Well I think that it is time For me to start my Build thread.
My Name is Dan, I live in Battle Ground Washinton USA.
I have been following Joel and a few others on here for awhile.
But Joels thread Inspired me to convert a 1303 instead of a Standard.
I do not have the Donor car yet. Hopefully will be getting one soon.
Also i will probably be going a bit out of order sometimes, I will try not to but it is bound to happen.
My plans are to make it a Street and track car. I dont know if I am going to go Turbo to start, but eventually I will.
It depends on the Donor car, If I can find a turbo 2.2 for a good deal then I will.
One is for sale right now for $850, But seller says it smokes alot, so it probably would need the heads and valves redone.
I dont think I want to deal with that to start the project.
Here is a pic of the car the day i bought it for $500 US.
Not to bad. I hate yellow tho. So for now I am going to sand it a bit and primer it Black.
Front seats are bad, but I was planning on putting new interior in it anyway.
Also i was told that the motor was blown. So first going to pull it and check it out.
If it is blown i will just sell it whole to someone for the core.
Also it has a bad rear fender and the valance it bad to.
so time to remove them.
As i was sanding it down i found one bad spot of cancer.
That really sucks but i will just cut it out and replace with new panel or just some sheet metal.
This car is weird. It is a 74 SB but is has had alot of stuff replaced with 73 part.
Lucky for me they put 73 3 bolt front suspension on it. So it saves me from having to swap to it for the struts I need to lower it.
madness726 ·
I striped out the seats front and back and cleaned it up a bit.. not to bad. Over all the pan is great.
Only one small coin size rust hole in the passenger side pan.
madness726 ·
So the engine is blown. I just sold it to a guy for $150.
And he seemed very happy with the price even tho it was blown. so now that means i only paid $350 for the beetle😂
madness726 ·
So i got a little bored today and got sick of looking at a yellow bug.
So I ruff sanded it and primered it flat black. looks way better to me.
I will be sand blasting it and doing all the body work and paint after i am done with the swap.
I want to do all the suspension, brakes, and get it running perfect before I strip it again and make it all nice.
I dont want to make it nice first and screw it up while doing the swap. 😁 Got my dad to help tape it off.
cam070 ·
I see you have encountered the dreaded c-pillar rust. Make sure you scrape ou all the foam from within the pillar. I even POR15'ed the inside to try and ensure it doesn't come back.
But I have to say looks like you got a bargain for 500 bucks, or 350!
Keep the updates coming.
seagull ·
suprized some one has not stolen your lawn mower
madness726 ·
Ya the rust is in a bad spot... Thanks for the tip on the foam.. I will take it all out...
And the lawn mower is very tempting to ppl, It is also faster then the bug right now 😂
Joel ·
Off to a good start Dan 👍
lou0060 ·
already has the vents on the front for the radiator....
if you have any problems just blame Joel....... 🤪🤪🤪🤪
good to see you tackling this project keep it going and post heaps of pictures and don't be afraid to ask questions.
madness726 ·
Ya all the american versions of the super beetle come with the air con vents... the ones that dont have them here, have been changed by the owner.
Hehe Joel will probably be my life line for the problems I encounter, as will this post and all of you that help... I will only be able to blame him for Inspiring me to do it. 😁
So i got a welder today.. I dont know how to weld but i did not do to bad.. It is a Lincoln SP 125 plus.. Flux feed/MIG..not bad for $200 dollars.. Everyone was asking twice that around here for one.
It says i can weld stainless and maybe aluminum but from the welding forums i read everyone says no no no it will not...
So i was wondering what would be the best piping to use for the radiator lines besides stainless or aluminum? And i will not use copper.
madness726 ·
Weird pics did not show up..
i will try again here..
