I've seen pics of some Porsche wheels fitted on Samba - not sure which (944?)

good to hear of the progress; let's see some pics

I'll post some this weekend.

Nice work. Please keep this thread going. I've been thinking about one of these myself and I appreciate the info.

damn, john..you look younger than i remember! moving north suits you.

great project. how about showing us a picture of the target vanagon..? i dont even know what your van looks like.

I tried my Carrera wheel on the Vanagon but the shafts are a different size, it seems the 944 type wheel fits with only changing the turn signal cam, three screws.
I have the Subaru in mine, easier to smog in California.

damn, john..you look younger than i remember! moving north suits you.

I have just acquired man-love for you [fluttering eyelashes]

I tried my Carrera wheel on the Vanagon but the shafts are a different size, it seems the 944 type wheel fits with only changing the turn signal cam, three screws.

Thanks. I wonder if there's an adapter? There is a slight sentimental value to using my original Carrrera wheel. Then again, I'm sure I could pick up a nice 944 wheel for not much at EASY, too bad I'm no longer in the Bay Area.

how about showing us a picture of the target vanagon..? i dont even know what your van looks like.

Will do. But it's just your basic shoebox on wheels, with an opening lid. Bought it for fairly cheap on eBay, have been happy, it serves as our people-carrier and cheap weekend getaway housing. When it is raining here, tent camping is kind of a drag. We no longer use the good mountaineering tents of backpacking days, now we use the giganto "family tents" - which are pretty crappy and leak. Last time we went camping sans the Westy, the kids ended up sleeping in puddles and we had to find laundromats to dry out their sleeping bags.

Biggest problem is the color. Paint code is "Ick Gray". I might actually have it re-painted someday.

A quick pic of the work so far.

The throttle body adapted to the van. I wish I'd thought to paint this piece black, so that it would look less obviously non-factory.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1273367185.jpg

The planned airbox location. Unfortunately there isn't room to put the airbox on the intake side of the engine, as would seem more logical. The most recent kits have a much simplified coolant hose setup, which might liberate enough room. Well, the Vanagon's snorkel is up the passenger D-pillar anyway.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1273367213.jpg

The view from the rear is a give-away. Ground clearance is about 8" if I recall correctly. I might cobble up some sort of black rubber skirt to hide the tell-tale - I'd prefer to be more discreet.

Did a little work today but spending all day tommorrow on it, so a progress report then.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1273367227.jpg

May I suggest a metal skid plate instead of the black skirt? Shouldn't be too hard to bend one from flat stock. Powder coat it a semi-flat black. Would look good and protect the oil pan.

angela

You got pictures of the whole vehicle?

Make sure you bend up a heat shield for that airbox and to protect that mass airflow sensor.

agree w/ angela - you sure don't want to hit a rock or parking divider while backing up!

Bostig tells me that on a 2wd '86 (mine) the ramp angle for departure is already reduced & so is gnd. cleanace

That last pic shows the biggest problem spot for that conversion (ground clearance). Is there a lower-profile oil pan available? ...dry sump conversion?

There are three options for ground clearance, that I know of.

The kit includes an oilpan from the Contour, which puts the deep part of the pan toward the front. Ground clearance is the same but the low part is protected by the engine mount cradle and makes ramp angle less of an issue.

They also have a high capacity low profile pan that adds (from memory here) two inches ground clearance under the pan (total clearance unchanged, the oilpan is not the lowest part), better ramp angle, holds more oil, is strong enough to resist some impact, and has some fitting that will be needed for the turbo kit.

Then there are some skidplates that are being developed.

And finally you can fit larger wheels to raise the van.

I'll probably go for the high cap oil pan.

Made more progress today, though less than I hoped.
- installed new throttle cable
- connected all coolant, heater lines
- modified and mounted airbox and air intake tube
- installed belt tensioner, still can't mount the belt because missing the effing bracket for the a/c compressor, brackets are hard to source
- installed exhaust, cataytic, muffler. Yes, I will bend up a heat shield.
- and I started the wiring harness. This is easy since It comes all assembled with all connectors, loom, even mounting clips at all the right places. Good, since I'm not exactly a whiz with auto electrics.

Well, I wanted to be done this weekend but I'm close.
Will post some pics in a bit.

Just checked mine, with a Subaru in it, 215/75/15 tires it only has 8 1/2 inches of clearance, I haven't had a problem with it anyplace. But, it's 2 wheel drive, I don't hill climb with it.

Beygon, is it legit for smog? I want one, but the stock motor doesn't cut it.

Yes, I don't want to hijack this thread, but, I just got it smogged Friday, Registration is due again in July, legal, use the Kennedy kit and you don't have to go to the BAR. With a 2.2 94/95

Engine as start wiring
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1273460833.jpg

Low point is the cradle. The cradle and the thick flange of the engine block give the oil pan some protection. With the Contour pan, the low point of the pan is immediately adjacent to the flange.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1273460857.jpg

The van.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1273460886.jpg

Dinner.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1273460900.jpg

Hijack away, I don't mind.

In addition to the oil pan, I think I'm going to spring for the ODBII extension cable so that I can mount a Scangauge in the dash.

Slippery slope . . .

you just couldn't stand to have that shiny elbow, eh?