Another new project... again. (VW diesel into Subaru Legacy wagon)
 

Ok, so after leaving the Golf sit on the hill for awhile, then driving it, I decided it simply needs too much work to continue "fixing it up" to anything respectable. The body work alone will constitute more than the value of a decent used car.

In the mean time, I picked up a Subaru Legacy wagon in decent body shape with high miles (+300k) in need of a trans, brake work, and some engine tuning.

However, since I had a friend of mine pull a trans for me (Thanks John), and I've got numerous VW engines and now no chassis to use them in, I've decided to mate a VW diesel to the Subaru trans. Now, mind you, 50HP simply wont be sufficient in this AWD chassis (for me, anyway), so the plan is to get it installed, then yank it back out and "fix" the engine (blown head gasket, etc) and turbo it, tune the injection pump up, etc, and have it making about 100+ HP, which will be more reasonable to my driving palate. (Not fast, but not seemingly immobile, either.)

I'll be retaining the Subaru AWD system in doing this, and for anyone interested, don't expect expedient progress on this. It's a pet project that I intend to work on "when I feel like it".

Pics to come.

Also, I can use several of the parts from the Golf for other projects. Most notably, the "newish" $300 set of sport coilovers are almost a direct swap for the Festiva, basically the most expensive part on the whole car.

The stainless hubcaps and wheels will fit after I swap to 4x100 hubs, as well, but they probably will be ignored in favor of alloyed 15 or 16" wheels.

The Subaru is definitely a "fixer upper", needing a bunch of updating work before it can be safely driven on the street, but rust repair is minimal, and should be a matter of gluing a few panels in place with body bond.

While fixing it, "performance" upgrades such as WRX suspension, solid mounts, and brake upgrades will likely be installed, depending on swap price versus parts price to rebuild/replace what's already there.

Have you checked the the vw motor will fit in the short space from the gearbox to radiator in the subaru?

Yep. The motor is 19" (over measured) from crank pulley to block/trans mount surface. There's just over 20" of space between the radiator fan and trans mount surface under the hood.

Even if I needed a bit more room, there's always slim fans and radiator mount modding that can get me another inch or two, as well as the trans mount being adjustable by about quarter of an inch or so.

I also bought solid mounts for the OEM engine and trans, which I'll be using in the swap as well. I need to look over a VW block and see what bosses I can use to mount the engine from the sides.

Any reason why you're keeping the AWD? Seems like an odd combo but an interesting one nonetheless. When you're done, post it on VWVortex and watch people's reactions!

I like the idea of AWD availability when the weathers rough, and I live in the back country. Dirt roads, fields, etc.

I always use my vehicles to do work. The clutch in the subaru is about toasty because I used the car to pull my f250 w when it was buried to the axles, then used it again to pull trees down after they hung up on other trees.

LOL, that's why my dad bought a JD 955! ;) But doing it with a car is pretty badass.

Topher! Working on interesting things again.

Mind if I flesh out your thread title to make it a bit more information-y/explanatory (instead of tease-y)?

Do what ya gotta do, man. I've always been respectful of your need to inform. ;)

I'm just waiting the warranty of my dad's Impreza to expire and then I'll probably also do a Volkswagen swap, altough I might go with a TDI. BTW an uncle of mine adapted this same older 50hp 1.6IDI into a Suzuki Vitara, and without any hypermiling attempt could get 42 to 45mpg constantly.

Subarus are great cars, except for the boxer engines. Don't know why they keep them.

I couldn't find this thread, so I never updated it. I actually had to get rid of that chassis. I had to make a decision between it or a few other things, and unfortunately, the other things made me money, so I couldn't keep the car. I'm coming close to doing that again with a few other projects as well.

I still have the engines and the Subie trans that I was going to put in the car, so I'll still make the block adapter plate anyway, or at least a stencil of it for anyone else interested in trying it out.

Subaru boxers are good engines. They're smooth, reliable and provide a better weight balance.

I don't know if I"ll actually go back to trying this, after what I'd found out the last time about doing such a swap...

But I did get another Subaru the other day, in like Pristine condition for $300 [it needs head gaskets] and am, of course, looking into this again...

