Slow Going

[Geary]

I never thought I'd get back into VWs, but the AWD Syncro changed that. It's the perfect snowboarding vehicle (with the right engine conversion). Tons of room and privacy for changing, and I can sleep in the parking lot the night before a big snow day.

Subaru SVX 3.3, 24 valve, 4 cam, 10:1 CR (non-interference) .. As fast as I need to hold position in the I-80 fast lane, regardless of grade (although I'd consider trading for a TDI.)

[RWebb]

the hose barbs might be one way only -- I may have some pics of the injectors with the hoses off - but the 4 hoses were installed by the shop that did the refurbs on the injectors.

I see people on The Samba saying to get new Al rail (hey - they're BILLET!!!!) but the stock ones are carefully engineered to have a rubber diaphragm at the end of each one. Make yous suspect the VW engineers desinged in a safety blow off valve, or a pressure dampener or who know what ??) Curious if anyone has ideas on that...

jyl has a Sube conversion and can give you more info on them. if it was me going to that much trouble, I'd put in a 6-cyl. SVX or the later 6 cyl motors, esp. for towing.

Now, how IS my Westy turning out...

[1] I've discovered that I no longer enjoy crossing the burning hot desert without a/c.

[2] it is edurcatinal learnang about that new-fangled thang they call fuel injection...

[3] it is a bit noisy - I'll do some more soundproofing on it this summer (it's also a test bed for some de-noising ideas on the 911) - wind noise is the real issue tho; and after that tire noise (I'll switch to 15" alloy wheel this summer and new, maybe quieter tires).

[4] I've used the upstairs (pop-top) bed most of the time, but last summer, got incredible back pain one night (so bad I had to alter my breathing, grunt and etc. in order to get myself down onto the ground and then to walk or sit in the driver's seat). It went away after a day or two, but I've slept on the (downstairs) Z-bed since then. Unfortunately, that means I have to re-pack in order to sleep and leaves less room for the dog on the floor...

and [LAST] I really want a Syncro...

[RWebb]

Geary - you have the perfect setup: power, a poptop, off-road ability and even the best color!

[RWebb]

How worried should I be about these coolant pip/hose connections?

[Flieger]

How old are they?

[RWebb]

dunno the age

I have gone thru the service records and the coolant hoses were replaced about 40,000 miles ago (12 years ago) - did that include this or not? can't say

The pic is a couple of years (2,000 miles) old, so one thing I can do is to get under there and inspect every year to see if there is any movement.

[RWebb]

I fixed the hunting idle by replacing the O2 Sensor. Also, the auto. trans. setup has some sort of funky circlip holding the throttle rod to set the idle under some ungodly set of circumstances... it broke of course. I threaded the end of the throttle rod for a Nylock nut and used that to keep it all together.

The idle is still high tho.


hmmmmmm......

[RWebb]

cleaned & shined up pieces

[Wilhelm]

Originally Posted by RWebb

dunno the age

I have gone thru the service records and the coolant hoses were replaced about 40,000 miles ago (12 years ago) - did that include this or not? can't say

The pic is a couple of years (2,000 miles) old, so one thing I can do is to get under there and inspect every year to see if there is any movement.

12 years old...I would replace them. Going down the freeway and one of those coolant hoses lets go,...could be instant overheat/serious engine damage on a Westy.

WasserBoxer Westy coolant systems need to be checked and maintained diligently.

[RWebb]

do you think the age of the coolant hoses is more important than the mileage on them?

at any rate, I have to deal with the fuel hoses, throttle body & getting new tires on it first...

[jyl]

Mine is a Zetec conversion.

This spring/summer I need to get the AC hooked up, replace some noisy rubber window seals and felts, lay deadening under the carpet (Rwebb what are you going to use?), get some heavy rubber mat for the center part, install a roof rack and a hatch mounted bike rack, install the new Bilsteins, sort out my soft brake pedal (suspecting the M/C), install an audible radio, install some driving lights as I've given up on improving the stock rectangular lights. Lots of projects.

the hose barbs might be one way only -- I may have some pics of the injectors with the hoses off - but the 4 hoses were installed by the shop that did the refurbs on the injectors.



I see people on The Samba saying to get new Al rail (hey - they're BILLET!!!!) but the stock ones are carefully engineered to have a rubber diaphragm at the end of each one. Make yous suspect the VW engineers desinged in a safety blow off valve, or a pressure dampener or who know what ??) Curious if anyone has ideas on that...



jyl has a Sube conversion and can give you more info on them. if it was me going to that much trouble, I'd put in a 6-cyl. SVX or the later 6 cyl motors, esp. for towing.



