Time attack beetle

[Humble]

So I WAS going to try and test fit the motor and trans but sent the oil pan off to get modified instead. The awesome, bug@5speed pan doesn't clear the stock subaru mounts, so I need to run a shortened stock sump. There's no shortage of work to be done though so I continued stripping the bug. I finished pulling the fuel system, and fuel cell out of the car to make room for the radiator. I got everything out and started cutting before I realized I hadn't taken any pics :P



The radiator is for a 95 rx7 turbo but it fits perfectly in the bug. The bottom mounts attach to a lower radiator support welded to the forward body mount points. The top of the radiator is braced to the body on either side, and it's pretty sturdy. You can also see the new fuel tank that is loosely resting in the stock location. It's a 15 gallon RCI tank, and I wish there was a better place to put it, but for now it has to sit up high







As I was test fitting everything, I grabbed the air/water intercooler setup and started placing parts. The heat exchanger is an upgraded Ford Lightning part, water pump also comes from the Lightning, and the tank is a simple 1 gallon cell. The heat exchanger fit perfectly behind the stock grill opening, but finding a good spot for the tank and pump was a bit harder. I' worried that filling the area behind the radiator will kill the air flow, and I don't want to heat soat the water tank. Between the tank, pump, heat exchanger and lines, the extra weight adds up. I've been thinking about doing an air/air setup out back but now it'll probably get serious consideration.



After a bit of a break I started working on wiring. I pulled out the race dash and switch gear, and started trimming back the harness. I wasn't happy with the location and routing of the stock harness, so with all the new parts I'm re-doing the wiring again to clean it up and simplify the circuits. I'm also going to go with a more modern fuse/relay box relocated to the glove box area for easy reach. I'm going to go back to the stock dash, and use a digital dash in the stock location which should be a little easier on the eyes.

[Humble]

Got my shortened pan and pickup back from Jeff who did an awesome job. Got them bolted onto the motor so I can get a trial fit of the motor and trans in the next few days.

[Steve C]

Hi

I hope you don't suffer oil surge with that sump mod, I had wings fitted to mine.

Steve

[volkdent]

Originally Posted by Steve C

Hi

I hope you don't suffer oil surge with that sump mod, I had wings fitted to mine.

Steve

[Steve C]

Hi

Just noticed that my sump has a more elaborate windage tray, maybe because its a STI or just a different model motor.

Steve

[Humble]

Mine is US spec Sti and I've noticed that the pans and pickups are different. The Sti pan is more narrow than the wrx and forrester pans. If you use equal length headers they won't fit if you have kickouts or a non-Sti pan. I'm going to supplement the oil system with an Accusump until I get a dry sump pan and pump. The section that was chopped was so smal l it only lost a quart or less of storage. When I refill the motor I'll mark the new high point on the dip stick and be good for the moment.

[vw1303]

I'm also running the accusump in my shortened sump arragement.

Need more $$ for drysump!

[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.

[Voiden]

Really inspiring build.

I see you have chosen the extended Subaflanges.
What driveshafts will you use?
I can not find any that fit when you have extended fitted.

[Humble]

I haven't measured yet, but I'm sure there's something out there that will fit. The wide turbo arms give me a bit more room, so I'm guessing I'll need something around 17" +/- 1". I'm not opposed to custom length axles from sway-a-way but I want to find an off the shelf part if possible.

[Humble]

It was a rough week, but I hunkered down and soldiered on. Found out a good friend and former co-driver passed away very suddenly a week ago. He was pretty young at 29, and I didn't even know he was sick, but he had late stage liver cancer. Biehruz was the kindest and most competitive guy I know, he will be dearly missed.

Worked on the bug off and on but got a lot done over the weekend. It seemed like I was spinning my wheels, but hopefully now I'm over the hump. The rear package try was ready to be modded so I started there. I cut along the sides and in the corner so I could fold the flaps up to meet in the middle.





I trimmed up the sheet metal and I'll make a new floor later. You can see the new floor brace I started on that may also support the accusump later. I started to pull the rear suspension apart because it needed to come out to get the front transmission mount in.



With the floor trimmed up it was time to try and fit the motor again. it's a bit of chicken and egg when it comes to the front trans mount. You can't place it without having the motor/trans together, but its a pain to get the motor/trans into place as a whole unit. Eventually I got them into the car and bolted the motor mount in using the lowest setting. Just eyeballing it now looks like the cross pipe for the header sits about where the old turbo was mounted.





I had to cut a little flap to clear the nose of the trans. After the fact I realized it might fit if I had ground down the rib on top but it still would have been a tight fit. Of course I failed to notice the brake line for the rear was right against the body so I cut right through it :P





Now it was time to completely remove the rear trailing arms so I could locate and drill the holes for the forward trans mount. It was such a pain in the ass to drill the holes, my arms were killing me by the time I was done. I needed to pull the trailing arms off anyway to upgrade the spring plate and swap out the driver's side trailing arm to match the passenger side.





I quick comparison between the old '87 944 turbo trailing arm (bottom) and the new '90 944 S2 arm (top). The big differences being the elimination of the bump stop pad and the new arm is ready for a wheel speed sensor. There is a different stub axle with teeth around the cv cup if you're curious.



Passenger side bolted in loosely for test fit of the new 935-style adjustable spring plate. Seriously awesome part, thanks Alex!





That's about it for now. It doesn't seem like much but for each thing I had to do something else to get it ready. Hopefully now it goes a little smoother and there won't be as many problems.

[effvee]

Please excuse me haking up you wonderful post, but this side view looks so good. I'm dreaming of how a EZ36R can be stuffed in there. The builder in Downey fell off the net, so I can't ask him how is his project going. Question, does it look very, vey close for a 6 cylinder to fit?. Again sorry for haking up your wonderful post. I think there is a less problem with oil pan height on the EZ36R, I did not hear if the EZ30 oil pan would fit the EZ36r.. Just think they come in 12cylinder too