EJ18 in a ‘69 standard

[joelzy]

Welp, making progress still
undercoated the bay


cleaned up the intake manifold while swapping to the pasture TB.


Also swapped cam and crank gears to the pasture car parts to match the ECU which is officially done now thanks to the local expert.

[joelzy]

Had a really dumb moment where the motor wouldn't seat on the trans due to the friction disk not being lined up perfectly but thats what i get for putting the clutch on with the motor hanging in the bay.
Glad i figured it out and got it bolted up, onto the next thing.


I put the American engine harness back onto the motor and found i am 2 sensors shy of complete.
figured out that it was the Camshaft position sensor and the knock sensor.
The JDM motor did not have either but very luckily has a spot for both so i ordered those and put together what i could without making it hell to add a knock sensor later.



welp, still updating, not that anyone cares but trying to keep track of this build.
Last weekend was very productive, don't have any pics but i got my oil pick up shortened and the temporary "shortened" pan on until i can cut and weld the actual longterm pan. Cleaned the exhaust ports and mounted the factory subaru manifold which will need some work as it hangs crazy low and the flange almost touches the rear apron. Not sure if I'm going to attempt this myself or let a professional handle it but I'm tempted to take a crack at it.

After all that i was able to put oil in it and gas it up then try to fire it. EXCITING! until it didn't start. I was still reeling from the fact that i got everything connected to even crank so i didn't get too bummed out. No swap starts on the first try, right? I went back checked everything to make sure i wasn't missing something and couldn't figure it out so i had the wife try again and this time the fuel pump decided to start leaking so i called it immediately.
Ordered new fittings and I have a spare pump just in case but i feel like it might be overkill. My close friend who was helping me a lot when this project started, ordered this pump and its like 75psi operating where the factory was about 37.
I have an adjustable FPR with a gauge on it that i might throw on to be safe. Not sure how the factory FPR is handling the extra pressure. Could just buy a lower pressure pump i suppose but this pump is already on the car and i can just lower the pressure at the FPR.

Planning on really running the wires and mounting the ECU this weekend as i know that i have them connected correctly to crank now. Once that is done and the fittings come in I'll start troubleshooting the no start, make sure i have spark and all.

[Dean...]

Thanks for sharing your build! I often find myself talking to myself here too lol

I like your plan for the radiator. That's where I would want it to be if I ever go this route. I have a Kombi which I plan to convert to Subaru power, so a lot of what you're doing won't help me, but a lot might

I'm looking forward to your next post!

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[joelzy]

Thanks Dean!

Haven't had much happen on it lately, The fittings for the fuel pump are taking an eternity to get here and i want to make sure it fires before i go much further. Still not sure exactly how i want the radiator but I'm now considering running it kind of angled to the decklid with the offsets on to make sure it gets plenty of air. lower mounting would be easy with the motor and plenty of empty bolt holes but I'm wondering about the upper mounting. May be necessary to use some rubber mounts if attaching to the body as the motor will obviously move more.

[mads b (dk)]

Keep up the good work

Sendt fra min SM-G935F med Tapatalk

[joelzy]

ALIVE!!! ITS ALIVE!!!
got the fuel pump back in and fired it up. Sounded like it was down a cylinder or two at first but they eventually fired up and sounded like it was running great. Need to get the radiator in and plumbed so i can run it longer.

crappy short vid of idle once it smoothed out

https://www.youtube.com/embed/oJ7Pleic4-g

[Dean...]

Awesome mate!!!!

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[surfbeetle]

So you're planning on doing a rear radiator? I also did the reversed firewall but I have made mine removable. It makes working things back there much easier from the back seat instead of from underneath. Also, as for your apron troubles, you can make that removable as well. Then the engine is very easy to install/remove. I have lots of photos in my build thread. Good luck!

