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Greetings,

Great list idea. I've got a 1.9l Westy that I'm dying to Subarize.
First I've got this brand new rebuilt Wasserbox to sell. Gotta
finance
the Subaru purchase. I'll read with interest until then.

Drew Bedford
83.5 Westy
Park City, UT

Tom Myers wrote:

Hello,

I have a 18985 Westy with a Subaru 2.2L. It was a very satisfying
project. I put up a website back in Nov '99 detailing the conversion
as best I could.

Tom ,
You guys did a great job! I'm sure many of us on this list have been
inspired to do the swap by visiting your site. I had been considering it
for some time, when a Legacy came my way. The deciding factor was the
successes reported by you and your brother, and by Ron Bloomquist's
site.
Thanks guys!
Larry

Mike Barfield wrote:

I spoke w/ Kennedy about using a Subaru ECU from a automatic v. a manual. He
said that it didn't make any difference. Have you heard/seen different? I have
a manaul Westy and the engine/ECU/harness is from an automatic.

Mike,
It doesn't matter if you have a manual trans in the Vanagon, but I think
the ECU needs to match the engine and wiring harness. In other words,
the ECU's differ slightly depending on whether they CAME from an auto or
a manual. It probably only becomes significant if you are trying to
eliminate all the Suby error reports. See:



for the Meyers' report on their conversions and a discussion of ironing
out all the trouble codes.
Good luck in your search for a good Legacy,
Larry

Larry,

I spoke w/ Kennedy about using a Subaru ECU from a automatic v. a manual. He
said that it didn't make any difference. Have you heard/seen different? I have
a manaul Westy and the engine/ECU/harness is from an automatic.

Mike Barfield
'84 Westy
Tampa, FL

Started late today removing the dead wasserboxer from the van. It's real easy
to do when you know that the engine your removing is worthless. Anything that
won't be used in the conversion can be broken in order to remove it. Got a far
as unbolting the engine from the trany.Still looking for a Subaru engine. I
found a source (junk yard) and will be getting a price this week. I'll start
taking pictures so I can post them to a web site, etc.

Mike Barfield
'84 Westy
Tampa, FL

Marshall:

Regarding availability of parts in Canada (I assume you're talking
about the Subaru engine and related parts). I spoke to at least a
half dozen wrecking yards who were all willing to ship the parts to
you.

that said........ in my opinion, its still better to see the car the
parts are coming from. Thats the only way to verify the actual
mileage and to insure the parts all match.

I didn't think the labor of pulling it myself is worth the savings.
The yards have cheap labor that do that type of thing every day. it
would have taken me a lot longer than their help, I'm sure and I
found my time to be more expensive.

Good luck. Stay tuned.


Warren

Marshall Ruskin wrote:

Are you considering doing the swap?
Larry

Yes, I am thinking about it seriously.

In Canada, we don't have ready access to the parts market US listees do

Marshall,
The KEP wiring diagram is a layout that provides a drawing of what the
final harness should look like. You can place the ECU, plugs, and wires
on the full sized drawing to get the harness to match.
The Chilton manual for the Legacy has several pages of actual schematics
that help a bunch in double checking your work, but the wiring color
codes aren't always correct.
I also considered building my own, but the lack of plugs meant a lot of
wire splicing, meaning many chances at mistakes and many joints to go
bad later.
Keep an eye out for a wrecked Legacy with a good engine for sale. That's
the best way to ensure the wiring harness will fit the engine.
Larry

Hello,

I have a 18985 Westy with a Subaru 2.2L. It was a very satisfying project. I put up a website back in Nov '99 detailing the conversion as best I could. I continiue to add to it from time to time. It's on

I wish you all luck in your conversions. It makes a greaat car even better. Best of all, not to mention the performance gain, is that if you want to leave on a trip, you can just go. No more pre-maintenance.

Tom
--
+------------------------------------+
| CycoActive Products tel (206) 323-2349
| 701 34th Ave fax (206) 325-6016
| Seattle, WA 98122 USA
| webpage:
| e-mail: TomMyers@...
+------------------------------------+

Marshall Ruskin wrote:

Hiya fellow Subagonites?:

I have seen said conversion done, and it looks pretty good.

