Hi all, I'm putting an EJ20 in my semi off-road bug and want to convert to IRS and want to use a 1600 bus transaxle and RJES bell housing.

I have a couple of transaxles I'm looking at, one with Porsche flanges.

Does anyone have any experience or advise for me before I lay down my hard earned?

I can pick up the engine, computer, wiring harness, IRS and trans for $700. Bell housing is about $800 and I'm factoring in another $1200 for sump, mounts, throttle body relocation etc.

After pricing up my 100hp aircooled wish list hit $5000 in parts alone this seems like a no brainer as I love fab work and being a little left field (and an off-road Subaru nut).

Of course there's the radiator location issue, a custom exhaust, and Porsche shafts, but have I overlooked anything that is going to bite me?

Cheers
Seanan.

ask Baja Wes he know a lot of buggy guys .

.
http://www.offroadvw.net/bajawes/Big%20Bad%20Baja%20-%20Part%202.pdf 

Rethink your budget, it will always be twice what you think it is.
There are a huge amount of little things you are going to need. If you are thinking a budget build I would stay away from the Porsche axles, they don't seem much dearer but with new stubs, cvs, axles, boots and flanges you'll find yourself parting with near to a grand. Concider type 4 cvs as an alternative if travel is what you are chasing.

Thanks Ian, will do.

Nils, one can't budget for something as infinite as vehicle modification. I'm happy to roll with the punches.

So will type4 shafts bolt straight to the type2 box and IRS stubs? All good for length?

For the Porsche shafts I was looking at these:

http://www.pacificcustoms.com/ac598220.html 

Thoughts?

Thanks for the replies,

Seanan.

I used RJES bellhousing kit, type1-type2 stubs, T1 axles machined to suit T2 cv, Commodore fuel pump ect ect. Fab your own short sump and grap a reverse manifold/ thottle body of steelart in brisbane. I made 50% of my exhaust also. All up about $2700 all up including$300 donor car. Ej22 with about 130 hp. Very happy with result and bye bye aircooled days forever for me.

Thanks for the info bone, got a build thread?

Hi Seanan,
The empi shafts you linked, will set you back 700ish with exchange and shipping and of coarse they are empi.
The type 4 CVs are direct replace for kombi cvs

No worries Bone, I'm going stalker on your past threads though

Thanks nils, picking up the standard flanged trans today.

I have a set of T1 -T2 conversion stubs brand new from CSP. I mostly likely wont use them. They are empi ones but sold under CSP brand.

If anyone needs them just give me a buzz.


I am personally looking for genuine Porsche 924 or 944 stubs so I can have the dust shield that the aftermarket ones don't have, but damn! they are pricey for some reason?

1974 (standard) Vw beetle with Subaru wrx turbo engine. Engineered and registered. Has disk brake front end, adjustable beam, porsche 5 stud /Vw 4 stud drilled hubs, HID head lights, standard interior( hood lining needs replacing) plastic rear windows with NACA ducts ( feeds air to intercooler). Has a 97 Subaru ej20t motor with adaptor plate to a Vw gearbox. 3" custom exhaust. Radiator is up front under bonnet. Car runs well needs a few tidy ups here n there. PORSCHE WHEELS NOT INCLUDED ( will provide stock wheels) NO TIME WASTERS OR JOY RIDERS. And NO swaps $
i think josh was after about $2700 for just the engine and adaptor set up. exhaust , cat convertor, radiator . pipes & hoses etc, give him a call, engine 225Hp
Tenambit, NSW 2323
phone josh 0413871901 or pm me

PM sent vlad.

Thanks Ian, already have engine and hope to successfully run a rear rad setup (haha we'll see!)

Cheers,
Seanan.

Got a link to any pics mate?

I can't go front mount because I don't want to drag dust into my hood offroad as all my sleeping gear goes in there. Pls my spare wheel goes in there etc...

Hi seanan, you mentioned your beetle was semi off road. So it is full body ?

Yeah nils it's full body.

Ahh that makes sense Joel, I am a stubborn prick but I'm warming to the idea/starting to see reason.

