leak I won't need to find one.
Helbus,
I'm doing the same as what you did and not running a surge tank. I don't think I'll be doing much hard cornering, then again never had this much power in a kombi either!
Cheers Johno
chellejohno ·
Got a mate to cut off the radiator filler caps,I reckon he did a great job.should be able to get these fitted this week.
Sunnyjim ·
john
my rads sprung a leak , not sure if i can repair, I might buy one or 2 of these honda civic ones
how much does yr mate charge to weld them shut?
paul
chellejohno ·
Sunnyjim wrote:john
my rads sprung a leak , not sure if i can repair, I might buy one or 2 of these honda civic ones
how much does yr mate charge to weld them shut?
paul
Hey Paul,
Not sure what he would charge, I can find out if you like. Where did they leak from, bloody hope mine don't!.
vlad01 ·
thats the problem with china made alloy rads, or anything for that matter.
chellejohno ·
Had a go at making a cover to seal the left side radiator, turned out pretty well I thought, put a couple of brackets on to hold the overflow tank.
chellejohno ·
Fan arrived today, as did the air cleaner, tomorrow I'll have another crack at getting the wiring sorted.
chellejohno ·
Put the radiators in for their final fit, all went well, sorted out the wiring in the engine bay for the fans etc. Ready to slip the engine in, just waiting on some heater hose to connect up before I put it in as it looks a bit tight to get to once the engine's in place
Cheers
Sunnyjim ·
johnno
Great work
Coming along nicely !
chellejohno ·
Spent yesterday afternoon and today putting the engine back in and connecting stuff up, all went well, no real hiccups. Put the original exhaust headers on along with the catalytic convertor, facing forward towards the front of the car, I think it sits really well as I'm going to bring it back around similar to karman141 did to keep heat out of the engine bay.
Then late this afternoon the moment of truth arrived, I hesitantly connected the battery terminals and waited, sure that I'd be able to see or smell wires melting, but all good, turned the ignition on, still all good and kicked her over. Once the fuel was thru she ran beautifully, I'm so bloody relieved.
Still need to fit up the radiator hoses etc and finish connecting things down the dash end of the car, but all in all, really happy.
Sunnyjim ·
hey chelli
I am interested in how your fuel pump turned out ?
l first bought an ebay copy , it was nice and quiet but couldnt keep up with the flow.
then I bought an original bosch 044 model . it now keeps up with the flow but geez it is friggin noisy .
what is your experience so far.?
helbus ·
I have a Bosch 044 fuel pump. I cant hear it over the roar of the exhaust or the tunes out of the speakers. Actually thinking about it, I don't notice it at idle. Maybe the rubber mounted clamp is enough for me to not notice it.
chellejohno ·
Sunnyjim wrote:hey chelli
I am interested in how your fuel pump turned out ?
l first bought an ebay copy , it was nice and quiet but couldnt keep up with the flow.
then I bought an original bosch 044 model . it now keeps up with the flow but geez it is friggin noisy .
what is your experience so far.?
Hey Paul,
I actually commented to a mate that your pump was really noisy when we started the car up but to be honest with you it's not really noticeable, it might be more noticeable when we get the muffler on and quiet it down a bit.
How bigs your inlet fuel hose, I'm running 10mm in, 8out, like helbus did. Just thought if your not getting enough fuel to the pump it might be sort of cavitating and thus the noise.
Cheers Johno.
chellejohno ·
Connected up the throttle today, I used the original linkage, just welded a bolt to it and put it straight thru where the original cable end would have gone on the throttle body, with a couple of washers and a nyloc nut. Also fitted the carbon canister.
Sunnyjim ·
chellie
looks great
Did u have to use a sheath over the accel cable? I had to otherwise it got caught
I went an bought a universal accel cable so it could be one piece all the way through.I heard some others have joined theirs
What did u do?
Sunnyjim ·
Chellie
what have u decided for the air intake?
just a pod out front ?
or are you going to bend it around to try to get cold air?
chellejohno ·
Hey Paul,
Yep I made up a plastic sheath that runs from the end of the existing tube to the bracket on the new reverse manifold, only thing that I reckon I've gotta do is put a spring on the cable as it's not returning all the way on its own, not that it's binding, just sometimes it doesn't quite make it back.
