Finally taking the plunge

G'day.

Hold on to your seats. This isn't a help request thread!

I'm in the process of purchasing / organising shipment of an EA81 conversion.

yes it's old. So? It's dead easy to fit because of the lack of electronics, plus it's within 15% capacity of the original motor so no engineers cert needed. Things are looking up.

I know it seems weird. My type4 has high compression, blows no smoke and has good oil pressure but I know something is a bit off in the top end and will take me a lot of time and $ to get it right. Besides I don't want to live constantly in fear of dropped intake seats.

The EA81 will be mated to the early 3 rib 1600 box which is already in there. So it will have a terminal velocity of maybe a shade over 120km/h not that I'd want to take a type 2 up to that speed anyway.

I'm planning on putting a three way switch in the cabin for the thermo fan. Regulated, off and on. Regulated would be the normal mode. Off would be for river crossings and similar and on... well why not?

The rad is going to be underneath. That is until I manage to destroy it. I'll probably end up with one mounted behind my roo bar eventually.

I'm thinking of pinching the holley progressive from the VW engine. Although I am also considering finding an old bellhousing and making a setup so I can work on and repair the VW motor, in which case nicking the carb would be a pain.

I think the motor has a standard sump. This concerns me a tiny bit. I don't know how far below the crank the EA81 sump protrudes.

This is about as close to excited as I get. i want that motor here now.

Crikey.....good luck.

I am suprised that converting from air cooled to water cooled doesnt involve an engineers certificate regardless of capacity

Whatever - good luck

It does in NSW

Bizarre wrote:I am suprised that converting from air cooled to water cooled doesnt involve an engineers certificate regardless of capacity

Whatever - good luck

ian.mezz wrote:It does in NSW

Bizarre wrote:I am suprised that converting from air cooled to water cooled doesnt involve an engineers certificate regardless of capacity

Whatever - good luck

Not necessarily.

VSI Chapter 6"
...
Examples of minor (owner certified) modifications are:
Engine changes where the capacity increase is less than 15% above the maximum size engine available for the
vehicle (providing no major structural modifications are necessary and where noise and/or exhaust emission
ADRs apply, all standard equipment such as carburettors, exhaust systems, exhaust gas recirculating valves,
oxygen sensors and catalytic convertors relating to noise and emission control are retained and operate
correctly).

...

General_Failure wrote:

ian.mezz wrote:It does in NSW

Bizarre wrote:I am suprised that converting from air cooled to water cooled doesnt involve an engineers certificate regardless of capacity

Whatever - good luck

Not necessarily.

VSI Chapter 6 wrote: ...
Examples of minor (owner certified) modifications are:
Engine changes where the capacity increase is less than 15% above the maximum size engine available for the
vehicle (providing no major structural modifications are necessary and where noise and/or exhaust emission
ADRs apply, all standard equipment such as carburettors, exhaust systems, exhaust gas recirculating valves,
oxygen sensors and catalytic convertors relating to noise and emission control are retained and operate
correctly).

...

they mean a larger vw engine capacity .

shit in NSW you are supposed to tell the Rta if you even paint your car a different colour🤪

Telling the RTA and getting an engineers are two very different things though.

I can imagine the conversation with the engineer. Especially if I were asked what was altered to make it all fit, and I just say "Uh... nothing actually." It seems weird in one way, needing certification for a motor which has nearly identical hp, torque, weight and cylinder layout which doesn;t involve any mods.

You need an engineers certificate. once the motor is from a different manufacturer, you need one. I know it seems silly, but they are the rules. Otherwise your insurance is void and the car is illegally modified. That's why people put chevs in holdens, same manufacturer.

everything else you plan sounds good. BTW, shortening the sump is not that hard. Boof and a few others have just cut 40mm or so off and put a new bit of 3-4mm sheet on the bottom of EJ sumps. I imagine the EA sump wouldn't be too different. You need to shorten the pick up a little too. If you are not confident to weld it have a welder or plumber weld it up for you.

a weighbridge ticket
a exhaust db test
a engineers report
etc

its not a problem, like you said its not much of a change.

What about Victoria?

The nearest engineer is about 250km away 🙁

good luck.😊😊

...maybe some things should be left unsaid.

Now I'm really thinking. What would work out better for me. Getting the heads recon'd on the type4 and hoping for the best because the bottom end is in unknown condition, or going for a subie conversion and all it entails, with a motor which is a little worn, and trying to swing sn engineers somehow.

Fix the type 4.

Better any day than the EA81 IMO

If your worried about valve seats, get a better head repairer and don't overheat your air cooled engine....easy.

I can tell you now that in Vic it will be an $800 engineering cost. The motor is not what the vehicle came out with. I deal with engineering on cars on a weekly basis. An example is.
EH Holden 1964 change from a 179ci red motor to a 202ci red motor. Same engine except capacity - VicRoads no accept, engineers report needed.
XR Falcon ute was 200ci. They were available in this bodystyle in later years in up to 351ci. - Needs engineers report to change rego papers to V8 to show compliance to V8 brakes.

In my opinion, you either set the type 4 up well, or go for at least EJ series Suby motor. With EJ The engineering will cost the same, and the radiator has to be done too.

You say you have a 1600 box! Have you thought of a strong Type 1? Pobjoy etc?

I thought you were taking the plunge? heheh bit hard to unplunge...i certainly wouldn't bother for an EA81👎

You will also have to pass a brake test - which more than likely means vented brakes.

Fastie wrote:You will also have to pass a brake test - which more than likely means vented brakes.

Its an EA 81
I doubt it would need a brake upgrade

have you driven a subaru with that motor??
they wouldn't pull a maggot off of a chop.🙅

And a type4 1800 can? 🤪


I always thought EA81 were a waste of time too, just a vw motor with a radiator thrown in

that was till i had a ride in gordons yellow bug
everyone who knows gordon knows what he drives like
to see the abuse that engine took and how well it pulled with 4 people in and those big offroad tyres impressed me

That said i still wouldnt instal one but for someone who doesnt want the hassle off ECU wiring its not a bad option
not like its the first EA81 kombi conversion, they were everywhere in the early90s

If you need a engineers certificate on engine conversion then they do a brake fade test and our standard brakes fail.

A lot of guys are running much bigger motor than 1800cc, like 3.8l for instance on stock bay brakes. If you really get a rush of blood you can fit late bay brakes or commode brakes. Brendan at Production automotive does a kit for the commode stuff that is all engineered. But really, they are well braked standard for a 70s car. So don't stress, it will pass with stock brakes. I have drums and small front discs on my buggy and it passed fine.

yeah you will need a set of these...i would never want stanard brakes again no matter what engine i had🙅

Late bay bus brakes passed the brake test easily with EJ22 conversion. Done it.

mmmm running brakes designed in the 70's with an engine from the 90's on freeways of the 2010's...and yours is not a camper Pete...factor in an extra 1000 kilos...🙄

Rob, my brakes are late 70s vintage at best and work very well. Brakes are about weight and VW designed a reasonable system for the bay. I know people who have run V8s and blown V6s in bays with stock brakes and no legal dramas...

So let me say again what I always say. Start calling engineers and talking to them. They are wise blokes with sensible ideas. A kombi with a 1.8 carbie motor, heck even a 140hp 2.2l is the least of their worries. Many of them are engineering 900kg hotrods with blown big blocks. General failure, you have nothing to worry about.

p.s. Rob, red paint doesn't make it stop faster. it makes it go faster! 😁

My experience is from talking to my engineer last week. His justification is that even the most basic of Jappa cars have vented discs now for the reason of safety. If you are going to convert then it isn't a matter of can you stop - but can you stop over and over again without fading your brakes - and the 70s setup wont cut it.

This could just be my engineer though - and perhaps Victorian rules over other states perhaps?

Fastie wrote:My experience is from talking to my engineer last week. His justification is that even the most basic of Jappa cars have vented discs now for the reason of safety. If you are going to convert then it isn't a matter of can you stop - but can you stop over and over again without fading your brakes - and the 70s setup wont cut it.

I agree.

What I find ironic is the arguement used for converting to a Subaru motor is the fact that it is "new generation" and "latest technology", yet its deemed acceptable by the same people to use 30-40 year old brake component design and setups.....go figure.

rocknrob wrote:yeah you will need a set of these...i would never want stanard brakes again no matter what engine i had🙅

I lovbe how you make do with whats close to you at the time

two rims, and a few bits of timber to hold the car up !

neat brakes mate

General_Failure wrote:G'day.

Hold on to your seats. This isn't a help request thread!

I'm in the process of purchasing / organising shipment of an EA81 conversion.

yes it's old. So? It's dead easy to fit because of the lack of electronics, plus it's within 15% capacity of the original motor so no engineers cert needed. Things are looking up.

I know it seems weird. My type4 has high compression, blows no smoke and has good oil pressure but I know something is a bit off in the top end and will take me a lot of time and $ to get it right. Besides I don't want to live constantly in fear of dropped intake seats.

The EA81 will be mated to the early 3 rib 1600 box which is already in there. So it will have a terminal velocity of maybe a shade over 120km/h not that I'd want to take a type 2 up to that speed anyway.

I'm planning on putting a three way switch in the cabin for the thermo fan. Regulated, off and on. Regulated would be the normal mode. Off would be for river crossings and similar and on... well why not?

The rad is going to be underneath. That is until I manage to destroy it. I'll probably end up with one mounted behind my roo bar eventually.

I'm thinking of pinching the holley progressive from the VW engine. Although I am also considering finding an old bellhousing and making a setup so I can work on and repair the VW motor, in which case nicking the carb would be a pain.

I think the motor has a standard sump. This concerns me a tiny bit. I don't know how far below the crank the EA81 sump protrudes.

This is about as close to excited as I get. i want that motor here now.

if you go water cooled subaru, its worth the effort to put a better / later motor in the car.

thanks Neil and i agree with Fastie and Craig above with the added fact that in a campervan you can literally have an extra ton of stuff onboard...and now you are capable of keeping up with the traffic even when its doing 130!

yeah my red brakes make it stop fast Pete😁

I'm hoping to get some fancy red brakes off Glenn too

Craig Torrens wrote:

Fastie wrote:My experience is from talking to my engineer last week. His justification is that even the most basic of Jappa cars have vented discs now for the reason of safety. If you are going to convert then it isn't a matter of can you stop - but can you stop over and over again without fading your brakes - and the 70s setup wont cut it.

