EJ22 into Bay Microbus - Finished project

I have received most of the stuff to do the conversion and will be starting this weekend.

I will start off with something simple, I have a few other things on this weekend, so I will be mounting the radiator and shroud.

The motor is a secondhand EJ22 from local '94 Subaru Liberty with 112,000 k's on the clock. I was able to get it from a wrecker for a very good price $1000 as our company bought thousands worth of panels from them each month.

It came with everything including dash loom, computer, exhaust etc.nn[ Edited on 23-7-2005 by Helbus ]

[ Edited on 23-10-2005 by Helbus ]

The rest of the modified stuff I have procured from Custom Off Road (a forum sponsor) They are pretty advanced with producing a complete kit. I have so far.
- modified wiring loom
- throttle body inverter
- exhaust system
- radiator
- shrouding kit (pretty funky unit)
- rear engine mount member
- gearbox adapter
- flywheel
- Shortened sump (a lot of work must go into these puppies)
- VSS (vehicle speed sensor)

I will be fitting the Radiator and shroud this weekend. I just have to get the cooling fan.

I will also be fitting the VSS

The components so far are well engineered and will definitley make the job a lot easier. I should have it all finished within a few weeks.

Ok today I went to a mates workshop and took out the original heater tube from under the floor, right back to the motor where the accordian tubes are. The metal tube had to be cut out.

The centre section was pretty badly rusted under the original heat blanket thing wrapped around it. There was a hole on either side you could fit your hand through, so I would be guessing I now know why the original heater wasn't real flash.

Fitted the radiator and shroud underneath and it sits down a little bit lower than the centre chassis rails. I looked all along under the bus and it is not any lower than the front beam or the rear suspension & stuff. Fitted really easily.

I will put pics up when I get a chance.

Ok today I went to a mates workshop and took out the original heater tube from under the floor, right back to the motor where the accordian tubes are. The metal tube had to be cut out.



ain't that a bitch to remove...biggest trouble for me was around the torsion bar tube...

dont forget the pics...this is a must see, from start to finish...

What made the heater tube easier to remove was the air hack saw I have. whipped that baby around the original tubes and cut the Y section above the rear torsion tube into 3 pieces and it all dropped out then, along with tons of sand????

The only problem with the motor was that the plastic covers on the cam pulleys and belt were broken on some of the edges. This was due to rough handling more than anything, I was told about this before I got it, but I was more interested in the low k's and the fact it was an Aus compliance vehicle which would mean it has been driven those k's rather than idling in Tokyo for 6 hours a day.

The only thing I didn't get was the main engine relay. Gotta get one of those.

Picked up the radiator hose yesterday. The guy freaked out when I asked for 5 metres of water suction hose for a radiator. He said, "What are you doing, putting the radiator in the back of a car?"

I sad "Nah the middle" I explained what I was doing and he was suitably impressed and wished me luck.

I am doing the conversion using Custom Off Road gear and I am going to list all of the things / items I have to purchase and do, from the nuts and bolts, to the coolant, and also how I have done any mods required.

I will be providing positive feedback to COR and it will benefit all 🙂

I will be picking up the radiator header tank and the thermo fan today. I can't get stuck into it this weekend, but my mechanic has the motor all ready with the new flywheel fitted, the VW clutch fitted and new cambelt. I also got him to remove the power steering pump off the EJ22 and fit the shorter belt.

I will get there soon.

I haven't got any pics of the radiator sitting up under the bus yed, but I have picked up the 16" thermo fan and header tank.

This setup could not possibly have any problems cooling.

The radiator and shroud setup are Custom Off Road and the radiator is as big as what you would see in any 3 litre plus large Holden or Ford.

The fan is a huuuge 16" which flows as much as three 10" fans would.

This is the header tank I got made up which will hold about 2.5 litres of water also and eliminate water locks. It looks like a spaceship and is the size of a 2litre bottle of softdrink but fatter.

The Custom Off Road cooling solution, which took 5 minutes to fit after spending about 20 minutes taking the old heater tubes out.

In the last pic you can see the front steering tie rods in the top of the picture.

The radiator cover sits higher than the original front end and the gearbox.

This picture is taken from under the back. Note: Suby motor not in yet.

I just realised you can see the diff of the EH in that last pic. The gearbox is coming out also when the conversion is done, as you can see it is leaking a bit of oil

Dead set it took 5 minutes once the heater tube was out. I already have the radiator hose. 38mm ID water suction rubber pipe.

Two wires to the plug I put on the 16" fan which sits on top and it should be pretty cool.

Took the motor and gearbox out tonight. I didi it at a mates workshop on his hoist. The hardest bit was getting the driveshafts out. I got him to leave out his 12spline bits, as I knew I would need them. They are bloody tight still, and then you have to undo 24 bolts altogether.

I took the shafts right out, because the grease was dry on the end of the first CV I undid, and yeah all four need repacking.

I did it on my own and it took about an hour and a half, including getting the box off the motor and the clutch, bellhousing and starter.

I will be getting the box looked at as it is leaking from the side seals.

1800 twin carb Motor is for sale and ready to pick up complete, see buy and sell

Okay gearbox and shafts have been dropped off and getting checked out. I hope to do the wiring this Saturday and fit new front tie rod ends while I have access to the hoist.

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I will be putting the computer, relays and wiring in the old spare wheel compartment, which has a cover over it now.

The current the fan will draw will not be an issue as the EJ22 has a higher rated alternator than the 1800 had. I would think it would be in the range of 15 or more amps.

The rear crossmember is Custom Off Road unit and I do not have pictures yet. I havent even taken a pic of the COR sump I put on the motor.

I had to cut a tack weld and tweak the clutch cable tube across to the passenger side to allow clearance for the very top bump of the fan motor.

Here is a pic of the fan on top of the radiator.

Ayyye curumba. Just got the news the 2litre box out of the bus is knackered. The pinion gear has chips in the teeth. The case threads are stripped where the clutch cable bracket bolts on, the seals, bearings and synchros are all shot too.

Gonna cost over $1000. That will be new everything.

are you gonna put a taller 4th in it at the same time for a few less revs on the freeway?

I don't think I will change the diff or top ratio. It appears to be a good combo and I am sure the torque of the EJ22 will be so good compared to the 1800 that it will be chalk and cheese anyway.

The 1800 was pulling 3000rpm at 100k's (actually I checked on speedcheck and 100 on speedo is 97kph) The 16 inch alloy rims keep it real.

The EJ 22 likes the 2L kombi gearing with 16" rims and round a 205 / 215 x 65 size tyre which gives around the same rolling diameter.

Sitting on 3000 rpm at 100 is just about spot on. We have one sitting on around 2700 at the moment and it is too high. We will be changing it back to 3000 rpm which we have found to be spot on.

