Club 80-90 Forums

Hello!

I'm new at the forum, from the Lowlands and 23 years old. I'm running with a 1989 t3 2wd panelvan converted to a Camper. Redone the entire interior from back to front,rolled the entire thing white again and now very happy with it. The engine is running okay I think. Redone the ignition system and refurbed the carb. Power is okay now, but i'd like to convert the engine somewhere in the next two years to a subaru engine. The engine has done around 200.000 kilometres, and fuel useage is pretty high.(17 miles to a gallon, or 6 kilometers on a liter)

The info on this forum and wiki is absolutly amazing, but I couldn't find a lot of info on converting a t3 to subaru engines with a t3 autobox.

Have people here actually done it? Is it even possible, and if so, what parts do you need, other than the obvious engine mounts?

I'm not looking for a van that can drift along the round abouts though. I'm fine with cruising around at a 100km an hour and care more about reliability and a little better economy. Say around 12km to a liter, or 30-32miles to a gallon.

Can someone give me more info on this? Or are there better options for an autobox conversion? Going manual is not really an option, because I like being lazy when on holidays and camping.


Excuse me for the obvious lack of proper english though, it's not my native language!

You need to look at American sites as they deal with automatics a lot more. The T25/T3 is called a Vanagon over there.

http://www.smallcar.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ahh yes, thats a good tip. I'll check them out. Thanks

http://weidefamily.net/VANAGON/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=588895" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.benplace.com/vanaru_eng.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://subaruvanagon.com/tom/ts_conversion.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Those step by step pictures are really helpfull to get more insight. Thanks To be honest, i've never swapped an engine in a car. Might be a good idea to find someone within driving distance who could help out with the wiring. Bolting stuff together won't be the biggest challenge. The conversion kit looks pretty good. Selling off the emptied Subaru and my old engine will return some of the costs aswell I think.

All the wiring is pretty daunting though.