This time it's a Forrester body, and I know for a fact I'll need the 50* Vanagon install kit at the very least [or a 6'' body lift on the Subaru]

Incidentally, I forgot about this post and found it again a few minutes ago while looking to see if anyone else has successfully completed a VW diesel into a Subie chassis.

Looks like nobody has so far.

It seems like you keep forgetting about this. :)

Don't Boxster engines enable a lower center of gravity? That always sounds good, although removing my intake, battery, and windshield washer reservoir to replace my spark plugs seemed excessive.

The boxer engines do have a lower center of gravity and a better natural balance, but they lack one very required quality for vehicles I like to drive - they run on the wrong fuel.

Subaru /does/ make a diesel EE20 boxer, but they're import only, and the complete swap with all the required parts would ring up to over $8000, not including install time, labor, etc.

I forget about a lot of my projects.. I either lose interest, end up not having money/time for a specific part, or just plain realizing I was a bit too ambitious [which seems to happen more frequently the older I get] to actually finish the project.

I don't know that I'll actually even attempt this with the Forrester, but it probably /does/ need an engine, so I'll at least do all the required footwork while the engine's out and determine just how feasible it actually is.

Not sure what's not to like about the boxer engines. In my experience the naturally aspirated ones go forever with regular maintenance. The EJ22 being king, and the original DOHC EJ25D being the worst. But even my EJ25D is strong after 180k.

I have bad luck with turbo Subies though. They tend to be beat to death though.

There's nothing particularly that I dislike about them... other than that they burn gas. lol

I still get like 500-600 gal of free gas every year from another scrapper down the road from my recycling yard, so I might try running it on that if I fix the engine that's in it.

Regardless what I do, I'm gonna spend about $300-$500 on it before it's able to be driven anywhere.

As it sits, it needs at least a set of head gaskets [we think] and of course, it'll need a timing belt kit and water pump because who wants to blow up an engine over a $100 belt kit?

The Forester already has a higher center of gravity than a sedan, right? I'm not sure lifting it 6" and putting a heavy diesel engine in it is a good idea, although I have zero experience with this. Just a concern of mine.

I do know my 2.2L Legacy engine went 245,000 trouble free miles. I didn't once replace the timing belt, and I'm not sure it was done when I picked it up with 119,000 miles, although I assume it had been done.

What typically causes Subaru head gaskets to fail? On other cars, it's usually a warped head or block. If that's the case, simply replacing the gasket isn't going to last long. My friend went through 2 head gaskets on his 1999 Outback in about 2 years. I'm assuming the repair shop didn't address the underlying reason for the gasket failure.

I always thought my Forester burned too much gas, hence my Civic. :)

I aint lifting it any inches, if I do it'll be maybe 2'' of under strut lift to clear slightly larger tires for fun time.

I also need to sit down and compare the gearing in the OE auto trans to figure out if it'll even run the diesel appropriately.

VW Diesel engines aren't that much heavier than any other 4 cylinder... I think the 1.6 is like 300lb, and it'd be sitting at 50* orientation instead of straight up and down [like you'd see it in a Vanagon where the owner still wanted to close the engine lid.]

The OE head gaskets fail. Aftermarket ones have been redesigned to negate the failure point. It's nothing to do with the engine, Subaru blames people using the wrong type of coolant or mixing coolant types, the revised HG PN is supposed to allow better cooling flow through the rearmost corners of the heads, where the gaskets tend to fail.

Odds are, the mechanic that did your friend's head gaskets didn't flush the cooling system while he was working.

After lots and lots... [and lots] and lots of thought... I'm probably not going to do this, at least not any time soon.

I will take all the relevant measurements, since I have a spare trans laying around that I can match up to the VW engine and check for clearances, etc... as it turns out, without changing major components during the swap, I'd need to run 31'' or larger tires to keep the diesel from revving out of control going down the road... not gonna be any good for mileage, and I certainly can't afford $1500 or more for a 6sp Subaru trans that's geared for a diesel engine.

Guess I'll keep the diesel swapping for the Festiva.

Oh, and I put my TDi back on the road today. Maybe I'll remember to update the fuel log for it sometime.