Now, how IS my Westy is turning out...



[1] I've discovered that I no longer enjoy crossing the burning hot desert without a/c.



[2] it is edurcatinal learnang about that new-fangled thang they call fuel injection...



[3] it is a bit noisy - I'll do some more soundproofing on it this summer (it's also a test bed for some de-noising ideas on the 911) - wind noise is the real issue tho; and after that tire noise (I'll switch to 15" alloy wheel this summer and new, maybe quieter tires).



[4] I've used the upstairs (pop-top) bed most of the time, but last summer, got incredible back pain one night (so bad I had to alter my breathing, grunt and etc. in order to get myself down onto the ground and then to walk or sit in the driver's seat). It went away after a day or two, but I've slept on the (downstairs) Z-bed since then. Unfortunately, that means I have to re-pack in order to sleep and leaves less room for the dog on the floor...



and [LAST] I really want a Syncro...

[RWebb]

JOhn - I usually use Cascades Audio products, as they seem to be the only ones who have even a basic understanding of acoustics. Dynamat may also but are not responsive to questions (and I ask them as Dr. Webb, not some bozo with a thump head audio fixation).

You can see some pics up above of what I did to the front and sliding door.

There is some sort of chewed up foam conglomerate under the carpet right now. Not sure if I will remove it or not. I will test the panels for resonance and install a butyl rubber bases sound deadener on any that resomate (~~25% coverage is all that is needed). After that, I may put down a layer of so-called Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) - Constrained Layer Dampening (CLD) which they call VB-4. Their VB-3 is for areas where you need to turn a tight angle but costs (even) more.

The thing is -- we have a rear-enegined vehicle with rel. poor air flow management ("aerodynamics") -- that means that maybe I want to put the VB-4 over the rear engine compartment and the sloping bulkhead in front of it where the box under the Z-bed rear seat is located (I already used some sound deadener scraps for that sloping area). A 4 banger VW motor noise is not what I really want to listen to on a trip - my neighbor says he loves it tho...

Then, see what I can do re wind noise and rattles.

Doing the front floor might be the last thing to do, tho I'm not sure. Certainly, tire noise is an issue on this vehicle, tho it is not clear to me whether it is entering the cabin via the window glass or via the suspension. New tires will help, but I need to retain some off-hwy traction ability and that often compromises noise reduction.

Also, I put sound deadener and some felt on the interior of the front sheet metal when I had the dash out a couple of years ago.

Feel free to post any further questions or to drop by on one of your jaunts down I-5. I am just a few minutes from a major I-5 junction.



How is your conversion running?

[RWebb]

oh - I found that a brand new m/c from GoWesty rusted almost immediately on the exterior -- you may want to prime and paint with Rustoleum before installing

[Flieger]

I think age is more important than miles on the coolant hoses, as well as for anything rubber. Based on experiences with my Dad's Westy. But then it sits outside in the sun most of the time. In a cloudier climate it might not be so bad as long as it was not also one that saw freezing winters.

[Britwrench]

This is the shop truck, 2.1 Digifant engine we rebuilt a while ago.

Mark

[Wilhelm]

Originally Posted by Flieger

I think age is more important than miles on the coolant hoses, as well as for anything rubber. Based on experiences with my Dad's Westy. But then it sits outside in the sun most of the time. In a cloudier climate it might not be so bad as long as it was not also one that saw freezing winters.

I would agree with Flieger . Time/age is the enemy of rubber.

[jyl]

Conversion is running great. No issues. I don't even think about it. As far as starting and going goes, it's not a 24 y/o van, it's a 1 y/o Ford Focus. Unfort, everything else is 24 y/o . . .

[RWebb]

John, thx for the update -- now that you know how to do the engine swap, how about....


Here is the throttle body:




those gaps around the plate are NOT supposed to be there -- it is way out of spec.

OTOH, it seems to run ok...

[RWebb]

refurbed throttle body in situ:

[RWebb]

Tires are now 7 years old, so....




I had originally planned to use some old MB wheels I got for $40 (total) - they are forged and IIRC a photo is up higher in this thread. But they need to be refinished and they need adapters to work. Following my usual penchant of working things out on paper first, the cost of powder coating, new tires, mount, balance & stems actually cost nearly as much as just buying these and bolting them on, besides this being a lot less effort on my part.

These are 15" wheels, often called "EuroLook" wheels. The old ones are steel and were only 14" diameter, making it nearly impossible to find tires for them.