It makes a mess but does the job.. Also the welds i was doing multiple passes in the same spot.. and the blob next to the passes I intensionally burned a hole thru to see if i could patch it, and i did 🙅
ian.mezz ·
thats not very good welding at all, do you use gas, did you clean the suface with wire brush or grinder.
madness726 ·
No gas, Flux.. And i did not clean anything.. I wanted to see if it would weld thru the rust.. It was just a peice of scrap metal i had.. And plus that is my first weld ever 😉
ian.mezz ·
madness726 wrote:No gas, Flux.. And i did not clean anything.. I wanted to see if it would weld thru the rust.. It was just a peice of scrap metal i had.. And plus that is my first weld ever 😉
you can only get better, do a lot of practice runs, before you do any welding on your car.
go TURBO. 😊
madness726 ·
😎 I will.. And i will go turbo eventually, I just dont want to deal with the transmission yet
Ya i dont think i want to go threw all of that now... Plus my wife is keeping the budget for this to low to go turbo.. Plus i am getting a donor car with a 2.2L and 150,000 miles on it for $300, well we will see if i get it this weekend.
But i will probably end up going turbo in the future... But i like projects like this so it will be fun the second time around... Well let me see after this round 🙄
madness726 ·
If I had guys like you around here That have done the swap and could give me some help in person then I probably would go turbo right now. Just would have to convince the wife to let me spend more money...
rocknrob ·
you can just add a turbo to the 2.2L later on...it will go great...ask me how i know😂
madness726 ·
Cool i will....👍
ian.mezz ·
they dont cost much more and you just about get every thing that you need.
this ones cheap and you get a trans , so with out the Trans it should be even cheaper..
You can ahve all the help you want around your vW- airfares, accomodation and a small salary and I'll round up a dozen guys ok? One will be Joel so we can blame him there and then.
I dobbed Joel into my wife for adding a supercharger to my Tweety trike....worked a treat haha.
Colors are subjective but I Looooove yellow!!
I wont be able to advise you much seeing as Tweety is made up of: Panther trike, Alfa radiator, Subaru Brat motor, Toyota supercharger, Harley switchgear, Datsun manifold, Mazda sunroof.....oh, I do have a VW auto trans....so I qualify for this forum 😂
madness726 ·
Yellow looks good on your trike Tweety!!!!!
But not on my beetle, here in america.. Police magnet!!!! Yellow and Red get pulled over and ticketed 9 times out of 10 over any other color..
It stands out...
But i do like the offer of meeting all of you once i complete this project... I will pay for all my expenseses. I do plan on making a trip with me and my wife to Aus!!!! SOMEDAY!!!!
Joel Is a must meet! Since he is my inspiration for this whole project.. 😂... anyway. I think it would be great to meet up with the ppl that help me thru this project. and see there Bugs, Maybe i can be persuaded to got turbo after riding in one 🙄. We will see...
Thanks for the reply..
Dan
madness726 ·
I got my donor car.. 1993 subaru legacy 2.2L AWD auto.. I pick it up next monday.. Paying $125 and trading my guitar and amp i dont use anymore.. Damn good deal i think.. Motor has 154,000.
Will post pics next week of it and of me pulling the motors harness ECU and trans.. 😁
madness726 ·
I picked up my donor car today.. It only has 151,000 and runs so nice
Time to strip it....
Put it into my garage and started pull stuff.
tomorrow i hope to pull the engine and transmission, together or separate still tring to figure out which one will be easier..
It has an AWD automatic trans..
madness726 ·
So I have completed the motor, ECU and wiring harness pull.
Unbolting the flex plate from the TC was a bit of a pain. I could not get a straight shot at the bolts with the intake on. I tried but it was starting to strip the bolts.
so I figured that i would play it safe and just remove the intake and get them.
It worked out well.
I also decided to pull the AWD auto trans to sell to recoupe some of the money i spent on the car.
Then it came time for the ECU and wiring harness, Which caused a bunch of bloody knuckles and tons of $%%#@ words.
But so did pulling the motor and trans. But the wiring harness was worse.
so I started unbolting anything and everything that I could easily reach and remove
Then after about 2 hours it came time to get the dash out, Which turned out to be harder then it should have been
Because I was tring to be fast and not thinking some things thru.
Then I finally got a good idea and unbolted the steering column. Made it a bit easier to access more dash bolts.
Then I started having space issues with my giant hands. 🙄
So i decided to just remove everything. Which made it easy again and is what i should have done in the first place.
