big tyres, gearing, lift questions

Hey fellow veeddubbers just came across this site a few weeks back and gotta say the information here is really useful and ever since my year round trip of australia I've wanted to turn Bob into a baja kombi but have got caught up in my own thoughts on how to go about it and a few problems have come up so hope someone can pass on their experience.

First off I have planned to do the ej22 engine swap for a little more power and saw the conversion kit on custom vee dub. Anyone know the ground clearance vs the stock motor with the modified sump?

I thought about jacking up the front and back as much as possible to finally get some much needed clearance and having trouble getting a working combination unless I minimize my lift.

4 inches by dropping the beam, and lets say 2 inches lift from addding torsion bar adjusters and with the 15 inch rims and 29inch tyres a total of 8 inches or so

With the back I heard I can gain about 4 inches of lift by tensioning the torsion bars but will need to swap to porsche cv joints. I thought I could put a 33inch tyre on the rear and cut the guards if need be which will give me close to 8 inches lift to even things out but then i would have to switch to a 1600 transaxle and from what i hear they aren't too strong. Has anyone had issues running big tyres with a 1600 transaxle?

Next my gearing would still be much taller than stock so the extra power of the subaru engine will be spread out🙁. Are there any other options to getting the gearing back to stock?

Other option I looked at was to remount the engine a few inches lower and then add an adaptor to the swingarm to lift it and then go with a 30 inch tyre to get the gearing spot on but ofcourse I would still have to go with the 1600 transaxle and have my engine hanging in the breeze.

thanks

erik

Welcome

The CVD (www.customveedub.com.au) Conversion kit or at least an EJ 22 with their sump fitted will be about 20mm lower than the type 4 motor. If you run one of their Baja Beams you can get up to about 6" of lift. With cut rear guards and 33's you will even this out with spinning the torsion bars with stock CV's.

If you go visit them or send them an email Andrew has a lifted kombi with 33" rear tyres on and an EJ 33, awesome bit of gear. Check it out on youtube under EJ 33 or Baja Kombi

With 33's and an EJ 22 I woul dgo with a 1600 Kombi Box, gearing will be fine. 2L ill be to tall for the EJ 22. Strength is up to the driver. Drive hard they will break.

Hi Erik i have the EJ22 running a 2litre box and have 245/70/16 tyres for bush driving. these work out at about 29.5 inches and are enormous compared to standard kombi tyres. the EJ22 pushes this kombo great on the highway and second gear is fantastic for rough road bush track hillclimbing sort of stuff...i really don't think i need anything better for what i have planned👍 hope this is some help😎

Thanks for the replys guys I think I will just run 29s front and rear because I don't want to have to carry around two different sets of spare tyres. Will just have the front beam modded and tension the rear torsion bars and if I need more lift after that I'll just start a new project later on.
I'm now searching for an ej25 for the conversion. I know that custom veedub likes to use the 22s and so do a lot of people on this site so just wondering why? The ej25 has a broader torque curve and the sohc around 25 extra ponies. unfortunately they're an interferance engine and have head gasket issues before 1999 but the newer 22s are also interferance. Is the reason that the 25's are more difficult to fit? I understand the wiring loom isn't as easy to modify. Have seen 00 and newer 25s for around the same price as 22s on ebay and other sites

ericos_bob wrote:Thanks for the replys guys I think I will just run 29s front and rear because I don't want to have to carry around two different sets of spare tyres. Will just have the front beam modded and tension the rear torsion bars and if I need more lift after that I'll just start a new project later on.
I'm now searching for an ej25 for the conversion. I know that custom veedub likes to use the 22s and so do a lot of people on this site so just wondering why? The ej25 has a broader torque curve and the sohc around 25 extra ponies. unfortunately they're an interferance engine and have head gasket issues before 1999 but the newer 22s are also interferance. Is the reason that the 25's are more difficult to fit? I understand the wiring loom isn't as easy to modify. Have seen 00 and newer 25s for around the same price as 22s on ebay and other sites

The EJ 22 is a bullet proof engine which is very simpleto work on. They had a good power curve and have proven themselves to be awesome. The EJ 22 in my Buggy has over 500 000 km on it and still going strong.

There are no new EJ 22's they are now EJ 20 SC.

The EJ 25 is also an option but it is larger than the 22, weighs more and on the dyno it about 10 RWHP more, although the EJ 22 had bigger wheels so I doubt there was even that much in it.

The newer engine is the more technology it has and the less knowledge there is on them. CVD (www.customveedub.com.au) loved the EJ 22 because it works well, and they have plenty of experience with working on them, fault finding and repairs.

If I could I would have an EJ 22 in the Iguana in a flash, but I need newer than 99 to meet the ADR's and that ruled the EJ 22 out as an option.

The EJ series with a CVD sump will only sit about 15mm lower than the type 4 engine.. yep nice and high.

I know the sump is an issue if you are going low but if you are putting big tyres on and raising suspension not so much problem...mine still has standard suspension at this stage.....




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