Subaru Conversion Complete... mostly

I had high hopes of blogging my way through the process of this conversion, but I got so wrapped up in it, I didn't have time to write down a word.  So, I'm doing my best to jot down a quick re-cap on the last 3 weeks of my efforts.

Here's the project in a nutshell:
1982 Diesel Vanagon "Ferdinand" converted to a 2001 Subaru Engine:

Ferdinand the Van

It took me a total of 23 days from start to finish (granted I'm not exactly done), but I took about 3 days off in the process.  I'm a merchant mariner and am home usually for 30-40 days straight and can commit to full days on projects like this.  I don't recommend doing it this way because you'll get burnt out, but I managed to knock it out in about 145 hours.  It was some long cold and wet days, but I managed to pull it off.  Having a supportive and "understanding" wife is helpful.  She understands the importance of our van in good solid "road trip worthiness" and was all for the project from the beginning.  I pulled some long days under the van, and having a nice bowl of soup or something ready for me when I came in, was amazing to say the least.

PARTS:
I ordered up the motor and most of the parts during my last "at sea" work phase so that they'd be ready for me when I got home.

motor and trans mated up

-The conversion kit came from Rocky Mountain Westy, as well as a new radiator and a few other accoutrements including Schwenk springs which I have not installed yet.

-The wiring harness and motor came from the donor car at the local subaru wreckers and was re-wired by Rocky Mountain.  They did a great job and everything worked the first time.

-The motor (SOHC 2.5) was from a 2001 Subaru Legacy GT was to be "reconditioned" with new head gaskets, timing belt and water pump.  More on that later.

-The transaxle came from a local wrecker who has lots of vanagons and I had it rebuilt and regeared from a local trans expert who specialized in VW transaxles. I changed 3rd gear to a 1.14 and 4th up to .77.

-The remaining parts of the puzzle came from GoWesty, VanCafe, RSFab (Big Shot Shifter), etc.

Subaru Conversion Kit from RMW

Here's some of the stumbling blocks I encountered along the way.

RAIN!  California had record rainfall this January and since my van doesn't fit in the garage, I was working on the side yard with a small carport that covers only half of the van. I used a large EZ up when possible to keep me dry.

COLD:  When it wasn't raining, we had some 30 degree mornings that slowed my bones a little.  I'm 47 years old and I don't move like I used to, so needless to say, the coldness took its toll. Thank goodness for my propane heater that puts out some serious BTUs.

I didn't originally plan on replacing all of the cooling system, but came to realize that the diesel had smaller diameter coolant lines, which then led to a replacement of the radiator as well.  Since you can't find replacement radiators for diesels too easily, I upgraded to a newer model and had to source the mounts from a newer van and fan shroud and order some new hoses in the process.  I also had to rewire the fan sensor on the radiator. Not difficult, just time consuming.

Getting the harness in was pretty easy, although getting tucked and placed properly took little time and patience.  I just had to solder a few wires, run a few others and connect a few things here and there.  Super concise instructions from Rocky Mountain Westy and it all went pretty smoothly. They had awesome turnaround on the harness by getting it back to me in about 2-3 weeks.

My shift linkage would not work with the new trans and so I then had to source a whole linkage set up from a donor and replace all that as well, then replace shift balls on the trans, etc.

figuring out the wiring harness

I opted to use a Bosch starter from a VW TDI Golf and an adapter plate that I purchased from Rocky Mountain.  This starter has more torque and turns the engine over quicker than the stock vanagon starter.  I sourced the starter from a local wrecker with a warranty.

Once the harness was in and the motor/trans were mated, it was time to install.

The install went pretty well.  We busted that out in about 4 hours (3 of us) and it lined up pretty good and solid with only minor mods to the van itself so that the carrier bar would fit nice and perfect on the frame rails.  The rest of the connections took time and a few more parts orders.

Mounted up in the van

fellow Subie-Vanagon friends helping with the install

Once I got everything plumbed with new stainless coolant lines and heater hose I had to get all the electrical connected and secured. Then it was on to shift linkage, accelerator cable, brake booster lines installed and the fuel system to include the evac canister, fuel pump/filter and the tank.  Pretty straightforward, but time consuming work. I also had to locate and source a few sensors because I neglected to get them from the donor car, but pretty easy to find at the local wreckers.