Radiator questions - is the radiator mounted independently to the chasis then the shrowd mounted, or is the shroud mounted to the radiator then fitted as a single unit? Is the centre line of the radiator supported or are the mounts on the outer edges of the shroud only?

Just wondering if there is (or will be) any vertical movement of the rad, when full and hot - i cant see any centre mounts! Is the shroud steel?

The radiator screws to the shroud on the outer edges, then the fan screws to the radiator, then the underbelly cover goes on. Then the whole assembly just sits up under the bus and I used 10 self tapers to hold it on the side mount holes. You can see the self tapers on the side into the chassis in one of the pics.

It is made entirely of stainless steel so it is pretty stiff. Like a box it doesnt twist. I cannot see it being an issue with weight or falling off, unless you forgot to put more than 2 screws in it.

It is only 1.2mm stainless steel as we wanted something that would flex a little and take the force / vibrations away from the radiator.

I have almost 10 000 km on mine now and it has no issues. We have another couple running around with well over that and as yet has been no issues at all

There is no noticable deflection in the shrouds when they fill up and heat, at the temp it gets has no real bearing.

There is a small amount of vertical movemnet but since the hoses are simply rubber they move happily the small amount and thus cause no adverse stress on anything.

Buggy Brad wrote:The EJ 22 likes the 2L kombi gearing with 16" rims and round a 205 / 215 x 65 size tyre which gives around the same rolling diameter.

Sitting on 3000 rpm at 100 is just about spot on. We have one sitting on around 2700 at the moment and it is too high. We will be changing it back to 3000 rpm which we have found to be spot on.

Brad, When you say too high, do you mean that 4th gear is too tall?

With my 1800 box and 31inch tall tyres, the car does just a touch under 3000rpm at 100km/h. It's interesting that altering the final drive from 4.86 to 4:5 (091) makes that much difference at 100 clicks.

I am running 205/55 16 which is 634mm dia. This is very close to the 185/75 14 tyres that were 632mm dia.

The box is standard 2L as I suspected and confirmed by gearbox builder.

This tyre chart will help check sizes.

http://www.ehholden.com.au/garage/garpics/tyrechart.gif

Just picked up the pod adapter and pod air cleaner. Fleur chose a purple one to go with the purple flames. I think she has a secret ricer fetish 🙂

Gotta say I admire you guys who take a long time sometimes years to finish a project!!

I should get the gearbox back early next week and then the weekend after I am gonna get into it and get this motor back in and started.

Fleur does a lot of the work herself. This is putting the adapterplate on.

What do ya reckon Brad? Terry? Would she do good working at COR?

COR throttle body inverter.

COR modified sump. Doesn't hang down at all. Level with everything else on the bottom of the motor

Fluer may well be a fine woman with the tools, but she'll have to have dirtier knees to really impress me :P

Motor and gearbox are bolted together. Loom is finished and plugged into VW wiring. Fuel pump is fittet and hose from tank to pump done.

No more time left today. I will see if I can get it in next Saturday. It is getting close now.

This is the replacement tube I have made to allow the PCV and air valve? tubes to fit between the airflow meter (AFM) and throttle body (TB). This is of course because you cannot run the big plastic banana tube the Suby has originally. This is fitted using two adapter rubber tubes, one of which is stepped down. This is because the AFM is 80mm dia and the TB is 70mm dia.

Sump is Custom Off Road modified unit. Physically everything is going pretty well. No problems as such so far.

This is where I mounted the fuel pump.

I was lucky as the fuel tank had a removable barb and retaining nut on the petrol tank. This allowed me to put a larger 10mm barb on the tank outlet, so it was the same as the 10mm inlet on the VL Commodore electric fuel pump.

The return line is pumped back into the top of the tank into one of the two breather pipes available. I have no concerns about this as most fuel tanks have only one breather anyway. Doing it all this way meant I did not have to take the tank out or get an EFI tank.

This pic shows the thread on the bottom of the tank.

Good spot for pump.Kept away from electics:thumbJVLRacing

Looking good, are you going to put a surge tank somewhere? EFI Fuel pumps don't like running dry and can be difficult to prime without a surge tank. Just a thought.

MikeM wrote:Looking good, are you going to put a surge tank somewhere? EFI Fuel pumps don't like running dry and can be difficult to prime without a surge tank. Just a thought.

VW tanks have a 'surge' bulge in the fuel tank base around the pickup/fuel outlet. It's not perfect, but will do the job for a road car as long as there is a litre or two in the tank.

A pod aircleaner mounted directly to the MAF may upset the signal. Most OE MAFS have a length of straight pipe immediately in front of them... Keep this in mind in case you get lumpy running/driveability issues

The surge tank would not be required as the fuel pump is at least 20cm below the tank and would always have fuel being pushed down into it. It would be a different story if the outlet of the tank sucked up like a straw from the top of a tank. That is when you would get the air issues like when you have nearly finished your soft drink.

The EJ 22 has a wire sensor AFM and it doesn't seem to car about the pod being mounted right on it. It does not like oil filters though .... it seems to kill them, funny that.

Surge tanks don't seem to be needed. I have run mine to needing 43 litres of fuel and the tank only holds 45 at best. It kept going fine.

Progress looks good, I like some of the little mods you have done and will include them in the kit.

Keep up the good work, looking fwd to seeing it go ... I will be back In Melbourne next week so maybe we can go for a spin :>

Hey that's what it is all about. With feedback, it can only help you guys at COR. I am keeping a sort of diary and will present a report when finished. And I thought school days were over. 😂

It doesn't look like I have been doing much, but that is becaus I am fussy and meticulous. I checked everything at least 10 times. Took me about an hour to put the motor in today, plug the wires in, connect the fuel lines, put on the exhaust. Hit the key and it started straight away.

I must say it was a good feeling to just have it start up like that.

The motor and gearbox assy

nn[ Edited on 23-7-2005 by Helbus ]

Lowering the bus down on the motor.

Nearly there.

You can see here what I did with the PCV hoses and how I plumbed them into the short section of pipe just before the throttle body

And another view of the pipes

Some pics of it in

Sorry about the scratches on everthing Brad! 🙂

The easy thing is the fuel lines are on the same side, and so is the brake booster vacuum.

Here you can see the fuel line and filter on the RH side.

This shows of course the fuel line and pump.

So yeah it started and I ran it for about 1 minute. I still have to do all of the water hoses. The drive shafts and new clutch cable to be fitted. The only thing I have not investigated at this point in time is the throttle cable. I also have to put the rear crossmember in, but that can wait for a minute. I will also wrap all of the wiring loom properly and put convouluted tubing on it also.