Marshall,
There are differences in the ECU for manual and automatic trans', and
wiring color codes change with no discernible pattern as to year or
model. Why this happened, I'm not sure, but it sure raises cain with
standardization.
Are you considering doing the swap?
Larry

Yes, I am thinking about it seriously.

In Canada, we don't have ready access to the parts market US listees do, so
it's gonna be tougher to get the used components.

Also, I haven't seen the wiring diagram yet, so I cannot comment on the
schematic conventions that are present in it. In other words, I don't know
if it makes any sense. As I said in an earlier post - there is at least one
error that my friend in Iowas discovered.

If I had a good schematic - and the connectors, I'd just build a new
harness - probably a morning's work.

I'l have to buy the schematic, I guess, unless others have it on photocopy's
already.

Marshall

Warren,
I've noticed that, unlike the Vanagon list, that the message header on
this list includes a "reply to" address that IS the list. That makes
pmialing the sender a bit more difficult. Can this be changed, or is
there hidden benefits to this setup?
Larry

Marshall Ruskin wrote:

Hiya fellow Subagonites?:

I have seen said conversion done, and it looks pretty good.

Marshall,
There are differences in the ECU for manual and automatic trans', and
wiring color codes change with no discernible pattern as to year or
model. Why this happened, I'm not sure, but it sure raises cain with
standardization.
Are you considering doing the swap?
Larry

Warren Chapman wrote:

I haven't yet been able to bring myself to cut the Digifant wiring
out of my van yet.

Warren,
I think your notion of leaving the harness intact may be a good one. It
might be more trouble than it's worth to get it out. Of course, you'll
be using much of it with the new harness.
I converted my van to a Jetta engine first, and since it was a diesel
originally, it didn't have much in the way of wiring. Just the basics.
I'll probably need to ADD more wiring to make all the connections I
need. So far I've added wiring for a rear heater and rear washer/wiper.
Why don't you email the guys whose websites you've recommended, and see
if they'll join us? I'm sure they have lots more info to share.
Larry

Marshall Ruskin asked why we don't just use the required plugs to
create a new harness rather than hassling with the spaghetti mess. I
too have thought about this and think its worth considering.

However, as a novice, not too familiar with idendifying the right
plugs, I must admit that having to trace the wires from the computer
to the plug is helping me to identify the correct plugs. On my first
try at identifying the plugs from Kennedy's drawing I made a couple
of mistakes which I corrected as I starting snipping and removing
wires.

The ideal situation would be to have a source for harnesses made to
order. Problem is, I don't think the plugs are standardized for all
years from 90-94. (Kennedy has investigated this some but says he
has not been able to find a supplier of the various plugs.) I was
shipped the wrong harness from a 90 with my 92 engine and the plugs
were different. Harnesses to order would involve a fair bit of
research by a willing vendor. (Not yet on the scene.)

There is a company in Southern California who specializes in high
performance Subaru engines for sandrails, (Leading Edge Performance).
They have some VERY EXCITING performance mods for 2.2L and 2.5L
engines but not CA smog legal.

They make their own wiring harnesses but so far only have them for
the 2.5L which has a single plug at the computer instead of the four
yellow ones (90-94). I've been talking with them making one for my
'92 but they're not sure they want to do it. They charge $400 for
their 2.5L harness...a bit pricey but, for some, worth the time
savings.

Warren

Just joining the group and glad to be here. I bought my '84 Westy
about a month ago. The PO had run the engine without oil (forgot to
replace drain plug). So the engine is really dead needing new heads,
block, etc. I first saw this conversion stuff at Roadcow's site (great
info) and started lookin for a van that same day. Luck was with me as
I found my van the very next day. I'm now lookin for a '90-'94 2.2
Subaru for the KEP swap. I've called some junk yards, but would rather
find a complete car and remove the parts myself. So if anyone knows of
an engine/car in Florida let me know.

I plan to drop the old wasserbower this weekend being careful to label
all the wires, etc.

