Jake Raby Subaru meets Beck Speedster

Back in 1996 when everyone was using a VW engine in their tube frame sand rails, I decided to build and install a 2.2 liter Subaru engine.   Sand SPorts Magazine did a 4 page spread because it was a novelty.     I ported and polished the heads, installed oversize exhaust valves, had the cams reground to add overlap, installed JE pistons and 50 lb injectors using my home made fuel rails.   I added a Turbo from a GMC Syclone and on the dyno it produced about 375 HP...  "Cant remember the torque"  About 10 years ago, I broke the engine case when my frame busted.  At that time I installed a 2.5 with STI rods, JE pistons and kept the same single cam heads.   On the dyno it produced just a bit more than the 2.2  but torque improved substantially.    The biggest single expense was the ECU and I can't remember which unit I used back then.  Since that time, I have changed ECU's and I'm now using a Red Line ECU.  Power is still the same on pump gas and after 10+ years on this engine, it still runs STRONG and the only maintenance has been changing the fuel filter, the cam belt and of course oil and filter changes.

 

It doesn't take much money to get a strong and reliable Subaru engine and of course if it's not turbo charged the cost is much less.     My friend has a 2.5 with double overhead cams, a turbo and racing fuel and he's producing almost 500 HP.  

 

In addition, 10 miles in the sand is probably equal to 200 miles on the road and I go to the dunes 4 to 5 times a year and I'm there for 10 days at a time.  When I'm there, we usually drive 50 to 60 miles per day.  That should show you the reliability factor that these little engines can deliver.    

 

Another friend has a slightly modified 2.5 Subaru engine that he purchased for $600.00.  He ported and polished  the heads, added forged pistons and a T3 turbo.   His car will go anywhere my car will go and has tons of power.   All summed up, he has about $4,000 in his engine.   By the way, he beats up that engine the same as we do and it's still running hard and strong.

 

In conclusion.   A stone stock Subaru engine will propel your car WAY faster than your reflexes can compensate for the car going squirley.   They are an amazing little engine.

A fight in an empty room ...I always enjoyed that line...even in the dark?

Thats pretty much a reality for that particular engine and the fact that you didn't have a core, etc, etc. I have not had a lead time of less than 6 months since 1999. No clocks in our works areas = it takes as long as it takes. No compromises are made for cost or delivery times.

 

Larry, I installed a Suby engine into a VW sandrail in a parking lot of the Marine Corp barracks in Tustin California in June of 1994.

Yeah, George just talked about them... I did learn a lot from him though. I kinda snuck in here near his end, missed his car in 2004 and 2005 Carlisle, and I showed up the first year he wasn't there in 2006.

 

Jake, I continue to be happy with my type1, 27,500 miles on it now. Drove it today and going back out in a bit. I think I had a 6 month lead time 11 years ago, delivered on time and on budget. Thank you! Of course it lost the distributor and seems to be very ok with that, still purring along. 

Danny, You've been a great Raby engine owner! Few people log 27K trouble free miles on a T1 based engine producing that level of performance :-)

 

I've always said that the day that we don't have a 6 month + lead time I will take a month off, I don't see that happening any time soon. Now with three divisions working with vintage VW and Porsche, modenr Porsche (up to 2013 DFI engines) and of course the Subys, I don't think it'll ever happen :-) The modern Porsche side is booked for 13 months at the present.

Hey, all I do is change the oil and adjust the valves, and occasionally tweak the idle mixture. Friggin reliable as HELL! I think I will change the plugs this spring. Really Jake, thanks. She seems to love 6000 rpm shifts!

 

At this rate, I may be pushing it up to about 40K before she gets a rebuild.

In the mid 1990s someone talked Chuck into installing a little 90hp Subaru motor into a Spyder.  The added weight, added work and lack of power was an immediate turn off to Chuck and that was the beginning and end of his Suby interest.  It was also at that time that the watercooled Spyder project was taking shape and it wound up being developed around the Audi/VW I4 1.8 and 2.0

Fortunately one of my local clients talked me into installing an EJ25 into his spyder some 10 years later...

Danny, I'm already pushing 40k, and I don't see a rebuild for years.  I know, I know, you have a lot more power.  Still, with the exception of periodic Weber issues, it's been a solid, reliable engine.

 

That said, if I do this again, I think I like what I'm hearing about Suby power.

Lane, I'm in the same mindset as you.  I will be crawling all over Rahn's car at Carlisle.

Please send photos and videos of that engine.

