Subaru Engine (EJ22) into 1973 Super Beetle

[enclosedflame56]

Here is my build thread, I'm going to keep at it for motivation, and maybe it will help out other people along the way.

I have a 1973 Super Beetle with a full Mendeola Suspension set up in both the front and rear. I bought this chassis recently, but the guy had lost interest after working on it for over several years. The previous owner put A LOT of work into the body and the chassis. He redid all of the chassis, the floors, the heater channels, and a lot of the metal work to the body as well. His intent was to Subaru swap the car, but he never did end up finishing it.

Some pictures of the '73:





I also have a 1972 super beetle that I bought several years before that I had done a lot of the swap into previously. I was overwhelmed by the project and the amount of rust that the '72 had, so I started looking around for a better car to swap everything into.

My background is with Subaru, as I've built countless Subaru engines and helped others with their Subarus while I was in college. I know these engines very well, and have done lots of tuning and performance modifications to them.

The plan is to run an EJ22 short block with EJ25D DOHC heads with a turbo setup!

[enclosedflame56]

This past weekend I cleaned up the chassis and frame underside in preparation for primer and bed liner on Friday, then on Saturday painted and sealed the frame head, frame horns, and the underside. I will coat the floors and the rest of it after I install seat rails and have everything else ready for paint.

The beetle chassis is very ideal for working on, as you can flip it over upside down or on its side when painting! I wish you could do this with all vehicles!

Primer:


I used a product called UPOL Raptor Bed-liner. This stuff is great! Very easy to apply and the chassis seems VERY well protected.
Here is where I got it: UPOL Raptor bed liner







The pictures do not do enough justice, it came out far better than I expected! The best part is, is one bottle is enough to cover the frame head, frame horns, and the whole underside! I applied 2 coats very generously and still have 2 bottles remaining for other projects or areas!

[panel]

Great build. Subaru ECU ?

[enclosedflame56]

Great build. Subaru ECU ?

Thanks! I am planning on running a megasquirt ECU so I can run boost and a hybrid block setup!

[panel]

That's what I'm running MS2.

[bad62bug]

I reinforced my pan were I made the openings larger.

floor2.jpg

floor1.jpg

floor.jpg

[DUNGBTL]

Now that’s how you do it! Replace the lost area…love the welding, esp the edge welds around the cutout. Looks good!

I’m doing an EJ25 in a ‘72 SB. I planning on using the Raptor bed liner for my ‘headliner’ because…headliner! Actually partly because I’m doing a 6pt cage and the main hoop would interfere. I’ve found that you can also buy colors to add to it .

I’ll be interested in seeing how you run your coolant lines around the Mendeola suspension (assuming you’re using a front radiator). Any ideas?

J.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I like the work done.

Years ago, I was at a VW junk yard and got talking to the owner about things as I was still new to dune buggies. One of the things he had noticed was that on glass bodied pan the area, on the center tunnel between the shifter hole and the front cross piece, usually had a small sag type bend in them. He thought (and so do I) it is because of no top to the toy to spread the loads front to rear and diagonally around with.

Doubling up on this area on a unibody is probably a good idea even with the top/roof on the vehicle.

Lee

[H2OSB]

I like the work done.

Years ago, I was at a VW junk yard and got talking to the owner about things as I was still new to dune buggies. One of the things he had noticed was that on glass bodied pan the area, on the center tunnel between the shifter hole and the front cross piece, usually had a small sag type bend in them. He thought (and so do I) it is because of no top to the toy to spread the loads front to rear and diagonally around with.

Doubling up on this area on a unibody is probably a good idea even with the top/roof on the vehicle.

Lee

Along those lines, Lee, I'm running bolt-on convertible rails on my '74 1303...sedan. Not sure how much difference they'll make. Maybe none. All I can say is the factory welded on rail allow vents to have no top, so I'm hoping for a bit of increased rigidity.

H2OSB

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I don't remember ever hearing of the convertible bolt on rails; news to me but then (even as old as I am) I am still hearing about old stuff that I had never heard of before!

As far as suspension travel goes one can assume travel limitations based on measurements between the suspension "stops" and it's/their landing spots... but that isn't necessarily true either. Age of the material (new or old and tired) changes things as well does the changing of preloading the torsion bars and/or coils (if you have them). Too loose or tired then travel is quicker and easier or too tight then you might get less travel.

I play off-road and have reset the preload several times until I got about what I think I need (the proper range of adjustment front and rear). On front torsion bars there are adjusters you can add to the front beam or different coils for coil over suspension plus suspension stops for the front arms.

Then you might also end up dealing with the shock absorbers to slow things down or speed them up.

I have been playing with different suspensions since the eerie (early ) 1960s and boy have things changed especially in the last few years.

It seems like once you get things figured out... things change due to meanness by others with their fixes .

Lee

[enclosedflame56]

Good to see people still are reading these! I have a bit of a list for long overdue updates.

As far as the coolant lines: I am running hard lines underneath the car, with my chassis being as low as it is I wouldn't want to run soft line. That being said, up front I will be sneaking the lines through the metal plates. I think I have a pretty good idea as far as how I will get it to the radiator, I just need to finish doing body work and mate the chassis and the body before I continue doing anything further on the coolant system....


Some additional pictures from this last summer:

Underside shot of the chassis on the lift:



Priming the top of the chassis:




After painting the top of the chassis:




Drivetrain Installed after chassis was painted:


A shot of the fox suspension that was installed:
(Look at the tiny coilovers!)



Springs installed:



I threw on an old body to get a sense of the ride height and overall look (this is a body I won't use, too much was cut out by PO, but myself or others could use it for parts!)... It's a lot lower than I expected/want, so I'll probably be looking at options to raise the height up a bit.





I will be back on this project soon! I signed up for some graduate-level courses this semester, so school has been taking a priority. Once the semester is over, I should be back on this!