Board Logo

The fear doing a Engine Conversion!
jvl054 - June 29th, 2005 at 05:31 PM

Hey everyone,Do people feel when doing a engine conversion that they have enought info? Are people overawed with fear to go ahead knowing that they want to do it? What is it why we go through with a conversion? JVLRacing:thumb


Craig Torrens - June 29th, 2005 at 05:45 PM

what the hell are you trying to say?............are you drunk at the moment?


twoguns - June 29th, 2005 at 05:58 PM

i think its, more knowing htat you have someone who can confidently say this is it, this is what you will get or should expect, and this is what you will pay.


jvl054 - June 29th, 2005 at 05:59 PM

Come on Craig,...... Your a pro, give it a go.Maybe the chip between your ears might educate us.JVLRacing


Craig Torrens - June 29th, 2005 at 06:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by jvl054
Come on Craig,...... Your a pro, give it a go.Maybe the chip between your ears might educate us.JVLRacing


Ummmmm give what a go?


boof2332 - June 29th, 2005 at 07:11 PM

He doesnt need to give it a go... me thinks Craig or Glen have a wrx powered bug hiding somewhere. If not finished, then very close.

I'm smashed half the time I'm on here after 10pm...

Matt


71superbug - June 30th, 2005 at 06:26 AM

i think the thing holding people back from an engine converson is that ther eis no guarenteed way thigns will turn out.

also comign from someone who is planning a conversion. another fear is just

"will it work as well as it should and will it get licensed"

those three thigns espescially are the thigns that make it hard to just jump into.

Anthony


Baja Wes - June 30th, 2005 at 08:51 AM

I had no such fears, I love the challenge.

I have plans for something much more interesting and different, but have no money to do it at the moment. It would have about 150rwhp in a ~400kg buggy. 250+rwhp is you added a turbo.


71superbug - June 30th, 2005 at 11:58 AM

its not a 1uzfe 4l lexus v8 is it wes? :)


that would be killa :). only u would get much mroe than 250rwhp witha turbo on it


Anthony


Baja Wes - June 30th, 2005 at 12:42 PM

and you would never be able to get a buggy down to 400kg with a 200kg V8 in the back. no it's not the lexus...


jvl054 - June 30th, 2005 at 02:55 PM

Hi Baja Wes,How do you go about planning about your new project? Do you think your info will help another person to save money?All is it that we keep some of the info to ourselves and let the rest guest?:thumbJVLRacing


boof2332 - June 30th, 2005 at 03:16 PM

I had been thinking of the wrx option for years...especially when didnt own a vw(sad period of 5 years). I never thought it would be that hard..Thats why when Jak nervously introduced the idea(thought I may be a purist not a realist), it took about 5 seconds to say"f**k it, im in"

It is still a relatively new option, as more people see the cars around, it will become more popular and less daunting.

JVL...what is going on with your car..why not racing?

I keep having to buy Boost chocolate bars and boost drinks since the conversion!

Matt


Doug Sweetman - June 30th, 2005 at 03:21 PM

Booost !!! love those ads....

Wes, do I smell some custom made, tube frame off road buggy (not registered), with maybe Hayabusa power ? Kinda like the mother of all off road karts ?


Craig Torrens - June 30th, 2005 at 03:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by boof2332
He doesnt need to give it a go... me thinks Craig or Glen have a wrx powered bug hiding somewhere. If not finished, then very close.

I'm smashed half the time I'm on here after 10pm...

Matt


Sounds like someone's been sniffing around my garage :o hehehehe


jvl054 - June 30th, 2005 at 03:49 PM

Hey Matt,money,wench,house renos and now selling while the market is holding.Matt,iam praying the house will sell in the next1 or two months.I have a package deal ready to go.....Big$$$$.........(I can say at least one thing ,wont need a coat hanger to hold up any sparkplug leads! hang on! i only run 4 plugs and not 8:P)JVLRancing


Andy42 - June 30th, 2005 at 05:26 PM

Hey Wes you have been watching those car videos with the bike engines in them again haven`t you :yes:


Baja Wes - June 30th, 2005 at 06:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Doug Sweetman
Booost !!! love those ads....

Wes, do I smell some custom made, tube frame off road buggy (not registered), with maybe Hayabusa power ? Kinda like the mother of all off road karts ?


I think I can do a hayabusa engined street manx buggy, and have it all legal. 6-speed sequential gears and probably electric reverse. I've got it figured out I reckon.

Yes Andy I have been watching those vid's again. I reckon the buggy would work out so much better than the bike engined caterhams and westfields that are popular in the UK.


jvl054 - June 30th, 2005 at 06:43 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Baja Wes
Quote:
Originally posted by Doug Sweetman
Booost !!! love those ads....

Wes, do I smell some custom made, tube frame off road buggy (not registered), with maybe Hayabusa power ? Kinda like the mother of all off road karts ?


I think I can do a hayabusa engined street manx buggy, and have it all legal. 6-speed sequential gears and probably electric reverse. I've got it figured out I reckon.

