Syncaroo (Subaru into Syncro)

[rollercoaster]

Looking for tips and advice here from you experienced and knowledgable people.

Being the lucky owner of a solid '89 T25 Syncro that did most of its driving as a Safari Bus in the Kalahari, and looking for how to improve its reliability and economy..

It was a thirsty bus, being powered along briskly by the 2.1 injection, but this didnt last long as the engine gave up terminally and its now at Simon (Spanner Boy's) about to get a Subaru installed.

Simon has good experience at this and great working relationships with key figures in the T25 and Subaru conversion world, so the result will be doubtless a real pleasure to own and drive.

There is a choice of motors, and although it will be more powerful than the old VW, the main thing (apart from reliability) thats wanted is economy, whats on offer is either the 2.0 or the 2.2 Subarus.

Simon is a speed and performance man at heart, whereas I have noticed some good threads on here bragging of mpgs. It will be lovely to be enjoying more than the 20 or so that the old bus used to do, any further ideas, or choices to be made at this early stage?

Seems like some syncro offroad ability will be sacrificed by this swap, my first thoughts were for the waterproofing, which worries me as the reliability is very important. Then theres a new problem, it seems like its not possible to use the engine protection bars. These are both great features of syncros, what else will be lost in this conversion?

Other things to consider:
the headers, for ground clearance, Simon has a custom fabricator he uses for the exhaust,
the sump and possibly oil cooler, ..we are not finding a short sump..
Air Con, the bus has a powerful AC system, I guess its best to ditch it in the interests of economy,
Power steering, instrumentation and any other ancillaries..

This is a bus that will be both an everyday domestic driver, and a tow vehicle in often difficult offroad conditions.

Any comments or suggestions are gratefully received, thanks.

Tim

[silverbullet]

Go for the 2.2 as it has the best blend of performance and economy. I have one in my 1990 SA Microbus.
Simon's exhausts will be nice for a daily driver - quieter than the rjes one that I've got fitted but I didn't know Simon back then...
You will need a short sump for a syncro. If you're going offroad the Subaru pi$$pot will get panned in / split / flattened and then you'll be weeping miles from anywhere. I may be able to help you to re-work the engine bars. Anything is possible
Have you looked at http://www.subaruvanagon.com/ and follow the links. There is a forum too and there are syncros that have been converted too.

[HarryMann]

Then theres a new problem, it seems like its not possible to use the engine protection bars.

Why not? Most manage it (think slight lengthening)

The sump usually is self-shortened.

[syncroandy]

If you're going to all the trouble why not put a 2.5 in ? The extra 35bhp is useful for a heavy Syncro.

[KarlT]

Like to know more about this Simon fella & his exhausts.

Are you going to post a photo story of conversion or is the convertor hoping to keep it shrodded in mystery?

Anyone else got a good pic story of Subaru conversion?

[axeman]

simon uses longlife exausts in wallington, they are probobly fine with these new installs, ie nice clean exaust studs,one of the first jobs to be done was a new exaust so i booked my doka in there as they are only a couple of miles from me. he looked at the van before hand and had no concirns and quoted £600 all in for a full s/s system. droped the van of at 7am on my way to work and got a call at noon saying that he did not want to do it in case the studs snaped, this was part of the reason why i was paying to have it done by them, snaping studs it kind of part of the job of a exaust maker, well this i a costom exaust shop. i was not a happy and would not go back there as i very pi33ed off.

neil

[rollercoaster]

Go for the 2.2 as it has the best blend of performance and economy. I have one in my 1990 SA Microbus.
Simon's exhausts will be nice for a daily driver - quieter than the rjes one that I've got fitted but I didn't know Simon back then...
You will need a short sump for a syncro. If you're going offroad the Subaru pi$$pot will get panned in / split / flattened and then you'll be weeping miles from anywhere. I may be able to help you to re-work the engine bars. Anything is possible
Have you looked at http://www.subaruvanagon.com/ and follow the links. There is a forum too and there are syncros that have been converted too.

Thanks I have joined that subaruvanagon group now and had a quick look, what a huge resource and what a lot of people with conversions, mostly in the US, I never would have imagined there are so many.

It seems like the 2.2 litre OBD 1 or 2 is the best choice for me, being the most rugged and miserly on fuel, also the simplest.
Thanks Syncro Andy, fuel may get cheaper and I may regret my miserlyness, thoughts at the moment are to enjoy the extra miles than the power or speed, plus more power is more strain on transmission and the intention is reliability and economy as the bottom line.

The problem with the sump is Simon says they are out of stock at the various suppliers, maybe its just a question of time, or hunting. What about shortening one myself? I have gas welding kit but perhaps that would distort it and be forever troublesome. Is that what you meant by self shortening HarryMann or were you referring to it whacking on the ground!?

Tim

[HarryMann]

hehe, yes could take that either way, I meant the only way originally was to cut it and shut it... as well as the pickup tube. The subaruvanagon forum has instructs + images. However, capacity never seems to be quite what one wants, have to overfill by about 1" which is supposedly OK

This 'deep sump' design is one of the worst aspects possibly, as well as the position of the filter housing, certainly from a Syncro perspective

[HarryMann]

Longlife Neil... surely he has oxy/acety to help those nuts off the studs or was worried about the ally heads? I've made tin shields before when near ally. Maybe he's had a bad experience before or tried and thought better of it...

[rollercoaster]

Looking around found this place that sells ready to fit, bolt it in yourself, Subaru conversions!
Thought it would interest: http://www.vanaru.com/

Tim

[HarryMann]

Wow, how much is shipping from US $$$

[toomanytoys]

Looking around found this place that sells ready to fit, bolt it in yourself, Subaru conversions!
Thought it would interest: http://www.vanaru.com/

Tim

If you want a bolt in conversion AIdan and I can sort you out.......

Seen this... http://rjes.com/ closer to home....

[silverbullet]

hehe, yes could take that either way, I meant the only way originally was to cut it and shut it... as well as the pickup tube. The subaruvanagon forum has instructs + images. However, capacity never seems to be quite what one wants, have to overfill by about 1" which is supposedly OK

This 'deep sump' design is one of the worst aspects possibly, as well as the position of the filter housing, certainly from a Syncro perspective

The Subaru sump does weld OK - I added the rjes bracket to carry his exhaust cradle with it all on the van (no choice).
Drained the oil with it warmed up, clean up, weld on, new filter and oil, job done!
I wondered if I'd get away with it as I wasn't too sure if the sump was double-skinned or not. Can't remember now.
For a syncro it does need a "wing" sump to keep the capacity, but this is beyond the fabrication ablilities of most.
I don't like the idea of overfilling the sump at all. Subaru went to great lengths to control oil foaming and windage on the EJ series and here we are merrily proposing slashing the bottom off the pan!

[rollercoaster]

If you want a bolt in conversion AIdan and I can sort you out.......

Seen this... http://rjes.com/ closer to home....

OK Thanks I really appreciate the offer,
I first read the Wiki FAQ and looked around both the web and the 80/90 site as well as dipping into a couple of other sites. RJES seemed to be the solution and Richard recommended Simon to me so its at Simons (Spanner Boy) now.

I have experience of engine swaps, but though I am not made of money there are other things I would rather be doing.

Put up the link to Vanaru as in the future someone may check this thread, as I did many, and realise that is one option open to them. (They may also ask you to make one)

If you could make a bolt in kit, what would your choices be for sump, oil cooling, engine protection from knocks and water etc? What else would your selling points be, as a kit specifically for Syncro's?

Tim

[HarryMann]

Ian, what is the final capacity of your shortened sump then... presume you removed the lower of the two windage trays?