[joelzy]

Appreciate the help surfbeetle! I got really close to cutting the apron off but was able to keep it attached and i wish i had thought about making the firewall removable but for now i'll leave it alone as the motor fits snuggly in there.
I am doing the rear radiator, to start at least. i started making a radiator cradle of sorts that bolts to the motor and will suspend the radiator over the top at an angle. I trimmed a tad more body under the hinges to help the radiator sit up a little and give more clearance for the fan to sit underneath. I'll have to post pics of it as i realize that doesn't make a ton of sense.
Also dropped my radiator off at the machine shop i use to have the inlet/oulet moved for for optimal flow and all.
Can't really tell yet if i'll need to run the deckled standoffs for airflow but if so that is just fine. Also thought about cutting the lower louvered section out of the vent above the decklid just to maximize airflow from that section.

This is the lower part of the mount i'm working through

Radiator inlet/outlet moved for better positioning


realizing with this pic that the driver's side is a touch higher so i'll be fixing that

[joelzy]

Straightened, elevated and finished-ish the radiator support. Not the prettiest but i'm no welder, just a dude with a mig.

I'll probably grind and paint this eventually. The radiator has tapped studs that i just need to drill holes in the support to bolt up.

[joelzy]

Vehicle Speed Sensor mounted and wired


Trimmed the firewall a bit more and cleaned up the rad mount, drilled the mounting holes and primed it.

As you can see in the pic, i need to trim a bit more for the upper rad hose to clear but i am planning on getting a 90 for that part.

And a better video of the car starting and running
[BBvideo=560,315]https://youtu.be/AY9SjBtqUVc[/BBvideo]

[petew]

Not to be captain negative, but I wouldn't put the radiator there. Are you planning some pretty extensive ducting to get air to it?

[joelzy]

Thank you for the reply! i appreciate the feedback
Are you thinking it won't get enough airflow or that too much heat will be rising from the motor? Was thinking i'd run standoffs or a vented decklid with cowling to concentrate the air flow eventually.

Im still learning and greatly appreciate the criticism, Figured that lid off it should be fine but i wasn't sure how it'd do once i covered it.
Not currently very worried about a decklid, just wanting to get it running and cooled to be drivable. Once that is achieved i'll see about putting a lid on it with proper airflow whether that be running standoffs with cowling to the radiator or a vented decklid or even moving the radiator elsewhere if needbe.

I even sketched up a chopped up lid with a sort of scoop in the event that airflow wasn't sufficient, a lot of unknowns currently but i have a digital temp sensor to keep an eye on and plenty of ideas to work with.

[petew]

Some background. I built this buggy some years back.

stalbins1.jpg

EJ25 and initially a rear mounted radiator. Then it got a sidescoop for the radiator. Then a proper shroud...etc. Short story. Rear mount didn't ever work properly. There are a few reasons why I have concerns about your's.
1. It's totally out of direct airflow.
2. You have an engine bay that is try to draw in and expel different sorts of air with no real plan.

Think about the second issue. You want to get hot air out of the engine bay. You also want cool air for the intake. Where you want the radiator to expel the air is exactly where most cars (beetles included) have a weird vaccuum that doesn't allow air to be drawn out properly. Radiators work best when the hot air is drawn through them, rather than forced through them.

What I'd suggest you do is put that radiator in the spare wheel well up front. Run exhaust pipe under the car to it (worked well for me). Build a sealed box around it. You only need a small inlet in the front apron.Buggin_74 has a great setup on his car. Works very well.

[joelzy]

I get what you're saying and again i appreciate the feedback.

my thought was that the standoff decklid would provide enough airflow onto the radiator if i build a shroud to concentrate it and while the fan might run more than normal, it would pull enough air through the radiator and across the motor where it could be pulled under the car. Opposite direction of what you're describing. But from what you're saying i might not even get enough airflow in that decklid area?

Glad to be getting this feedback now because i am far from final on it. Was hoping to avoid running a front radiator but knew it was alway a possibility. The car is pretty low but its doable.