Club 80-90 Forums

Hello,

Just wanted to pick peoples brains about having a Subaru conversion?

Hubby is keen to put one into our van and I'm not sure it's a good idea?

Thank you in advance

Budget £6k if ypu are paying someone to do the job and thats with a used engine!
Problem areas are: exhaust and sump.
Scarce supply of the former and the latter needs to be shortened otherwise it will risk damage from grounding. They are made from two layers of bean can steel in my exp.
The Subaru EJ series are now a classic engine in their own right, some sensors can be very expensive and they do seem to cook their engine looms in time.
Having g said that, a single-cam 2.2 is a punchy and durable engine if its been well maintained and they have few vices.

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Some years ago, a club 80-90 member took me for a spin in his Subaru converted T25 camper. It looked as though it belonged and the performance improvement was very impressive to say the least. I have thought about converting to a Subaru but in the end decided to have my 1.9DG rebuilt by Andrew at Campershack.

It would be nice to have a higher cruising speed but we have travelled all over the UK and France with the 1.9DG waterboxer without any problems. I am not sure how much the conversion would have increased my insurance or how it would affect the re-sale value. Being able to open up my Haynes Manual in the knowledge that it covered all aspects of the van was also a factor as well as being able to maintain it with stock standard parts.

I would rather have a Subaru than a Diesel and no doubt that the Subaru is a very nice engine. Hopefully you will get the thoughts of those who have Subaru engines.

There are companies that specialise in T25 Subaru conversions such as TSR engine conversions so worth googling for specialists as some are cheaper than others. The cheapest I found was £2500 for the 2.ltr .

Don't go to TSR for a Subaru conversion. Read the bad reviews they get to find out why !

I converted my Aircooled 81 westy back in 2015 & have not looked back.

I have probably lowered the resale value as I would think early Aircooled vans are getting more sought after but for me it wasn't about resale value it was about usability & reliability.

The van is transformed, it will cruise at 70mph fully loaded all day, hills are not a problem anymore & you don't have cars queuing up behind you trying to overtake.

I have the standard sump but have 17" wheels so the van sits quite high I have not grounded the sump.

I did the conversion myself with RJES components & a loom by SyncroAndy & it probably cost about £2K by the time I sold all I could from the donor Legacy I bought.

The exhaust was a big expense & ended up buying the Kenendy Engineering exhaust from the USA, which needs a bit of modification.

The only problem I have had is the DK gearbox gave up & had to be rebuilt, the extra power obviously contributed to this but I think the gearbox was a bit tired anyway.

We have done 3 European trips now & have covered over 5000 miles all of which have been great fun.

Agree with Ian, around 6k to pay someone to do it properly. The vw 1.8T option is likely a bit cheaper. I had my MV rebuilt as a 2.5, similar power/torque to a scooby but brand new engine. Engine bay looks (almost) standard.

I used to like my wbxer too. Liked the vintage and didn't mind the tardiness while driving, thought it quite charming actually! But then it starting burning oil, leaking coolant from the awful impending doom head seal design problems, and then got tired of the crazy cooling system and all the connections. I didn't want to enter the somewhat iffy 'refurbished' options and personally didn't want to spend 5k on another wboxer. So instead of sorting that all out went for an ej20. New cam belt, idlers, pulleys, water pump. I sourced all the bits, campers shack installed it (very nicely too). I sold my old engine, exhaust, DH injection parts, and got back about £650. Total cost probably just under 5k.

Now I just enjoy driving it way way more. It's still a pretty simple engine. Loads more power, less gear changing, loads more revs and lots more overtaking. Simples!

I Still like wbx engines though ( But I wouldn't swap it back). We're all on the same team though remember,all pushing heavy old troublesome hobby vehicles around :-)

Got a ej20 put In mine, make your van your friend! Bought a legacy 61k miles one owner full service history more than enough power even to pull our caravan etc, as long as your van isn’t lowered sump should be fine, mine is a caravelle and was about 30mm higher than normal, go for the rjes components top quality stuff nowt wrong with the old wasserboxer it’s a bit of a bag of tricks really the choice is yours really, personally if I was a purist I would keep the old one but purist I ain’t do Subaru for me, insurance wise no different.

Steve

Thanks for the input, some good information to show my other half

The jury is still out at the moment and he's still doing his homework around it

Thank you again

HI
Jamie Locker is your man for a scooby conversion, excellent rep, on the Subaru Hybrid Club (FB Group)
http://www.jsgarageaberystwyth.co.uk/

Have a chat with him he should be able to help with any Qs

atb
irishkeet

also worth reading this thread for more info

http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=162863

Out of interest, what kind of real-world mpg does anyone get from their EJ engine on a run?
I know it depends on driving style, terrain and the weight of the van, but assuming that you dont always drive like you just stole it but not like Miss Daisy either...
Does anyone get better than 25mpg?

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I haven't really got an ideal answer as we calculated (roughly) our mpg on a tour of Spain last autumn, very hilly, some very long drags up the hills, some tiny villages to negotiate and fully loaded with extras of everything including clothes wine and gin We think we got approx 25-26mpg, driving around at home without the hills etc it's much more on average

I don't want to hijack this thread to discuss the generalities of the new VHI status for older vehicles, but as our vans get older, it's nearer the time when we may be able to opt out of MOTs, providing our vehicles haven't been "substantially modified".

When the time comes, if you have fitted a Subaru engine, you will probably find you have to keep on MOTing, whereas most of us won't have to. This might affect your decision.

Just a thought, and please if anyone wants to discuss VHIs in general, start another thread!

Wow, I wouldn't have thought that any of us interested in running a roadworthy and safe vehicle into the future would quibble at a £50 or less safety check. Keep it standard till you're dead if you like though