Rice Rice Baby....

[Rob]

Couldn't resist:


Did some serious work as well though, see page 7:
Clicky

Rob.

[Supa Ninja]

I was just talking to my buddy yesterday about doing this conversion to my super. I am also seriously considering putting either the 2.5RS engine or a WRX motor in the 914 as well. Reliable hp, water cooled, real heater, AC, boxter, lots of tuning options. I have a source down here for 3000 USD for a 2.5 with harness and computer, or 5000 USD for a complete WRX engine w/harness and computer.

[Rob]

Supa,

I'd check around for prices, because the numbers you list seem a bit high (although I don't know the mileage of the engines).
And yes, make sure you get the full harness and the ECU when you get the motor.

Rob.

[Supa Ninja]

I guess my source sucks, I just did a search on Ebay and found a brond new EJ20 crate engine for buyitnow $1999, and there is a 30-40,000mi used EJ20T engine for 800. Not a bad deal at all 220 hp for $800.

[Panelfantastic]

Rob, maybe somebody asked this before and I just missed it... why didn't you put the rad in the front? Yes, yes, you could ask me the same about my bus and I do have my reasons, just wondered what led you this way.
I have good reason to ask... just got my '61 ragtop body back from a friend who gave up on his project, I've got plans of my own now ...


Thanks,
Jeff.

[Rob]

Jeff,

The main reason is that the rad (which is the same rad the motor has in the
original subaru), does not fit into the front of the standard.
I think a super has more room in the front.

Plus I wasn't sure if the waterpump would be strong enough to pump the coolant the extra distance.

It also seemed the easiest to build, at the time......

Mind you , I do have second thoughts. For instance I'm not too comfy having the rad with all the hot coolant behind me when I get hit from the side or something. But for now I'll go with it.

Rob.

[Panelfantastic]

Some of the same thoughts and reasons I used. I don't know that it's been easier for my application, I've had some trial and error and I've wasted some money trying ideas... but if I were to start again from scratch (heaven forbid) I'd still do it this way on my bus. My ragtop may be a different story though .
I wouldn't worry as much about a crash, anything severe enough to get to the rad... well, hot coolant ain't gonna be on your worry list . Something that I've noticed that you might want to start planning for... the times when I drove the bus without the divider up that seperates me from the back, those fans are noisy ! and without some serious breeze coming in, the radiant heat off the rad is con-siderable.
I definately didn't bring any of this up to cast doubt on your development, you've got a much better platform to get air in with a bug body and that's the main problem I've had... scavenging air from around a brick. I'm excited about your progress and can't wait till it's rolling.


Jeff.

[Rob]

Thanks for the encouragement, Jeff.

I know what you mean with radiant heat. I've taken it around the block a couple times, without any shrouding around the rad, and man, it got hot quickly in there !

I am planning on insulating the inside of the shroud with an adhesive insulator that is used to insulate engine compartements in fibreglass boats.

I'll keep you posted, right now I am working on wiring the fans. I plan on using the original ECU signal for that, but I need to get a temp guage before I can test it. I don't want to overheat the motor to find out the fans are not coming on.

Rob.

[trevorbrady]

I can't believe I've missed your website until now. Great work Rob, it looks great. I'm doing something similar with my 1303: http://homepage.eircom.net/~veewrx

Was there really a whole lot of work sorting out the wiring loom? You made it look easy. I've got the loom from the car the engine came from, along with the ECU, there's a full balck refuse sack full of wires in there! I also got the ignition barrel and key. Did you need this on yours?

[ricola]

Thought I'd let you guys know. I just bought a 1996 WRX RA engine and the plan is to fit it to a standard body (non super) Beetle Cab that I am looking at this weekend...

Can't wait!

Rich

[Rob]

Trevor,

The wiring was a b!tch, but doable. Getting the right schematics is key.
I was hoping to isolate the engine harness from the main harness without cutting, but no such luck.

What I ended up doing is starting at the ECU plug, and go wire by wire.
For each wire, you determine where it goes, and 'guestimate' if you need it or not. For example, all the ABS, safety etc. crap, I just cut the wire and insolated the end.

Make sure to keep *all* the ground wires, apparently the ECU is very sensitive to these.

I used the ignition switch from the Beetle. If I recall correctly, all it needs to do is activate the starter solenoid and the main relay.

Rich, how the he!! did you get your hands on an RA engine ??? That is sweet, that thing is going to be nasty quick. Can't wait to hear about your progress. Are you keeping the stock tranny ?
Keep us posted.

Thanks,

Rob.

[ricola]

I did the wiring in exactly the same way as you for my last project Rob. I didn't have any wirign diagrams that were a match for what I had.

I got the engine from ebay, lucky find and I took a risk (he wasn't sure if it was RA or not). I'm going to IRS the bug and use a pro street Rancho trype 1 trans with long top gear. I'm not actually that mean to my gearboxes so it should last OK...

Rich

[volkdent]

Rich! What are you working on now? You've gotta update your webpage about the latest!

Jason

[ricola]

lol, I only just picked up the engine, don't have a car yet!
I have taken a copy of my website and am stripping all the stuff out that isn't related to my projects as I just don't have the space (20MB). Once that is done and I have something to show I'll start updating again...

Rich