Stainless Steel Coolant lines

Diesel vans don't have typical fuel systems, so I had to install a fuel pump and filter as well as a charcoal evac canister and flush my tank completely (more on that later).

Then I had to add on the RMW exhaust system (extremely sexy parts btw) and get my battery connected up.  I moved the battery from the engine bay to under the back seat.  Pretty simple process, just time consuming.  I plan on adding an auxiliary battery and solar panel later as well.

laying out the exhaust parts

Exhaust Installed

Battery and ECU under the rear bench

Intake/Air Filter

I spent one evening trying to get my shift linkage dialed in with the new Big Shot Shifter from RSFab, but come to find out my shift ball on the trans was shot, so it was back to the web and more parts orders.

Big Shot Shifter from RSFab

bad ball

I also completely disassembled my axles and CV's in the process and ordered new Lobros after realizing mine were shot.  I put on Rockford boots in the process and packed everything with Redline grease.

Realization of everything being toast

New Lobro CVs and Rockford boots ready to go.

Trans/Axles/Linkage

After the axles were in and torqued to spec, I had to solder in a resistor to my coolant gauge so that it would read correctly.  I used a 33hm resistor, however I think I might switch to a 22ohm since now it reads a little on the cool side when temps are at normal range.   I didn't add a tachometer, but instead ordered a OBD2 bluetooth dongle and an app for my iPhone that shows all the engine's vitals.  The app (Dashcommand) and the the Bluetooth dongle I'm using is the GoPoint BT1 for Apple and it works great. I just need to get in there and fine tune the readout to that it's pertinent to my needs.  You can also download various other dash layouts from certain cars. I have an old iPhone that I plan to leave in the van for this purpose.

DashCommand App

So, after everything was installed and ready, I filled all my fluids, primed the oil pump and fuel pump, and gave it a few cranks.  Turned over fine, but no fuel delivery.  The fuel pump that I had was used, but working fine when I bench-tested it.  Once I installed it however, it decided to crap out.  So, my friend brought over his spare and we installed in within a few minutes the motor fired right up and purred like a kitten.

We spent about an hour on getting the cooling system bled and then called it a night and everything seemed groovy, no drips or anything.

The next day, when I fired it up, I noticed a small drip of coolant from underneath that progressed throughout the day.

coolant leak coming from the water pump

After a little inspection, we concluded that the water pump was leaking through the weep hole and that the pump had not been replaced as part of the original agreement with the wreckers.

So, then after sulking a little and talking with the wreckers on how to remedy the situation, I decided to continue the rest dialed in until I can replace the water pump. The wreckers offered to do the water pump install for me, but I'm a little hesitant after installing all my custom exhaust around the timing cover.  I'm just afraid that they'll hack it up or something.

So,  I got the van ready to test drive and pulled it out onto the street.  We went for a ride around the block and it seemed to really want to go with plenty of smooth power, until I hit 2nd gear and the motor bogged down. Fuel delivery problems again.

After a little inspection of the pump and filter, I realized that my tank, originally a diesel tank, had some good gunk in the bottom that was now breaking up with the gas that had been sitting in there for a few days at this point.  Even though I rinsed it out the best I could with fresh gas a few weeks ago, the crud wasn't letting loose until the new gas had time to eat away at it.  

So, now I plan on putting in a new tank instead of messing with the old one any longer.  However, I'm scheduled to go back to work in a few days for a 30-40 day hitch and am not going to spend any more time on the van until I return.

We had planned on taking the van down to a Vanagon meet-up in San Francisco this weekend called "Burning Van", but its not ready and we'll be attending the event with some friends in their van instead.

Once I return home and can work out the kinks, "Ferdinand" will be an awesome little runner and weekend adventure vehicle.  For now, he's just a side-yard dust collector with really nice parts underneath. 

Subaru Conversion: Day 1

I figured I'd log some recaps on my progress, mostly to remind myself what I've accomplished each during during the Subie conversion.

A brief back history.

I picked up "Ferdinand" in June and he's an 82' Diesel Vanagon camper.  I wanted a diesel so that I don't have to deal with smog and can go down whatever road I'd like with regards to motor conversion.  After getting him running and driving, I soon realized how slow and underpowered the diesel 1.6L engine really is.  After much discussion with my travel partner (my wife), we agreed that Ferdinand needs a new power plant.