And finally success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!👍
I did not remember what I needed to pull and not pull so i decided to pull everything from the doors forward.
I did not cut one wire. Pulled it out all complete.
I am not going to try to do the wiring harness myself, it will be sent to Outfront motorsports to sort it out for me.
And then it was time to put the steering column back in and make it a rolling chassis again so i can get rid of it.
An hour after I got it back together a metal scrapper came by with a car dolly and gave me $50 and took it.
Happy because I got it out of my garage, and ya i could have tried to part it out and make some money
but I wanted my garage back for my bug. I did keep the front seats since the were in great condition.
Well the whole interior was in great condition but I did not feel like stripping anymore, just wanted it gone.
over all it took me about 15 hours from start to finish. But I did not spend all of the 15 hours doing it.
Now it is time to move to the next step, and start the swap to the bug.
I will take me a few months to do since I am tring to do this project as low cost as possible without cutting corners on suspension of course.
So far 1974 bug cost me 500 sold the blown motor for 150 = 350
then sold the bumpers for 125 =225
Got the donor car for 150 and trade (which was a guitar and amp i had)
Pulled the motor, trans, ecu, wiring harness and front seats.
sold the shell for 50 = 100
So far I got a bug , EJ22, ECU and wiring harness and spent 350 dollars out of pocket.
The motor runs GREAT and only has 151,xxx miles.
Overall I am off to a great start.
More to come! 😁
ElusiveStranger ·
1st on the shopping list - cambelt covers
The mileage might be geniune....I've seen my bus go around the clock - twice 😉 But mine does 99,999.9km then back to zero
You'll love the convo
I dpn't think I've seen a full tear down thread on here, keep posting photos please
madness726 ·
I have the timing covers, just took them off before pulling the motor so i would not break them.. I tend to break stuff like that.
I will post as much as possible with photos for everything i do... even my horrible welding 😂
The mileage is correct I had the sheriff run the Vin# before I got the car and give me a history report on it..
lou0060 ·
great work Dan, wow $350 that is a bargain build!
your bug will have some serious go with the 2.2 motor and it should make for a simple conversion with no turbos etc. Make sure you tag all you wires so you know where they all go as it can be a nightmare to figure out later.
you might need to get a shortened sump as well as it will scrap for sure. there are some good forums on here on sumps.
madness726 ·
Thanks Lou, I will surely cost more tho... As for the wires, I did not tag any of them. I am going to send it off to get sorted out and they will tag it.. At least i think they will, Or hope..
I will figure it out tho... I do plan on getting a shortened sump, probably from bug@5speed... but that will be one of the last things I do. I an going to run the back at stock height till i get one.
madness726 ·
Well it is still slow going.. Having a hard time finding someone who does the wiring harness conversion.. I thought outfront motorsports did it but they only do it for there Stand alone ECU's, Keneddy Eng told me of a guy Tom Shiels in Canada but his price is out of my budget for it right now. I do have a few emails out to other Shops that might do it but no replies yet..😬... Oh well other stuff to take care of while waiting.. I will post some more pics in a bit.. As I get a little further into the project..
madness726 ·
I finally purchased my Kennedy adapter plate today. Should be here in 5 to 10 days..🙄
hellbugged ·
madness726 wrote:Well it is still slow going.. Having a hard time finding someone who does the wiring harness conversion.. I
There is a bloke dwn here that does a good priced job on them. Might be worth sending it over. Airmail would have it here, converted and back in a little over a week.
OZ Towdster ·
AM automotive are the Subaru wiring gur's and who we used to use for the Subaru wiring harnesses in our Bay window conversions at CVD
I have talked with AMauto and I am going to send it to them.. They have the best price By far that I have seen. Everywhere here wants 600 to 1000US to do it.. They want 261US (250AUS) to do it, and will do it in 1 day, All the other places said 5-7 weeks. I just have to cover shipping to and from there.. Which is about 200US . But I am going to wait a few weeks till I do it.
Thanks for the replies
1303Steve ·
Hi
It will be a bit lighter on the way back so you will save a bit on postage. Maybe you could ask if there's anything obvious that you can remove before posting it.