I agree.

What I find ironic is the arguement used for converting to a Subaru motor is the fact that it is "new generation" and "latest technology", yet its deemed acceptable by the same people to use 30-40 year old brake component design and setups.....go figure.

Ditto,
i can only shake my head when I see posts with people bragging that they got their wrx powered conversions passed with stock vw brakes.
As JVL would say
👍👍👍👍😂😘🤪🙅😵‍💫😁👍

Jak

Ditto again😂🥲😂😉

For the price you can pick up a late engine why stuff around with the early, underpowered crap 1800.

As for not tellijng the rta...what do you tell your insurer.

Doesnt go down well when you hit a new Merc or Bmw or for that matter when they hit you and find out your car is illegal.... House....gone! if no house, you get to file these cool papers with BANKRUPT plastered all over them.

If its illegal, atleast make it fast!

Matt
JVL style 😊😍😊🙅😊😘😊

On both cars I have got engineered with EJ subaru motors (EJ20 NA and EJ20 Turbo), each engineer (i used a different one for the second build) wanted front and rear discs. I dont think its written down black and white that you MUST upgrade the brakes, but to the engineer its probably thought of being good practice in that you are going to all the trouble putting a new engine in to go faster, you should also go to a bit of trouble and make it stop better as well. First car I put "bolt on" sherman rear discs that worked well, second time around i did a bit of DIY and adapted EA flacon brakes, which worked even better. I got the falcon brakes done for a cost of about $400 + my time, which is nothing compared to the overall conversion cost and time. In saying this I know several people with subarus in vw's that have standard VW brakes and they passed engineering.

G'day. I haven't been hiding. I've been researching.

It has now been confirmed to me independently twice that I do not need an engineers certificate for this particular swap. Confirmed by both RTA and licensed inspectors. If it were an EJ, yes. If it were an early bay, yes. If it were a beetle, yes. But because of the HP of my factory motor, the HP of an EA81, the age of both original vehicle and donor motor, the lack of modification to the vehicle to accommodate the motor and all around straightforwardness of the conversion it isn't needed.

I just got back from talking to a mechanic who does blue slips, armed with the relevant documentation, and explained the details. he couldn't see a problem with the particulars as long as the right emissions gear etc. was fitted but wanted to be sure so he went and made a phone call to the powers that be, who confirmed that an engineers certificate is not needed.

Now I know why I have such crap luck normally. It was saving itself up for this. Damn I'm feeling like a lucky sonofabitch. Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket.

Just to add, I seriously doubt it needs a brake upgrade. The stock discs / drums were more than adequate. There will be bugger all extra power, weight and torque. Not that I speed, but it would run out of revs in 4th somewhere around 120-130km/h anyway.

Silly me thought this was going in a bug....a bus right..

Commercial vehichle totally different... we have a ej in a watercooled bus that needed no engineering as it was less capacity than stock...

As long as the rta will let you swap and you insure it...go for it.

Matt

If that's the case go do it straight away and pay your $25.30 for design check - no engineer's certificate. before they get to change their mind.

Yeah I realised this morning that most people's experience are with the type 1. It'd take a lot more work to do any of this to a beetle. I wouldn't have even contemplated it with my S, If I still had it. You know what I mean.

But yeah, no matter how I run the numbers and look at it my '75 type2 which was factory 1800 meets the requirements of an owner certified mod.
the RTA seems to be fine with it so I'm not worried about that. The people that do the blue slips, not dodgy by any means, seem fine by it too. I don't think anyone could give a shit about a slow, ancient hulk having an equally slow, slightly less ancient, extremely similar motor in it. I don't know if being a commercial vehicle helps much in this circumstance, but it does in others where the ADRs are a bit more lax.

oh and
a weighbridge ticket $20
a exhaust db test $20

posted by k_love
under chit chat.

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=86022

hey,

I've got for sale a 77 kombi just out of rego (poor body, no probs mech) with
engineers papers
96 sohc jdm ej20
2ltr kombi box with albins 3rd and 4th
gear reduction starter
plus indian front beam and 15" merc wheels ( neither of which you'll need, but can on sell)
for sale only complete vehicle $3300

located central coast 2259 NSW

yeah, pick it up and do that

Well, the seller decided to keep it.







Hm.

duh! 😢

oh well, back to your original plan.

pete wood wrote:duh! 😢

oh well, back to your original plan.

What was that again?

Thanks for the heads up on the rusty kombi Ian. Unfortunately it's out of my price / distance range.
If the Fairlane which we rely on wasn't bent on keeping us poor I'd jump on that.

I have a motor, adapter setup, cooling system and other bits sitting here waiting for me 🙂

So DO IT! DO IT NOOOAWWW!

pete wood wrote:So DO IT! DO IT NOOOAWWW!

Quoted for awesome 😂

When I can, I will. It's out there taunting me. I've put all the bits and pieces in my VW for safekeeping, but the motor is stuck in the trailer. The ground is waterlogged and soft right now so if I try getting it out of the trailer I'll regret it.

Besides time, the biggest hurdle I can see is swapping the motor. I've dropped the type4 far more times than i want to remember (guess why I wanted to change engines!) but it has usually been with the transmission using this horror:

One jack cradles the transmission and the other two do the same to the moustache bar.
I can safely say it would instantly sink. Besides how on earth would I use it?

I have a garage, but it's kind of full. We moved house about a year ago but due to a lot of rather unfortunate circumstances a lot of our sh... stuff is still in there. The other issue with using it is no power and no window. It's a cave.

So anyway, I can either drop the drivetrain as a unit, then lots of ??? to get the subie motor bolted on and in position and back up, or just pull the motor and put the new one in.

I have access to an engine hoist, but I don't know how useful it would be. Sure they have the top access hatch, but last time I tried dropping the motor by using a winch through there it was a nightmare. I think I ended up reinstalling the motor using long bits of wood and old car batteries.

What is a relatively easy way to drop and lift a motor for this?

Another hurdle I have, which can be safely ignored while I set everything else up is the moustache bar. I need to recheck, but I think the brackets were welded to the bar, so I either need to find another set, liberate the ones I have, or... maybe I'm actually mistaken. Hoping for the third option.

The only thing that is really concerning me is putting a hole in the crossmember for one of the rad hoses. It came from the factory like swiss cheese, but I'm not sure about the legality of doing it.

In all it's going to be easy, I'm just a little stuck on a few minor issues.

Self reply. I was just browsing a Subie Gregory's and discovered that my second last fuel pump, which was my favourite until it went short circuit, came from an EA powered subie! Now I know where to get another one. Those electric diaphragm pumps are awesome IMHO. Maybe it was some kind of hint.

hey Tristan you engine trolley is much more advanced than mine...i have wooden wheels!

have you removed the valance/lower panel/metal bit yet...makes engine removal so much easier on a kombi


[/img]

General_Failure wrote:

Looks like you've already dropped the motor along with trans in that photo 😉

The engines are a bit of a pig to get in. I used a crane and a mate. (now bought a m/c lift for later)

Rob's trolley looks just the ticket.

Joel made this




or summat like Gerrelt's (his is for an Alfa) http://www.gerrelt.nl/modifications-alfaromeo-engine/ar-enginetrolley.html

So when someone fits a 1800 type 4 engine into a bug or bores out their original 1600 to say 2ltr... they got to get an engineering cert?

depends on the state chris, but in NSW +15% capacity = certificate time

bajachris88, It's complicated.

I usually drop the drivetrain as a unit because it was just easier.

So should I do this as just motor, or drop the lot, split it, bolt up the subie and chuck it back in?

The motor is wedged into the rather full garage currently. Moving a motor down a trailer ramp, across a yard of soft lumpy ground, out the gate and into the garage using a hand truck is not something that I would recommend.

I took the lid off the air cleaner today. There are sand particles and sludge in the friggin carb. Hmm. May have got in there somehow when I cleaned the thick layer of mud off the motor but either way it needs to be dealt with.

Does anyone know where I can get a cheap weber to subie carb adapter plate? I trust the weber on my type 4 more. Besides if I don't have it in there it makes one of my rear window stickers incorrect.

Before I can do much I have to finish doing the rear window lip. Made some progress on the sill today. Filled the uneven bits from shallow pitting and unevenness from welding the deep pits and holes. Sanded and primed, Still have to weld in some bits of metal on the lip to replace missing bits. Once that's done, the back window won;t be sitting on the rock'n'roll bed and I won't feel so nervous. The job on the sill is pretty rough but everything looks that way.

It feels so weird pulling out a motor that appears fine to put in an unknown quantity. But I know the type4 isn't quite right and feel nervous taking it anywhere.

I'll answer the other stuff tomorrow. I'm knackered.

Do you have any more pics of your trolley, Rob? I couldn't tell from the pic whether it was motor only or motor and transmission.

I literally put together that version of my trolley in minutes after a big oops removing my drivetrain. The much simpler version I was using kind of collapsed. I had to grab things near me in the shed to prop up the drivetrain while holding up a corner one handed. That day was awful. I do miss having concrete to work on though.

An extra set of hands would be brilliant but that's not going to happen so I have to work smart, think way ahead and plan for issues.

I have a little bit of concern about the subie motor in the back of my head so I want to get it in as quick as possible to confirm/deny.

By the way. It would seem as though I need t2b 1600 moustache bar brackets to put this beast in properly. Anyone have a spare set?

edit: Bonus shot.

I'm borrowing an engine hoist to put it in. I think the hoist weighs more than the motor!

I'll probably just make a dodgy cradle out of ratcheting tiedowns because those straps are nice and strong, and won't damage the motor. I might have to double step it because I don't think there's enough vertical room in the back of the cab for the hoist arm.

I'm sure I'd be better off doing a lot of the engine work while it is out, but getting it in is the hardest part and I want to get it out of the way. Problem is I have no way of attaching the moustache bar yet. i guess I could chuck the towbar across the top hatch and put a couple of tiedowns from that to the bar to keep the weight off the transmission. It's not like it'll be driven like that. I just don't want to stress the bellhousing tabs and the shift housing. Because it has a 3 rib 002 I don't imagine it to be great at holding the weight of the subie motor.

I got an oil filter for it today. $16. Cheaper than driving elsewhere to buy one.