I put an ej22 ( should I now call it DS22 with my mods ?) :-) in an older IM recently.

The 22 is narrower than the 25 and fit between my 29" frame rails. This measurement info is for Todd in Fla who asked if a Soob would fit in a Vintage. Sorry for any confusion....

I really liked George. I never got to meet him in person  he was a strong type one advocate,, like me.. But getting good quality parts is a problem now it's all china krap..  you may go threw a dozen parts to find a good one.. worse than a lottery.. It's enough to make me want to go hydrogen electric.

 

I don't play the lottery and certainly will not with engine components. Once I realized that developing a Japanese engine with American parts for a German car was better than assembling a German engine filled Japanese parts things started to make sense.

 

The suby market is strong enough and wide spread enough to accommodate truly developed components. The market is growing instead of dying and one day when all of us have to meet emissions the chances of doing so will be much greater with the Suby foundation, so as always, its about seeing the future and taking advantage of it.

 

I LOVE aircooled engines and drive one everyday. I HATE junk, won't use it, won't sell it, but I LOVE blowing it up.

Finally took delivery last Friday at Carlisle.  Carey handed me the keys with car having only 43 miles on it.  Over the weekend we drove it more than 160 miles through the twisty roads and hills around around Carlisle Pennsylvania. The car and Raby Engine performed flawlessly.  Can't say enough about the sound and feel.  While parked in the infield I may have worn out the latch to open the engine compartment as all admired how well the Suby engine looked and fit into the engine compartment.  Carey asked to take it back to Bremen as even though the car performed well he prefers doing thorough sorting of his own. am looking forward to when it arrives in Florida.

 

Tom,

Thats very good to hear! Carey and I were communicating over the weekend quite often.

 

I've already received two inquiries about engines this morning that were spawned by the show. Its hard for people to understand what we have created, and how much different it is until they experience it first hand.

 

I was away instructing my Porsche engine school in New York this weekend; but that didn't stop me from hearing about the car... One of my attendees works at a shop near Philadelphia and his boss sent him a picture of the car saying "Raby powered" and he shared it with the class :-)

 

So glad that you are pleased and so glad that the character I have given the engine helps it stand out above all others enough to be noted by onlookers :-) 

Sandy and I had a pleasure meeting you and Jamie this past weekend.  I agree your Raby engine looked and sounded very nice.

Yup, it certainly is a beautiful car.  I gotta admit to having a slightly greenish tinge.

to give it that little extra (thanks to an idea from Tom B.) we had Chuck Beck and Carey Hines sign it under the hood.......all I need now is Jake Raby to sign the engine and we'll display it at the Louvre

....and I thought Jack Lew's signature was bad! 

You haven't seen mine.. 

a quick update....my JR Suby Beck finally arrived in FL last Friday by covered truck.  Unfortunately it seems that the driver decided to move the cars around at some stage of his deliveries and chose to pull my speedster back onto the truck while the car was still in gear.  As a result the motor jumped timing (4 notches) on the belt.   We took it to the best VW mechanic in Ft. Lauderdale.  He knew J. Raby well and respected his type I and type IV builds having worked on them often.  After readjusting the belt back he drove it and he commented how smooth and scary fast this car/engine was.  Although I have 4 wheel disc brakes, this experienced mechanic warned me several times that this engine may be to powerful and fast for the old time disc brakes.  I now have her home and ready to finally drive.  Am looking forward to the long 4th of July weekend

Enjoy the car Tom! From what Carey and everyone says, sounds like an amazing car!! I should have my 550 from Carey in the next several weeks too.

 

Cheers,

Anand

Anand....I've been flwg your posts and am also waiting to hear from you after you get to drive your new Beck Spyder.   If I recall, your looking at about 210 HP on your engine....believe me that will get you going fast very quickly.

Hey Tom! 

Unfortunately I have a real sickness, which I am going to blame on Carey Hines ...I've got two cars at his shop!

 

My real 356 is going to be 210 hp with a 911 4 cylinder, and my 550 (almost done) has a CB 2165. Now that I've seen your Suby, however, I just might have to get one someday! Love the way yours sounds -- it is just gorgeous. Hats off to Jake Raby -- what a master.

Yup-like a Polo. Except my motor was made by Chuck Beck! He did the 911 4 cylinder before Dean did.

 

I'll post photos of it when it is all done!

 

Anand

 

Any updates along the way would be welcome Anand. Sooooooooo cool.

here are some photos of the JR Suby engine and the front radiator as designed by Carey Hines & Co.       Lots of rain in South Florida which has limited my first weekend to drive the car. 