So upshot of it all is. Yes it runs, but no I have not driven it yet. Cant wait though. It will definitley be a sleeper as it has a 2 inch exhaust exiting in the original spot.

Helbus wrote:So yeah it started and I ran it for about 1 minute. I still have to do all of the water hoses. The drive shafts and new clutch cable to be fitted. The only thing I have not investigated at this point in time is the throttle cable. I also have to put the rear crossmember in, but that can wait for a minute. I will also wrap all of the wiring loom properly and put convouluted tubing on it also.

So upshot of it all is. Yes it runs, but no I have not driven it yet. Cant wait though. It will definitley be a sleeper as it has a 2 inch exhaust exiting in the original spot.

so given the fact you had a hoist....how hard do you think for the home mechanic...with advice from Brad....assuming a dose of common sense and tools....what would be the difference (sorry, not a subi-expert), if you used a 2.2 liberty engine. My wife's got a 2.5 Forester - but thats a quad cam. Are the parts available, or is that the same motor?....how many 'hours' do you think are in it so far....given your advice in the paint forum, I've managed to follow you and am happy with the result...figure follow in your wake...I love my microbus, but just wish it went like the Forester...

The hoist definitley made a difference. I aam writing a school report for Brad, based on the fact I am not a mechanic or auto elec, but with the skills I have and the help from Brad, I have been able to achieve this. I think if you are of the level of being able to wire up a stereo system correctly and remove and refit mechanical things and make them work again, you shold be able to do it.

If those sorts of things hurt your head and you cannot do them, then maybe you would be wise to reconsider whether you would do this yourself.

I used no special tools at all. This could be done without a hoist, probably best on car ramps under the rear wheels. You will need a soldering iron.

I would say the DIY fitting of this motor would consume 60 hours if you want to do it all yourself without a hoist. Remembering that going out for a couple of hours a night a couple of nights a week that it will take over three months to do.

The quad cam engine may be a bit tighter to get in with the exhaust etc.

The motor is an EJ22. You must get the complete engine with exhaust flanges, complete wiring loom, computer, relays, igniter/ ignition thingy, induction system. I got my motor from a japanese wrecker for $1000 for a local motor from a 93 Liberty with 112,000 km on the clock. I changed the cambelt, spark plugs, oil filter and waterpump just as a precaution.

The bits I did not get with my motor, and I had to get afterwards were
- round type engine mounts, so good if you get a motor with these.
- igniter/ ignition thingy bolted to centre of the back of the engine bay
- main engine relay

All the modified and conversion bits I got it all from Custom Off Road. Everything else other than the filters, fuel pump, hoses, clamps, screws and second hand stuff that is.

I got my mechanic to do the cambelt for me, but he was too scared to anything else on the conversion. I don't understand why, because you can't really get it wrong, everything fits in.

Peter,
can you tell me the brand & part number for the fuel filter between the tank and pump and what size in/outlets?
Ta.

I changed the barb outlet on the tank to 10mm. The inlet on the VL fuel pump is about 10mm. The pre filter is a standard Ryco wit 10mm in and out.

The high pressure filter after the pump is a Ryco Z 200 with 8mm in and out

The EH Limo had a 12mm inlet on the Bosch fuel injection pump. We had to run a surge tank on it and it had a 12mm outlet to go to the pump. It was a simple matter of getting a pre filter with that size dia in and out. It was not hard to get from memory, we got the hose, pump and filter all from a fuel injection friend of a friend of a friend. I don't have the detals though.

The Limo had to run a surge tank as the EFI pump was not lower than the bottom of the fuel tank.

Way cool ....

With the feedback we are getting the D.I.Y kit will include everything you need to do the conversion in your shed.

Good to see yours is going Hellbus .... I have some updates to send down in the next few weeks. Like the new stainless pipes that will remove all that unsightly rubber stuff from the tappet covers and pcv and breather. makes it much neater.

Will also be keen to see what Accel setup you nut out. If you still haven't solved it by the end of next week when I get home I will send you one of our adapters.

Looking good ...

For crying out loud send me a bloody adapter for the throttle. I am nearly having a berko trying to figure that one out. 🙁

My mechanic friend who hates doing modified stuff because it scares him is going to put the stock driveshafts and stock clutch cable back in for me this week. He is also going to change the stock Suby spark plugs. Along with the accel cable hooked up, we should be driving.

My mechanic will do VW stuff and he will do Subaru stuff, but for some reason wont touch any components that are considered Kombaru :duh:

the VSS is a VDO unit .. Part no 412.009 ( I think ) works fine.

If you wait a week I will send you an adapter. I am in Melbourne again so can't help till next week :>

I am getting a good feeling about this conversion. I know a lot of Holden heads and a lot of Ford heads. They all appreciate old VW's and have no negative thoughts about a Suby motor in the bus. They reckon it is retro and cool. Plus the fact we still have a stocky oldskool 70 beetle means we have the best of both worlds.

I don't want to put the cars in any genre. We just wanna enjoy them 🙂

Helbus wrote:I am getting a good feeling about this conversion. I know a lot of Holden heads and a lot of Ford heads. They all appreciate old VW's and have no negative thoughts about a Suby motor in the bus. They reckon it is retro and cool. Plus the fact we still have a stocky oldskool 70 beetle means we have the best of both worlds.

I don't want to put the cars in any genre. We just wanna enjoy them 🙂

You will Pete:thumbJVLRacing

The hoses now on to the radiator.

The total length of hose used was 4030mm for all of the bits

A blury pic showing the 90 degree bend used to change direction of the hose and keep away from exhaust and other stuff. I have cable tied the hose just for the minute and will put a few clamps on soon.

I will make a brcaket to hang the header tank from above.

It pretty much just sits there just with the hoses.

I didn't get a chance to bleed the cooling system on the weekend, so my mechanic friend who is letting me use his workshop had a look today to see if the water went down after running hot, and he said it took another three litres of water. He ran it again and it started getting to boil? The thermo came on, as the switch sensor is working on the motor, but there was no water flow.

Checked the thermostat and it was jammed shut. Simple things like a $10 thermostat can bring you unstuck very quickly.

good to hear it was only the thermostat, funky looking air filter 😉 its almost matches the flames 👍

Fleur chose the air filter. I suppose I'm doing a lot of the nuts and bolts stuff, the least she could do was go out and get the air pod. I told her to get a one that she liked, and that is what she come up with.

Helbus wrote:Fleur chose the air filter. I suppose I'm doing a lot of the nuts and bolts stuff, the least she could do was go out and get the air pod. I told her to get a one that she liked, and that is what she come up with.

She is a good women Pete!:thumbJVLRacing

lister wrote:

Helbus wrote:The hoses now on to the radiator.

