Time attack beetle

[Steve C]

Hi

The Accusump is a good plan, I was going to fit one to my motor, I've kept it for an Oxy Boxer I'm building for my sons car.

I've only run my car hard on a track for few laps but I suffered no surge with my sump, talking to Subaru owners they often have oil surge issues. I'm probably not getting the same Gs as them or yourself

Steve

[Humble]

Yeah, oil starvation is a big problem for subaru motors and they spin bearings very easily when the pickup goes dry. I know 2 guys locally with subaru swaps, a buggy and a beetle. Both of them have spun bearings more than once under autox conditions. I figure an accusump is cheap insurance, but a dry sump is the real fix.

[graham]

Hi Humble

I am watching your build with interest.

I am planning my engine and gearbox swap and slowly collecting parts.I was planning on shortening my sump and extending it forward a bit. Ricola has done this and the Idea is his, so I cant take any credit for it, but in addition to this he has added one of these

http://www.rogerclarkmotorsport.co.u...ctID=3147.this

This looks like a good insurance against oil surge.

All the best
Graham

[Humble]

Two steps forward, three steps back, pretty frustrating weekend, but important update none the less.

I started by getting the motor ready, bolting on the flywheel, and clutch assembly. This job was made easier thanks to the aircooled vw flywheel lock, handy little thing.





While I was at it I did some more body mods to make sure I had enough clearance for the motor and turbo. I removed the sealing tin from the rear package tray, and cleaned up the sides to match.







Next I got the motor and trans together nice and easy and tried to get it into the car. Firstly, the output stubs had to come off to get the trans in the right position. Then it became obvious the turbo wouldn't clear the package tray. Try as we might I was about an inch from getting the new motor mount bolts in. Finally I pulled the trans off the motor so I could manhandle it into place and see what the problem was



I'm going to come out and say it right away, the subaru trans will not fit the bug without modifying the body. With the medeola motor mount in the lowest position, the top of the bell housing just clears the package tray, BUT the clutch fork does not. Also, the new nose cone/old center diff housing contacts the body above the torsion bar tube. You need to modify this area like you did for the old 901/914 trans swap.









I was hoping I wouldn't have to do any body work but it's necessary. I'm going to use this as an opportunity to re-do the cage as well as prototype a mod I've had in my head for a while. The idea is to take the rear package tray and make a 45* angle from the bottom of the back window to the floor above the transmission. To make this happen I have to sacrifice the front of the roll cage to keep the main hoop/rear stays, so out came the cutting tools and the cage.





The rear cage stays will have the plates cut off and the legs shortened to meet the new raised floor. It will be cleaned up and have what's left of the old front section removed.



A very empty beetle...






On a side note, I'm drawing up the new wiring plans, and I want to switch to a digital dash. I've been looking at the Aim MXL Strada, Race Technology Dash2 Pro, and the Racepak IQ3 and want to find folks who have used them. Of the 3, the MXL Strada is the only one with official support for the megasquirt MS3 on CAN bus, the other 2 are CAN capable but don't support MS3 on CAN bus, only serial. Once you factor in logging and camera control the Dash2 Pro and IQ3 start looking better due to price. Any info would be helpful.