Today I started to remove the fuel tank and those pesky expansion tanks. ?I got the fuel filler neck out after shedding a bit of blood due to a nice scrape. ?The grommet on top of the expansion tank was rotted off and actually down inside the tank. ?No wonder I was always smelling gas. ?

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So next is removing the fuel tank itself and the plastic coolant pipes that run front to back. ?I believe the stainless pipes I purchased from Van Cafe are made to work with their conversion kit. ?

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In the meantime, I installed the clutch and pressure plate on the Subaru engine, torqued the bolts evenly to 22 ft lbs and, although I did not see it recommended in the RMW literature, I used a bit of blue thread locker on them. ?

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Warren

89 Westy?

88 Tintop

70 Westy

I had some difficulty removing the drive flanges and seals but I finally got it done.? I had to order two new circlips from Van Cafe as I destroyed one of mine taking it out. Then I installed the new seals, replaced the plastic backing thing, and finished that part up.? I drained the gear oil and was it ever dirty! ? But there were very few metallic particles on the magnetic drain plug.? I filled it with 3 liters of GL-4 conventional 80-90 gear oil but I’m still not sure that’s enough.? Possibly I’ll need to add a bit more.? I replaced the throwout bearing (release bearing) with a Sachs bearing, lubed the cross shaft bushings with dry lube and things there look pretty good.? I also installed a new reverse light switch as mine was toast. ?

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Also I received my new high torque starter from Van Cafe.? I have the adapter plate from Westy Ventures.? So other than possibly adding a bit more gear oil, I’m good with the transmission.? The cross shaft bushings looked good and they were snug.? The main shaft had a bit of side to side wriggle but it was tight when I pulled on it.? The mounting rubber was also in good condition.? So I think I’m finished with this part of the conversion for now at least.

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Warren

89 Westy?

88 Tintop

70 Westy

I went to do a timing belt change for the first time since conversion and got to setting TDC before removing the old belt. I noticed that the timing mark on the crank sprocket appears to be off by one tooth while the cams seem to be perfectly aligned. The van was running well. How is this possible?? Another observation I made was that the belt guide is not in place. This conversion was done by RMW so I was surprised to not see the guide. Donor car VIN lists MT so it should have been there, no?

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Thanks in advance for any insight.??

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Way back I changed the timing belt in our 98 Forester 2.5 DOHC and previously someone had installed the belt one tooth off. Now I can't exactly recall whether it was off on one of the cam gears or the crank gear, bit fwiw the car had been running fine and ran even better after the new belt was correctly installed.

I later mentioned to a mechanic friend about the trouble I had keeping all four cam gears in position while installing the new belt, as two or more really didn't want to sit still. He said he uses zip ties to hold the belt to the gears while installing - seems like a good idea.

Jim

On Thu, Mar 6, 2025, 8:11 p.m. Ryan C via <candagrm=[email protected]> wrote:

I went to do a timing belt change for the first time since conversion and got to setting TDC before removing the old belt. I noticed that the timing mark on the crank sprocket appears to be off by one tooth while the cams seem to be perfectly aligned. The van was running well. How is this possible?? Another observation I made was that the belt guide is not in place. This conversion was done by RMW so I was surprised to not see the guide. Donor car VIN lists MT so it should have been there, no?

?

Thanks in advance for any insight.??

?

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I went to do a timing belt change for the first time since conversion and got to setting TDC before removing the old belt. I noticed that the timing mark on the crank sprocket appears to be off by one tooth while the cams seem to be perfectly aligned. The van was running well. How is this possible?? Another observation I made was that the belt guide is not in place. This conversion was done by RMW so I was surprised to not see the guide. Donor car VIN lists MT so it should have been there, no?

?

Thanks in advance for any insight.??

?

?

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I went to do a timing belt change for the first time since conversion and got to setting TDC before removing the old belt. I noticed that the timing mark on the crank sprocket appears to be off by one tooth while the cams seem to be perfectly aligned. The van was running well. How is this possible?? Another observation I made was that the belt guide is not in place. This conversion was done by RMW so I was surprised to not see the guide. Donor car VIN lists MT so it should have been there, no?