I sent him big box with loom in it and it came back about 1/4 the size, I highly recommend their work.
Steve
madness726 ·
They told me that All i have to send is the loom that connects to the ecu. But the bad thing is that both the engine and the left front fender loom have ecu plugs on them.. so I am seeing if they need the left fender one.. if not that will drop the cost a ton..
madness726 ·
I have to put the project on hold for a few months 😬, But will update when I get back to it.
madness726 ·
Are the disc brake kits, year and type specific? cause there is a guy selling brand new in box front and rear kit for 300 dollars near me but at end of CL post he says standard bug? just wondering if they would work on my super?
Joel ·
You would need different front caliper mounting brackets.
SUpers use a squarish 4 bolt pattern, standards have a triangular 3 bolt pattern.
Rest is the same though.
madness726 ·
i will post a pic of it here in a sec
madness726 ·
here are the pics,
madness726 ·
Also Joel could you tell me the measurements of the radiator u are using. I am going to be buying one soon. And the alfa radiators are hard to find here. so i going to look for one with about the same measurements
madness726 ·
Are those Brakes the right ones for a super?
Joel ·
I'd pass on those brakes, they look like Standard beetle caliper mounts.
Also those rear calipers are just stock front ones which are abit small for the rear and you would lose the park brake.
Try a Mk1 and 2 Golf/Rabbit/Scirroco rad, same width as my Alfa one but only about 2" higher.
Alot easier to get too.
madness726 ·
thanks for the info!
madness726 ·
Well I have decided to restore the Beetle before continuing with the swap. I have the motor already, as you probably read in the post prior to this, But I really want to make the car right before I go ahead with the swap.
So here are the first pic of what I done in the past few days.
I started with removing every layer of paint and primer to the metal, where the c-pillar has rust.
I am using a abrasive pad attached to my grinder. I will be doing the whole car this way, which will take a lot time and effort, but I cannot bring myself to pay $1600 for it to be media blasted.
I am getting a donor c-pillar from a 68 that has no rust. I am going to cut and replace the cancer area. Pic of that will be coming in the next few weeks.
After I got that section done I decided to strip and trash the interior since I am going to replace it.
There is some rust on the passenger side pan. So I will be cutting that out and replacing it too.
I will take a pic of that later.
I knew there was a panel replaced on the passenger side but did not know how bad they did it, until I started sanding thru tons of bondo (filler).
Then I got to the door. It has a 1/4 inch layer on it.. Just going to trash the door and get a replacement.
More progress to come in the next couple of weeks.
madness726 ·
What year doors will fit on my super? Do I have to stick with 73up or will older doors fit?
lou0060 ·
good to see it back on track. good work with the sanding by the look of it.
Joel ·
Why one earth do you want new doors?
those are some of the straightest I've seen for a while.
To answer the question, 68 on doors fit if they arent Brazilian but the 68-70 will have the trim at the wrong height and different shape door handle recesses and 68-72 have different arm rest mounts.
madness726 ·
Good to know. I only want to replace the passenger door. It has about 1/4 in of filler all across it. I guess I dont have to but I would rather have a door without a layer of filler. but i might still use it. I can get replacement door for $30 around here that is straight and little to no rust. here is a pic of one that in about 50 km from me. for $30.
Joel ·
That's a 68-70 door and will fit fine but has a couple of differences.
see how the chrome strip holes are about 1/2" lower and there is the hook for the arm rest where as your existing doors are screw in kind.
Also the door handle recess is a slightly different shape, something to keep in mind if you ever try to fit those chrome door handle scratch plates.
madness726 ·
the more i take this car apart the more pieces I find from other bugs. It seems like a previous owner took 3 bugs and made one. 🙂..... The passenger door is already a 68-70 while the driver one is a 73. But I am going to find a 73 door to put on the pass side. I am also going to weld the chrome plug holes up. I am not going to have any trim on the bug when finished. And bumper hole will be welded also. I like the way it looks without bumpers.