2 months ago, we figured out the financial part of it and began getting our heads around what it will take to convert the van to something a bit more modern.  I researched 1.8t, TDI, M-TDI, Subaru and even upgraded VW waterboxxer motors, but settled on the Subaru 2.5.

I have 3 good vanagon friends, all with Subaru conversions, so the support is strong.

So, last month, I put a deposit down on an engine, to be be reconditioned with new head gaskets, timing belt/water pump/etc.  Then I found a transaxle (stock diesel trans won't work... geared too low and slightly different).  Then started to research conversion kits.

I chose Rocky Mountain Westy for my conversion parts because their product looks amazing and they were the only company that went above and beyond to answer many questions via phone, email and Facebook.  Taking on a task like this is daunting, and I wanted to work with a product that has good support to follow, and they've kept up their reputation quite well.

I'm home and off work for the entire month of January, so it's game on!

So, today... I took delivery of my motor and rebuilt/re-geared transaxle.  The conversion parts arrived last week and my wiring harness is on its way.

Being that this is a diesel van, I have to take things a bit farther and swap out the entire cooling system because the coolant lines on a diesel are smaller, as are the radiator connections.  I also have to add a fuel pump, charcoal canister and a few other things.

I only managed to install the reversed coolant manifold and the motor mounts today after getting the engine home and into the garage and on the engine stand.  Everything takes time and the weather outside is nasty, so I haven't even dove into the van itself yet.  I'll write more about the process as I go for those that might be looking to do the same.

Engine Upgrades

Well, Ferdinand has come a long way since June and he's working well.  I've managed to take him from being a shell in a field, to a fully running and (mostly) functioning Westy, albeit slow Westy.

The 1.6l diesel engine is a great little motor and I'm all about diesel, but VW didn't factor in the importance of "time" when they made this motor.  I enjoy driving it, and getting 30mpg, but it sure takes a great deal of time to get anywhere.  Just a few weeks ago, I had my son time us from a traffic meter on an onramp to see how long it would take to get up to 60mph.  1 minute, 20 seconds!  Amazingly slow.

Our intentions for this van from day 1, was to get him all working, driving and then slowly move towards a motor upgrade.  I've been researching since June on what will work/not work, the costs, the "time", longevity, ease of work involved, etc.

A few weeks ago,  came to the conclusion that the best route for us at this point in time, is to do a Subaru 2.5 swap into Ferdinand.  Then, as it happens, we did some car swapping and ended up being able to afford to take on the conversion project a little sooner that I'd anticipated.  So, I've nailed down all the details on the motor, the conversion, the transaxle and the when, why and how it will all come together.

The Motor:
I'm going with a 2.5 naturally aspirated SOHC motor from 2000-2004 and having it fully rebuilt here locally with new pistons, polished crank, etc... a full rebuild kit.

The Parts:
After talking in great detail with many people who have done this conversion, and endless emails and Facebook posts with manufacturers of various products, I've concluded that though all of the conversion kits/parts have their pros/cons, that I'm sold on the Rocky Mountain Westy package.   I really like to attention to detail on the parts and their service has been amazing.  I'm also very fond of the fact that their focus is mostly geared towards creating awesome products for the VW Vanagon.  Mike, Mark and Joe have been very helpful and easy to work with.  My parts kit will be ordered up within a few weeks and they should have my wiring harness in their hands around the same time.

The Transaxle:
I was originally going to pick up a gasser transaxle (diesel trans won't work easily with Subie) and get it rebuilt and re-geared before installation.   After much discussion about gear ratios, ring and pinion, tire sizes, RPM's, etc, I think I'm going to go ahead and install the stock gasser trans with the Subie, drive it a bit, settle in on a tire size and then re-gear accordingly.  Yes, I'll have to pull the trans again, but I think this is a better approach.  The 2.5 is definitely going to need a higher 4th and probably 3rd, but I may swap some tires around and don't want to commit to a certain ratio just yet.

Timeframe:
I have to leave for a work trip and won't be back until around Christmas, so my plan is to get everything lined up and begin the "production" right after Christmas and into January.  I hope to get it all dialed in before Spring rolls around so that we (my wife, kids) can get in some good road trips this summer.