?

Thanks in advance for any insight.??

?

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Wow. Your rebuild looks much better inside than mine. My bearings were okay so I simply (just kidding; nothing simple about it!) pulled it apart to give it an inspection and clean it up. I wish I had your tutorial before I did mine. Great write up.?

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Warren

89 Westy?

88 Tintop

70 Westy

It was a process for sure. I purchased a “commonly failed items” kit from Maniac Electric online. The parts all fit perfectly. Splitting the alternator was a bit of an unknown and I damaged the first one I broke open so here are the steps.

Remove the 4 through bolts

Put alternator on stable something, I used a vice and clamped the one ear of the mounting tab

Tap the pulley side which I’ll call the front back and forth as it will twist without doing any damage to windings underneath

Once it’s freed up a little you’ll notice 4 spots where you can fit a flat head screwdriver in to pry it up. You can pry here but be careful as you can damage the winding or the gasket if yours has one(I had one with and one without). I had two screwdrivers opposite one another with slight pressure and then tapped on the mounting tabs with a soft mallet and eventually it will start to move. With one I put it pulley down and smashed it into the workbench holding the tabs, this destroyed the threads for the pulley so don’t do that. What you’re actually doing in this step is dislodging the lower bearing from the back housing. You could possibly also use a pulley puller on the pulley and tug on that. But there is no need to removed the pulley to get it apart. That said, the kit comes with two bearings, one mounts under the pulley so eventually you’ll have to remove it and it’s easier when assembled so you kind of have to decide which way you’re going.

Anyway to remove the pulley there are two opposite spots in the housing you can CAREFULLY insert screwdrivers or similar to “lock” it from spinning while you remove the pulley. I zapped it with the air gun and it came off pretty easily.

Ok so you’ve got it apart, now what. Well I bought a cheapo 3” gear puller to remove the rear bearing and that one was noisy so about to fail, and I replaced it by smacking the new one back on with the old one, cleaned up the shaft and lubed it slightly to aid with install. If you’re going to replace the slip rings (where the brushes ride) you would de solder that piece and remove it before you smack on the new rear bearing. Mine were ok so I cleaned them up gently with 1500 grit wet sand paper. And re used.?

The front bearing has a bearing carrier that is installed from the front under the pulley. You could possibly remove it leaving the pulley on, I didn’t as my screws were shot and I replaced them with stainless Allen head ones for future repair. The bearing isn’t a super tight fit, hence the carrier I guess. I used blue loctite on the stainless screws as they look like they’d strip out pretty easy so you can’t tighten them too much.?

I also used liquid electrical tape which I know is kind of hokey but I used it on spots on the windings that I dinged and could possibly become a bare surface and also around both sides of the middle portion where the housing sandwiches it.?

So now to replace the regulator. This sucked. You have to desolder the old one, and mine was a mess with way too much solder. I used solder wick to clean it up after, one came off easy and one was a mess. See photos. I used a very small panel screwdriver to gently pry on it while I was heating it up with the soldering iron, this worked well. The new one comes with a pin to hold in the brushes. There is a hole the pin lines up with on the rear housing so you can’t tighten assemble the entire thing and then remove the pin to release the brushes. I yelled “release the hounds” at this point as a triumphant thing but then realized I mis aligned the front and had to do it all again. When re soldering the new regulator make sure you do it with the rear housing screwed on as this will ensure it’s aligned properly. You’ll see what I mean.?

That’s about it. Note the front housing has the two holes, the threaded one is on its own and the plain hole lines up with the rear non threaded hole. If you screw this up and can’t figure out why it won’t mount like I did, simply remove the 4 bolts holding it all together and gently tap it around to line up. While holding your breath and praying, at least that’s was me.

Hope this helps someone, it’s worth noting that one was a Bosch rebuild and inside they did a pretty crap rebuild job, bare solder joints were all cracked and the rectifier plate was burned and melted. Not a lot of care and concern went into the rebuild. I have way more pictures if anyone wants them. I may make a pdf for myself for next time as I tend to forget the details?

John?