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DODGY ADAPTOR PLATE
Kombicol - December 9th, 2003 at 11:28 PM

I helped a mate remove the ea81 from his bus on the weekend, and boy was i sorry i got involved with that mess.


I wont say who made it but this adaptor was a very bodgy piece of shit.
if you want to know you can probably guess as there aren't many people near ******** who build adaptor plates.-

Basically the reasons why it was fuct was :
1. the circular spigot that the bell housing aligns itself on was not a full circle, and stopped about an inch from the bottom for the sump, allowing the engine to sag downwards where it bolts into the bellhousing.
2. the bolts supplied, and the top bolt holes in the adaptor plate were much smaller than the original vw equipment, allowing the engine to sag further.
3. the bodgy offset bolts for the bottom 2 bolts were crappy cast and snapped off behind the adaptor plate, and also of a thinner diameter to the originals.
4. all this plus a few years of serious road use allowed the engine to sag significantly against the bellhousing.
the apaptor plate flogged out the inside of the bellhousing on the corners where the spigot stopped for the sump, this meant the starter ate the teeth off the flywheel and eventually the nose has broken off the starter . The flywheel also gouged out the bottom of the bellhousing.

It is a bit hard to describe, i will try to get a lend of a digitalcam and take some pics

All in all it is going to be a very expensive mess to clean up, :

new adaptor
new flywheel,
new 2l starter and bellhousing,
and perhaps a new crossmember due to the new adaptor

meanwhile poor old pauls bus is shagged

does anyone know of someone who makes a quality ea81 adaptor plate??

col

Jenny - December 10th, 2003 at 07:26 AM

Hi Col,
check the Archives at the top of this forum. Down near the bottom of that archive post is a list of adaptor plate suppliers.
Here's the link http://www.aussieveedubbers.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=14906 

I take it that plate came from down near the *******? If so then my stomach has just turned because I think that's where mine came from :cry

VWCOOL - December 10th, 2003 at 07:32 AM

I think Castlemaine Rod Shop can help with Subie/Kombi conversions...

wacked1 - December 10th, 2003 at 08:46 AM

Hi Col,
Check out http://www.pnc.com.au/~bill/Transmission.html 
This is the place I got mine from. He is one hell of a nice guy and will spend all day explaining something to you if you don't understand it.
The guys name is Bill Croft.

Baja Wes - December 10th, 2003 at 09:10 AM

I'm not defending or attacking anyone here. This should be obvious as I chose to make my own adaptor instead of buying other peoples problems.

But here is a list of my thoughts....

Quote:
Originally posted by Kombicol
1. the circular spigot that the bell housing aligns itself on was not a full circle, and stopped about an inch from the bottom for the sump, allowing the engine to sag downwards where it bolts into the bellhousing.


The circular spigot is purposely not full circle. This is to provide a vent/drain at the bottom of the bellhousing. If you notice a vw case it's spigot is not full circle either. Depending on how big the gap was, this shouldn't have been much of a problem.

Quote:
2. the bolts supplied, and the top bolt holes in the adaptor plate were much smaller than the original vw equipment, allowing the engine to sag further.


weird that they were smaller, did they have to clear something? The bolts themselves are not designed to locate anything, so bigger ones wouldn't have stopped the engine dropping directly. Bigger bolts would've allowed more botl tension which might have helped keep the adaptor in place though.

Quote:
3. the bodgy offset bolts for the bottom 2 bolts were crappy cast and snapped off behind the adaptor plate, and also of a thinner diameter to the originals.


offset bolts, weird.

Quote:
4. all this plus a few years of serious road use allowed the engine to sag significantly against the bellhousing.



It sounds like either the bolts were never done up tight enough, or came loose during the cars life. The loose bolts then let the adaptor plate move about which let the spigot dig into the bellhousing.

And maybe the crossmember wasn't set-up right so there was too much load going into the adaptor / bellhousing.

I'm not sure, but what I am saying is you have to look closely to figure out exactly what happened. I've had VW generator pulleys chew themselves out and destroy the shaft. But it wasn't the pulley design, it was that the nut came loose, or someone didn't put enough shims in to hold the pulley halfs together. Do you see what I am getting at.

What I would do is take the bits and pieces down to the adaptor plate manufacturer and see what he says. Maybe he can tell you what went wrong. Maybe it was an old design he has since changed and might give you a free new design adaptor. whos know? but you'll never know if you don't ask. :thumb

retro - December 10th, 2003 at 10:13 AM

I have done an engine swap in a Kombi some six years ago. I put a ea82 in with an adaptor from near the ****** and I have had no problems at all. You shouldn't blam the adaptor as I have seen lots of people make the same mistake when stalling engine swaps and that is they don't jack up the engine before designing the new cross member and what you have described is the usual result. When you install the new engine you bolt it up to the gearbox then jack it up to take the load off it you should not be able to bolt the cross member in to the side supports with so serious jacking.

graham - December 10th, 2003 at 11:47 AM

Give John Sherman a ring on 55377770 thats his shop number he has adapters for evrything that can go in a car and if he doesn't he'll make you one.

tonyg - December 10th, 2003 at 01:42 PM

I concur with Wes.... and bolts are not cast...I've never seen a cast iron bolt.. too brittle I think. Also to do as much damage as it seems to have, ie ring gear chewing out starter gear and flywheel etc, it must have been flapping in the breeze for some time and surely would have made some 'orrible noises.....
possible maintenance issue here?
my 2c worth
tonyg

tonyg - December 10th, 2003 at 01:45 PM

this is a post script...
The flywheel bolts MUST be fitted with locktite, and should be NEW. Was it still tight?

Jenny - December 15th, 2003 at 07:02 AM

Hey Col,
Have you and Paul got any more clues as to why it failed yet? Any pics?

I was down the coast on Saturday and dropped in to see John Sherman. He's going to stop by and have a look at my set-up when he's up this way in the new year. He confrmed that the Subaru engine should not be just hanging off the adaptor plate and needs a crossmember and basically said the same thing as retro regards fitting it.

Brad - December 15th, 2003 at 07:34 AM

The only thing that sounds dodgy about the adapter plate is the person who fitted it.

If someone is dumb enough to bolt it up and not check the things that you mentioed then what did you expect was going to happen ?

If I install a VW engine into my buggy and replace the M10's with M6 and leave it all loose do I then blame VW for allowing me to do it ?

Sounds like you guys are looking to blame someone other than who is ACTUALLY responsible.

On another note are you saying that the EA 81 had a 228mm clutch and 2L bellhousing on it ?

baybuscamperkid - December 15th, 2003 at 07:47 AM

EEK! i plan to do that kind of conversion soon! hope my adaptor doesnt look like that (it has been on the car for years, but i am updatng to EA81, from 71):o