The total length of hose used was 4030mm for all of the bits

Hi all,
i'm planning my engine conversion at the moment looking into all different radiator ideas
my question is, if i went this route would i be able to tap into the water hoses by the radiator to run a heater
i was thinking of making a box by the front beam and having the heater matrix and fan there and using the stock bus front pipe to get the heat to the dash

regards

Rob

I'll do it the same way!

Greetz,

Humby

😵 gunna have to keep an eye on ya, might end up following u , into my 73 westy.

Had a few minutes spare on Saturday, so I had a play with the throttle cable setup. got a temporary thing happening that gives half throttle.

Took it for a drive around the block on and Fleur was more than impressed with the power. "Wicked" was a word she used. I now have to take most of the stuff out, except the motor and tidy it all up. Wrap wires etc

Definitley has got some balls now. 🙂 🙂 🙂

for the heater you are best off just running it out of the original tubes

then brad modified a a cruiser heater box that sits near the steering box and uses the orig ducting
ask him for photos
terry

wow am I glad I found this site. I have been looking into a type IV swap for my bus an came across some subie stuff that opened my eyes 😂 More power and less money sounds like a much better way to go. Buggy Brad, does the radiator kit you guys have fit a split window bus? or will you be making a kit for splits? I have a 1964 Panel. $1500AUS = about $1100 US right? That doesnt seem too bad considering what all is in the kit.

Finally found the time to finish the accelerator cable last night. I have designed it so it uses the original cable with no modifications. The setup has turned out really well with a couple of custom bits at the back end that had to meet my very strict guidlines.

- cheap and able to be made from scrap metal/ parts
- strong and not able to wear out
- work efficiently and not put stress on the original cable.
- retain adjustment capabilities
- neat and look like it is meant to be there

I acheived all, and if the cable ever has to be replaced it is a standard $25 item from any VW shop. I have a spare anyway so all is good.

My mechanic friend took it out for a drive this morning and he was veeeery impressed. From a driving point of view it is finished, and it is just the tidying of wiring and hanging everything in place that is required.

I will get pics up in the near future and the bus will be at DOTVW

Ok latest update.

Put together and fitted Custom Off Road lower crossmember
mounted the radiator expansion tank/ filler properly
mounted charcoal cannister
mounted air cleaner properly
connected VSS
connected Speco 2 & 5/8" tacho part no 52001 fits perfectly in blank guage hole in dash
connected engine check light
connected Speco 2" temp guage part no 52323

Just have to get all of the junk out of it now and clean everything up and it is all done. I will be getting the brakes serviced and new brake hoses fitted to ensure the brake system is in the best condition also.

Can't wait for DOVW

Yep, all finished. Went for a bit of driving on the weekend, and runs sweet. Spins both back wheels in first quite easily. Nice loud exhaust. The Commodore kids next door love the sound of it, they reckon it's hot.

The thermo fan comes on at 90 degrees and the guage does not get any higher than that. It cools beautiful, whether you labour it, idle it, whatever.

The rebuilt gearbox was pretty tight at first, but I loosened it up. The torque is great, you can drive from 20kph in third and it will slowly accelerate smoothly until it is doing 100kph.

More pictures will have to come once I get internet back on at home.

Well done Helbus.
It's a great feeling isn't it. 🙂

yeah baby

Good work. Looking forward to the pictures.

Brendan

There will be the pictures, and also it will be at the Day of The Volkswagen show in November down here in Victoria.

Now all I have to do is build a garage to put it in.

Helbus wrote:Yep, all finished. Went for a bit of driving on the weekend, and runs sweet. Spins both back wheels in first quite easily. Nice loud exhaust. The Commodore kids next door love the sound of it, they reckon it's hot.

The thermo fan comes on at 90 degrees and the guage does not get any higher than that. It cools beautiful, whether you labour it, idle it, whatever.

The rebuilt gearbox was pretty tight at first, but I loosened it up. The torque is great, you can drive from 20kph in third and it will slowly accelerate smoothly until it is doing 100kph.

More pictures will have to come once I get internet back on at home.

Execellent! congrats. :thumb:beer

BTW, I totally know what you are saying about the torque thing. Smooth as silk and no flat spot. I loved my 1640 in my old bug, but it does not compare to big properly tuned EFI cubes of the Subaru motor. Wait till you see the difference in the fuel bill!:P

Well I'll make sure it's clean at least! 😉

Are you still going to wear a bikini when you wash the kombi, Rob?

Good news is, the mechanic has the zzzzzzzzzzzzz noise on ther thermo fan worked out. Apparently fans don't prefer to be horizontal, and it had slipped down a couple of mm on the side brackets and the centre of the fan blade was just touching the strap that runs across the middle of the radiator core. He just used grub screws to lock the side slide brackets.

Finished and home. Drove beautifully in the traffic and my mechanic friend who says he hates VW's reckons it is the best one he has ever driven. Well it's a Suby in VW clothing now isn't it?

Fleur has been out thrashing it she loves it so much she is grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Fleur took me out in the bus today to the physio and had to drive in peak hour traffic for about 30 mins. We also had to go on the freeway for a while The temp guage sat on 90 the whole time. Gave a bit of a shock to some of the cars near us when she booted it too. Still we couldn't go too hard, with me all sore still.

The only thing I never got around to doing was the exhaust bracket, so Fleur is gonna drop into a performance exhaust place tomorrow and they will fit a mount while she waits.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooooooom

And how do you think the ej22 goes in this with the factory auto ?

It would go mental. cool as.

I have finally dug up and am downloading some more pics. showing the bracing for the header tank and other bits. I did this all the weekend before I stuffed myself.

little brackets to hold pod and air flow meter up.

In some of those pics you can see where I ran the wiring up top through some convolouted tubing to the relayas and computer which sit in the sapare wheel well.

This is one shot of the brace underneath.

Anothers shot of underneath.

Whoo Hoo 16 valve

This shows how the COR throttle body inverter makes it so you can have heaps of room and clear everything.

I have circled the accellerator cable setup, which uses the original Kombi cable.

[ Edited on 18-11-2005 by Helbus ]

Got the exhaust brackets fitted and a new chrome tip fitted today, and it is ace. It looks so stock from behind. Real sleeper material if the bus didn't have flamejob and numberplates HELBUS.

Still the kids at the high school all love it when it takes off. The young fella's stop looking at Commodores and say 'Sik Mayyyyte' when it takes off.

Kids under the age of 18 noticing - Mission accomplished 🙂

This is the rear engine bay cover and lid for the spare wheel well. All trimmed up.

Took a closer pic of the acc cable.

Here you can see the extended cable shroud going into the bracket which bolts to the throttle body. The shroud just ends thaere and is non adjustable.

