Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum and new to the automotive arena. I have built an airplane but now I want to try cars. I am in the process of building a 356 porsche replicar and I want to use a subaru engine instead of the VW engine. I am going to use a Kenedy adapter plate to attach to the VW transaxle. Does anybody have a recommdation on which engine to use. I want to make it as simple as possible and easy to work on. I would prefer it to be over 100hp. Kenedy said that I would have to change the clutch and flywheel for the increased torque and hp that a soob would give me. I would appreicate any advice for a beginner.

Shane

EA81, OHV engines can be fairly easily put in the 100-110HP range.

 

EA82T comes stock with 115 HP and id overhead cam.. I personally prefer the EA82T, however you will get conflicting opinions on which is 'better'.

 

There's someone on the BYB(Australian) board that has a porsche replicar with an ea82T. Might be some onfo available there as well.. http://www.ausubaru.com

And was it Subaru powered? have a Spezio tuholer (pic in members album), but its a Lyc O-290D. There's a couple other EAA types that hang around here as well.

 

Welcome, and have fun with your next project.

EA81 motor, with EA71 pistons for higher compression (available rebuilt from CCR--specify hydraulic lifters if you don't want to have to adjust them); use EA82 intake manifold (better flow than EA81 intake); Weber carb; discuss the merits of the three EA81 cam grinds with CCR.

 

EA82 SPFI motor with EA82 carbed manifild on it (SPFI motor has higher compression pistons than carbed version); Weber carb. Has hydraulic lifters and timing belts, but belts are easy to get to, especially if you install the radiator out of the way.

Well lets get serious here, If there is room for it get and ER27 which is a 2.7L MPFI 6 cylinder 145hp 156ft-lbs.

 

If a 6 cylinder is too big, Kenedy also makes and adapter for the EJ22 which is a 2.2L SMPFI 4 cylinder depending on what year motor the hp ranged between 130 to 142. Also the EJ22 is packaged smaller from side to side then the EA82.

Who is CCR, and do U have a link for them? I didn't know any one was making the EA71 pistons!

Hey Demmer

 

For the best info on VW engine swaps check out this site and the Conversion Perversions forum:

 

http://www.shoptalkforums.com/

 

Also great VW guys over at:

 

http://volksrods.com/forums/

 

Gary

 

P.S I’ve been a VW guy for years

Porsche 356 huh? My dad had one of them, he loved that car. It rusted so badly that he had eye bolts in the rocker panels, with cables running across the bottom of the car, holding the floor up.

 

I'm going to assume that the rump roast end of the porsche is the same width of a vw. Engine bay, anyway. BTW, did you get the list of engines from kennedy? And did some studying? Just wondering.

 

Here are my thoughts: EA81 is small, light, doesn't have timing belts, and is weak without several modificatons. It would fit in the engine bay and is recommended by Kennedy (cuz it's easy).

 

EA82 is too damn wide, has timing belts, can be fuel injected (SPFI) and is easy to wire up. More powerful stock than EA81. Not reccomended By Kennedy and myself because the engine adapter has no provision for checking ignition or cam (timing belt) timing.

 

EJ22 is powerful, reliable, fits perfectly in a VW engine bay, is a total b*tch to wire up, and is finicky getting the air bled out of the cooling system. I have one in a '74 Beetle. Not running yet, waiting for one sensor. And the oil pan probably will have to be shortened for ground clearance.

 

Other EJ engines (1.8, 2.0, 2.5) would be similar to the 22. 2.5's sometimes blow head gaskets. 1.8 not as powerful. Any of these would rock with a turbo, might be some packaging difficulties (turbo) getting these to fit.

 

Mazda RX7 is sweet, runs hot, might be a time bomb, probably real fun, no size issues, expensive, and soounds cool.

 

Bored and stroked VW is another time bomb if built with cheap parts and too much compression. Reccomend a high rpm, low compression stroker with 2 dual carbs.

 

Porsche 911, well, good luck finding one that doesn't need an expensive rebuild.

 

Small domestic V6's have loads of torque and would be a blast to drive and inexpensive to maintain. Probably harder to fit in there. Could handle a fair amount of N20 without much drama.

 

I thought hard about what I wanted in there. Went with the subaru EJ22 because my parents have one in a legacy wagon and that's a very drivable car. And I wanted multiport fuel injection. I'm tired of carbs.

Good Luck,

Eric

Thanks for all the input. Anybody had any experience with enginesrus on E bay?

CCR is Colorado Component Rebuilders, a shop that specializes in rebuilding Subaru motors. Very highly recomended by people on the Board who have dealt with them.

 

http://www.ccrengines.com/

I'm in the process of putting a '98 EJ25 in a Beetle.

 

One piece of advice is to get the engine with the complete wiring harness. I didn't and I'm having a hard time finding one.

 

Where are you going to put the radiator ?

 

You also might want to check this board:

http://frost.bbboy.net/vwengineconversions

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Rob.

Where did you put your radiator? Mine's up front, laying over the hole where the gas tank used to be. The gas tank is up against the firewall, on custom angle iron brackets.

 

Engine wiring harness-I bid on an engine on ebay from a guy that was parting one out. Lost the bid, but contacted the guy and told him if he got the whole harness out without cutting anything, to name his price. Got it for $50. Highly reccomend getting engine/ecu/harness from same car, at least same year and transmission. I have not followed this advice. One year difference between engine and harness, and ecu/harness came from different trasmissioned cars (look, I invented a word!)

Let's just say there were a few minor discrepancies. Factory service manuals are a lifesaver. Wiring the engine up, off and on, took a month. Won't know if it's right until I start it.

SnotRocket,

I haven't decided on a Rad location yet, but I am leaning towards the rear parcel shelve area.

My car won't have an interior (weight is Evil), so I won't be running a back seat. I thought of hacking a hole in there, and use something like NACA ducts to force the air through there.

 

Keep an eye open for a wiring harness for a '98 EJ 25 :D

 

Rob.

I saw an article in a recent kit car mag where a company is selling a sube powered 365 kit. IIRC, they used an EJ22, I could be wrong though. I tried to find the website in my history but couldn't. And I can't remember the title of the mag either. But if you go to one of the kit car mag's website (kitcar.com...I think) they have links to all the kit car mfg's and you should be able to find it. Sorry I can't be of more help. If you head out to the news stand, you'll probably be able to find the mag with the article. I've only seen two maybe three mags dedicated to kit cars, so it shouldn't be too hard.