Subie Conversion

Tom--we don't see much activity re Speedsters in W Va (Same for here in AR)  I took my Speedster to Jak Raby in Cleveland, GA which is near Atlanta or my engine conversion.

I saw one of his Suby engines in a new Becl at Carlisle--looked great---sounded great too.

Good luck.

I read here that John at JPS has done them but that is far away.  I would hit the Vanagon conversion forums to find someone closer   

Make it part of the hobby over the Winter- DIY

http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=136053

Tom, I'll be interested in how this conversion goes.  Twice I've considered taking on a Subie conversion, but chickened out both times.

Tom,

I suggest that you try to get info from the Subaru tuning shops.  IAG in Baltimore may be the closest well-known shop near you.  Google Subi tuners in your area, or Subaru conversions, and branch out from there.  Lots of info on line.  There are some remarkably talented mechanics and fabricators in the Subi community that do conversions.  You just have to figure out your budget and how far you are willing to travel.  Best of luck, and please keep us all informed.   

Wolfgang, that's one of the best links to a Soob conversion site that I have seen. I still find the wiring nightmare intimidating too and it's so easy just to eliminate the electronics and stick on a carb and tunable electronic ignition from Megajolt.

This would scare the crap out of me.

Here's something... http://www.enginewiring.com/index.htm

Thanks Jim.  That will be my first stop.  Tom

Look on the bright side, at least that rats' nest is on the floor and not peeking out from behind the dash.

You can have someone make the rats next of wiring ready for use for about $600.

Google Tom Sheils.

Looks complicated to start, eh?

But what's actually happening when you want to run an engine? 12 volts, lots of amps to the starter. 12 v to the ignition. A wire to the voltage regulator/alternator. Two, maybe 3 other 12 v wires to the fuel pump and a couple sensors. Right?

Most of what's in that pile is wires to all the crap you don't have or need or want on a Speedster--power windows, power seats, power this and that, a cig lighter, various navigational aids, radios, automatic toilet flusher, bomb bay door actuators . . . all the heavy nonsense that makes every modern car weigh six soulless elephants in swaddling clothes. 

Toss the FI and carb it, just my .02

Ed, you forgot the ejection seat.

But Ed, getting that friggin' harness out of a donor car is no easy task apparently, THEN you've got to sort things out. Anyway, what Drclock says...carb the bugger for any easy DIY solution. Anyway, here's some pics. That's a dead simple Weber 32/36 in the center. Ford Escort solid state ignition via the Megajolt system. I did have some help during the conversion but she kept taking naps....

Oh...and by the way, in the second pic you'll see the Kennedy adapter package installed and ready to bolt up to the VW tranny. Just to the right and slightly lower you'll see a plug held in by two bolts. An early '80's Ford Escort distributor can bolt right in there...no mods needed.

Wow. That is very awesome about the disty. Some reason I thought you were crank fired.

My plan is to pull the harness and engine and see what's what. I believe I can get this thing to work as stock, with the addition of a speed sensor faker ($40?) & etc. Unlike you, I don't already have a 32/36 and VW manifold to cut up, nor a bunch of aluminum welding rods &* experience melting them. I'll go that way if/when Plan A craps out.

David, so your helper was responsible for your Carlisle absence, eh?

Giday, Ed. My ignition is a crank fired, Ford Escort solid state setup from the '90's with the Megajolt controller. I just added that second post to mention that the early '80's Ford Escort dizzy is an option too, driven off one camshaft. VW 32/36 manifolds are about $35 on the Samba and with a bit of cutting and fitting it will cost you less than $100 to farm out the welding to fit the Weber manifold to the Soob manifold.

No such event, Rich but she'd fit in the backseat if Francine didn't bring so many shoes.

David---sure missed seeing you and Francine at Carlisle.  This was a great event just as all of 'em are.

Thanks for that, Jack. You must have had a nice rip with Jim. The pics and Jim's vid showed what a good time you all had. Good on y'all. I misjudged my timing having the Speedster in storage at Francine's Father's place all winter and left too little time to prep for Carlisle. My friendly VW tech nearby said he couldn't get front brake parts on schedule like he promised, Danny Pip came up with my carb in good time but I didn't install it right away fearing for lost time possibly tuning it while while waiting for a quick call from the brake guy. The brake guy never came through and at the last minute the left axle boot let go in a big way and none were to be had locally. It just wasn't meant to be this time. I'm over it....not... :-)

Everyone can tune a Subie but no one has had a hands on experience with a complete conversion.  Still looking on the web.  Tom

Tom, I did a homegrown Soob ej22 conversion a year and a half ago. What specific info do you need?

holy advance batman

does it run on 42 degrees advance?

i think the most i am running is 23 on my T4 on MJ

(i don't know much about subi's)

Yes, that's under light load cruise conditions. A basic SVDA distributor will hit 42* under vacuum advance. You can see under high rpm or load his timing drops to the values you are expecting.

Is your T4 boosted? If it's not, I wouldn't think it's too happy with timing that low. I'd expect ~27-32* at WOT with an additional 10* under low load cruise.

not boosted.  i was wrong, i run up to 36 degrees at10 load @4800. 28 at 100 load @4800.

your BINs threw me off.  mine go from 500-6800 with a focus on the lower end

Yeah, that sounds a lot better than 23* max.

If it was dual plugged 23-24' would be just about right....

Done a few Subaru motors, now I'm doing Subaru motors and 5 speed transaxles....