The cable then goes into the original adjuster from the twin carb linkage setup, and that is welded to a rod and ball socket part of the old linkage.
From there you can see the piece of the old twin carb linkage I welded to the Subaru cable wrap.

It is smooth, adjustable, and gives 98% of throttle. The accellerator pedal bottoms out a couple of mm before the cable pulls to the end of the throttle position on the SUby motor. Probably safer than stretching the cable 🙂

Helbus:
That is one sweet piece of work you've done. You've got a lot of guys up here in the states drooling over your project. Good job.
There are a lot of folks converting 84 and later Vanagons (T3's) but very few earlier buses.
Hopefully the shop that you got your kit from is sponsoring you as I'm sure you'll generate business for them. Are they now offering a full conversion kit for buses?
Cheers
Brent
http://www.weidefamily.net/vanagon/

bartw_portland wrote:Helbus:
That is one sweet piece of work you've done. You've got a lot of guys up here in the states drooling over your project. Good job.
There are a lot of folks converting 84 and later Vanagons (T3's) but very few earlier buses.
Hopefully the shop that you got your kit from is sponsoring you as I'm sure you'll generate business for them. Are they now offering a full conversion kit for buses?
Cheers
Brent
http://www.weidefamily.net/vanagon/

had a look at ya page, must be about time you did one using an EJ20TT I think 🤘

BTW, Pete

looks great. Hope you get to enjoy it real soon. When do the medicos say you can drive again?

It will prob be 3 months till I can drive 🙁

Anyway it's Fleurs bus, and she loves driving it. It is gonna be her new everyday car, and the Beetle will then become mine to drive I suppose.

I've already got my EH, my limo and my motorbike, so enough for me for now.

Although Fleur said I am allowed to build another custom car, maybe something rod when I am better. I am gonna have to put my motorbike on club plates first, as it only did 200km in the last 12 months.

3 months.. that's rough, probably for the best I spose.

Oh well, looks like your gonna have the sexiest chaufeur and transport in ya suburb till then.

Can I suggest a custom beetle, maybe a fenderless ratrod with a twin turbo subie in it? 😉

Anyway, plenty of time to think about it and start drawing up plans. I spose you're covered for worker's comp and all that are you?

Yeah TAC are looking after me for now, and luckily my job doesn't entail too much physical yakka, so I should be able to get back to it.

I just hope it doen't hurt any chances of my life long dream of becoming a car customiser and panel beater. I have too many cars to built to be washed up yet. The physio was impressed with my positive anger towards wanting to be back on track. I'm not gonna sulk, that's for sure.

keep up the good attitude. You will get there even if it all seems a bit hard at the mo. ALso, Accidents like this can be a good wake up call for priorities. Bet, you've been thinking about that too.

Anyway, almost midnight, finished studying, gotta go home and give the missus some time. Sleep tight til next time.🙂

cant wait to see the bus mate, one thing that may be worth considering on it long term, an idea that was suggested to me when i was talking to some guys about a similar rad setup is running solid metal pipes the majority of the way and just having little rubber ones at each end to minimise the chance of cracks in the hoses and cheapen the replacement cost when tehy do happen

Oh this hose I used is pretty tough. I actually have 2 metres left, so I have a spare so to speak 🙂 Good thing is any farmer or any plumbing place will have it as it is standard heavy duty water suction hose (green line). Rated to 150 psi at 70 degrees.

I could have gone one step further and got mining standard red line hose. Basically that stuff is indestructable.

Last night we drove about 20 k's away, and the temp guage sat on 80 degrees and the fan never come on once there or back home. It was a cool night, but it shows the efficiency is working fine for the rad. The thing holds about 15 litres of water with the hoses and header tank !

See you at DOVW

Helbus, just a question about the radiator and thermo fan, does the fan blow air down through the radiator or suck air up through the radiator?

:o

The air is drawn up by a 16" fan. It is then expelled mainly towards the rear of the radiator as there is no chassis crossmember covering that section. The pics show it pretty good.

How many $ for the wiring conversion ?

Custom Off Road did it, and I cant remember the breakdown of costings anymore. It was good because it came back 1/4 of the size with all the junk cut off, and tags with the letters A-M to join up to what ineeded to. Things like IGN, +ve, -ve, thermofan, fuel pump, temp guage, tacho, VSS, enginge check light, A/C if needed, oil light etc. Made it real easy.

This is where I mounted the wiring, computer and relays.

how many ks you getting out of a tank of fuel & are you running stock ratios , seagull

Stock 2 litre gearbox

Haven't taken it for a country drive and haven't been checking the trip meter, but I will get Fleur to do it on the next tank.

gull wrote:how many ks you getting out of a tank of fuel & are you running stock ratios , seagull

Speedo check shows 97kmh on checking device on bridge when speedo in vehicle shows 100kmh. I would therefore assume the odometer is pretty accurate.

After resetting the trip meter at petrol fill up and checking again tonight the number of km and the litres to fill, I have come up with an estimate of fuel usage.

City driving has seen 10.5 l/100km and country driving has seen 9.5l/100km

before it was 12.5 and 10 with the 1800 Type 4 motor with twin carbs.

It is estimated on a country cruise we could see about 600km out of a 58 litre tank before running out of juice.

we get about that out our 2.5 Sube motor - but it's still in the Sube.

Helbus wrote:

gull wrote:how many ks you getting out of a tank of fuel & are you running stock ratios , seagull

Speedo check shows 97kmh on checking device on bridge when speedo in vehicle shows 100kmh. I would therefore assume the odometer is pretty accurate.

Not always a good assumption. The speedometer is a completely different mechinism than the odometer after the cable enters the instrument. The odometer can have considerably different calibration than the speedometer, especially if the instrument is somewhat aged. For example, my speedometer reads about 15% high while my odometer is about 2% high.

Best deal is to check it against a GPS or well-measured road markers.

George

crewcabconnection wrote:we get about that out our 2.5 Sube motor - but it's still in the Sube.

Considering that the stock 2.0l gearbox has a 4th gear only 10% lower than the Subaru 5th gear, I would expect only a small drop in mileage when the engine lives in the bus. The weights, at least empty, are very close too. Only the frontal area of a bus is greater.

George

Howdy from California,
I have a 64DD camper bus that I would like to convert. The big question: Is it possible to install an EJ22 without cutting the sheet metal on either side of the compartment where the engine seal fits? I have not seen a clear answer on any posting or web site. My engine compartment is 74cm from seal flange to seal flange.
Thanks for answers.
Chris

Our bus had a 1800 type 4 motor originally and there is no removal or cutting of any part of the bus whatsoever to fit the engine in. It could go back to original if required.

The only cutting I did was to remove the heater tube under the bus to fit the radiator and fan underneath.