Hey Joel I was looking at another build on the samba from OTO X58 And he used a megasquirt ecu and harness. As I was looking into them and I find that they are pretty damn cheap way to go for my ecu and harness. I probably am going to attempt to do the harness myself but if I screw up it seems to be a good choice and alot cheaper then sending my suby harness off to get done. What do you think of the mega's?
Joel ·
If you're talking about the passenger door in this pic, its a 73-74 door and probably original going by the internal paint.
THe MS is an ok option if you don't mind piecing a system together and dialing it all in, I just like stock as it's designed for that engine, got alot more $$ R&D behind it, is smooth as butter and gives the best economy and engine lifespan not to mention the full self diagnostics.
madness726 ·
Ya that is true about the stock ecu. Hopefully I am sucessful in doing the harness myself.
and yes you are right That door is the correct one, which means the driveside door is the 68-70 one 🙁 but it is nice and straight so I am going to keep it.
Joel ·
Yeah it is, notice how the trim holes are lower than the front and rear quarter panels?
once you weld up the trim holes the only difference will be the door handle recess but 99.9% of people don't even notice the difference.
You can drill the spot welds out and remove that hook for the arm rest and use the screw in type so it matches the other side or do what I did and fit a hook to the passanger door and run early style.
madness726 ·
So I got the donor C-pillar the other day and figured it was time to cut out the rust I had there.
My brother also stopped bye and helped. Which was very cool since it took a long time and was more cutting then I expected.
So got the area with rust cut out of the beetle and removed the foam.
But we stopped there. Next weeked I will cut the piece I need out of the donor c-pillar and weld it in.
madness726 ·
So I patched up the c-pillar area today and welded the trim holes up... I am going to finish up the body work and paint it flat black for now and get back to doing the swap..
I can say one thing "I SUCK AT WELDING!" But I am a Master grinder now!! 🙂
madness726 ·
Yay I am able to get log back into my account.. Was not able to for a few weeks.. Thanks Joel and Dave for helping me out.....
ok well, I know I am still a little off topic but I will be getting back to the swap very soon.. But here is what I have done to the car lately.
Not bad for my first time doing some body work..
vlad01 ·
pretty good.
I am in the same boat atm. I did my first lead filling the other week turned out good.
madness726 ·
more to come on my swap.. soon.
madness726 ·
So I am making progress and setback 🙂
But here is a few pics.
I have the motor mounted but could not get the nut on the stud that is at the starter, Stud is up against the starter. I will read Joels thread again and see what he did and copy it.
madness726 ·
I figured since I was not going to use the AC that it would be easier to just flip the manifold and make the bracket to move the alternator.. Could some of you that have done that post some pics so I can get and Idea if not copy yours... also do I need to flip the coil pack around too? Thanks in advance.
madness726 ·
So I think that I may have gotten ripped of by enginewiring.com .. I sent them my harness and ECU 4 weeks ago and heard nothing back, I finally got ahold of them a week later they told me it was all done and waiting to be shipped once payment was made. I payed them thru paypal and a week goes by, No contact from them and no ECU or harness, It took about another week to get ahold of them again and I was told they will look into it and get back to me with a tracking # of shipment. That was over a week ago and no contact and they do not answer or return calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very mad right now. I knew I should have just bought the stinger standalone from outfront.. But now I cannot even do that since I dont have the harness plugs to send them to wire the custom harness for me.. Hopefully they can resolve this in a few days or I am going to have to have paypal return my money and sue them for the cost of purchasing a new ECU and harness from a Dealer. .... That is what is on my mind right now..
madness726 ·
YEAAAAA!!!!! after filing a paypal dispute I finally got my ecu and harness sent to me.. Actually looks like factory.. I will post pics soon
lou0060 ·
good news about yr ecu! now back to work, want to see this thing going....
vlad01 ·
i just make my own looms, I use these guys for my hardware and wiring.
They stock a lot of standard and special connectors and plugs used on many cars. 👍
Can't find the plug you want? no problem, just remove the connector terminals out of the plug, match them up and buy new ones, re-terminate and away you go!
