Monday 31 August 2015

Sheffield VWOC evening meets

We were invited along to a couple of our local Sheffield VWOC monthly meetings.
here we are at Autohaus Dolby at the July meeting. Thanks to Matt for your hospitality, too!



New Roof Material for the Camper

The only job I haven't got round to doing was th replacement of the old plastic tent material.

Bromsgrove Autotrimmers did us t eJob with top quality materials and  a first rate job.

It looks wicked and is much lest draughty!





Sam's Beetle - Uprated Brakes

While installing the engine to took the oportunity to develope our own Front and Rear Type 1 Brake kits.

Sam when for a multiple fitment hub so he can swap wheels when he fancy's a change!



















Wednesday 26 August 2015

Sam's Beetle - Upgrades Part 2




Some more panelling around the Radiator to ensure all the air coming in the scoop goes through the Radiator.














We decided to use the low pressure pump that fed the carbs to fill the swirl pot prior to feeding the high pressure pump and then onto the engine. This means we only had to run a 8mm return pipe back to the tank and all the high pressure stuff is kept at the back.


The heater is also hear, but the ECU eventually went under the seat.





The water header and expansion tanks and the matching screen wash bottles have been mounted one an aluminium panel that floats above the carpet, Trick!




Two Aluminium Tubes were bent to fit in the body mount bolt channel to keep them  away from the ground and flexibles connect each end.


This is the finished article!











Wednesday 19 August 2015

Sam's Beetle - Upgrades! Part 1

After a little use Sam's Bug had a few engine issues, so we thought a Subaru upgrade to match the Bus was in order. We also decided to do our own Front and Rear Disc Brake Kits, too.
Easy Job!
We found a great Forum Post by an Australian guy which gave us most of the help, but the install really did turn out a lot easier than anticipated, so if you have been worried about doing this yourself, don't!

Sam's brief was to not cut big holes in the '67 to retain it's original appearance.

We went for a 98 EJ20 again, They are the same size as the VW engine across the valve covers so it will go in without cutting the bodywork or removing the rear valance.

This is all we had to remove from the inside of the rear valance on each side.


As with the Bus, Richard at RJES would be our main source of VW/Subaru conversion parts.
We used a Kennedy Adaptor plate/Flywheel kit that came up on eBay, but I beleive RJES are doing them now. The Throttle Body Reverser, Fuel Pump/Filter, Throttle Cable and Wiring Loom were all taken care of by RJES. A stage 1 Kennedy Clutch was aslo installed on Richard's recommendation.

New Gearbox mounts were installed along with one of our Gearbox Cross Member plates from our Split Screen Rear IRS Kit, as no other engine mount was being used we thought this 6mm thick item would give extra bracing.







The engine first trial fit went like this...


With the Generator off and the cam end covers removed it when in just like a VW!

For the Radiator we used an Alfa 33, as recommended on the Forum, and 2 9" fans.
We cut the bottom off the spare wheel well dropped it 40mm and used the shaped panel to make an intake scoop. The panel at the back of the radiator was cut out, but we left the area around the body mount to retain some structure. It is stood on two bottom plates bolted to the sides of the spare wheel well an held at the top with a single bolt through the Alfa top mount hole. It sits so the bottom is no lower that the front of the framehead.