subi engine swap

1
after blowing another head gasket i'm seriously considering a subi 2.5
engine swap.i've been looking at some of the u.s vendors of these
conversions ,the main one being www.smallcar.com ,and i'm becoming more
and more convinced that these sorts of swaps not only possible but also
very practical.is there anyone that can offer any hints/ advice on subi
conversions.is there anyone who's undertaken this swap on their own
van?
any comments ,positive or negative re the swap, would be helpful.thank
you Eddie Bergodaz.
2
Eddie,
 
There are several group members who have installed the 2.5 engine with very good results.  I am sure that will pick up on this message and get back to you.
 
There is a wealth of knowledge to be had on the Subaruvanagon Yahoo group site in the US.  If you aren't already a member, get on to it.  Your existing Syncro_T3_Australia membership will carry through to this US group.
 
Les
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: bergodaz
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 11:27 AM
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] subi engine swap

after blowing another head gasket i'm seriously considering a subi 2.5
engine swap.i've been looking at some of the u.s vendors of these
conversions ,the main one being www.smallcar. com ,and i'm becoming more
and more convinced that these sorts of swaps not only possible but also
very practical.is there anyone that can offer any hints/ advice on subi
conversions. is there anyone who's undertaken this swap on their own
van?
any comments ,positive or negative re the swap, would be helpful.thank
you Eddie Bergodaz.

3
I'm on my second subi - a 2.5 from an outback - and can recommend the Bangma brothers at Wolfsburg Motors in St Peters (Sydney) if you want to pay the man (at the time years ago roughly double replacing with standard engine) and have sportier fantasies for your capacious go anywhere beast. Drives beautifully - more power and speed but also a bit thirstier (I get about 8kms/L on trips). They did their own and I think have done a dozen since. Mine was one of the first and took ages to get the right engine and matching harness etc while building coupling plate or something (I'm not very technical so no tips I'm afraid) but smoother now i believe. Main issue is the sump hangs a bit too low and I crunched the first one on a rocky steep dirt track having dragged it in sand on Fraser - but that was its first major outing which also saw 165kph and still pulling away though i've not pushed it since. They added a bash plate that does the trick on the sump.
I noticed somewhere on web that you can fiddle to get a smaller sump but suspect that has other issues and doesn't tempt me. I plan pay up for you beaut American starter motor they've since found that fits as the older VW originals can struggle and I will switch when current one goes as its been my major source of grief.

Do it!

Nigel

Nigel


--- On Sun, 6/29/08, Les Harris <leslieharris@optushome.com.au> wrote:

> From: Les Harris <leslieharris@optushome.com.au>
> Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] subi engine swap
> To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Sunday, June 29, 2008, 10:28 PM
> Eddie,
>
> There are several group members who have installed the 2.5
> engine with very good results. I am sure that will pick up
> on this message and get back to you.
>
> There is a wealth of knowledge to be had on the
> Subaruvanagon Yahoo group site in the US. If you
> aren't already a member, get on to it. Your existing
> Syncro_T3_Australia membership will carry through to this
> US group.
>
> Les
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: bergodaz
> To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 11:27 AM
> Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] subi engine swap
>
>
> after blowing another head gasket i'm seriously
> considering a subi 2.5
> engine swap.i've been looking at some of the u.s
> vendors of these
> conversions ,the main one being www.smallcar.com ,and
> i'm becoming more
> and more convinced that these sorts of swaps not only
> possible but also
> very practical.is there anyone that can offer any hints/
> advice on subi
> conversions.is there anyone who's undertaken this
> swap on their own
> van?
> any comments ,positive or negative re the swap, would be
> helpful.thank
> you Eddie Bergodaz.
4
Eddy,

It probably depends on where you are to do the fitting or if you use
the SmallCar systems you can probably do it yourself - they even now
have drastically shortened and proven sumps I believe - well at least
for the 2.2L and the 3.3L.

Note - Dont shorten the sump yourself as they are full of specially
designed baffles and have the oil capacity as required to keep the
engine happy. The aftermarket shortened sumps have equivalent volume
and have new specially designed baffles.

I believe that Custom VW in Queensland have a shortened sump
systemand they also do the conversion.

Andy has done this conversion in the last few years and he is in
South Oz if that helps.

If you want the same (or similar) economy you will need to replace
the gear ratios otherwise they all will use more fuel.

The trade off is excellent power and reliability - something the VW
motor could not provide in my opinion.

I have also heard the 2.2L is quite underpowered for the heavy syncro
so the 2.5, 3.0 or 3.3L engines are the ideal.

The 3.3L SVX motor is an amazing piece of machinery and you can get
every part required for the swap via Smallcar in the US including the
wiring harness (the hard part). This engine even has twin knock
sensors and will adjust itself to suit certain problems it may face.

I have calculated a cost of an SVX swap in mine and I am looking at
approximately $8K - $9K after I do the timing belts and other minor
essentials.

There are quite a few forums around for people doing this sort of
thing - just google and go.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Scott


--- In Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com, "bergodaz" <bergodaz@...>
wrote:
>
> after blowing another head gasket i'm seriously considering a subi
2.5
> engine swap.i've been looking at some of the u.s vendors of these
> conversions ,the main one being www.smallcar.com ,and i'm becoming
more
> and more convinced that these sorts of swaps not only possible but
also
> very practical.is there anyone that can offer any hints/ advice on
subi
> conversions.is there anyone who's undertaken this swap on their own
> van?
> any comments ,positive or negative re the swap, would be
helpful.thank
> you Eddie Bergodaz.
>
5
I think that I might have already posted a reply on this. 
 