Mike Barfield
'84 Westy
Tampa, FL

Hiya fellow Subagonites?:

I have seen said conversion done, and it looks pretty good. The one I
saw had a cooling system that seemed cobbled together, and the
harness was not quite as pretty as I would have liked. How well it
ran I don't know - as it was still being worked on.

I do know that there is a problem setting up the timing with these
engines - and it requires knowing the correct mark - which is not the
mark on the pulley. My pal had to go to a Subaru shop, and they
explained the trick - I don't personally know it.

As we all know, there is difficulty with the wiring harness
fabrication - my pal who did the conv used the wiring diagram - which
contained at least one proven error.

Now that the preliminaries are out of the way - here's my thought:

How about just using the connectors on the harness, and fabricating a
new harness from scratch?

To me, it sure looks easier and faster than tracing leads in a
squashed spider web!

The only caveat is, are all the 2.2 litre installations using the
same ecu and components?

If they are, it sure makes life easier.

If not, the thing to do is to try and gather information on the
various FI/engine managements systems.

With that information, we potentially could:

1. work out the details for doing different installations, or;
2. work to a common standard, encorporating the potentially
different systems into a " flexible harness" design;
3. Hopefully, all the 2.2 litre systems could be made the same, and
there will be no need to create several harness designs.

What do you think?

Marshall Ruskin
Winnipeg, Canada
84 Westy "Iron Igloo"

I haven't yet been able to bring myself to cut the Digifant wiring
out of my van yet.

Firstly, I haven't been certain exactly what to cut out and a little
afraid I'll make a mistake and cut the wrong thing. I decided I
should complete the Subaru harness first to get a better
understanding
of what connections must remain. That has proved to be the right
decision. After living with the Subaru wires and Kennedy's diagram
for a week, I'm getting a better understanding of what to look for in
the vanagon harness to keep.

Secondly I'm not sure how to get the section out that's connected to
the Digifant ECU (inside the van under the passenger seat). It is
routed through mysterious and incaccessible places through the body
and frame before appearing in the engine bay.

I've even considered taping it up the Digifant harness real tidy like
and leaving it in the van, out of the way, just in case some day in
the future someone wants to return the van to Wasserboxer status.
Why?? Don't know. But someday, after I'm long gone someone may want
a purely VW Syncro Westy. ??????

What did you do Larry?
Sure would like to hear some other comments from veterans.

Warren

Warren Chapman wrote:

Now that I'm "FARFRUMLEAKIN".

What do I do with this Wasserboxer with rod through the block. It
was an almost new rebuild (why did it blow??)with new heads. Anyone
else find any value in the various engine parts??

Warren,
The Vanagon list is a fine place to recycle those parts. Someone was looking
for an idle stabilizer control unit a day or two ago. Good heads are always
in demand, and I've got a list of 4 or 5 guys that want an ECU. You might
just put up a "FS:" notice, tell 'em you're going Suby and want to sell the
rest. Make sure to mention that the block's not good. The throttle body,
AFM, idle stabilizer, ECU, distributor, FI bits, alternator, exhaust
headers, etc., should all find new homes somewhere on that list.
Larry

Warren Chapman wrote:

The wiring lengths are different from Kennedy's diagram if you want
to mount the ECU inside the van under the Westy cabinet.

Warren,
I've got the harness winnowed down to the essentials, and I think I'm going
to place the ECU and fit the rest of the harness as needed. Should be tons
o' fun!
Larry

Enough of my rambling for now. Hope to hear from others in coming
days.

I'll turn my attention back to the mess on my dining room table.

Let's see:

BY-keep
RG-cut (SHIT!) It'll be a miracle if this thing runs.

There's got to be someone out there who would love a little business
making these harnesses. Kennedy says he's selling three kits a week.
Anyone interested?


Warren

Now that I'm "FARFRUMLEAKIN".

What do I do with this Wasserboxer with rod through the block. It
was an almost new rebuild (why did it blow??)with new heads. Anyone
else find any value in the various engine parts?? I asked a couple
of Vanagon mechanics who weren't interested.

Seems that recently someone sold some heads only on ebay.

??????
Warren