Obstacles:
Being that I have diesel, there are a few things that need to get addressed.
1. The lack of a fuel pump... going to have to add one.
2. I need larger coolant lines as the diesel uses 1.5" lines and I'll probably swap out the radiator at that time.
3. Battery is in the engine compartment and I might try and leave it there if it doesn't hinder the motor.
4. Need to install a charcoal canister and vent the fuel lines into it.  Diesel tanks just vent under the body.

Little piddly stuff that just needs to get addressed, but all in all, it should go well.  I have 3 good friends, all with Subie 2.2 conversions who know the trials and tribulations of conversions, so I think I'm in good hands.

Definitely looking forward to having some power.  The stock diesel puts out about 55hp and the upgrade to 2.5 triples that, which means I'll also want to address the brakes and make sure I can stop all that mass.

I know that I'll probably get booted from the Vanagon-Diesel group once they read this, but a TDI build just isn't in the cards for us right now, especially since all my Van friends that are helping, drive Subie powered rigs.

Keep your eyes peeled for the process in a month or so and feel free to add comments below.

Cabinet Mods

When I had my Westy Weekender, I loved the full width rear seat.  You could prop a pillow up and sit sideways at the table... It was cozy and comfy.  Now, I love my full camper, but the extra cabinets do hinder the comfort factor slightly, unless you're willing to operate a saw and get all mad scientist on it the way I did.

I had seen a few vans where they chopped the cabinet down (the one aft of the cooking cabinet and next to the seat) in order to add more chillaxin lounge space, and I liked it. So, I pulled that cabinet out, took some measurements and went to town.

I had planned on decreasing the water tank size anyhow, so removing it wasn't a problem for me.  I'll be adding a 4-5 gallon fresh water tank under the sink pretty soon.

Originally I was going to just chop it down and re-use the top, but the way it's made, doesn't allow for east deconstruction and re-contruction, so I just picked up some 3/8" Birch and made a whole new top, keeping just one access port/cubby on the backside.  The lower access on the front side, is plenty for what I need to store.

In the back cubby, I cut out some birch and lined the inside nicely.  I may end up raising the floor in that cubby and creating a hidden compartment for valuables at some point.

When re-upholster the seats/cushions, I'm going to have a small pad made for new bench area that matches and then keep a few pillows in there that will double as our sleeping pillows.

I also made sure to buy enough birch to lay down a new floor and did that at the same time.

Future cabinet plans include converting the rear cabinet to be about 4-5" thinner in an attempt to have more shoulder room.  I'll be staining and sealing the wood (floor too) as well to protect from spills/stains.

Braking Me Bad

Ever since I picked up Ferdinand a few months back, his brakes have been an issue.  I first tackled the rear drums because I had a leaking wheel cylinder and I purchased all new parts (wheel cylinders, shoes and hardware/springs).  It helped a little, but there was more going on beside just worn rear components.  The drums were smooth, so I didn't have them machined.

The front pads looked near new and there were no leaks, so I skipped over those and dove into the dash to take a look around at the hydraulic system.

If you are new to Vanagons, you'll soon realized that the master cylinder, brake booster and fill reservoir are underneath the instrument console.  You simply pop off the console to fill your brake fluid.  It's kinda weird pouring fluid into your dash between the speedo and the clock, but it works.

Upon inspection of the booster and MC (master cylinder), I noticed a fair amount of rust underneath the MC and what appeared to be brake fluid leaking slowly from the booster so, I began researching parts, namely the brake booster itself.

My braking symptoms seemed more booster related because the brakes would work great on the first press of the pedal, and then they would be full manual (no power) on the 2 press of the pedal, so I assumed at this point that the booster was bad or that I had a vacuum line leaking air somewhere.

I checked my check valve in the engine compartment and it seemed fine as well as the line leading all the way forward to the booster.  So, I picked up a "newer" booster from my Vanagon parts friend and began tearing apart the dash.

You can upgrade your stock booster to that from a BMW (E30 booster), but it requires a little adaptation that I didn't want to mess with right now.  That and having a bigger booster on a 35 year old braking system seemed like trouble waiting to happen.  I might eventually go that route, but I'll want to upgrade other components before I do so.

