tomwesty

Tom's '85 Westy.
Subaru oilpan swingin low...

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In 2005, Tom Sold his Urabus to a guy in Grass Valley, California, and bought a Syncro Westy. It came with a Tiico, which is not as powerful and it's noisy in comparison. But it runs well and Syncros have other ways of keeping Tom and his wallet occupied (good and bad).

URABUS TIPS

Two brothers install two Subaru Legacy motors in two VW Westies (Urabii) in 12 days with Kennedy adapter kit.

Installation was done in November 1999. (this website is no longer maintained).

We were lucky enough to see Ron Bloomquist's Vanaru during our conversion. Ron drove 200 miles to provide moral support! Thanks Ron!!! This site is for the advanced converter, deep in the throes of wiring hell. If you're thinking about doing a conversion see Ron Bloomquist's site first.

For the adapter kit see
Kennedy Engineering's site.

-- general Urabus tips --
-- oilpan --
-- cooling system --
-- wiring harness --
-- Questions (SAQs) --

Updated 11/13/2004

dickwesty

Dick's '88 Westy
The mighty reverend exorcised all of his "Subaru error codes", by adding a VW double 'park switch' to the handbrake, and building a speed-sensor on the speedo cable!

But his speed sensor crapped out (reed-switch) so in Sept 2004 he bought one from www.weirdstuffwemake.com. It's great all these folks making good stuff for Urabii. Their electronics work better than their website, so here's the email just in case: luminous@weirdstuffwemake.com

Subaru 2.2L engine in its rightful home!

Wide-angle lens on my SPANKIN' new Nikon 990 shows the whole engine nestled comfortably into my 1985 Westfalia.

Build a simple wooden engine stand
that bolts to the exhaust.

The Subaru oilpan prevents it from sitting on your garage floor. If you have to do any timing belt or oil seal work, it will be much easier on an engine stand. It also makes it easier to stuff the engine into the car.

Burn it when you're done - it will probably rot away before you need it again.

The floorjack will prevent the engine stand from being removed before the engine support is installed. So make sure your stand allows the Kennedy engine support to fit on the engine with your stand in place. Note clearance for engine brace(#1).

Don't fret over the installation part, stuffing it in takes maybe 20 minutes.

From exhaust port to bottom of the oilpan is about 7 1/2 inches. The black circles are carbon from the exhaust ports. Notice the 'clearance scarf' for the drainplug.(#2)

Throttle cable uses the slot closer to
the throttle body (smaller radius).

Bust off all that plastic junk on the end of the throttle cable (where it attached to the firewall on the Legacy). When you're done, the cable end (and housing) is bare except for that little ball.

Throttle cable adjusted with little hoseclamps.

The black vertical sheetmetal peice is bolted to the airconditioner/alternator support. We wrapped a split fuel line around the throttle cable housing for grip. It works excellent. Slide the hoseclamps over four "hacksaw cuts".

thrott1

Other photo is a closeup of the VW-Subaru throttle connection. A little adjustment is available here but the hoseclamp adjustment provides far more than you need anyway.

Throttle cable "compatible".

1.Hobert simply says "the throttle cable is compatible".

On the Subaru cable, cut/break off all that thick plastic junk, and either cut the little ball off or grind it down so it passes thru the hole on the classic VW cablestop clamp. Then drill out the little classic VW cablestop so the hard metal (VW) end and the stranded subaru cable fit in the hole, then you clamp the cable, with the bolt pressing on the hardVW end, mashing the stranded cable on the opposite side. It would be best to wrap this joint with safety-wire so the stranded cable does not "work" or bend right at the clamp point.

2. This little vacuum tap is important. Hobert lists it as 1/8" NPT and suggests that you screw some push-on fittings there. It's not really; a 1/8NPT fitting will go in about one thread. If you have your intake manifold off, run a 1/8NPT tap in to a standard depth so it accepts a 1/8NPT fitting. If your engine is a 1990, you should check that you have the thick manifold base gaskets anyway.

