Alternative engines your opinions please?

[rik24]

Hi im currentley having a Subaru 2.5sohc conversion into my 69 bay. The reason im going to do this is im clueless with air cooled engines and wanted something more reliable and quicker.But i have been quite surprised how negative some people are about such conversions after speaking to people last week at busfreeze .Whats your opinions cheers Rik

 

[slammedresto]

its your bus, so what you want to do i would say.

having said that, if i wanted a watercooled bus i would buy a td T25 westy, i prefer to keep it aircooled and ive gradually learnt what i can whilst ive had my buses, its not easy when everything you touch breaks...........lol but i try my best

 

[rik24]

It would have been far cheaper to go down the T25 route but the wife and i love the look of the early bay.

 

[slammedresto]

It would have been far cheaper to go down the T25 route but the wife and i love the look of the early bay.

i know what you mean, ive no idea of the cost for what your doing, but you could have kept it aircooled and had a built motor. servicing is easy enough for a numpty like me. much easier to maintain than a moder motor

 

[rik24]

Believe me when it comes to engines im a grade A numpty hence my choice! Im not trying to justify my choice it just made me laugh at the weekend when some one said that i would have to update the suspension the brakes etc and how much all that was going to cost me and this was because of the subaru conversion ,my thinking if i put a big bhp aircooled would still need all of this?

 

[gninnam]

Yep - your bus your call

If you feel that you would prefer a more modern wasser box than the aircooled unit then do it.
So long as the unit isn't pumping out alot more bhp than the standard unit, then the brakes, suspension should be OK - but you would be best to change all these parts anyway so you know that they are working as well as they can.

Good luck

 

[Clem]

Youre bus, your rules and all that. To be fair, if you are fitting a stonking Subaru engine in the back then brake upgrades did ought to be considered!
What I like about having it aircooled is the simplicity and availability of parts ... if you break down in the middle of Europe and need a specific ECU module or similar, what are you gonna do? :shock:
It should be a real hoot when its done though ... 8)

 

[andewilson]

my bus is a 1.9td vw golf engine and when it hits the road i hope it will be economical a little faster and more reliable. sometimes i wish id kept the lawn mower engine in it so i could lower it to the floor but my bus was buggered so just getting it moving again will be a bonus. if you want to find more like minded dubbers have a look on http://www.vwkd.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; i go on there and on here to learn from the guys on both sites. good luck with the bus

as for brakes, 30mph is 30mph whatever engine is doing the pushing. obviously 90mph is a different thing altogether. most of these scooby bus can do 100 so depending on how you drive. discs all round may be the order of the day

 

[Bundy]

I was suprised at how many people frowned on the idea as well when I started asking about subaru conversions!
If it looks the same on the outside, then whats the problem in my humble opinion, but like others on here say, it's your bus...so do what you like
Besides I'm biased as I'm gonna put a 2.0 EJ20 lump in mine next year...in fact looking for a donor car now as my golf daily has give up the ghost on 209k miles!!