Help need with mad project

[gin23deluxe]

Hi People my names Mark Hopley have a company called gingersbuses
www.gingersbuses.co.uk.
I am in a dilema have an old girl which i have some mad ideas for, my Barndoor panel... Ex KcW Silver Bullet. Been around awhile. Its a shitta to drive been straight axled, narrowed beam. Slammed, just not a pleasent driving experience, as should be.... to a degree.
To justify keeping her i need to transform her, to daily driver status, well its the plan.
So far i ve got top of the list, steering rack and clutch as its so narrow the shorter tie rod is so short and at such an angle its firstly interferes with the clutch cable badly, alsomits srubbed out 2 new 50 profile polenza tyres in less than 400 miles..
second job is IRS, have a complete rear sub frame of an lawn mower type 3 for that.....
So Iam thinking subaru conversion, kinda 2 ltr imprezza sport engine.
What Can I do people . Was thinkin cant do it to a barndoor, wont cut any bodywork, but no issues with running gear. I was an original lawn mower die hard, was going with a 2.4 fuel injected type 4, but lets look at the sensible reliable alternative, with an AT beetle box and others need to be sensible and keep cost down as much as possible any help please.
As the rest of the plans will get this bus talked about forever lol and me hung an be great to have a bit of reliable water in her too.
Any help and constructive ideas please, get me motivated to do it
All help will be gratefully recieved, not a person who takes all the credit
i tell of and where my inspiration has come from
cheers mark

[sambabug]

Mark,
Best thing is buy a complete running car ,know milege is geniuine and u have all the bits for conversion engine wise (i paid £350 for legacy 2.2 100k and all mots etc).Take miles really well compression test only 6psi between cylinders .U can pull loom out on car and plug it (long)and test it before u shorten it and take engine out.
Dimensionally pretty much the same size (have a 1600 and 2.2 next to each other in workshop).Pre cat means no faffing about with lambda probe in manifold.Shouldnt require any chopping ov body work etc.If u keep ur straight axle set up (like im doing)theres no chopping ov frame forks etc.Beetle 1303s box with 3.8 is ideal and u can gain large drums on rear ,adj spring plates,and camber compensator would suit.And decent tyre profile would help gearing and ride comfort.Apparently gearbox is on edge with 135bhp.2.2 drive it like stig and wont last built boxes £900 plus or £130 beetle boxes in resrve!

[sambabug]

pt2 ,
You need to mate the engine to gearbox ,if u use straight axle set up ie beetle gearbox .Ya need to use an engine adaptor kennedy engineering in america seem favorite, do clutches to suit reckon around £500 not ordered mine yet .
Or if u use a bus box and go irs rjes do a really nice bellhousing adaptor uk built .
Steering rack diy ,as neil c did using a bedford rascal rack (good thread),or erm creative engineerings bolt on kit viewing kit on sun volksworld can get pics.Think its around £700 squids.Been in a few slammed buses look gr8 ,ride hmmm.Dropped spindles decent shock lengths and tyre profile and u should be able to get sum comfort back.Lot ov brake conversions using porsche stuff ,futbus does a lot ov maching for these
,neil c and cleverchaps buses worth having a look at in completed rides!
Radiator(s) in middle ov chassis rails is fave im struggling as running a 21w with belly pans .Or if u have space x2 metro rads up front under cab floor ,look at cleverchaps bus .

[sambabug]

Bit longwinded but hope this helps,awesome resto work by the way

Paul

[gin23deluxe]

thanks paul appreciate it will be intouch
cheers mark

[richbaker78]

hi mark,
welcome to the board....long been an admirer of your work since you painted that split taiga green (same colour as my bus will be...good taste)

Looks like you have an interesting project on your hands. Just a few thoughts....

I think the engine choice will be fairly straightforward with an engine bay that big as you are less constrained than some models -fitting a subaru isnt going to be a problem but do you have to stick with the flat four or are you open to suggestion?. Have you considered any other taller engines to use that height to your advantage? perahps a VW 20V turbo / earlier GTi if your after performance...or maybe derv is a consideration if your after the ultimate daily!

If your not wanting to modify the body i think your biggest challenge will be getting air to the rads....you dont say if after your mods you intend to stay this low or if it will be raised a little? Check out Cleverchaps work on his split front suspension - he has managed to create a reliable cooling system and improved the suspension whilst keeping it super low.

RE the rack conversion - have you checked out the tech section - a very cheap rack conversion there - slightly unconventional but very effective.
Ive done it to my bay now....its very easy and about £500 cheaper than some of the off the shelf kits. You can even add EPs very easily

anyway - enuf for now - look forward to seeing this develop.


(EDIT: sorry i just realised I duplicated sambabugs posts. really should read thoroughly before posting!!!)

[Alex (FTS)]

Wow you have loads of room in that engine bay! Theworld is your oyster Lovely bus and nice to see your not afraid to mix it up a little. Soooooo what other plans do you have for her-is she staying bare metal?
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