Quote:

Quote: Quote: Originally posted by Joel Quote: Originally posted by stilson I can't go front mount because I don't want to drag dust into my hood offroad as all my sleeping gear goes in there. Pls my spare wheel goes in there etc... With a front mount the radiator needs to be sealed off from the boot anyway so you dont get dust and heat coming through the dash as well as getting into the boot, In a standard beetle something like this: What you will have to remember with one in the back is your fans will be running alot and they will be pulling in all the dust from not only the front wheels but off the back as well and dragging it through the radiator. I'm running a rear rad and I doubt you could get any better flow than what I have. If I had to do it again i would go front mount. In fact this might be my 2014 project. ( I can hear them all laughing now......)

don't worry there will be a few people telling him we told you so

Hi Stilson,

I run a rear radiator set-up, it is ok. The front radiator position in front of the beam can be prone to damage offroad, you really have to lift it a bit higher to get it safe and then it won't be under the body anymore.

If you haven't bought the engine yet, consider the EJ22. It is SOHC and will fit easier than a DOHC EJ20.

Thanks, yeah I'm still in two minds honestly. I think once I get it mocked up I can see how much space I have and where. I'm trying to find some decent diagrams showing air pressure and flow. Where is your rad exactly?
I already have a SOHC EJ20.

My radiator is above the transaxle, I cut out the luggage area behind the rear seat and turned it into a curved region. I had to cut the firewall anyway because the V6 distributor and throttle body needed to pass through it. So I just kept cutting.

There is some more info about rear radiators in this thread;
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=104076&page=1 

I like it, looks like it fits well.

I've read your page but haven't seen these pics before. What car did it come from?

Looking through air pressure simulations on openfoam the airflow from underneath to the low pressure void at the rear should be good and thermo fans will take over at low speed and/or high load. I wonder how a full width rear mudflap would affect (increase) undercar pressure and aid flow.

Cutting and re shaping the firewall would also eliminate the need to reverse the intake manifold (I think?).

I do like the fact that I can carry the stock spare up front and see losing that position to a rad as a massive negative.

Is there anything you don't like about this setup?
Has it been adequate to cool your V6?
Does it pick up a lot of shit from under the car?

Cheers,
Seanan.

Who's doing CFD on openfoam?

With the radiator where I have it, I initially had a problem with too much heat coming into the cabin. I have since insulated the area above the radiator really well and it is now ok (I have the metal foil face with recycled cloth type insulation on the radiator side of the radiator cover, with normally interior insulation and carpet on the inside also).

Driving around at 60-80kph it works fine, the thermo's don't come on much. Above 80kph the air mustn't be able to make the turn and come up through the radiator, so the thermo's start working. Long runs at 110kph on the highway shows the water temp going up and down because of this. To fix this problem I put a single small scoop on one swingarm to direct the air from under the car up to the radiator.





It works really well and it's much better on the highway. I even towed my bike trailer with 2 dirt bikes from Brisbane to Gympie and back with no issues.

At the moment it has a problem with trying to run too cold when I have the air conditioning on because the condenser fan is the radiator fan, so the air conditioning runs the thermo fans. I am running an electric water pump so it starts slowing down to stop it running too cool. The electric water pump even with it's fancy electric controller isn't as good at maintaining the water temperature as an old fashion thermostat.

Offroad it is good as the radiator is up out of the way. The only issue is beach driving. When I drive on the beach I have to take the scoop off otherwise it throws sandy water all over the radiator which eventually covers it in sand.

Haven't you got your condenser up front Wes?

Is your ECU just running the rad fans because of A/C request?


In mine natural road draft does the work 99% of the time so normal driving it was running the fans for no reason whenever it got A/C request so I disabled that.
Later subis get around this by using the speed sensor to dictate fan operation, they don;t come on above a set speed.

I've got a trinary pressure switch for my A/C drier, it has a 3rd medium pressure switch so the condenser fan only run when the liquid line pressure gets high enough which is only puttering around town in stop start traffic.

Yeah, condenser up the front, but I use the Mazda ECU and Mazda thermofans on the radiator, so they do whatever the A/C wants. It doesn't know I moved the A/C to the front.

I wired the condenser fan to a relay with runs off the A/C compressor wire.

RJes bell housing arrived, very nice looking bit of kit, all holes seem to line up well on testfit to motor.

Pics when and if iPhone comes back from visiting its maker.

Swapped my kombi flywheel for beer this morning and discovered my ring gear is missing a few teeth.

Luckily the guy I bought it from had another trans and was good enough to give it to me.

Someone buy my type 1 1500 and trans so I can buy trans mount kit.