What I think I need to do to the motor before it's sort of ready:

* Replace a missing alternator bracket bolt.
* Replace fan belt.
* Valve clearences
* Clean out carb (unless someone has a weber adapter plate kicking around)
* Change filter / put some oil in it.
* Sand the radiator hose fittings a little so the hoses stand some chance of sealing.
* new plugs
* Timing and point gap. Dwell will be left to divine intervention because my dwell meter is broken.
* Gauges and sender: Water temp, oil pressure. Gauges will come from the truck wrecker.
* Moustache bar to frame brackets and rubbers.
* Cooling system (big can o' worms).
* Thermo fan and gauge wiring. Going to use some multi core wire. Got some nice stuff from Middy's in the past that was maybe 7 core, decent gauge wire, made for industrial application. Need some more of that.
* Put thermo fan control stuff on dash. Knob and mode switch.
* Wire the motor up. Maybe 5 minutes work because I rewired the engine bay a while ago and it should pretty much plug straight in without any wire re-routing or extensions ... except the oil idiot light sender.
* Attach accelerator cable.

For first quick test. It'll get this:

*Fuel hose connected.
*Fan belt off.
*Carb throats cleaned out.
*Filter and oil.
*Coil and carb wires connected.
*Idiot light if I could be bothered.

when I see it crank and fire I'll sleep a lot better.

I'm removing the fan belt for a few reasons. It needs replacing. The alternator bracket needs re-attaching. Alternators don't like being spun with nothing attached. The water pump would be spinning dry. It's not like I'd be revving the tits off it for half an hour. It just has to endure a compression test then prove it can spin under its own power.

Once again, I'd really like to put my Weber on it. The thing on there looks like a toy.

Tristan this is my trolley...very simple...the two struts at the back bolt to the exhaust manifold bolts. I welded a little plate on the front to hold a small hydraulic jack to support the front of the gearbox and lift it high enough to bolt up. I use a trolley jack under the rear so it all wheels in and lifts up very easily😎



[/img]

helbus wrote:Late bay bus brakes passed the brake test easily with EJ22 conversion. Done it.

That is for standard weight late Bay.

late VW Type 2 was designed for braking capacity to allow 1000kg payload on top of Transporter tare weight. That is why the brakes are reasonably sufficient, and suit engine and power upgrades.

However there are even bigger and better brake upgrades available.

All good to know. I decided against dropping the motor and trans as a unit. It's the way I usually do it but never separate them. It would be too hard for me to d/c the type 4 motor, lug it off the trolley, get the subaru motor on. Anyhow I have a borrowed hoist in the trailer.
It's been about six years since I've pulled a type 4 using support from above. I know I did it with a D shackle through that blank hole up the top near the flywheel and ...???

I'll probably rig something like a tiedown strap based cradle for the subie, or go really fancy and use chain with cardboard between it and the barrel sections. Top notch operation here. Once it is in I still face the lack of mo' bar bracket issue. But because this is the only part where i need heavy equipment I figure I'l get it done now while the getting is good.

I would like to say for the record, Hurf Durf!

My brain kicked into 1st and I remembered where to put the chains to drop my type 4. The hole in teh case split near the flywheel, as previously stated, and... the moustache bar! Forehead slap moment. I haven't done it yet because it's a bit slow going with a nearly-one-year-old boy to look after, but I've just about got the towbar and bumper off. Easy? For you maybe, but I bet you still have captive nuts, not standard nuts combined with narrow rectangular holes a PO or mechanic thoughtfully ground into the side of the frame on each side for access, making it pathetically weak.
Anyhow I stopped shy at three bolts because I could only find one axle stand. Once a person has a VW bumper and towbar fall on their head once, it becomes a priority not to let it happen again!

I'm going to strip off the peripheral tins after that, then drive it up on to ramps. Then I have to drain the oil (with a half hour of use on it!) so I can remove that bloody oil filler tube.

My valence is staying put by the way. I would love to do it, but it just isn't quite as strong after it has been done and the back of a bay isn't fantastically rigid. It might also flex more when towing. yeah, I have towed with my bay, with a VW engine. Not going to be towing the 7x5 as seen in the pic though. It's enough to overpower a Windsor when empty!

I finally have the VW motor out. It put up a real fight for some reason. After that I called it a day. So of course today is pouring rain, and I have a VW on ramps with no back window and no way of moving it. ARGH!

If the back window were in, I'd just open the back hatch for a nice bit of shelter, give the bellhousing a desperately needed scrub, and shove the EA81 in. No matter what it's going to be a dodge install at first. My D bolt wasn't a D bolt. It was a smaller diameter, really long bolt with a hardware store washer on it. I wonder when that happened.
I don't have engine mounts yet either. Buuut the hoist is borrowed and I want to give it back ASAP. It is also the only time I should need heavy equipment.

The motor is in! ...more or less. After a lot of %^$%ing around it went in. After some more I discovered that the right nuts and bolts for the bellhousing were included.

The rear engine mounts currently consist of the towbar sitting abreast the inspection hatch with a couple of ratcheting tie downs attached to it and the moustache bar.

Some of the wires have been connected and the cooling system hasn't been done yet. I still have to tweak some stuff on the engine to make sure it's all good. The free floating alternator bracket is a bit weird and needs further investigation.

The alternator still needs to be connected. I think the alternator is internally regulated but this has to be checked.

I still need to reconnect the fuel hose going from the pump to the regulator. I got the shits with it and cut it off with secateurs when I was pulling the motor.

good work. how bout some pics eh?👍

Will do. I was going to take photos of the type4 removal and subie installation but it would have made people quite squeamish.

I should be able to duck out soonish to take a pic or two. I'm also facing a big problem. I have to take it of the ramps in the next couple of days when I do the cleanup for the kids' Halloween party and my son's 1st b'day. Taking it off should be easy. I just need to nudge it with the starter. Getting it back up later is another problem entirely. It's hard for me to work underneath without ramps. I'm pretty deep chested. I actually got caught in the engine bay hatch yesterday. Being jammed by the ribs is very unpleasant.

Oops. left the camera outside. I came in because I'm a bit confused. That and working on the motor and keeping a baby entertained are pretty much mutually exclusive.

I have patched most of the cooling system together. I just want it good enough that I can get it off the ramps, then back on next week. I'll probably just strap the rad to the undercarriage for now because I have to clearance a hole in the crossmember and drill lots of holes. Don;t have time right now.

My problem is the alternator. i found this: http://aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=56697 but really need more info. There was a relay included with all the stuff which i pretty much ignored thinking it was for the thermo fans. Today I realised it has the same wiring as the stubs on the alternator. From my cursory observations It looks like the main charging wire (black and yellow) goes into the relay along with a long white wire and a short white wire. There is also a really short grey wire with a ring connector.
I'll have to study it a bit more to figure out what's connected to which relay terminal but I think I can assume this:
The chunk of thick black and yellow wire is the same wire that goes to the alternator. It was cut near the alt.
the short grey wire with the ring terminal is earth and probably was screwed in behind the relay. This would be the switching output.
The two white wires are different lengths. Both have spade connectors. One male, one female. They are a lighter gage than the black and yellow one. No idea where these go.

i would be fine to start and move it without the battery charging, but I know the alternator wouldn't be, and I can't leave the belt off because I need the water pump. Help?

I'll just tack something one here. Gregory's says "An electrical cut out unit is not necessary with the alternator charging system as the diodes prevent a reverse current flow through the alternator."

So... ?

There shouldn't really be a relay connected to the alternator.
What you may find is it actually is for the thermo fans and whoever wired it up is just taking power from the alternator to do this

Nearly all subi alternators wire up similarly
the bolt on post terminal is the B+ that goes to the battery, a single wire for the charge light and power supply wire for the internal regulator.
On the EJ alts like I have this is only live on ignition, but the EA maybe live all the time

for the sake of moving it around the yard the alt will be fine spinning with none of the wires hooked up

I see, I see. Thanks for that.

I managed to sneak a quick look at the back of it a few minutes ago. I saw the post terminal with the wires on it. There is also one of those T shaped two spade connector bits, with the connector still in it. Seems I have to find out what they are. Worst case it's an unregulated alternator. If that's the case I think the output is about the same as the VW alternator so I might be able to use the same reg. I'll have to check it all out.

Externally regulated alternators died out in the 70s.
Those T connectors are pretty well standard across the jap alternator range


Looking at EA alt wiring the T connector has a light guage wire usually white or yellow which is the warning light and a heavier gauge one which is the voltage sensor wire

I see. I'll have to find the right subie diagram for that. Anyhow, I connected most of it up, bodged together the cooling system, gave it fluids and kicked it in the guts. Once the fuel system was primed it fired up. During cranking it sounded like one cylinder had higher compression for some reason. A little smoke but I knew about that. A slight miss too but no real issues.

I thought there was a problem with the clutch. It's really easy to push. The one on the type 4 motor is pretty brutal.

Even though I hadn't connected the accelerator cable I could move it. It seems to pull just fine. Wasn't going to run it very long because the thermo fans aren't connected yet.

Some photos:

Haha, fantastic. I havent seen an ea engine for a while since my dad quit buying old gls. Those engines are great, underpowered, but great! They were kinda pokey in a gl wagon how much of a boost over stock hp did you say it was? I take it you're /not/ going to be keeping the spare tire on top of the engine then? 😂

Let me be the first to say this, but, what a freaking pain in the ass with all those silly inspections you guys have to do down there. Talking to engineers, umpteen certificates, yikes! Where i live, i dont even have to get emissions inspections let alone engineering certificates done up. I could put a northstar cadillac engine in the bug and noone would bat an eye.

Inane Cathode wrote:I could put a northstar cadillac engine in the bug and noone would bat an eye.

go on then, I dare you 🤘

Well, let me clarify. There would be a lot of eye batting, but noone would/could legally challenge it, nor would it take any kind of permission asking or kowtowing to the yokle government about it 😉

I dont know why you would want to do a northstar, anyway, car is /waaaay/ too light for that to be remotely tractable.

I checked Gregory's. It said 65HP for a 1.8L type4 which is what I pulled out. The EA81 is 73HP. Torque is about the same from what I can understand. So it gets me 3 HP up over a stock FI 2L Type4.

Since I got this bay maybe 11 years ago it has slowly transformed. It used to be auto and dual carb. then it got a 002 from a 1600, then it got a weber progressive, and now it has an EA81 from a 1600 conversion. which reminds me and I say it again: Does anyone know where I can get the moustache bar brackets and rubbers? Those tiedowns wouldn't exactly be RTA approved.