I just realised I haven't posted on this thread and let you know that I think you've done a great job with Helbus. Your conversion turned out real nice and I'm sure you'll inspire some others out there.

And mine would be a great sleeper too, if it wasn't jacked up and didn't have hundreds of other mods 🙂

Howdy from California once again.

Do you know if the type 4 engine is wider than the type 1?

thanks!
Chris

c_dreike wrote:Howdy from California once again.

Do you know if the type 4 engine is wider than the type 1?

thanks!
Chris

I've had the same question. AFAIK, the ej22 will fit between the seal flanges on the front end, but the rear apron needs to be trimmed to clear the cam belt housing. The DOHC housing seems to be larger than the SOHC housing.

This info is from similar conversions done to bugs and type 3s. I'm planning to put an EJ25 into my '71 and might end up having to trim some of the engine bay metal to make it fit if the EJ25 is larger than the EJ22. I still haven't been able to get accurate numbers on the width of the EJ25 sohc engine

George (in SoCal)

Helbus wrote:We all live in a Yellow Submarine, Yellow Submarine, Yellow Submarine.

Questions for Peter:

In the early part of this thread you show a header tank that has two large tubes on the round end away from the filler. Later on, you show a tank mounted in your bus that has an inlet on the bottom. Did you change the tank or am I just misinterpreting the photos?

Also, you used 4m of hose to plumb the radiator. Any particular reason to do the whole thing in hose or did you just want to avoid the fun of fabbing metal lines?

George

The guy that made the header tank sort of misunderstood, so he changed the inlet to the bottom.

I did the whole lot in hose because it was easy as.

I need to bump this one to keep my inspiration level up! 🙂

Any ongoing progress reports on this project?

George

Still going well and no problems seen yet. We clicked over 3000km since conversion the other weekend when we went drag racing at Heatcote.

The bus was driven there and drag raced as is with bullbar and all seats inside. Pulled a 17.83 at 75 mph. Still starts and runs smooth as ever. Driving in 38 degree heat see's temp guage get to 100 on the highway. Will be looking at air scoop to change that. - Next hot season's job.

Just in case you have missed the praise from others, here it is from me.


"Love ya work and a great write-up."

:thumb

Helbus wrote:Still going well and no problems seen yet. We clicked over 3000km since conversion the other weekend when we went drag racing at Heatcote.

The bus was driven there and drag raced as is with bullbar and all seats inside. Pulled a 17.83 at 75 mph. Still starts and runs smooth as ever. Driving in 38 degree heat see's temp guage get to 100 on the highway. Will be looking at air scoop to change that. - Next hot season's job.

Happy to hear everything is going well!

I suspect that the upflow radiator doesn't get much ram-air flow from vehicle motion. A little scoop hanging down would help that without compromising ground clearance too much.

The louvers on the housing might be a bit restrictive as well.

I'm working on a similar design, but with a downflow radiator arrangement mounted further aft and the frame members boxed in for an inlet duct.

If I were a wee bit closer I would be very interested in some of the Custom Off Road bits you used on your bus! Nice stuff, that.

George

The ram flow (higher pressure air) effect is the only one we seem to be missing. The hottest temp guage readings are at highway speeds, so that is a good reason to create a scoop.

Helbus wrote:The ram flow (higher pressure air) effect is the only one we seem to be missing. The hottest temp guage readings are at highway speeds, so that is a good reason to create a scoop.

Absolutely! The thing may be called a "radiator", but it really functions via convection, which requires a flow of air. I'm surprised that it works as well as it does with no ducting to speak of. How much does the fan run?

George

The fan comes on at just above 90 degrees, so it would be safe to assume it is on all the time on the highway. Around town it comes on briefly hovering between 85-92ish degrees on a hot day, or not all on a cooler day.

Helbus wrote:The fan comes on at just above 90 degrees, so it would be safe to assume it is on all the time on the highway. Around town it comes on briefly hovering between 85-92ish degrees on a hot day, or not all on a cooler day.

Yeah, having the fan on all the time isn't the situation you want, Ideally, the fan should only come on when the vehicle is moving slowly, like in city traffic as it is not really made for continuous use. You also have a sitaution where a fan failure will leave you overheated on the highway.

A modern water cooled engine should come up to temperature and then stay at that temperature regardless of outside air conditions. If your temps are rising in warm conditions it means that you are exceeding the capabilities of your cooling system.

I like the design and workmanship of the Off Road radiator shroud, but I think that it would be more effective with the following changes:

1. Switch the fan to downflow
2. Move the radiator back on the frame, to just forward of the rear crossmember.
3. Box in the forward frame rails to create an air duct, with a scoop at the forward end just aft of the front axle.
4. Enlarge the louvers on the radiator mount for more airflow, and reverse them to point aft for the downflow arrangement.

With this arrangement, the air will enter the duct just aft of the front axle and pass down the frame duct, slowing down in the process. Less speed means more pressure which will force the air downward through the radiator toward the slipstream (low pressure) side.

Since your installation is already complete, my changes would be a bit difficult to impliment. I'd try a scoop first, along with increasing the louver size. Making the frame into a duct aft of the radiator might also help prevent recirculation.

Keep in mind that I haven't done this, but I do have experience in aircraft engineering which involves a lot of work in making air go places it doesn't want to go. My cooling design is starting with the largest radiator I can find (from a 7.4l Chevy pickup) because I know that I am starting at an engineering disadvantage compared to the OEM radiator designers. This is probably overkill, but since I have lots of room under the bus, I figure I might as well use it to advantage.

George

[ Edited on Jul 06, 2006 by GeorgeL ]

Makes a lot of sense.

There are no body mods to fit the cooling system at this stage, so it can be modified later.

Helbus wrote:Makes a lot of sense.

There are no body mods to fit the cooling system at this stage, so it can be modified later.

That's wise. I'm trying for the "minimal cut" installation as well on my '71.

Great read and fantastic job Pete! You should be very proud...

So.. by looking at the dates of this thread.. I've noticed that the posts are a few months old and I was wondering how the conversion has stood up.. Any problems to speek of???

Goin' fine. Hit the key and starts instantly. Running fine, no probs at all so far. Just need to get a heater fitted as it is really cold.

So I'm pricing everything and trying to figure out how to do this conversion to my 63 bus. The only hangup that I have had is the radiator problem. I see how you mounted yours but I remember you saying that you were haveing problems on the highway. I also live in Los Angeles and the temp gets well over 100 degrees. What do you think about that?? Do you think I can pull it off with the same radiator configuration that you have? Did you change anything? Oh and I'm going to use the 2.5 motor. Let me know what you think..