The best stuff is the resin impregnated fiber glass sleeving 😵💫😍
Joel ·
It's abit harder with Subis are there are so many different plugs, especially on those early OBD1 cars and they changed almost every year.
That's why I always tell people buy a complete donor car so the engine matches the loom and ECU.
madness726 ·
Ok so I did finally get a hold of the guy who did my harness and he sorted me out on everything to to.. Which is exactly what Joel told me. Go figure .. Joel you are a encyclopedia of knowledge!!! But he did say that I have to run one of the relay wires to power fused and other to fuel pump and fans. I will be out of town for the next few weeks, but when I get back I am going to put this bad boy together. I have all the suspension parts from topline (front brakes conversion, Maxx struts, Camber + kit and 7/8 lower sway bar... Etc EVERYTHING I could buy and a few more things he talked me into, because it made sense. Overall I spent about $3800 in goodies from Topline. Ooops did not count that in the budget, but a budget is just a guideline anyway.. 🙂
I will be updating this post in a week or two with some pics of the goodies and then when I start assembling I will take many pics and update every other day. If your interested in seeing my screw things up 🙂
vlad01 ·
Joel wrote:It's abit harder with Subis are there are so many different plugs, especially on those early OBD1 cars and they changed almost every year.
That's why I always tell people buy a complete donor car so the engine matches the loom and ECU.
Thats easier said than done, I find a lot of older cars the plugs are stuffed as well as wires brittle so a remake of the loom is always needed and good excuse to build a custom one than to fudge up a crusty band-aided one.
Yes there is heaps of plugs, that why you take the time to look through the catalogs and pick the right ones for the job 👍
to make a one good loom you probably need 4 donor cars and hope all the wiring is still good lol, so imo its easier and cheaper to buy the wires, plugs and connectors you need to rebuild the loom.
Joel ·
vlad01 wrote:Thats easier said than done, I find a lot of older cars the plugs are stuffed as well as wires brittle so a remake of the loom is always needed and good excuse to build a custom one than to fudge up a crusty band-aided one.
Yes there is heaps of plugs, that why you take the time to look through the catalogs and pick the right ones for the job 👍
to make a one good loom you probably need 4 donor cars and hope all the wiring is still good lol, so imo its easier and cheaper to buy the wires, plugs and connectors you need to rebuild the loom.
Try playing around with Subarus not poorly built Commodores and find out what quality electrics are like 😉
Its easy as to find a Subi donor, there is nearly 100 Libertys for under $1000 and that's just on Gumtree, and thats not looking at Ebay or Imprezas, foresters etc.
vlad01 ·
Joel wrote:
vlad01 wrote:Thats easier said than done, I find a lot of older cars the plugs are stuffed as well as wires brittle so a remake of the loom is always needed and good excuse to build a custom one than to fudge up a crusty band-aided one.
Yes there is heaps of plugs, that why you take the time to look through the catalogs and pick the right ones for the job 👍
to make a one good loom you probably need 4 donor cars and hope all the wiring is still good lol, so imo its easier and cheaper to buy the wires, plugs and connectors you need to rebuild the loom.
Try playing around with Subarus not poorly built Commodores and find out what quality electrics are like 😉
Its easy as to find a Subi donor, there is nearly 100 Libertys for under $1000 and that's just on Gumtree, and thats not looking at Ebay or Imprezas, foresters etc.
A bit worse I reckon,they are less flexible with the electrics compared to delco system as the delco is one of the best stock designed systems out there as it is a mix of German, Jap and Korean components and millions was spent developing the system over 2 decades.
And you saying suby electrics are the best? I still did rewiring jobs on them with my last job, mostly problems with the injector plugs. I am telling you now, they shared some common connectors as its jap.
vlad01 ·
here is another site that covers more cars but less rage per car makers. they got some suby specific stuff but listed as nissan?
Running the fuel lines and putting in the harness tonight hopefully I will have a video later tonight or tomorrow of it starting!
lou0060 ·
getting close now!
madness726 ·
It did not work 🙁 ...
I have everything wire correctly and there is power going into the main power relay but nothing coming out.. I payed to have the harness done, so maybe it was not done right. back to no harness if I cannot figure it out.