Where I'm at:

I can start it and run it. the alternator works. My throttle cable isn't properly routed. Thermo fans are unknown functionality. The carb had a bent linkage which was closing the choke when the throttle was opening. I fixed that. It has a manual choke 🙁 I'm trying to find a Weber adapter cheap.

No engine mounts still!! This is starting to get to me. I can find the rubbers but no-one seems to have the brackets.

There's a VDO temperature gauge pulled from a truck taped to the air cleaner to give a rough indicator of what's going on.

I still haven't figured out how to mount the coolant tank. Might be a trip to Bunnings for that next time I'm south of the border.

Inane Cathode wrote:Well, let me clarify. There would be a lot of eye batting, but noone would/could legally challenge it, nor would it take any kind of permission asking or kowtowing to the yokle government about it 😉

I dont know why you would want to do a northstar, anyway, car is /waaaay/ too light for that to be remotely tractable.

la la la la la.... do it! I dare you! go on, do it!

no more girly excuses 🤘

I'm sick again so no real progress. Next up is pulling the thermo fan thermostat back out because I forgot to check it worked before putting it in. No big issue there. Been trying to figure out where all the bits used to be mounted on the donor bus. Tricky work.

I got the engine mounts today and installed them. I decided to run it for a while.

Really smoking, running rough, and dripping oil from the bottom of the bellhousing on to the exhaust. It's up on ramps, back end up. I don't recall it dripping before. Hmm. I'm a little worried. What bothers me is the smell of the oil. My sniffer isn;t great but it reminded me a bit of tranny oil.

Engine mounts are on. I just used some bog standard metric bolts and nylock nuts from the local bearing / bolt / welding / motorbike / misc place.

The accelerator cable is kind of bodged together for now. It doesn't have a strong enough return spring though.

the oil leak seems to have just been from the oil pan and running around and down the bellhousing. No biggie.

I need a little advice with the thermo fan thermostat. Judging from the voltage rating its for some kind of household application. Anyway the knob on the control box clicks when its turned all the way anticlockwise. Is that always off or always on? It was in the clicked position. yes I know I have to pull it off again to do the adjustment and make sure it's all good. I'm just curious what that setting is.

Running on three and super rich. Just like before I re-jetted the Weber on the Type 4. Round and round I go. At least there is no worrying top end noise 🙂 I also noticed that it doesn't hold steady revs. It wavers up and down slowly, although I guess running on three cylinders doesn't help.
So much choking smoke. Blech. I need to go through and give it a thorough tune.

There is one thing that concerns me. The coil is getting hot. This is the same coil I had on the type 4, and the wiring hasn't changed in any discernible way either. Could points being really out of whack cause this? I'm a bit uncertain.

coils get hot. don't stress too much about that. turning 12v into 10,000v will do that.

Sounds like a stupid qu, but are the plug leads on the right cylinders? Can't happen and it will run, but not well.

btw, I'd seriously consider a rear main seal and water pump change before you get it all together for the last time. good insurance on all subaru motors as I understand it.

pete wood wrote:coils get hot. don't stress too much about that. turning 12v into 10,000v will do that.

Sounds like a stupid qu, but are the plug leads on the right cylinders? Can't happen and it will run, but not well.

btw, I'd seriously consider a rear main seal and water pump change before you get it all together for the last time. good insurance on all subaru motors as I understand it.

That's good advice, but the motor is in. I'm not pulling that out for quite a while. Water pump I can do any time thankfully. It's right at the front of the motor. As in furthest end from the flywheel.

I haven't checked the spark plug order. I think it's right though.
I pulled the plugs and put in a fresh set of correct ones. Number ...err ...Whatever the one that is in #3 position on a VW was really gunky and had not been firing. The rest were black. This is all waaaaay too familiar. Absolutely identical to what I went through with the Weber on the type 4 recently.

Instead of stuffing around, while it was running I just kept winding the idle mixture screw down until it hit the stop. Near the stop there was a marginal improvement in its running and a reduction in smoke.
So my choices are to keep f'ing with this Hitachi or put the Weber on which I have done all this, replaced parts and rejetted already.
I'll try a baseline adjustment on the Hitachi tomorrow or something and see what happens. It's possible the throttle plate is too far open or something. Either that or the fuel reg has taken a dump again. I'll really have to put the pressure gauge back on. I forgot to do it today.

I want to do the points and timing but the lack of timing marks on the flywheel like OE has me scratching my head a little. About all I can think of is to put a strobe on it, see what the nick on the crank pulley lines up with, hope it's kind of right and work from there.

Well, the Hitachi is pretty messed up. Mixture screw does SFA, I had to turn the throttle plate screw over a turn before it did anything. There was a vacuum leak from a disconnected stepdown plug thing. It's on the same circuit as the coasting bypass vale and the power valve. Hit the carb with carb cleaner and got heaps of carbon crap off it. Fuel pressure is fine at a bit over 2psi. Yanking that vacuum line so it sucks heaps of air stops the smoke and ups the revs. No real surprise there.

G'day.

Mostly been battling with that motor and cleaning things up.

I decided to start preps to mount the radiator properly.
Long story short, I can't. There's a big pipe in the way near the frame rail on the right hand side. Wiring maybe? I had a bit of a look and kind of got a bit frustrated and gave up for the day. Didn't feel like lyiong in a big pool of water to figure it out,. It's a Camira radiator.

The radiator! She doesn't fit! Absolutely everything is in the way. Every tube, brake line etc. and even if I did something drastic like cutting the side tabs off the radiator the thermo fans would be crushed flat by being pushed into the clutch cable tube and friends. I don't get it. Ideas anyone? I can just barely get the radiator to hook in by the top of the tabs (when lying flat) so most of the rad is below the frame line. Tilting it is impossible unless I tear out absolutely everything in the undercarriage which obviously isn't going to happen.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

On a roll here. besides the pretty rainbow water, i found out today that both thermo fans are stuffed. one is seized and the other the fan freewheels on the shaft.
I pulled the rad out to grind the notch out to fit around the wiring harness tube and found more than I bargained for. I think I can make a good fan from the two. Anyone recognise them and know where I can get another?

Because I've been stuck and have only been doing minor things my thoughts turned to heat buildup in the engine bay. I have heard this is problematic. What are people's experiences with it?

This has lead me to think about making some tinware for the motor. nothing as elaborate as VW, or as well sealed because that would be a disaster. More like something to help deflect heat from the exhaust and work as a splash/ stone guard mostly up the front.

What do people think of this? Is there another way? I'm just not fond of the idea of the vehicle being stationary and slowly barbecuing everything near the engine bay.

Well I'm a Pom living in Pomland. Never had an excessive heat build up in the engine bay, the water carries it away nicely

I think you're worrying over nothing.
TBH I think the engine is probably cooler in the kombi engine bay than the original subi.

In the kombi it's got that fresh air coming in through the pillar vents.
The only air entering the subi engine bay is carrying the heatload from the radiator and possibly an A/C condenser as well.

All you have to worry about is getting cool air to the carby.
Wouldnt be hard to rig up a cold air intake system.

Well that's good. i would still like some vague facsimile of the front engine tin though to stop all the crap from the road being flung up all over the motor. Considering using the original as a rough template to make something.

It's the exhaust heat which has me concerned. the entire system is underneath the hole. A rough description of my exhaust:
Front is front.

The exhaust comes out of the right head and around in front of the sump where it turns back to run parallel with the exhaust from the left head where it combines in a sort of 2>1 collector attached to the muffler which points rearward and is situated under the moustache bar.

Moving doesn't bother me much. but it's when it's running but not moving that concerns me. All that exhaust heat will radiate up past the engine and heat up the floor around the inspection hatch and the fuel tank.

Maybe exhaust wrapping? I dunno.

Anyhow I bit the bullet and ordered a ferd holesaw and arbour. It'll be at the store on Monday. Shame the only time I've really had when I can use power tools is on this Sunday. I just want to get the radiator installed properly and out of the way, or at least as much as it can be. I still need another thermo fan.

Don't think I said but the coolant hose just next to where it attaches to the block on the top pipe split. I hacked a chunk off one of the rad hoses for the magna, clamped it down tight and called it good.

the stone guard / cowling for the radiator I think I'll attach with tek screws through the side bits of the rad. It seems like overkill doing it any other way. the poor rad is looking worse and worse. I need to cut another chunk out of it for the LH hand brake cable. better to have a mangled rad than mess with all the stock tubes I guess. If you missed it it's just the metal on the sides I'm cutting up. not any of the water flowy bits.

Cold air intake would be dead easy. It still has the original subie air cleaner with the manual summer / winter switch. Just need to put something on the winter inlet and shove it up one of the scoops. With something on top of course so it can't take a drink when it rains.

I'm still kind of ticked about the carburettor adapter being the wrong one.

Unrelated: I have some bits missing from the rear window sill lip. Only a few mm deep, ie not all the way to the sill. I tried building it up but it's a fools errand. Would I be better welding a chunk of metal 2x width in because of the two layers of sheet, or two thin bits together? I'm sick of it not having a back window. The sill is repairs, it's just part of the lip that hasn't been.

I finally got around to testing the thermo fan thermostat. Would you believe it actually works? It surprised me because just about everything else needs to be / has been repaired / replaced.

Since I can't do much else actually mounting it somewhere seems like an idea. Suggestions?
I figure if it's on the firewall the tube will be flexing from engine movement but if it's on the motor it cops lots of vibration. This is assuming it's been shoved in at the top motor pipe / rad hose join.

Dont you watch Beer adds on Tv,😂 the engine should be hot enough to cook a chicken on.

Reckon i could cook a chook as is today. Pretty toasty out.

Every time I look in that engine bay there is more I want to do. Really need someone around to say "Stop!" I think. I keep rewiring and rerouting the fuel and just rearranging bits. I think the fuel reg is going to be shifted soon and the thermo fan wiring changed. I also have to try to shoehorn some extra wires into my corrugated loom. Don't want to go up yet another size 🙁
Electrical conduit brackets with a screw in them work really well for securing wiring. I have a couple where the engine seal used to be on the firewall panel and have a loom running that way around the engine bay. Did that when it was still aircooled. Now there's stray wires again.

