The Price is Right!

Last post I discussed the remaining $2522 that I have to spend to put the Bus on the road. This time, I'm going to spell out exactly how I'm spending it.

After more time reading about Subarus again after a long dry spell, I re-settled on the EJ22 SOHC Normally Aspirated model as the most reliable and bullet proofed for the money. A rebuilt longblock runs $3k and will run for 200k miles easily. I also settled on the 97-98 model years because they were the first to use molybdenum in the piston sleeves and represented a 15% increase in efficiency due to improved tuning via the OBD-II ECU. I wanted the OBD-II so that I could listen in on the computer's sensor view and do other tricks to pull bits off of the bus for logging, etc.

I found a 97 Impreza in Philly with a blown clutch, 177k miles, with the timing belt having been replaced only 10k ago at 167k. This is actually hilarious. Because the Bus chassis has 167k on it. With the help of my beloved ( and the kids stuffed into the back of my Tercel on a chilly Saturday morning) we limped the Impreza home, with me grinding gears mercilessly in deference to the wrecked clutch.

Two weeks later, and after copious reading, I gutted the interior removing Dashboard, HVAC, frame cross-members, Airbags, and pretty much every component from the B Pillar forward. Once down to the bare firewall, the entire wiring harness came out. All of it except the headlamp and tail-lamp sections of the harness.

Then, after a considerable search for a loaner engine hoist, I got access to one and the same day, pulled the engine out. It is a greasy pig, leaking from every seal imaginable. But it is on my engine stand now inside the garage and I see what is going to have to be done to have it ready for action.

Original Budget: $5500
Spent as of Oct 1: $2978

Spent on engine and wiring harness: $600

Remaining: $1922

Outstanding Cost Estimates: $2943

Cooling $345
2x Scirocco Radiators FREE! (Thanks to my FiL for Christmas!)
Coolant Hose Kit $70
Vacuum Host $40
Coolant Fill, Expansion and Overflow $120
Metal Gasket Fabrication $100
Radiator Fan Mount Kits  (ZipTie style) $15

Engine Mounting $1138
Subaru Engine Adapter Kit- Manual Trans $519
Subaru Engine Carrier Bar $399

Subaru Engine Mount $60
Throttle Body Reverser $80
Air Filter $80

Exhaust $710

Stainless Steel Single Port + O2 exhaust header $590

Exhaust Bracket for 6" Round Muffler $40

Walker SoundFX Muffler for 1996 Ford F-150 XL 6 Cyl 4.9L $40

Magnaflow 2 inch CAT w/O2 $40

Engine Refit: $750

Custom Wiring Harness Work $550

Subaru OEM Seals $200

The 11th Hour

One of the most fascinating portions of this project (and I'm sure you can see it if you sacrifice your eyes and read through this blog in a single sitting) is the degree to which I have enthusiastically see-sawed from one solution to another. First it was all about how I was going to convert the engine to Subaru power, and why.

Then it became the hunt for parts required to positively test the existing Typ4 engine. Which became an increasing drain, since each dollar I spent required two more dollars to prove that the next item down the chain was good as well. In the end I spent almost half my budget chasing the dream that I was going to re-awaken the Typ4 from the dead.

Damned Typ4. How is it possible that an engine so 'simple' is based on parts so poor yet so expensive?

The final straw, of course, was when I discovered that I was going to have to go the full monty in on the engine, essentially replacing every component, to make it reliable. This left me trying to hold my own far, far, out of my weight class. Hell, I've never even rebuilt a lawn mower engine. Now I'm rebuilding a fussy vintage engine with my own set of micrometers, snap gages, and calipers? This had got to the point of "Grandpa's Axe." (aka Ship of Theseus.)

I started with $5500 from the sale of a Restored 1972 Beetle.

-$1500 Purchase price for 1977 VW Bus

-$100 tow

-$1378 parts dumped into Typ4 engine repairs to date

So, not counting the multiplicity of tools I've purchased to accomplish rebuilds, etc. I've burned up over half of my budget and STILL the Bus doesn't move.

So, finally, and officially, we're done with the Typ4. There has been a tipping point in the popularity of engine swaps, such that stand alone vendors (Rocky Mountain Westy) are engineering their own conversions for the Air Cooled Bus. Jake Raby, late of the 'Camper Special' fame has moved on to Subaru or Porsche. The Typ4 is a 'dead lump walking.'

So with $2522 still left in the kitty, the pivot occurred a month ago when RMWesty dropped me a private communique with pictures of their Aircooled Conversion. They're really going to do it. A newly engineered rear support hanger, reselling Outfront Motorsport's plate style adapter, and offering their own cooling solution: an underbelly job similar to Fellows Speedshop. Of course none of the prices are published, and I might die of fright when they do publish. Still, that was the tipping point: no one else is going to support the Typ4 anymore, so building a new one myself, FOR myself when I have no assistance and only spotty internet advice seemed to pass foolhardy and head at flank speed toward damnfoolishness.

What will $2522 buy? What do I need? All this and more, next time on The Price is Right!