Yurik in Perth, Andy in Ceduna and Andy/Melissa have done the 2.5 conversion. 
 
Andy/Melissa are currently in North Queensland, touring back to Perth, but log on whenever they can get a signal.
 
All of these members would be able to give you first hand advice.
 
Les
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Scott
Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 1:56 PM
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Re: subi engine swap


Eddy,

It probably depends on where you are to do the fitting or if you use
the SmallCar systems you can probably do it yourself - they even now
have drastically shortened and proven sumps I believe - well at least
for the 2.2L and the 3.3L.

Note - Dont shorten the sump yourself as they are full of specially
designed baffles and have the oil capacity as required to keep the
engine happy. The aftermarket shortened sumps have equivalent volume
and have new specially designed baffles.

I believe that Custom VW in Queensland have a shortened sump
systemand they also do the conversion.

Andy has done this conversion in the last few years and he is in
South Oz if that helps.

If you want the same (or similar) economy you will need to replace
the gear ratios otherwise they all will use more fuel.

The trade off is excellent power and reliability - something the VW
motor could not provide in my opinion.

I have also heard the 2.2L is quite underpowered for the heavy syncro
so the 2.5, 3.0 or 3.3L engines are the ideal.

The 3.3L SVX motor is an amazing piece of machinery and you can get
every part required for the swap via Smallcar in the US including the
wiring harness (the hard part). This engine even has twin knock
sensors and will adjust itself to suit certain problems it may face.

I have calculated a cost of an SVX swap in mine and I am looking at
approximately $8K - $9K after I do the timing belts and other minor
essentials.

There are quite a few forums around for people doing this sort of
thing - just google and go.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Scott

--- In Syncro_T3_Australia @yahoogroups. com, "bergodaz" <bergodaz@.. .>
wrote:
>
> after blowing another head gasket i'm seriously considering a subi
2.5
> engine swap.i've been looking at some of the u.s vendors of these
> conversions ,the main one being www.smallcar. com ,and i'm becoming
more
> and more convinced that these sorts of swaps not only possible but
also
> very practical.is there anyone that can offer any hints/ advice on
subi
> conversions. is there anyone who's undertaken this swap on their own
> van?
> any comments ,positive or negative re the swap, would be
helpful.thank
> you Eddie Bergodaz.
>

6
Gidday Eddie,

my apologies for taking a while to reply to your letter.

As Les said, I converted our Syncro 2 1/2 years ago. And I still love it :-)
I think every one that does it is the same.
If you think you'd like your bus to have a Subaru powering it - you will!

Of course it is not for the purists and I am happy that there are plenty of folk who want to
keep their buses "au natural"


I used an rjes bellhousing ( www.rjes.com ) a Custom Off Road (COR) sump, and built most
of the other major parts myself. I used a Smallcar tacho and VSS.

I very much recommend Richard's parts (rjes) though purchasing in UK pounds is much
less attractive than purchasing in US$ of course. There are some photos of my conversion
on his website. Give my regards to Richard if you contact him.

A couple of things to remember: if you use a COR sump, you will not be able to fit a
Smallcar exhaust or engine mount, nor probably any other off the shelf parts though I
don't know what COR are making these days.

The photos of their engine mount (for a bay window van) I saw a couple of years ago
showed it far too low for a Syncro. Ditto for the rjes Syncro bar (in my opinion).

In many ways the Smallcar option will be the best for many people as it is virtually a 'one
stop shop' and I have always found Brian to be very helpful, and their parts usually arrive
within a week of placing an order.

Please feel free to pmail me with any questions, both before making a decision and after. I
will always answer them but sometimes my (very!) busy life will mean a not instant reply!

Cheers,

Andy.
Ceduna.
7

Hi Eddie,

 

Like Andy, I converted my Syncro 16” also using an rjes bellhousing. I used Smallcar headers and engine mount. This combination works well and accommodates the skid plate. The Syncro with the Subaru EJ25 is a pleasure to drive being so smooth and having more power which is needed for such a heavy camper. I did the conversion myself including shortening the sump and the electrical harness. So if you need any information, photos etc do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Regards

Yurik

 

 

 

From: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of raredownunder
Sent: Monday, 7 July 2008 8:23 PM
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Re: subi engine swap

 

Gidday Eddie,

my apologies for taking a while to reply to your letter.

As Les said, I converted our Syncro 2 1/2 years ago. And I still love it :-)
I think every one that does it is the same.
If you think you'd like your bus to have a Subaru powering it - you will!

Of course it is not for the purists and I am happy that there are plenty of folk who want to
keep their buses "au natural"

I used an rjes bellhousing ( www.rjes.com ) a Custom Off Road (COR) sump, and built most
of the other major parts myself. I used a Smallcar tacho and VSS.

I very much recommend Richard's parts (rjes) though purchasing in UK pounds is much
less attractive than purchasing in US$ of course. There are some photos of my conversion
on his website. Give my regards to Richard if you contact him.

A couple of things to remember: if you use a COR sump, you will not be able to fit a
Smallcar exhaust or engine mount, nor probably any other off the shelf parts though I
don't know what COR are making these days.

The photos of their engine mount (for a bay window van) I saw a couple of years ago
showed it far too low for a Syncro. Ditto for the rjes Syncro bar (in my opinion).

In many ways the Smallcar option will be the best for many people as it is virtually a 'one
stop shop' and I have always found Brian to be very helpful, and their parts usually arrive
within a week of placing an order.

Please feel free to pmail me with any questions, both before making a decision and after. I
will always answer them but sometimes my (very!) busy life will mean a not instant reply!

Cheers,

Andy.
Ceduna.