I had an idea today. I might use one of the gal plates with all the holes in it from the hardware store put across a couple of ribs on the firewall to mount stuff to. That way I have more choices in location.

I still need to pick up a couple more of those relay holders which connect together because I have a couple of strays still. It seems like the right side of my firewall is electrical. There's a fusebox and three relays there so far.

I didn't know there was a VSI update last month. Damnit! There are a few more hoops to jump through but things should be okay. The big pain is a heater. It hasn't had a functional heating system since it was made. The VSI bulletin actually made mention of aircooled vehicles failing to comply with ADRs with an engine swap.

Other things are probably needing a catalytic converter. Ahh! Not too bad I guess. And a few slightly iffy things on cooling system placement which are vague as.

The closest things to frame / body mods are this and the tek screws on the brackets for the radiator and cowling. VW screwed the stone guard to the frame, so what's the diff?




It's on there solid. Anyway even if somehow every single screw failed it can't possibly escape. It has two radiator hoses holding it captive and it's slotted in between the frame rails.

Not worried about much else as it seems reasonably compliant. Figuring out a heater seems to be my big issue.

I know I'm crazy but I'm starting to look for parts for an EDIS setup. this motor might be a mess but parts are transferable and damnit i really want to mess with the advance map on a computer. It also opens the door for not terrible dual fuel.

Finally put some coolant in. It'll be a while before I revisit the cooling system so it seemed pertinent.

I picked up some trailer loom today to use as gauge sensor wiring. Would I have any problems with the authorities if it's ran along beside the underbody wiring tube with a whole lot 'o' zip ties? My tach cable runs along like that and no-one has ever said boo. The tach wire will of course be eliminated.
When I get a chance I'm going to pull the heater core out of the magna and see what i can do with that.

I have asked this countless times in many places. Put up classifieds etc. but no luck. I'll try again. Does anyone have a spare cable holder clip that goes on the back of the heater controls behind the dash? the heater was removed from mine when the original camper conversion was done to fit the water tank. To make sure no-one played with the controls the clip was also removed so the cables just bent when the levers were moved. Yes of course they are seized solid. I'd like to reuse the controls with a different cable. probably attach the heat exhanger flap to a mech. heater valve.
the heater setup will be seriously budget because i couldn't care less about it and just built from scavenged parts.
One thing I'm stumped on is what sort of hard lines I can run. Putting hose all the way would be messy as. Before it is said I'm aware of the problem with the heater loop controlling the thermostat. Would doing a restricted H of sorts near the inlet / outlet on the case work to provide a bit of flow?

Been ages since I clapped eyes closely on an EA but I'm pretty sure the thermostat is on the hotside, not the cold side like EJs so the heater loop isn't critical

I've got a manifold coming in the mail in the next week or so. I'll check it out on that. I'm sick again atm and couldn't be stuffed.

I actually get a chance to go to a wreckers tomorrow but can't for the life of me think of what useful bits I'm after. ideas? Short on cash so it's bits and bobs i can get.

I had a brief visit to the wreckers and picked up a charcoal canister purge valve from an early carbd magna and a thermo fan from a Pajero because it was almost the same as the broken Davies Craig fan. Fitting the second fan may be possible if I bring it / them forward / down a little. Unfortunately it's a very hard theory to test, beyond pulling out the cowling and gently putting the fan in up above the rad and seeing how far back it goes.

Now I have the purge valve I can finish the emission system. So it's not all Subaru, but the mitsubishi canister works a little better with the VW design I think.

Hopefully the manifold will be here today. It'll probably be late next week / not at all. What is wrong with Aussie post recently?

I sort of finished running the gauge wiring. I had to shuffle it all back a bit because my length estimate was a little conservative apparently so every cm counted.
The temperature gauge is wired up but still untested. I removed the old digital tach from the cluster so I can fit the temp gauge there. I still have to shift the wires over from the analog tach to the new trailer loom so I can rip out the old, mysteriously growing single wire I ran years ago. Seriously it hangs down in loops now, but when I installed it I needed to extend it with another piece of wire.because it came up short.

The temperature gauge is going to be a bodge mount unfortunately. It's the sort of gauge that has a threaded sleeve over the outside and an O ring to lock it in place. i don't have the threaded bit or the backlight for it. It has a thicker plastic housing too so my other backlight trick won't work. What i did was pop a grommet into the backlight hole. The ID of the grommet fits an LED nice and snugly,
The gauge will probably be held in place with something fun like a strip of mattress foam and a ziptie. No-one knows what's behind the dash but me. that is such a good thijng for so many reasons!

You'll all probably think I'm a bit special for this, but when it still had the type4 motor I extended a lot of the engine bay wiring so as little as possible was resting on the engine. I think the oil light sender and maybe the coil wire still go over the top. The rest goes around the firewall and comes across to the left of the coil.
The extra wiring is all following this theme. I'll get around to tidying up the alternator wiring eventually.
On the subject of the alternator. I really have to give the engine a good rev now before it kicks in. Once it does it's all good. The VW alternator did the same thing. i wonder what the deal is.

Today I learned:

VSI 06 Jan 2011 revision was pulled for review.
I can legally use the Holley progressive without issue.
I don't need a heater.
Cold air demist is fine.

Why? Well because the vehicle is pre 1976 and the motor is such a crusty relic that it doesn't matter if I use the Holley because it doesn't interfere with any emissions gear and it is more advanced than the primitive POS Hitachi.

Today is a good day.
I still want to add a heater but it's not such a concern now. It means I can chuck one under the rock-n-roll bed or something.

Now I don't need to try to get someone 100km away to make me a choke cable of undefined length which I'd have to route and sheathe.
It means I can use this once I get a spacer:

Someone please tell me is there a rule for distance of things mounted in the engine bay from the motor? Where I want to put the charcoal canister is maybe

^^^^^ < 10mm away from the right rocker cover. I figure the drive train will be on the road before it gets enough wiggle to hit the charcoal canister.

I typed out the end of the last post two times and it disappeared for some reason. Sorry about that.

I hope you're gonna use a 4 barrell 😂

Most of the watercooled converted vws out there don't even have heaters.
Luckily we live in Oz not Alaska so hardly anyone needs them.

I got one of those hotrod-air heatercores for mine but never bothered fitting it.

Yeah I need a four barrel to cope with the fury of an EA81 😂 My google-fu was strong today and I figured out it's a Holley Economizer. As an added bonus the mystery hose connector I plugged is a decel line, so I can easily plumb it into the decel valve ...I think.

There's a heater lump from a bus I have my eye on It recirculates the air and has a fan in it. Do that central heating thermostat idea and it's set and forget.

man i want to try it with the Holley on, but I need some manifold gaskets, a massive carb spacer, a little imagination and something big to put the coolant in. It's only got about fifty meters on it. hardly ready for replacement. It would mean I could fix up my buggered routing of the rad bleeder hose. It goes halfway to Antarctica and back to get to the header tank, plus it has a pointless adapter. Now I think of it while the coolant is out I can fit the pajero thermo fan I picked up. I really think Davies Craig makes them as an OEM part.

In other news I'm nearly ready to reinstall the rear window finally. Sure the sill paint is hand brushed epoxy enamel, but all the paint is wrecked so who cares. I'd rather not have rust or leaks.

Getting there slowly.

I just noticed while I was cleaning up the manifold that it has been ported. Would this have a negative effect if I bolt it straight up to the heads without port matching? I really don't want to pull the heads off. Pandora's Box should stay closed.

Been out of commission again. bad tooth this time. Anyway the tooth is gone and I'm feeling relatively better for it. Good enough today that I went to a garage sale. got a few cheap goodies like a GT40R, some sparky leads, a huge mikuni carb which by fluke I have a matching air cleaner for, and the main item was an unused EA81 sump gasket which i have been needing. What are the odds?

I had to let the bus heater go because of lack of $. Maybe the truck wrecker has that sort of thing?

The rear window is reinstalled. I'm really happy with the window rubber. I accidentally tore it slightly in a few places on the inside but it's not too bad. those awful jags ion the frame near where the lip was spot welded together didn't help things.

Hopefully soonish the rather nice looking second-hand aluminium weber spacer i bought will be arriving. I didn't want phenolic because I actually want the carburettor to be warmed. If having the progressive on the type 4 taught me anything it is that fuel dropout and icing is a major PITA.

i know compared to most conversions this one is going slow and is kind of simplistic. Remember this one is being done with the added challenges of being done within the guidelines for owner modifications and is being done on a non-existent budget. When I succeed in re-registering it (optimism) it will mean another VW back on the road and also be an example that a conversion can be done for under $1000 total. I hope.

I found an EA81 sump gasket at a garage sale yesterday. Got that and a bag of misc. parts including what seems to be a big mikuni prog, and a GT40R coil for the princely sum of $7. Awesome. I also realised that the really nice Magnecor spark pug leads I got from Richard Holzl for my type 4 are a pretty good fit for the subie motor. They actually fit better than the leads that were on there, which while were Bosch leads they had the wrong connector on them so they pushed against the air cleaner. That's fixed now with the SS leads.

Now about all I can do is stuff around on bits and pieces until i get the aluminium spacer for the carburettor and the manifold to head gaskets. I'll make the carb base gaskets myself because they are so damned expensive for what is really just a paper gasket.

Does anyone have one of those towbars that replace the rear bumper lying around? My towbar interferes with the muffler. I have half a wood clothes peg jammed in between for now so the rattling doesn't drive me bonkers but I need a real solution.

Going well. Got the Holley sorted out more or less. Here's the thread about the studs http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=89395&page=1. Anyhow I test assembled it today. Fits more or less. I need a thermostat and gasket which will have to wait until next week before I proceed.

I put some stickers on the rear window too.

Just come across your thread man, good to see another ea alive, here are a couple of pic of mine if your interested, feel free to remove them if you dont want them here. I mounted my mufflers up under the trays on isolation mounts....man what a headf@#k that was, i have my rad in the back but only temporary...it just so happened i was stuffing about one day with the rad just to get motor going..had it held in there with occy straps🤓 and thought about a bar across back to hold it...only bolts i found were the ones on the end of early bay mounts...so screwed them in bottom of chassis rail and put bar across them. EAs are a great little motor, simple and reliable, but i HATE my sump....its getting the chop shortly😬

I see what you did there. Wow that's pretty impressive. Do you have any heat problems with your battery? The EA81 sump is pretty low, but I realised the exhaust is just as low on mine, so whatever.