We ran out of time and soldered a tittie onto the little square plug (then drilled on thru). Getting the square plug out is not easy. Ours were very difficult to unscrew even with big vise-grips squeezed very tightly.

3. Use the smaller radius throttle pulley. It's perfect for the travel of the VW gas pedal.

Lotsa stuff here!

#1. This elbow is cut from one of the VW rubber hoses. It's 1.5" diameter on the "subaru end" and 1.25" on the copper-pipe end. You will need another 1.5"/1.25" rubber hose for the other engine connection below (at the thermostat). Both of these can be cut from your old VW hoses. I think NAPA's part no for his hose is "708".

#2. This is a vertical support for the heatshield. There is another one on the right side of the compartment. "Redi-rod" with four nuts would work too.

#3. This is the original coolant burp tank in the original position.

#4. This is the Kennedy air filter (includes AC-Delco filter element #CFA905).

#5. This is the powersteering return hose (low pressure). Notice the hoseclamp is squeezing it (too much) onto the Subaru pump. This is why you want to keep a few inches of the Subaru return hose. If you can't find a reducer you can create one as shown below, VW size (1/2") to Subaru size (3/8").
375to500

#6. This is the VW-Subaru hybrid hose from Kennedy (hi-pressure).

#7. These vacuum tubes are simply plugged (unused).

#8. Throttle cable zip-tied to the belt guard.

#9. This is the "cross tube". It should be level. We did not restrain it in any way. It's completely supported by its hoses (no electrical connection either).

Exhaust system is completely supported on the motor.

Don't try to attach the exhaust to the body of the car.

Notice there is a (1/8" X 1" flatbar) brace coming down from the top of the cylinder head. The muffler and entire exhaust is supported by the motor (same as VW).

If you do your support like this, you can eliminate that big wide slot in the heat shield.

Heatshield brace

Per Ron's recommendation we put a brace from the center of the heatshield rearward to the car body.

Possibly related to the loosened bolts, the muffler cracked at the joint where the catalytic converter enters the muffler. I welded up the crack then braced it, to withstand bending forces at the juncture by adding a couple supports from the cat edge crimp to the muffler edge crimp. At 12,000 miles, no more cracking.

KEP has since changed the design for more strength.

muff_cracks_fix

Swingin' low

On the highway you're the "bull westy", but but off-road where westies love to go, your sump is a mere 5.5 inches from flat ground.

According to Ron Bloomquist, the Subaru sump has a bunch of internal baffles and is no simple deal to shorten. Ron was so afeared he just bolted it back on.

Click HERE to see lots of info on my NEW KEP oilpan!!!

Smog test!

Clean machine! Notice the Legacy motor (with the brand new catalytic converter) puts out only 6 or 7 of 220 allowable Hydrocarbon units.

This is about 3% of the Wasserboxer's emission allowables.

The Carbon Monoxide? Check it out - ZERO!

Mean machine?

The GPS shows 97 mph and 433 miles to go (as the crow flies). Notice the Urabus far exceeds the Wasserboxer's performance. VW dash shows 97 mph and 5400 rpm. It would have topped 100 for sure, possibly 105 but the driver gave it up, unsure whether the universe can accept a 100+ mph Westy.

On a standard mountain pass (Snoqualmie pass in the Cascades) my 2.1L Westy would pull down below 50 mph. If you downshifted, and overreved a little it would maintain 50 MPH in 3rd. The Urabus goes over the same pass at 65mph in 4th gear.

We put 20 miles on the conversion driving around the Sacramento area, then headed north for Seattle (900 miles) with no problems. How's that for a shakedown cruise?

In the back was the old 2.1L VW engine, a welder, and loads of tools. On top of the van was some wheel ramps, VW exhaust and a bunch of junk (looked like "Beverly Hillbillies").

In the passenger seat was a pregnant wife. None would be pleasant to tangle with in even a gentle rollover. 97mph was proof enough!