Aussie Dubbin ·
Check the simple things, I put the fuel pump line back on the wrong way after using/studying a picture that was wrong
madness726 ·
Well after talking with the guy who did my harness for about an hour and having him walk me thru all the electrical testing of the harness for grounds, power, etc.... We figured out my ECU is fried!
Minus the shipping delay, Enginewiring.com has done an exceptional job with the harness and help after.. So I am now off to the junk yard to get a few ECU's to try.. Hopefully it will start tongiht.
Joel ·
You checked the main engine ground on the intake manifold?
its near the #4 injector.
I've had the bolt for that come loose on mine and kill the power to the entire engine management system.
madness726 ·
Got a ECU from the junk yard and still the relays for main power and fuel pump were not turning on from ECU so I figure I would just hook them up to the ignition power and it worked..... Here is video.. She is ALIVE!
Joel ·
Gotta be happy with that.
Its probably worth checking the ignition diode, they rarely go bad but a dead one would cause the probs you are having
If you want you can unplug it and put a jumper wire in its place and see if it will fire up normally without the relays bypassed.
It wont shut off with the key though, you'll have to remove the jumper wire.
madness726 ·
Just a little car club love. 🙂
YES the garage is a bit messy! it happens in between working on the DUB!
Jak Rizzo ·
You have your fuel system setup almost identical to mine. Just make sure you have a fuel filter before everything that is also easy to get to to make changing it easy
madness726 ·
It is.. 🙂
the fuel filter is the first thing the fuel goes thru. Then it fills the surge tank.
Also I got the rest of my suspension from Topline today (Jon is great to work with and is very quick on turn around from purchase. Great quality stuff too)... And both front and rear disc brake conversion.. My rims come tomorrow.. And thanks to Joel for letting me know about 45's not working in the front, I changed my tires before they were mounted... 215/40's for the front now and 215/45's on the rear.. Pics coming soon! Well once I get some time to mount everything. Also my wife is in Paris for 2 weeks so I will have some free time to work on the Bug.
Joel ·
Sorry my PM box was full again.
THe 215/40s are a good fit, thats what these ones were
and 45s on the back will keep your gearing good.
madness726 ·
Good that is exactly the stance and look I am going for..
madness726 ·
I have been busy lately and not updated much but here is a few pics of the topline suspension I just put on..
cam070 ·
Nice wheels!
madness726 ·
So I got it sorted out.. It just took a lug nut on the stud and a little persuasion with a hammer. and wheel went right on...
here are some pics..
It's coming together.. going to try and figure out the cooling system this weekend.
boyerlita ·
The project is coming along nice! Keep up the good work.
madness726 ·
Getting busy on the Bug today and tomorrow.. Hopefully will be hitting the road for some tests in a day or two... Pics will be posted tomorrow or the next day..
madness726 ·
Joel ·
Hi Dan,
the picture attachements on PM haven't been working on here for a while.
That is just the port where the fan switch goes.
If you can't find an old fan switch to put there the thread is just M22x1.5mm you may be able to find some sort of bung that screws in.
It;s a pretty standard switch thread found in most Euro cars from the era, should be able to find something at a junk yard.
madness726 ·
Thanks Joel .. I will go to junk yard and get one
madness726 ·
Here is a pic of my setup just to see if I get flow thru the engine. which I am not..... Has new water pump and termostat...
madness726 ·
Still tring to get the cooling system sorted out.. Everything hooked up and still not cooling or flowing. I put a new water pump in and thermostat. But still nothing. I am going to remove the heater loop to see if it is at least flowing thru there. Maybe I have a air bubble in the loop.
ian.mezz ·
You need to connect all of the hoses up like on every other car on the road and fill it in the radiator cap hole/ header tank, and bleed air out of air bleed on radiator , radiator cap/filling point should be the highest point on the cooling system. you don't get any flow until motor is at operating temp and the thermostat opens allowing the water to flow .
madness726 ·
I tried hooking up the entire systems with fans this weekend and it did not work. I think my in-line radiator cap Is the highest point but I will double check and if not then I will make it the highest point. Got the motor temp up to 200 F or 93C before shutting it down. Fan kicked on but still temp did not fall.. I know I am doing something wrong. Hopefully I figure it out soon since the car is ready to be drivin minus the cooling working.. and winter is coming soon.
ian.mezz ·
can take more then 20/30 minutes to get to operating temp . @ idle 😊
200 is ok , mine goes as high as 225 no prob .once fans come on temp dont need to go down as it trying to keep it at operating temp, let run longer, may still have air in system , then turn it off and
once it cools a bit, open radiator cap and rechek level.