Leesvw wrote:So I'm pricing everything and trying to figure out how to do this conversion to my 63 bus. The only hangup that I have had is the radiator problem. I see how you mounted yours but I remember you saying that you were haveing problems on the highway. I also live in Los Angeles and the temp gets well over 100 degrees. What do you think about that?? Do you think I can pull it off with the same radiator configuration that you have? Did you change anything? Oh and I'm going to use the 2.5 motor. Let me know what you think..

I don't think that what he has is all that much of a problem, as the engine never overheats. The only difficulty is that the fan runs at cruise, which introduces a failure mode that isn't really desirable. I think that the airflow can be improved with some minor tweaks in the design, but if I had a running conversion and the weather was relatively cool i would probably rather drive it than fiddle with it!

I sent you a U2U.

George

You are right there George. The fan comes on at 90 degrees and on the highway the temp guage sits on 95 degrees in cool weather and 100 in hot weather. Even on a 40 degree day (100 plus in Farenheit) it doesn't boil and dump its guts. The issue is the fan running continuously. We are just spending more time driving it than me making an aluminium shroud and testing it's effectivness. I belive a revised shroud would be 90% of the solution, as a lot of vehicles run radiators underneath.

Our biggest concern in this cold weather is no heater. 😬

I was thinking about your no heater problem last night and started looking for AC/Heat options. Hot rod air has units available and I even found some on jcwhitny. I'm sure there are some good options out there.

I don't think that what he has is all that much of a problem, as the engine never overheats. The only difficulty is that the fan runs at cruise, which introduces a failure mode that isn't really desirable. I think that the airflow can be improved with some minor tweaks in the design, but if I had a running conversion and the weather was relatively cool i would probably rather drive it than fiddle with it!

I can understand that. I got your u2u but it won't let me send one back because I haven't put up enough posts. I also live in canyon country :P I sent an e-mail to the address you sent let me know if you get it.

Leesvw wrote:I can understand that. I got your u2u but it won't let me send one back because I haven't put up enough posts. I also live in canyon country :P I sent an e-mail to the address you sent let me know if you get it.

Dang, small world! I got the email, I'll give you a ring when I get some time to talk.

George

Helbus wrote:One more post Lee and you will have U2U 🙂

Done!!!!

Yeah small world. I can't wait to compare notes, I'm drooling all over this idea.. my wife is a little sick of it about now. If I only had the cash....

Hey hellbus.. I'm considering putting my radiator up front right behind the beam and infront of the cross support. The location will allow me to keep the heater tube with little trimming, and should allow me to fabricate a fairly large scoop for the radiator. I have a walk through so there is a lot of room above this location for air flow. Cables and crap run through there too but with the mockup that I made I have plenty of room The radiator will be able to be 26 inches wide and 12 tall.. laying horazontal of course. The front beam will help protect the radiator from anything crazy that might run into it. Air ducting would start just before the front beam and concentrate air from a long thin scoop down to a wide and deep air channel. I'm hoping this will work. A custom radiator manufacturer suggested that a minimum of 400 square inches is needed to cool without direct air flow. I'm at about 325 but I will be getting good airflow so I think it will work. Let me know what you think..

Leesvw wrote:Yeah small world. I can't wait to compare notes, I'm drooling all over this idea.. my wife is a little sick of it about now. If I only had the cash....

Yeah, mine too, but with the sense of "stop talking and do it already!"

However, she's to blame, because _she_ was the one who was into VWs when we met! Now she's driving a Scion 🙂

George

ha ha.. thats funny.. I've had my bus for like 12 years and my wife isn't so into V-dubs.. but I'm turning her.. I swear. Call me damn it!!!!! We should meet up on saterday or something

I did the negotiation with the wife the easy way. I did the conversion to HER bus. That way it is like a present for her. 🙂

Went to a dyno day yesterday, and the bus ran 76kw at the rear wheels, or about 101hp in the old speak. That was in shootout mode. The motor was running pump fuel, aircleaner on, exactly as it would run on the street, unmodified.

So there is an official figure that can be quoted as fact. It is what you would expect as the EJ22 is about 100kw at the flywheel.

Helbus wrote:Went to a dyno day yesterday, and the bus ran 76kw at the rear wheels, or about 101hp in the old speak. That was in shootout mode. The motor was running pump fuel, aircleaner on, exactly as it would run on the street, unmodified.

So there is an official figure that can be quoted as fact. It is what you would expect as the EJ22 is about 100kw at the flywheel.

Sounds great! What is "shootout mode?"

George

From what I know, 'shootout' mode is a set variable mode run on the dyno used primarily for showing maximum horsepower, and not any other info used when 'dyno' tuning. Kmh, torque and some variables which are able to be 'corrected' or 'tweaked'

Basically it is a fairer, truer indication of the comparable hp of the vehicle.

Like how all dragstrips have set length, gradient, timers, etc.., but ultimatley the air temp and barometric pressure are at the mercy of the weather, so still there can be differences, but they are limited.

Pic of the drag day.

go the hell bus:thumb
got to love the subi power nice pic

haha, hell yer a baywindow on the strip looks so great!

gota love it mate

Helbus wrote:I will make a brcaket to hang the header tank from above.

It pretty much just sits there just with the hoses.

Hi Peter, just going thru your installation log and wonder what belt you are using to the alternator? I don't need the power steering or the aircon either. Rob

man that was a hard launch there. much wheelspin?

pete wood wrote:man that was a hard launch there. much wheelspin?

That picture is about 15m down the track. It just about lost all upwards suspension travel at initial launch.

With the bullbar and spare assy off the front, it should really lift.

Not any wheelspin that was of any concern, just an initial chirp.

I hope you loaded up the gearbox with the handbrake before launching. 😉

Funny that they are so light. No one would think 100kw at the wheels would be able to lift the front wheels. Just goes to show how savage the weight transfere is.

BTW, how's your back these days? All good now?

pete wood wrote:I hope you loaded up the gearbox with the handbrake before launching. 😉

is that a joke or are you serious?
if its true ill do it off take offs too

Yep, it's true. You load up the gearbox by slipping the clutch while holding the handbrake on hard. Just a little til you can feel it take up the slack and push against it. To go just drop the handbrake, release the clutch and floor it. This substantially lessens the shock loading on the gearbox on takeoff. It also lessens wheelspin. 👍

Only 76kw at the rear wheels. It makes sense about the handbrake. It is like using a 'roll control' or 'line locker' solenoid. You press the brakes, press the button, release the brakes and the roll controll button holds the brakes locked on. Then you only have to lift your finger off the button (which can be on the steering wheel or shifter on a drag car) and the the loaded drivetrain will release.

They are also used backwards to stop brake usage on the rear brakes and become what is commonly used to do burnouts.

The back is good now, just careful not to use my spine as a human crane, and some loss of flexibility, so calesthenics and pole vaulting are out

rocknrob wrote:

Helbus wrote:I will make a brcaket to hang the header tank from above.