The stock booster is big and hard to remove. You have to pretty much disassemble the drivers side of the dash to get at it.  After removing the steering wheel, steering column, upper console, master cylinder and the 2 dash supports, I was able to squeak it out of there.  It's a pain and I don't recommend it for the non-mechanical person.  In the process, I also pulled the clutch master and checked it over for leaks as well, tried to clean up the seals in the process.

After getting the booster out, I did everything in reverse putting in the newer one, starting with the pedal assembly and clutch master, then the booster, followed by the MC, all of it's lines plugs and dash supports. I then re-assembed the steering column and steering wheel.

I then had to re-bleed the system because I had taken the clutch master off the pedal assembly to get the booster free.  In retrospect, I shouldn't have done that because it added a great deal of extra time because of the bleed job, but it seemed like the only way to get the pedal assembly and booster out of the dash.

The clutch bleeding didn't go well and I ended up hitting up Harbor Freight to get a pressure bleeder which helped a great deal.  Best $30 I've ever spent.  The problem was because I didn't bench bleed the clutch master before re-installing, but the pressure bleeder took care of that.

All said and done, the brakes were "better", but still fading on the boost after the first press of the pedal.  I was bummed.   I went back online and did some research and decided that the MC was bad and ended up ordering a new one from Van Cafe (because I can get stuff overnight from them PLUS a chocolate chip cookie!) and planned to swap out the MC the next day.

Today, I dove into it, bench bled the MC and installed it without a hitch.  I then bled the entire system and voila! brakes are feeling awesome.  I'm pretty sure the MC was the culprit all along, but my booster was looking pretty bad as well and it was probably just a matter of time before it gave up the good fight.

The best part of the day, happened while I was under the engine bleeding my rear brakes and decided to investigate my ongoing oil leak a little further.  upon inspection, I found that the oil was leaking from a bolt hole in the block that was somehow missing its bolt.  Not sure why or where, but I found a bolt, filled the hole and my oil leak is gone.  bam!  Happy camper... literally.

Took him out into traffic (something I've been afraid to do until now) this evening and hit up Trader Joes, but not without admiring him the evening sun.

Headlight Superbright! LED upgrade

Lights... we need them and the brighter the better.  I've always been in search of brighter lighting options by adding driving lights, fog lights, LED's etc., in an attempt to see better and make older vehicles a bit more modern.

My '82 Diesel had original 7" lights with stock grill and I wanted to upgrade the lights without changing the look of the front end.  Many folks opt for the SA grill swap these days, but for some reason, I'm partial to the original stock grill.

In search of brighter headlamp options, I ran across VintageCarLED's and was sold on the idea of going with LED's on "Ferdinand" the van.  On previous vans, I ran the H4's and was happy with the output, but they had a pretty large voltage draw and would get pretty hot when sitting for too long.

So, after exchanging a few messages back and forth with Thomas at VintagecarLED, I ordered up a pair of VC3500 Classic's that are rated at 3500 Lumens.  

Once they arrived, I was impressed right off with the quality of the product right out of the box.

Easy installation and it only took about 10 minutes start to finish.

Here are the comparison pics in my driveway.

My iPhone camera doesn't do it justice, but the lights are amazingly bright and crisp.

Before and after of the lights in the grill. Huge difference!

VC3500 Specs from their website:
Wattage: 25W
Voltage: DC 12V – 24V
Flux: 3500Lm
Lifespan: 30,000 Run Hours
Color: 6500Kelvin (Pure White)
Operating Temperature: -40F to 180F

Great simple upgrade and I highly recommend these lights or any other models that they offer.

VintagecarLED.com

Stock Bumper Facelift

I will eventually replace my front bumper with something a bike more substantial. The one that came with the van was slightly bent, the rub strip was missing and the chrome was looking a bit tarnished.

 So, I decided to throw a little black satin paint on it and call it good.

However, I decided that I wanted to make it different.   My original thought was to put stainless carriage bolts across the front to give it somewhat of a riveted industrial look, but there's not a great deal of space behind it for a nut. So I removed all the bolts that hold the rub strip on and bought small black plastic plugs to fill the holes.  

After that, I added some grip tape strips to the top so I don't slip off when climbing up to check the cargo space.

Simple quick hack.