Joel ·
ian.mezz wrote:can take more then 20/30 minutes to get to operating temp.
Only if you don't have a thermostat in.
They are up to temp in 5-10 mins max when the thermostat is working right.
Even in winter mine is upto temp by the end of my road which is 4 mins drive.
Dan, 93c/200f isn't hot, the ECU only turns the fans on at 96c/205f.
Start worrying when it gets over 110c/230f, they start to boil over around 120c/248f
The standard Subaru gauge doenst move between 80c and 110c, a common feature on most cars to stop people worrying.
With the radiator being all the way at the front, even when the fans kick in it will still keep getting hotter for a bit untill the cooler coolant makes its way back from the radiator to the engine.
give it another chance and see if it starts cooling off once the fans have run for a min or so.
If you have a look early in my thread I was worried over the same thing, my gauge read about 8c high and it still kept heating up once the fans started, I wasnt giving it time to get the cooler coolant back to the engine before I worried.
Also have you done anything with the air bleed hose on the top of the radiator?
madness726 ·
That is good to know. I will let it run longer and hotter, And check the coolant after.. and repeat a few times. The only thing I have done with the bleed hose on the radiator is hook it up and run it up to the hood so the air can escape.
Thanks for the help guys. I will not have a chance to try it again until this weekend. Hopefully it works and I can take it for a spin..
Joel ·
Just make sure you seal it well once the systems bled so it can't pull in any air.
ian.mezz ·
I just referring to the operating temp of the fans ,
so you make sure that they cycle on and off,
fan run time will vary depending n the weather of cause, they run more on hot day and less winter time😊
Joel ·
Ah righto I'm with you.
My fans got their first work out in 4 years on Sunday in 30c+ heat when I got stuck in traffic jam coming back from Actionday.
That's when you find out how good your cooling system is.
lou0060 ·
hi guys, good to see your car is almost ready for a drive around the block! I have just had some interesting stuff with my car and found 2 things. first my thermo had ripped the rubber seal and sucked it thru the valve, not good! and secondly the hose from the bottom of the filler tank to the water pump was blocked with crud and so what was happening was that the coolant was not circulating thru the filler tank and it was getting full, boiling and then flowing into the overflow bottle which was then overflowing everywhere!
I actually pulled the water pump off which is a big job as you have to remove the timing belt and some of the idlers but I wish I had done this ages ago as it has been driving me mad for over 12 months. Have I fixed it? not sure but heading to QR tomorrow for sprints so will find out soon! Dan, check that hose to ensure it is not blocked up with years of crud build up.
Just got some.. Full travel lowered rear end same as stock ride 😂
68 miles from me is where his shop is.
madness726 ·
Sorry I have not updated in a while... It is up and running, But it did overheat slightly on a hot day and a long run.. And I also got vapor lock in fuel system from the heat. I will update pics shortly... I am going to run hard line underneath the car and run fuel line away from the coolant lines to help keep fuel cool.. I was a idiot and did not even consider the fuel heating up when I ran the fueling along side the coolant lines.. DUH..
madness726 ·
madness726 ·
madness726 ·
here is first freeway run vid..
madness726 ·
I am going to put a turbo on it soon.. Just have to figure out how and what pin to hook the boost control up on the ECU
Doug Sweetman ·
Looks mean. Top job.
madness726 ·
Wow I really need to update this
madness726 ·
Here are some drag runs I did last weekend.
Doug Sweetman ·
Sounds great and clean. Looks like you enjoyed the day !