It pretty much just sits there just with the hoses.

Hi Peter, just going thru your installation log and wonder what belt you are using to the alternator? I don't need the power steering or the aircon either. Rob

I'm in the same boat. Could you read the number off the belt for us. Might save a couple of false tries!

George

5pk690

I just bought and installed one. A 5pk700 will also work.

Brendan

71EJVan wrote:5pk690

I just bought and installed one. A 5pk700 will also work.

Brendan

excellent!

rocknrob wrote:

71EJVan wrote:5pk690

I just bought and installed one. A 5pk700 will also work.

Brendan

excellent!

If you're in the UK Halfords sell 'em for about 6UKP

Helbus wrote:little brackets to hold pod and air flow meter up.

I just saw a failure of a serpentine belt that made me think of the Helbus conversion. One of the little "vees" separated from the others and whipped around for a while before the driver investigated the noise. In the Helbus setup this sort of failure might do very bad things to the pod filter and cause bits to be sucked into the engine.

You might want to consider a little guard attached to the pod mount just in case! Probably a 1-in-a-million, but there is that fellow Murphy...

George

Cheers George, noted.
Will pass that info on the the boys on VWKD too.

It's been a year. How is the conversion holding up? Any long-term problems?

George

Been well over 2 years and getting close to 9000 km's. No adjustments, changes or anything done at all whatsoever. I have changed the oil once, fitted a radiator overflow bottle, and nothing else. I still have not fitted a heater.

The only things I would like to do is the heater of course, and an adjustment of the throttle cable, as it is just a bit tight when initially depressing.

I agree...it just seems so normal to have an engine that runs so sweet with twice the go and seems to use half the fuel that you don't even think about it...leaning forward up hills is just an old memory😂

Gives the wanna be racers in their V6 auto Commodores with monster tacho and shiftlight a run for their money at the lights too. They cannot get the initial jump at the lights, and the look on their faces when you pull up at the next set of lights is almost as funny as their mates in the car ragging them because they are racing a Kombi. LOL

helbus wrote:Gives the wanna be racers in their V6 auto Commodores with monster tacho and shiftlight a run for their money at the lights too. They cannot get the initial jump at the lights, and the look on their faces when you pull up at the next set of lights is almost as funny as their mates in the car ragging them because they are racing a Kombi. LOL

Great feeling isn't it? 👍

Just don't do it twice cos they expect it the next time.
I've started to call it "Chav baiting" over here (UK)

it is a good feeling!!
i was just wondering with your setup you are running the pod filter straight off air flow meter which is straight off the throttle body on my setup am using the original induction pipe and pod sits in the part behind the tail light on the passenger side.
i want to get rid of the pipe because it creates cluster in the engine bay etc and am wondering if you just blocked off all the pipes that would originally go into the induction pipe?
cheers
rhys

It goes like this

Throttle body
Rubber hose joiner 50mm
Short 100mm bit of pipe with two hoses to engine attached
Rubber hose joiner 50mm
Airflow meter
Pod adapter flange
Pod filter

the pod ends about 100mm past the engine

hey
where did you hook the breather pipes upto?
cheers
rhys

Short 100mm bit of pipe with two hoses to engine attached

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?action=attachment&tid=38417&pid=386986&aid=44176

Like this

kombi_kid wrote:hey
where did you hook the breather pipes upto?
cheers
rhys

I think I copied Helbus' pipework.
Here's the photos of mine:
http://www.vwkd.co.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?t=638

I connected the two rocker covers via a 15mm copper pipe and a T to one side of the inlet tube.
The thick one's 22mm IIRC from the crank breather to the opposite side of the tube

HTH

(Ignore the header tank, it's changed)

sweet looks the goods!
cheers
rhys

The EJ22 was rattling a little bit, and it started rattling real bad after racing a Commodore last weekend. He felt pretty good anyway. I think I may have done the bearings. 3 years with of city drag race starts at every set of lights didn't help.

helbus wrote:The EJ22 was rattling a little bit, and it started rattling real bad after racing a Commodore last weekend. He felt pretty good anyway. I think I may have done the bearings. 3 years with of city drag race starts at every set of lights didn't help.

Not good mate, feel for ya. But engines are cheap.
I don't suppose it's your Alt/power steering pulley coming loose?

helbus wrote:Gives the wanna be racers in their V6 auto Commodores with monster tacho and shiftlight a run for their money at the lights too. They cannot get the initial jump at the lights, and the look on their faces when you pull up at the next set of lights is almost as funny as their mates in the car ragging them because they are racing a Kombi. LOL

Even better when you're still using the original motor!! that really upsets them cause when they see a transplant they see that as an excuse as to why you won.

Never had excuses with a nice Type 4!!! More dumbfounded looks than anything....

My engine lasted for 460 000k's before it dropped a valve. that was 8 years of sheer hard driving doing 1000 odd k's a week.

If the Subi is a goner then perhaps step up to a turbo or 2.5L for more power!!

i think flockie spent about 12+ grand on his scat pos ...... and it still couldnt keep up with my little "puffed up" $3500 ej 😂 😂 😂 😂

I have replaced the motor, back to the way it was again. Need a heater though

helbus wrote:I have replaced the motor, back to the way it was again. Need a heater though

mmmm when I firts read this I thought you were saying that you put the VW engine back in it ....

Buggy Brad wrote:

helbus wrote:I have replaced the motor, back to the way it was again. Need a heater though

mmmm when I firts read this I thought you were saying that you put the VW engine back in it ....

LOL. The way it was will always be the EJ22 now. The VW engine would be "As manufactured"

yeah fair enough, hey did I also read you are back on the tools ???

Hey Man doing the same kinda thing to my 60 bus just wondering what fuel pump you used
Cheers

Buggy Brad wrote:yeah fair enough, hey did I also read you are back on the tools ???

Have a look here

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=62221&page=1

Rad was from Custom Off Road. They've modified the design since.
I'd re-read this entire thread if I were you 🙂

Also read Brendan's (71EJVan) thread, search for Surf & Swoosh.
You'll learn heaps

Peter's & Brendan's threads taught me loads back in the day

And yes Peter's located in Oz

Edit : COR's now http://www.customveedub.com.au/

Just an update.

Bus still runs fine. Still the EJ22. Good reliable and still fun to drive. Only standard maintenance has nedded to be done like oil, plugs, starter motor, brakes adjusted etc.

Still haven't fitted a heater. LOL

Hi pete
Great work I read the whole thread

I am am struggling with the accelerator cable and I notice you make a point of this in yr thread.

Am I righ you put the bracket to mount the accekerator cable sheath up top behind the body reverser?

Thx paul

You can see what I mean in my post