Yes Andy I have been watching those vid's again. I reckon the buggy would work out so much better than the bike engined caterhams and westfields that are popular in the UK................. Wow! a 6speed sequential.Brings me back to the days when working on the Supertourers.Deffently no fear:thumbJVLRacingnn[ Edited on 30/6/2005 by jvl054 ]


jvl054 - June 30th, 2005 at 08:20 PM

I believe he has a big trophy cabinet....but the CHIP is bigger and respect comes cheaper.......Engine transplants are a challenge and when they do work its all worth it:thumb..JVL054


subaruboxer - July 2nd, 2005 at 08:26 PM

I had no fear to go for a watercooled, reliable and cheap suby conversion. I will never ever go back to aircooled VW engines. The fuel consumption of a 34 HP VW engine is almost the same as a suby engine and you can do 120 kph. With the suby conversion you can do 200 kph.
0 - 100 kph is 37 seconds with the VW engine and 8 - 9 seconds with the suby. How much fun is that with the original engine? I was a purist for the first 2 years, but that is over now for more than 10 years. I want to ride my bug and have fun. I am not the kind of guy to ride around in a car that should stand in a museum. It is okay that other VW enthusiasts like to do that. But not me.
You got to decide what you want out of your car.

I have to admit, that now that I know how reliable subaru
engines are, I will in fact buy nothing else then subaru.
For two and a half year I am driving a subaru as a daily driver.nn[ Edited on 2-7-2005 by subaruboxer ]nn[ Edited on 2-7-2005 by subaruboxer ]


jvl054 - July 3rd, 2005 at 12:24 AM

:thumb:PSubaruboxer.JVL054


VWCOOL - July 3rd, 2005 at 11:12 AM

Transplants are a good thing if they work better than what was there originally. If they don't - you are wasting your time.

You can't really race in any CAMS 'street' type competition classes with a Subaru (or any other retrotech/transplant) engine. And you don't need an engineers certification for a VW based engine for legal rego. But hey, if you don't ever race or don't need street rego, having a shiny trailer queen is just fine for some people, but I reckon results either on-road (I love carving corners on the roads around my place quicker than V8s etc) or on-track is far more credible and important than where your engine came from

;)

[ Edited on 3-7-2005 by VWCOOL ]nn[ Edited on 3-7-2005 by VWCOOL ]


jvl054 - July 3rd, 2005 at 07:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by VWCOOL
Transplants are a good thing if they work better than what was there originally. If they don't - you are wasting your time.

You can't really race in any CAMS 'street' type competition classes with a Subaru (or any other retrotech/transplant) engine. And you don't need an engineers certification for a VW based engine for legal rego. But hey, if you don't ever race or don't need street rego, having a shiny trailer queen is just fine for some people, but I reckon results either on-road (I love carving corners on the roads around my place quicker than V8s etc) or on-track is far more credible and important than where your engine came from

;)

[ Edited on 3-7-2005 by VWCOOL ]nn[ Edited on 3-7-2005 by VWCOOL ]
[:thumbagree.JVLRacing


dubber91 - July 11th, 2005 at 11:19 PM

i think the main issue is 'will i spend all this money and in a years time have to weld plates over the front valance and front beam where the rad sits, and totally redo my wiring'. Plus theres the 'bodge' factor. Theres lots of nasty looking hybrid beetles and campers, vw this, porsche that, scooby this, mazda that. They were meant to work together but do they? im in the middle of a conversion now.....

:)


helbus - July 11th, 2005 at 11:55 PM

I don't have any remorse doing the bus with a Suby motor. If it was ever to go back to VW the body would not have been changed anyway.


jvl054 - July 12th, 2005 at 09:44 AM

I still believe we do this to be individuals to show any conversions can be done.Its not because we dislike our vws,its because we are keeping up with the times and not dwelling in the past .....improvement never goes unnotice.:thumbJVLRacing


dubber91 - July 12th, 2005 at 08:31 PM

i beleive we want the best from our cars/vehicles. To do this we cannot expect to use technology from the 1930s. 70 years of improvement (and restriction in the way of catalysts and emmisions control in ECUs) leads us to the simple answer; modern engines are better.


jvl054 - July 12th, 2005 at 10:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dubber91
i beleive we want the best from our cars/vehicles. To do this we cannot expect to use technology from the 1930s. 70 years of improvement (and restriction in the way of catalysts and emmisions control in ECUs) leads us to the simple answer; modern engines are better.
I agree to that:thumbJVLRacing


pete wood - July 12th, 2005 at 10:05 PM

I spose the same fear as most other things, IE, getting it wrong in an expensive way.

I'm with dubber, I want the best I can get out of my car, and when that comes at half the price of a overstressed 30year old rebuilt motor, I couldn't be happier.


dubber91 - July 13th, 2005 at 04:42 AM

to me the rotary is the way to go. The engine rebuilds are potentially easier (not necessarily cheaper) and working where i do (a test/proving track) i work with injection every day. I may even have a play with the fuel map and see what happens....
its says something, however, when one manufacturer, has spent around 12 year developing an engine, that is more efficient than any other conventional engine after a hundreds year development.
They arent better...but the potential is there i beleive...