As for the intake, I'm just running a pod facing straight toward the rear, like helbus ran. I'll see how it goes.
helbus ·
I was able to use a stock VW bus accelerator cable. The modification was in the mount point to the throttle body, but the cable being stock means a standard replacement is available.
chellejohno ·
helbus wrote:I was able to use a stock VW bus accelerator cable. The modification was in the mount point to the throttle body, but the cable being stock means a standard replacement is available.
Yep I've stuck with the standard cable, came out spot on length wise, and as you've said just modified the mounting point
Sunnyjim ·
I must admit wasn't too sure how to route the cable, probably went the long way and I also do have lots left over!
chellejohno ·
Well, been a busy few days, but worth it. Been waiting over three weeks for hoses that I'd ordered which were supposedly in stock. They arrived yesterday, well most of them, enough to get by, but not quite the set up I want. Put an exhaust on too, nothing elaborate just a muffler and tailpipe exiting just in front of the rear wheel, looks pretty neat.
Connected up the hoses today and started her up, took a while to bleed the air out of the system, I was a bit worried at first, temperature seemed to be a bit high, but once we got the air out it runs quite cool.
Drove it around town for a while, didn't want to go too far in case I had to walk, then took it for a 100k round trip. Ran beautifully, temperature behaved itself, all in all very happy with the result.
chellejohno ·
While I've been mucking around with the suby motor my beautiful wife has gave the interior a much needed revamp. She recovered the side panels, and the rock n roll bed/seat, and made new curtains, looks great.
Sunnyjim ·
Johhno
that wife is a keeper!
ian.mezz ·
that left radiator hose fitting needs to be on the bottom of the radiator. while they are out just get a 10m bleeder bolt put in the top .
As hot water comes in the top radiator hose and cools as it drops down and flows across the radiator and out the bottom hose back to the engine. the water in the bottom half of the radiator isn't cooling correctly.
ian.mezz ·
I just looked at pictures BOTH radiators fitting need to be moved to bottom of the radiators . 😊
if you came into my shop and said my car over heats at HWY speed or towing , I would say that your old radiator was half blocked the bottom would be full of rust and crap etc .
But in your case the bottom half of the radiators are really doing nothing as they wouldn't be flowing correctly just like they were blocked, because water isn't flowing efficiently
ian.mezz ·
It would also help if you got some plastic 20l drums cut them up and put behind the fans so that the hot air is pushed out the bottom of your bus and as you drive at speed its sucked away the hot air . here is a pic of my plastic job
ian.mezz ·
Also I just looked at a Subaru and you seem to have the Radiator hoses on the wrong way around .
As you don't not seem to have any of the hoses from the motor going to the top of the radiator .
the top radiator hose from motor should go to the top of the radiator .
ps its great to see that you got in and got it done .👍
vlad01 ·
Only reason they go on top is for bleeding purposes. When the radiators in/outlets are on the sides it only matter you use the lower one feeding the engine, because you don't want air cavitating the pump.
Looking at the pic, he's got it right. Lower rad fitting on the RHS rad doing to the engine inlet.
ian.mezz ·
Or just don't take any notice of my observations and just put one radiator , one fan and a two hoses
one to the top and a hose to the bottom of radiator and fit it towards the front of the car .😂
ian.mezz ·
vlad01 wrote:Only reason they go on top is for bleeding purposes. When the radiators in/outlets are on the sides it only matter you use the lower one feeding the engine, because you don't want air cavitating the pump.
Looking at the pic, he's got it right. Lower rad fitting on the RHS rad doing to the engine inlet.
the lower hose seems to going to the middle of a side ways fitted radiator .🤪
something's wrong its getting hot.
vlad01 ·
not enough air flow obviously.
It would be to do with the aero.
Also radiators aren't optimal size and side tank design wise. But 90% of the problem will be air flow I bet.
Time to add a lip (air dam) across the front of the engine bay.