Slowly making a little progress. I did this:


That's the manifold I got on eBay. Cleaned it up a bit, replaced the thermostat. Big aluminium spacer with tapered holes from ??? under the Holley. I had to turn the Holley around because bits of it were way too close to the distributor. then on top of that is an air cleaner adapter I got from somewhere in the US. Finally at the top is a Mazda air cleaner.
My throttle linkage is one of those arc ones, set up underslung and flipped backwards. I had to file off the casting flash on the manifold so it could fit, even with that huge spacer.
I also fitted longer studs with a short unthreaded bit so it could take the aluminium spacer.
It all went really well after I stopped a coolant leak from a small hose I idiotically plugged with a screw headed bolt and gave the carb a quick tweak so it idled right.
I was worried that the air cleaner I got yesterday wouldn't fit. But it did, with centimeters to spare before the top and the front of the engine bay.


The spark leads are the really nice Magnecor ones that Richard Holzl made up for my type 4. I don't know how to do accent characters on this computer. Sorry Richard! Anyway I know it's a little hard to believe but there was a perceivable difference as soon as I swapped the leads even with idling. The leads are connected to NGK BP5ES plugs. I went up a temperature range because the motor isn't fantastic and was oil fouling the plugs a little.
With all my current alterations in spice of the wear it is essentially smoke free now. Yay!

Still lots to do as you can see in the photo. I really need some band steel to make brackets but I can't get any around here. Or any kind of metal bits for that matter. Argh!

The engine is noticeably better running now. Has more low down torque. After i fitted the Holley I went to move it to make sure it could actually move itself (intermittently the Hitachi was that lousy it couldn't). just as I got it moving from a standstill the revs kept surging like a slipping clutch. many sad and angry thoughts filled my mind. But glancing at the rear view mirror explained it. It was breaking traction at part throttle on the compacted dirt. Wasn't entirely expecting that.

Losing traction! haha good stuff go the subie. No i dont have any heat problems with the battery....the mufflers are sitting under galvanised plate come mounts, even though there is only about a 1 cm air gap it works ok. I was more concerned thinking the heat might stuff up the paint but it doesnt really get that hot, not that i have had it working that hard, its really a reconditioned motor, only thing is i had it reco in 1988 and have carted it round all over the place and have only just put in kombi in last year or so, i originally had it a beetle project but never got it on the road.

Nice. At least you're working with a recon motor. So is your van on the road or still in testing?

I attached the hoses, mounted the cleaner using a damping bracket from the Magna, and reused an intake adapter rubber thing as the crush rubber gasket for the air cleaner. The old one was damaged and too thin to tighten down properly.

Engine bay:

The motor. See the red adapter thing, and the rubber mount? Worked out alright I think.

"So is your van on the road or still in testing?"
Still in testing....style wise anyway, the reason i made everything with good clearance as it was going to be off road style.....but change of direction, it has more or less been ready to go for engineering cert for a while now....but i keep getting sidetracked 🙂

My goal was off road style too, as I have always used every millimeter of ground clearance any vehicle has to offer me. But because of the way this pre-made conversion was done I decided to stick with it for now and just repair / modify what wasn't right and what was broken. So far I've replaced an awful lot of parts. The exhaust on this hangs pretty low, but it is still higher than the sump so whatever. It's no big issue for now. The right exhaust pipe goes around in front of the sump across to the other side before it comes back and meets with the other pipe in a 2->1 collector at the back of the muffler. It's not a bad idea. It only really has one issue. The right exhaust lines up perfectly with the bellhousing split which is where any leaking fluids like to run down from the top of the motor. Gets pretty stinky. I'm really hoping the oil leak is from the edge of the sump as it looks to be dripping off one side. I don't want to pull the motor to do a main seal.

There is some good info on ausubaru forums regards to ea stuff, they run these things with shit loads of advance and get away with it, also good carby jet sizing etc

I've done a bit of work on the throttle linkage and started making a charcoal canister bracket. Still more to go.

Absolutely defeated on getting the heater I'm after and a replacement towbar though.

I finished the charcoal canister bracket. My first attempt looked good but i couldn't physically attach it because the engine got in the way of every drill I had. So I lopped it in half and welded it together at a right angle. Worked pretty well and as a bonus it works to hold all those stray wires in place. Wire cleanup comes last.



Here's the throttle linkage. I might drill another hole for the spring to go in. the linkage came from a nissan carb or something like that which was underslung already, but had to be flipped backwards to fit on this Holley. The casting flash on the manifold had to be filed away to ensure the linkage didn't foul. I also had to drill a hole in the end of the linkage so I could use a small barrel bolt to feed the cable through instead of one of those cable end tab things.



Still more work to do, but things are being crossed off the list slowly. Next up will either be fitting the second thermo fan which will take a little finesse because the clutch cable tube is in the way, or maybe fixing the mount for the fuel pump then giving it a hard line.

I replumbed the charcoal canister because I messed up where the diaphragm should have been connected. It's on the vac advance line now.

A couple of days ago I tried rerouting the coolant lines above the beam and failed. Looks like I need to hack up my nice industrial oil lines and put a couple of bent tubes or something in the middle to go over the torsion tube and under the rearmost floor support before the crossmember.

What else... Tweaked the clutch a little. Also flipped the knockoff facet pump so it was on the correct 45* instead of the inverse. My understanding it it is to avoid cavitation. It got a rubber block put between it and the bulkhead. Still noisy as all hell. Can't win them all.

it's running reasonably well. It is still in dire need of a new air filter element. it still has the one that was in the air cleaner when I bought it from the wrecker. It could be used as a quit smoking campaign ad. I'm not even going to bother doing the idle until that is replaced.

I really have to get this to registerable condition soon. Shortly I'll be doing a pointless two night a week commute to 100km away where my other half is starting a TAFE course. She doesn't have a license so I'm going to be stuck there for 6 hours a night. I want this so I can sleep / do some software development stuff to try and get back into the industry somehow and become at least partially self sufficient again.

If you were stuck somewhere regularly and had nowhere to go and essentially no funding, what would you do? I'd rather not sit on a chair in a draughty hallway for six hours. It'd send me mad.

Altered the rear fuse block a little. Removed a blank feed from the tach relay and reused the fuse for the thermo fan. Removed the glass fuse and replaced it with an inline blade fuse for the aux battery to cabin feed.

Straightened the drivers side kick panel with a water pump spray bottle. The plastic is too shrunken and distorted. May use cloth backed vinyl on that side.

Ziptied on the door vents as they are made from unobtainium and I don't one one to fall off somewhere as they are wont to do.

Tidied some cables, replaced the air filter element. Still need to retune carb.

Did a test fit on an accelerator spring with some clear pvc tube on it for a surface to anchor zipties to for a wire bridge between the side of the engine bay and the ignition. There is a big gap now.

getting closer to being blue slippable again.

Should I?

I'd need a speed sensor. But if I had that I could retrofit cruise too

Dont do it!
http://www.rjes.com/html/vss.html

Sorry,know more about your engine now.
I still say dont do it!The cruise control that is.

Ben386 wrote:Sorry,know more about your engine now.
I still say dont do it!The cruise control that is.

I have all the bits bar the VSS, and I know it's a little extra effort, but may I ask your reasoning?

Not a fan of CC.And I dont like the look of the cluster.

I never used to like cruise control either. Now I live on the plains and it's wonderful so I am giving it some thought. I liked the cluster when it was in the Magna. Not sure how I'd feel in the VW. It's an easy, reversible mod by my standards so if I do cruise it'd be fun to try.

Anyway I made a thread for that stuff. Today I cleaned up the wiring some more and one of the hoses, and fixed its idle up after all my alterations so now it hums again.

I swear people that have trouble with Webers bogging are doing something wrong. Both on the type 4 and on the subie motor, before and after rejetting it's still comes in full force instantly.

I got the cruiser under seat heater today. Connected it up and after a few failed, very leaky attempts managed to do a successful test. I originally bought it with the intention of putting up the back because of the short hose run needed, and later thought I might be able to put it up front. Now I see it in person it's just too damn big. Once I got the hoses sealed enough i left it to idle for a little bit with the inspection hatch sitting the best I could manage to test warmth. It was nice and toasty in there in short order. Still really should put something up front for demist at least.

Having a right bastard of a time finding a replacement length of brake line that I need. I think it's the one going from the MC to the front splitter. Nobody has bubble flare except repco who want an arm and a leg for it.

Just had a chat to the RTA. They couldn't care less if I put the gauge cluster in. I'd just need to contact the dept. of fair trading and report the odometer change. that's funny. Like the VW odometer says how far it's been. who knows how many laps it's done.

Brake line. Build it with no.8 wire/coathanger and take to a brake shop.. for about $20 I got all my pieces made.

yeah, um I called the brake place a few towns over. nope.
The local mechanic said they could do the ends for about $50 but I forgot to mention it was bubble flare, so I have an awful feeling it would be a no.

Ha that holley regulator looks familiar.

I wouldn't even worry about the odo change, they don't care about old cars that only go to 99k and it's only an issue come selling time when people like to jump up and down they've been ripped off buying a "low KM" car when it really isnt.

It turns up anyway if you bother to do a REVs check first.

Yeah, I couldn't really be bothered with it.

Today I took the heater up to about 80 odd *C, but this time with the header cap on. No leaks. I got bored. the system started to pressurize. that was good enough for me. So that's good. Still have to figure out where to mount it though. The extra vent holes make it a little problematic. As for plumbing, that's easy. I'll probably just use some high pressure oil hose because I can get it easily, and two big brass barbed elbows under where the heater will be mounted. The heater connections on the motor are low enough that hoses can clear the firewall easily.

If the Magna has a center lap belt in the rear I have answered my burnt seatbelt issue. The lap sash that i incinerated was questionable at best as the shoulder mount was very dodge. Kids will be using a 3 or 4 point harness anyway. the securing points are easy to put on the parcel shelf.

I've got a rough idea where I want to fit the 'cruiser heater now. The only thing stopping me from physically mounting it is I have no idea what to make the holes in the floor with. It'd either be a huge drillbit, wider than any chuck I have, or a really tiny hole saw. The heater seems to have been designed so only the pipes protrude through into the cabin as the core sits flush with the floor.

