I've decided it is time to take the leap.

I'm wondering if it is possible that anyone in Australia would do an EJ22/25 conversion to Zelda?

I'm willing to send her wherever she needs to go, and am willing to pay for labour as well. I guess what it comes down to is the final cost, and the amount of time it'll take for someone to complete a full conversion...

I'm not 100% sure if this conversion has been done in Adelaide, I haven't seen any on here and usually something like this would be documented on here. If, however, anyone knows of anyone that has completed this conversion here in Adelaide, I'd really like to be able to get into contact with them

If people are willing to lend me a hand, I'd really appreciate a PM with a quote or something. If you're keen, we can discuss more.

Getting someone else to do it for you, I'd be surprised if you could get away with a cost of less than $15k, remembering of course that you'll need to upgrade brakes as well.

That's solely for labour?
That seems a bit steep.

Even if I provided all parts and everything, I know parts alone it'll be around 4k.
Another 11k for labour?!

Hi Sebastien,

I was thinking $15k all up. Parts, labour, upgrades to other components (eg the engineer might want brakes the equivalent of what would be on the Subaru it came from) and engineering certification.

I think perhaps you underestimate how much work there actually is to do and how fiddly these things are. PLUS you then have to get all the engineering certificates and so on. It's also fair to suggest that the state you get it done in will vary the cost. Rates in SA are lower than they are here in the eastern states. Also bear in mind that if you get the work done in another state, but need to get it registered in SA, you'll need to get the car back to SA to get it engineered, and what do you do if they require more mods before passing it?

I know there was a business in Qld that advertised a drive in drive out price for Kombis, but I can't remember who it was. From memory it was about $10k, which I think included all parts, but you have to remember things are a lot more straightforward in a Kombi because there's more room. There's a lot more cutting and squeezing in a Beetle.

Whilst they are in different countries, here are two examples:

http://www.tsrengineconversions.co.uk/products.aspx?1=285&2=286 

http://www.vanaru.com/index.htm 

I know I'm sounding like a terrible naysayer, but these things aren't cheap, unless you can do the work yourself, and there's nothing worse than seeing a project started only to be abandoned because funds have run out.

It would also take a little while to get done, so you'd need to have access to a another car while it gets done.

One last negative thing, check whether you'd be able to get insurance on it. You're still quite young? They may object to you having a much more powerful motor in an older car. Best check these things before you start.

So, call your insurer first. Then call the VW places in SA and find out if they do conversions and what they would charge. If you don't have any luck there then start in Vic, and if no joy there then try Sydney. I know Production Automotive at Penrith do them, but I've no idea on the cost. If you get a couple of prices and you still want to do it, then go for it, at the end you'd have a very potent sleeper that would be a blast to drive.

Cheers
Craig

Thanks Craig, I didn't mean to sound rude in my last post!

I really do appreciate the time and effort you put into that, it is incredible to know that someone else is looking out for me on the forum!
I am currently being pressured into going down another route but I am definitely glad I asked the question to get some very valuable information that will, no doubt, aid me in the decision that I'll be facing later down the track.

The aim, now, is to just get Zelda back up and running. Maybe once that is done, and I've got enough money to grab a cheap little run-around car, then I can do the Subaru conversion myself with help of other AVD members and through their experience, make better informed decisions. This could easily happen sometime later next year, but for now, it's just getting Zelda back up and running.

I guess I was just jumping the gun. Not to say I won't be doing one day, just won't be today.

Hi Sebastian,

I'm going through the conversion atm, my car is on page 3 conversion section (I know updates are slow, what can you do) its titled rs1302 ej20t.

If you'd like to pm me I can give you some leads to engineers, workshops, costs I've had, and some of the hidden ones.

Its a bigger can of worms then some people 1st think.

Cheers Kris

Hey Kris!
That's awesome to hear that someone in Adelaide is doing it!
I'd really like to see his conversion. I'm going to have a look in the morning.

Might be something I could give you a hand with. If you need a hand one weekend that is

Seb

buy this and drive for a while, them if you did like type3 swap all the bits over to your bug.
you couldnt buy the parts for this price.

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=90237 

I'm wondering if it is possible that anyone in Australia would do an EJ22/25 conversion to Zelda?

I'm willing to send her wherever she needs to go, and am willing to pay for labour as well. I guess what it comes down to is the final cost, and the amount of time it'll take for someone to complete a full conversion...





Contact Seagull on here-he's been doing these conversions for years and he sometimes has cheap engines for sale.He's in the West though-but you said you can send it anywhere and will pay for labour.

Custom Vee Dub use to advertise doing it for kombis