Choice of Subaru engine for Typ 1 VW bug

[GordonE]

Hi.
I have seen that this forum has several good Subaru tuners and owners, so why not ask.

During the holidays I stumbled upon a unfinished project VW typ1 1956. I couldnt let it slip my fingers so I bought it farily cheap.

I am planning to make it a mid engine mounted Subaru engine. The car is alredy pretty shopped up with roll cage and tubular front end, so why not mid engine?

I havnt got a engine yet as most Subaru owners, so the engine choice is compleatly open besides keeping a reasonable budget.
I am leaning towards a sleeved and closed decked 2.5l EJ251 block. As I live in Sweden we dont have closed deck EJ22T blocks, sadly.
What would you have choosen?

The head question is a little harder. I want to buy newer quad cam heads, so I can buy some good cams if I want later on.
Should I go for AVCS(Variable intake cam timing) or the older heads without?
I havnt seen any good power curves comparing the two designs.

Hope you can give me some good critique!

Thanks Gordon

[Chris]

Why not a closed deck (factory) 2.0 liter turbo engine with AVCS. If the usage is for a road car then AVCS is a must have. For a drag racer then not so much of a must have , but still nice to have your large cam race engine idle sweetly.There are some large port AVCS heads available, others convert version 5/6 heads to AVCS operation.

The Subaru Legacy/Liberty RS had a closed deck 2.0 engine as did the version 1/2 wrx(I believe). These blocks are readily available cheaply here in Australia, and I suspect other parts of the world.Also there is an option to use a 2.5 crank in a 2.0 block, which gives about 2.1 liter capacity.

Chris

[Dragracer187]

Chris you mean a 2.5 crank in a 2.2 block. In a 2.0 it would give 2.1. Best combo would be the 2.2 closed deck with a 2.5 crank.

[Chris]

Chris you mean a 2.5 crank in a 2.2 block. In a 2.0 it would give 2.1. Best combo would be the 2.2 closed deck with a 2.5 crank.

Thanks, I am not well versed on the parts interchange.

Chris

[GordonE]

Thanks for your reply Chris.

The EJ20G that have closed deck are avalible here, but they arnt very common. They seem to only be mounted in old Legacy turbos.
I found a closed deck block(2000sek/300US$) but the selller dad had sadly mounted it in his car... No wrecker seem to have this block in stock.

And I found another complete EJ20G engine for 4000sek/600$, but with shipping, I think this is too much for just the block. As thease engines has the old hydrualic lifter heads.

I found a EJ251 bottom end cheap, so I think I just buy som sleeves and close the deck. I have a good(and helpful) friend with a good CNC mill, so the job dosnt cost me much.

Is the AVCS ok to use with wilder cams? I think most tend to remove that feuture.
I have no experience of this part, as my other car is a Mercedes from -86!
It sure sounds good to use hot cams while having good driveability.

I will look into wich heads I can get for a good price. I found a EJ204 n/a close to where I live. I think the heads are good on them. They have 165hp and are 2.0l with AVCS, so they should have ok heads I think. With this output I think they must be good for at least 500hp with stock cams. It can be a cheap alternative. I doubt I will need more than 400hp with this car :D

[Chris]

Maybe the AVCS is removed because the valves could caress the pistons with larger cams in the full advanced position.

Chris