I made a place for the heater today, put it in and installed the plumbing. just needs to be bolted down using bolts with nuts as a stand off, and some kind of fan switch. To test heat output I dug up a salvaged bit of wiring with a cig lighter socket and gator clips on it and plugged it into the aux battery outlet. First test not a drop leaked. It wouldn't want to. It's an ultra heavy duty setup. I used mostly 1/2" Premo Flex 315 PSI hose with a little 5/8" for the motor connection, 1/2" and 5/8" (x2 each) male and female brass barb fittings to make a stepdown to the 1/2" line and a couple of 1/2" solid as brass elbows. I think not only will that outlast the bay, it'll probably be around when I'm dead. Exxy as hell but works perfectly.

edit: forgot to say the cruiser heater is mounted under the folding bed with the nose part with the vents sticking out through a cut hole in the ply front.

I'm lazy. Here's a lightly edited copypaste from elsewhere.

I'll just add I looked under there today and there was a sign of a very slow leak. Either from the hose to core connection or from the core itself. I tightened everything and will give it a while to settle in before I go ripping things apart again.

Today, apart from actually mounting the heater I finished it.
As with most good ideas I have, it came to me in my sleep. Reuse the booster fan relay to run the heater fan. The beauty of it is that I only need to run one short wire and don't even need a switch!

There's the blower relay with what I think is the thermo fan relay next to it. no, that's the dual battery one ...maybe.


Here's where the heater is situated. As you can see I'm not done. The ply will probably covered in the carpet from the boot/trunk of the Magna. No point in putting the speaker back.
The heater hole is cut further up because the heater will go up when it is mounted / the camper floor is made and installed.

Here's the plumbing:


Elbows near heater core.

From elbows looking back.

The rest of the plumbing going back to the adapters and bigger hose at the motor.

Everything seems to work. As a bonus because I used the OE relay for the heater the fan only comes on when the motor is running and the alternator light is not lit.

My suspected vacuum leak wasn't. The weather is getting colder and the accelerator cable was a little tight. I guess mild steel expands slightly more than stainless in heat. Anyway I gave it a mm or two of slack and the idling issue disappeared. It's still far too rich over about 2000rpm, but that's something for a later date.

Anyone have a valve spring tool that works with the head in situ? Stupid stem seals *grumble*

I got the stem seal tool last week.

So anyway does anyone have a spare EA81 that they are just using as a door stop / to drop on mice or whatever? To add to the chamber of horrors I just noticed that half of the base of the distributor cap has melted, and cause the cap to kind of sink crooked. What the hell. I replaced the points and rotor but not the cap. Never really thought to look at the base of it. This thing has another nasty surprise waiting for me every time I look at it!

Okay, I haven't touched the stem seals. Couldn't get them and gave up for the time being to pursue more productive avenues.

Super extreme summery here. I installed an electronic distributor and have been having maddening intermittent running issues.

The carburettor has been re-jetted today and the minimum float setting tweaked because I suspected it was sticking.

I tried to install the new shift coupler cage and bushes today too. The head is sheared off the set screw so I couldn't do it. I settled for just the bushings which were a nice tight fit so I'm happy about that.

Yesterday I was abroad and took the opportunity to get a replacement section of brake line made to replace the damaged section near the MC. When I get a chance I'll bend and install it.

I got a quote on having the towbar repaired. looking at about $100 and that's not including a new tongue. Bugger. Truth be told I think the towbar is really well built but if I had a chance I'd install the sort which replaces the back bumper too so I'd have a bit of clearance to do a hinged jerry can and spare tyre mount.

Another good bit of news was I finally got the correct helmet for my MIG and a good chunk of scrap plate steel so I can start on the rear bumper / towbar mount frame rail repairs.

Bit of an update. The magnet in the distributor for the electronic distributor is badly broken. This is most probably what is causing the issue.

I have to do a photo roundup one day. Scattered between 3 cameras and 2 computers.

Recently I made up some small plates from the scrap plate I got to go over where the emancipated rear bumper nuts were. 2 on one side 1 on the other. My welding looked awful but it held. After some adjusting to fix some fitment issues I bolted everything in after a fair bit of messing around trying to get the plates to sit where I want. As I torqued it down it felt kind of funny. To my surprise the plate steel had bent severely. After a bit of thinking it made sense. The frame rail was kind of pulled back at the bolt hole on one side making wrinkles. Sort of like if you stick a spoon into soup skin and pull it back a bit. Or something. The other side had a mysterious blob of weld under the frame rail that I never figured out and completely forgot about. I have to wonder if it was the friend of the gigantic lump of weld on one of the frame rails that I had to grind off to fit the radiator. What a strange life this beast had.
I haven't welded in the plates yet because I'm a bit unsure what course of action to take. If I weld them in in their distorted state I have to wonder how easy it will be to bolt the bumper back on, but at the same time I want to be able to seal the sides of the rails for extra strength.

While on a welding rampage I tried patching the exhaust. It had a few pinholes at welds and a couple on the muffler where spot welds had broken.
All of these were horrible to fix. Every time I tried the one near the head I could see daylight after I ground back some metal. Now it's thick enough to be bulletproof but I bet the hole is just barely closed.

The next fun weld was between the pipes where they merged just before the muffler. Because it's all welded together I can't do it from the inside. So the only course of action I could see was to keep trying to weld in between the pipes and build it up enough that I could weld all the way between. After a lot of messing around and a blowthrough it worked... more or less. There is a barely perceivable zephyr blowing from there if I cram something in the end of the exhaust so I'm calling it good enough.

The muffler. Well I knew it wouldn't end well but I still tried. the broken spot welds and small associated tears are now fixed and the metal more or less flush. What should have been the size of a pea is now about the size of a 50c coin as my weld spread further out fixing blowthroughs. I don't know what to paint the muffler with to stop rusting where I welded it.

I went back to the mechanical distributor for now. I needed to move the camper when the gas men arrived. It ran for me then thankfully but didn't after that. So I filled the dissy with penetrating oil and spun it with my fingers until it felt normal again. Still need to dump some normal oil into it. I have no idea what was up with it. It didn't feel metal on metal grindy. Just kind of resistance-y. It hasn't gone into thermal meltdown since at least.

It needed a good run after all the rains. After I jump started it (parasitic drain. Forgot to isolate the battery) I let it run for a while. Most of which with a rock on the pedal to get it a bit over 1000rpm. No traces of smoke. I just don't get this engine at all. It's either been burning off carbon since I rejetted it, an over engorged charcoal canister or ???

When the holesaw arrives at the store, hopefully within a month, I'll be fitting the random assortment of gauges in the dash between the stereo and the ashtray. That'll be nice. I don't like the thought of cutting the dash, but these stray gauges are bothering me. besides being ugly I've bumped the wires more than once and caused issues. The temp gauge will be staying in the clock blank hole as I feel it to be the most important gauge and deserving pride of place.

My list of "Must be fixed" is growing short and I'll be able to focus on the "Should be done" list and the "would be nice" one.

Some other minor things were done like the glovebox.
I found some ancient flooring urethane in the shed and used it to paint what remains of my pressboard glovebox after massaging it back to something approximating it's original shape with water and the glovebox lid jammed in it. Some goopy P-V-A glue later (Mr. Maker AAARGH!) and it was adequate for my needs.


When reinstalling I substituted the gyprock screw at the bottom of the strap with a more suitably sized one so the box wasn't sitting way forward with a huge gap. Putting it in the right way up helped to no end too.
The "original" black ply lid was then refitted although it feels a little weird. may have messed up the hinge alignment a little. Oh well.
I found a cupboard handle in a rusty old toolbox of bits and pieces I got from an op shop. As I though the holes in the lid which had a ribbon though them for a handle previously were a perfect match for a cupboard handle.


A while back I also modified the coil mount from the Magna so I could have a way of mounting the special coil. the whole electronic ignition thing fell through but as luck would have it the coil mount holes were in just the right place for the GT40 bracket holes.
The bracket is mounted to a couple of M10 holes in the head. Possibly for an aircon or P/S pump originally. The bracket puts the coil on an angle facing towards the distributor. it looks pretty neat. Need to take a pic.

Welded muffler. Can't see the other weld on it, the collector and near the manifold. Seems to be sealed well enough now.


Part of the repair for the rear bumper / towbar. Yes that cut hole is very old. Don't know who did it or when.


Current outside shot. The mattress doesn't belong to it. That's from the caravan. Stupid thing had a big leak and drenched the bed.

I'm kind of stalled out at the moment. Crossing small things off my list at a fair rate but the big ones are untouched. I'm at the point of parts and tools again. Been waiting on the hole saw blade to arrive at the shop for ages now. Can't get any flooring for the camper bit until I fix the trailer. I've been stuck on that because I need a 2m long bit of box section, which I need the trailer to go get. Found a way around it. I had a couple of bits of 25x 50? mm rectangular which I'm welding together to make it long enough. Shame I used one for trying to find the right power settings on the welder. But it's better than nothing. I'd rather a bit of metal with some holes in it than having the trailer relying on the tips of the A frame and the sheet metal to hold it together. No i haven't been using it like that. As soon as I discovered what happened I parked it and refused to move it until I fixed it.

I think the subie motor has stopped smoking. Hard to say why. Could either be residual carbon burned off after re-jetting the weber. It could also be that a lot of the excess fuel in the charcoal canister burned off. Or it could be the evil substances I dumped in the oil and the coolant. The less said about them the better honestly.

Don't think I said but I finally got the type 4 out from under the tree I left it under a year ago and put it in the shed (very full of crap garage). I dragged it along on the pallet using a couple of tie down straps tied to the bay's roo bar. had to do it a meter at a time or so, hopping out to readjust or unsnag the pallet. Even got bogged once on the flat, dry driveway. Not really sue how that happens. So I dragged it through the yard, around the driveway, out the gate and across to the garage. Had to pull it up and in there by hand. that was pretty miserable.

Really wish I could take it for a test drive but that would be naughty. Being naughty isn't advisable with a police station a block away and what seems to be a police officer who takes their vehicle home living across the road now. It used to be an ambulance. Career change? Who knows.

I learned something. Vulcoflex hoses can be had far cheaper at Supercheap. Bought one in case it didn't fit. If it does I'll try to get over there again some time this year to do the other. I need to drop the radiator again anyway to somehow fit the other fan. I may shift the mounts forward so they are lower and put up with partial occlusion by the radiator end tank.
I want the vulcoflex hoses so I can route the rad lines over the beam. Currently they go below the beam but above the trailing arms. A setup I'm not crazy about. As it is I know I'll end up ripping the radiator off somewhere.