Tom, My baby looks a lot different than it did in the dyno cell!

Great job to Carey's crew for bringing it all together in superior style!

That engine sure looks like a nice install. Any chance you could post pics of the rad intake from under or in front ? Do those fans push down or pull air up ? Thanks.

David...will get those pics next chance I get

JR .....she runs strong and smooth plus sounds great

Primo!  Congrats, Tom ---you are going to love everything about that fine ride!

David Stroud....here are the pictures.  Note that Carey placed and painted a protective steel mesh over the radiator...top and bottom

Finally had a chance to take a nice long drive this AM before we get the usual afternoon rains here in Florida.  Drove it fast and hard on freeways and some twisting roads (which are few in Florida).   Also tried to test the steering and braking limits in a large empty parking lot very early this AM.  The car runs great and I now certainly have a lot more confidence.  However, to be honest there are a few things that need to be changed, improved or just plain getting used to.   First the shifter; I have a vintage shifter which on the positive side has a very nice short throw and is perfectly positioned for my seating position.  On the negative side, it does not enter the gears smoothly at all.  In fact at times it just does not want to go into first and I have to start off in second.  Finding reverse can also be a challenge.  This is definitely not a shifter on which I have confidence to teach my daughter how to drive a manual.  I'm hoping that in time the shifter loosens up otherwise I will have to replace.  The transaxel is a 4 speed race prepared type 1 VW and built/geared by Phoenix with Subaru gear ratios.  It feels strong although it's very noisy with a scraping sound.  Especially in nuetral while idling at a stop light.....very annoying.  The noise competes with that beautiful growl from the engine.  Not sure how to approach this.  I may stop by the local VW expert....McNabb Foreign Imports....and ask for some recommendations.   I'm glad that I have disc brakes all around.  They stop fine although could be better.   In the future I may well look to have larger and better designed disks....safety issue....   Lastly is the steering,  I do wish the car had rack and pinion.  Yes....a steering box its part of 50's history and I am used to it....however at 60 + mph the steering gets a little hairy.......at 90 + mph it's down right scary.   Also,  I like downshifting and accelerating through tight corners which calls for one hand on the wheel and one on the shifter.....again a safety issue.  Do not get me wrong, overall the car is great and I am extremely happy with Carey's and Jake's work.    I am having an absolute blast driving it.....rain please stay away...  

Tom,
Sounds like you have a few teething issues to deal with, not uncommon for a new build.

I have been on the Florida west coast this week and the rain has been hell. On Monday I was caught in a huge storm while fishing on the Caloosahatchee River. 70 mph winds, lightning popping all around and I was 5 miles from anything, so I just say on the river bank and hoped for the best.

VW shifters can make or break a car and most suck. Over time I have went back to the stock VW shifter in all my cars.

You might find altered alignment settings to help with the high speed driving.

Glad you are having fun with it.

Tom, the CSP shifter does not look as period correct as a Vintage Speed but it is probably the best VW shifter outside of a berg.  I drove the Tail of the Dragon in 2008 with the CSP shifter and it ran flawlessly through the VW gearbox.  That said, probably makes sense to try to get yours adjusted before you change it.

Yes, although the shifter can take the fun out of driving....somehow Im still loving the drive.    Actually Carey gave me the choice of having the CSP and I opted for the Vintage mostly because of the "look".  I already tried to have it adjusted once with little luck.   I'm going to give it a little more time and probably just go to stock VW shifter as Jake suggested.   Otherwise...I have been pushing the car very very hard on some private roads to find any quirks and overall she performs beautifully.  

If it is anything like mine it just takes patience and little movements to adjust...once it's perfect it's great!

Tom, I had the stock shifter & moved to CSP.  I had trouble adjusting it until Cory gave me a tip.  It's held in with two bolts.  Put it in neutral, pull out the shifter and make sure you install it where neutral wants to be.  If you get neutral right, the rest of the gears will be right. 

My issues were with the clutch.  I switched from cable to hydraulic and still had to dial it in. 

If you can find the gears with the engine off, you might have a clutch adjustment issue.

The CSP shifters are nicely built, but I didn't care for them in daily driving in Beth's car. She had one of them for a few months and swapped it to a stock VW with a reduced throw kit and haven't looked back. That was 5 years ago.

 

I agree that you may have a clutch issue especially if you have a noise while sitting still and the gears are hard to match. Trannys are not loud she sitting still, generally. Does the noise come and go with clutch engagement/ disengagement?