Unless someone has a spare interior nearby I'll be cutting up some old cupboards to make an interior, and getting some water resistant flooring and some plastic for a vapour barrier and fitting that somehow. Mostly so it doesn't look totally awful for blue slip. I'm shooting for before February because I'm going to be stuck a long way from home for long hours regularly. I'll use it as a portable office for software development / sleeping.

Someone mentioned that having the spare wheel sticking out the front may be an issue. this concerns me. Would it be more legal to shift the back bumper back further, fill the gap and make a swinging spare tyre / jerrycan bracket?

I found a place that stocks Gates hoses and other such things in town. The place I buy most of my bits and pieces including tools from. Looks like I just talked to the wrong person before. Would have saved me a lot of trouble.

Cutting up the big oil hose being used as rad hoses has made me a bit squeamish. Don't want to damage them just in case. As luck would have it I realised the old awning posts for the back door are the correct diameter. they may be old but they are still thick wall tubing so I doubt they'd have any unpleasant failures. When I get around to it I'll do one side of the cooling system. It's a busy time of year here.

I realised that half of my gauges having no backlights may be a sticking point so I finally bit the bullet and ordered some wheat grain LED bulb replacements, some 9mm bayonet ones to be bodged in to the back of the aftermarket gauges with generic sockets and a PWM LED brightness controller. When they arrive and are installed I realised it will obsolete the brightness control on the headlight knob. Fine by me!
the gauges will be illuminated green. While I like blue best, there is just something that has always appealed to me about green gauges... except the pov pack Falcons. Blergh.
I also grabbed a blue for high beam and a red for oil light. No I will not be replacing the alternator light. I'm not that silly. Still waiting on the correct holesaw blade to cut the gauge holes between the stereo and the ash tray.

This project may be geological in timespan but it's pretty much no budget and very low parts availability so it's a challenge. But that's alright. I like a challenge.

In pursuit of getting it roadworthy I bought another set of type 4 heads. I'm a sucker for punishment. They'll be for the Plan A part of Plan B. They are actually in really good nick and only really need a good cleanup and some TLC. Possibly a quick splat with a TIG but that's something I need to investigate.



Still waiting on those LEDs 🙁

I noodled the frame rails and will be making a blockoff plate for behind the rad when I get a chance. There is a lot of more important maintenance that needs to be done around here so time is pretty slim.



Went to give it a run today. Out of petrol again. Weird. Cap hasn't been tampered and it's not in the sump. Actually the oil smells neutral. Amazing. Who knows. Anyway put some juice in and after a good crank she ran perfectly. just went back and forth in the small space I have,slamming on the brakes hard, sending stuff flying inside. Don't want the brakes to seize after the rain, do we.

Recently I made a crude current limited regulated power supply for the fuel gauge I pulled from a truck. The range is wrong but it has always given me a rough indication of what is in there,



That's what a stray chunk of stripboard, a small bulb, and a zener can make. I used high quality fabrication methods and tools to make the curved board. It involved a tree stump, a stanley knife, a hand crank drill from an op shop and a half round bastard file 😂 Real low effort attempt. Still it did the job.

Surprisingly the gauge still read about 2/3 after putting it back in. That's where I would have expected the level to be after the latest jerrycan I dumped in,as opposed to about 1/5 which the dry pumping indicated. The sender still works. I drove back and forth slamming on the brakes and saw the gauge needle do the slosh wobble. It is a mystery!

The resistor in the photo is a fake sender. I didn't have any pots in the right range and ordering one from HK would made everything take slightly longer.

Where am I at now... Up on ramps, radiator hoses off, trying to figure out a better way of doing it. Looking at the radiator fan and feeling dismay again because I can't fit a second because of the clutch cable tube.

Been trying to order a 52mm hole saw blade for over 3 months now. Apparently the store got two 51mm in a row. Well that's no good for 52mm gauges, is it? I'm not making a mess filing out 1mm.

I'm kind of feeling a bit burned out right now. Can't get hold of radiator hoses or anything else I'm after. Bit of a bummer really.

The hole saw blade is now here. Woo!

To burn a few minutes I stripped down the type 4 heads again that I got recently with intent to clean. I spotted a tiny bend in one of the valve stems. Bugger. A few other problems but all minor compared to the other heads. Might try to loot a compatible valve off one of them and do the world's most tedious hand lap to even things out.

The hoses are back on, coolant is back in and it's off the ramps again for now. Couldn't do anything. This is so infuriating. Need hoses and / or pipes but getting them is a massive hassle. I could probably fit one of those larger diameter low profile thermo fans that supercheap has, but once again big hassle. They are over an hour away.

Anyone living in Melbourne feel like picking up a dismantled camper interior for me? I'm having a terrible time with unavoidable commitments over the next couple of weeks. Been trying to find something that resembles an interior for quite a few years now. Feels like a cruel tease.

I started to think some more about the random severe smoking of the EA81, and the fact that it has great compression and the bit of clear tubing that I'm temporarily using as a tube from the T to the manifold is still transparent. Perhaps the motor is a smoothbore special. could be the bores are a little worn and new rings were put in without honing and end gap being set at some point so they are a bit prone to lining up and letting oil dump through. Well, it's a theory. I don't know 🙁

Stupid... everything.

pete wood wrote:That's why people put chevs in holdens, same manufacturer.

That is such crap. I mean it's true but shouldn't be. GM may own Holden but then that means I can stick an Audi R8 engine in my VW as it's the same manufacturer?!?!?

Still GM and Holden both make crap so is it making a Holden crapper or better? :P

For the OP I love the idea of this engine swap 🙂

General_Failure wrote:yeah, um I called the brake place a few towns over. nope.
The local mechanic said they could do the ends for about $50 but I forgot to mention it was bubble flare, so I have an awful feeling it would be a no.

Ah mate, I've got a professional pipe flarer in the in-laws garage/storage but not back in Oz till March. I even have some left over kunifer pipe so would just need the unions.

I know it's ages away but if you are still in need let me know. Brake shops in Oz charge way to much. Paid $45 for enough unions for my entire Beetle and coulda shipped em from UK for $15 all up. 25 ft kunifer also dirt cheap and legal in OZ as meets some Oz J standard. Anyhow, let me know aye?

I read the entire thread. Thanks for the pics of your radiator. I'm going to install mine the same way. Mine's thinnner so I shouldn't have any trouble with the fans.

I feel your pain on the parts finding and waiting! It's tough waiting and waiting and trying to keep your enthusiasm up!

Fastie wrote:My experience is from talking to my engineer last week. His justification is that even the most basic of Jappa cars have vented discs now for the reason of safety. If you are going to convert then it isn't a matter of can you stop - but can you stop over and over again without fading your brakes - and the 70s setup wont cut it.

This could just be my engineer though - and perhaps Victorian rules over other states perhaps?

That engineer is just being lazy cos it's what the Jap car had. Take into effect weight of the 2 vehicles and for a bus you need better brakes and for a bug lesser brakes to have similar braking capabilities of the Jap Car. Also the Jap car's weight is in front so you get more weight transfer under braking that a T1 or T2. Therefore you need larger rears to compensate for the extra engine weight etc.

For the money you pay some of these Oz engineers aren't too crash hot and just do things lazily. Yes there is plenty involved in designing brakes but if you gonna get advise they should know this stuff otherwise why pay $200ph????

For a Bus I'd suggest looking at Porsche brake systems to try and get an idea of the bias needed for a rear engined high powered vehicle. You don't have to use porsche stuff but oonce you know MC and Caliper piston sizes you have the front/rear bias and can figure other manufacturer brakes to fit your need 🙂

Wow I get the feeling I missed a lot here somewhere.
Since when do engineering signatories actually design anything? Review and sign / say no is about it as far as I knew.

If I had the money to pay for all the ridiculousness of the long trek and paying for the signatory you'd better believe I wouldn't be putting an EA81 in there.

Didn't realise I left you all so far back. As far as I can tell the random smoking stopped. If I recall correctly there were a few things at play.
Some charcoal from the canister had gotten into the vac diaphragm and was jamming it open.
yet another pull down of the carb, replacing the needle and seat with one of a different design, totally revising the jetting, adjusting the float to different specs and replacing the power valve with one that didn't have spring shims more or less did the trick. Oh and changing the air filter.

I don't even see cabinets in those photos! Or LED gauge illumination. Damn. Okay. Here we go.

I finished adding LED illumination to the gauges. Admittedly for all the extra gauges it was a bit of a hack because I was missing bulb holders, but I made do. I cut the center on a grommet blank for one gauge and pushed a holder in. Electrically isolated. The other gauge was plastic so I cheated and used a gob of blu tack. Another already had a holder. I pulled apart the PWM controller and made up a nice fly lead for the potentiometer which i mounted next to my driving light switch. For now the PWm controller is ziptied to the underside of the steering column support bracket. It's powered via the headlight feed wire which is unfused. I added an inline fuse because I couldn't have been bothered running another wire to the fusebox.


Here's some shots of the cabinets, repairs and test install.



I cut out the rotten bottom section and substituted some pine which I coated with flooring urethane. it looks pretty good.
A couple more shots, featuring my son's xmas pressie.




One of the pop top lifter pins broke. I fixed it.


the bolt was too short and I was in a hurry so I got creative.

I want to mount one of these at least to the back and possibly shift the spare there. Either that or put both holders up back. I cut them off the trailer.

The rivet on the sliding door block broke. I fixed it. I also lubed everything with a hellish mix of bearing grease and GL4 gear oil.


Let's go camping!

(kidding). i do use it to move the caravan around the yard though.

Hoping to pick up the P clips today so I can hang the rad hoses properly.

Still struggling to find a decent solution to a front heater / demister.

I patched together the remains of teh front kick panels and reupholstered them in cheap PVC vinyl. The old plastic had shrunk / peeled off. The passenger side one broke further because I think its actual shape had changed so wetting and squashing it didn't help. Still it looks a little better than before.


Does anyone have any late bay 1600 tin lying around? Crappy stuff I mean? I asked on KC but that's usually not much help. i don't like the gaping hole around the EA81 and want something I can use as a basis for my own special tinware.

I'm sure there's more to add. I'll put it in later.