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Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:38 pm

Has anyone had a Subaru conversion done in the San Diego area? looking for a good shop or individual that wants to make a few bucks help me get it done. I found one shop, but it's pricey . . . very pricey. Any leads would be great . . . I've already talked to Randy's and Wolf's.

Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:35 pm

Have you posted this on the Yahoo Group - SubaruVanagon forum? If not, thats the authority site on this conversion.

Check it out at -
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/subaruvanagon/

Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:12 pm

Yeah, the sticker shock from those places is what spurred me to do it myself. I don't know what they're asking now, and I'm not sure Wolf's has ever done one. At least it didn't seem like it when I went in there. The cheapest I have found is $7500-8000, about twice what it would cost you to buy the parts.

You might look up and PM r39o (Walt), he is preparing to have it done. The easiest way to find him is he is one of the authors of "Links to the best threads on the Vanagon Forum" in the sticky area.

Of course if you have any questions you can pm me.

Mike

Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:47 am

What did you end up doing for your conversion? Did you do it yourself or did you find someone in San Diego to do it for you? I am in the same boat right now and trying to figure out what I should do (myself or pay a little extra and take it to a shop).

Wed Jan 14, 2015 12:09 pm

deLaPlaya wrote: ...or pay a little extra and take it to a shop...

Not sure what you would call a 'little extra' - but I'd be wary of any shop that didn't want significant money to tackle this.

Wed Jan 14, 2015 1:26 pm

I had my Suby rebuilt and installed by S&S performance in Alpine ca. They build for Randy's by the way. They took little longer then they said but price was the best. Very happy with the results.

Wed Jan 14, 2015 4:11 pm

deLaPlaya wrote: What did you end up doing for your conversion? Did you do it yourself or did you find someone in San Diego to do it for you? I am in the same boat right now and trying to figure out what I should do (myself or pay a little extra and take it to a shop).

I too am looking at this...

Did you talk to Steve at Subaru Performance? I have heard great things about his engines, but have not had the chance to speak to anyone that he has done the conversion for... He is about $3K cheaper then what many of the other shops are charging... He is pretty OK with the Frankenmotor concept and gave me some good reasons as to why I should do it.. but said he is OK with the 2.2

Also, I have heard many great things about Joe at Europro in Costa Mesa... He is at $13.5K and he offers a 3 year 50K mile warrantee on the engine that is rebuilt by Colorado Components. He has done about 150 conversions, very forthcoming about giving you references, etc... His package includes the BAR/CARB bar code door sticker that will eliminate any future smog problems.. When I stopped by checked out his shop last fall he was currently working on two of them, one the he was just finishing up, and another that had to have a lot of stuff redone from some other shop that as he said completely butchered the job.... The one he was finishing was a work of art..

There is suppose to be another guy in the South Bay Torrence area, but I can't seem to track him down...

In the end, I am probably going to have a shop do it. It is not that I don't have the ability to do this.. With my job I just don't have the time nor the space to do the work. I figure after I source the engine and parts, get the engine rebuilt, the wiring harness done, freight, tax, dealing with BAR Referee, etc... what the shop is charging, it all comes out in the wash.

Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:31 pm

I had mine done by S&S performance and had him install it. He did the 2.5 frankemotor. I definitely would go that route cost about $500 more then the 2.2 engine. But much more power with about the same gas mileage. Steve did a awesome job and they know what they're doing. Joe at europro does great job but his prices are at least $4k higher and he doesn't build the engine himself. S&S builds the engine in house and does the conversion in house. I would never go back to 2.2 engine after having the 2.5 frankenmotor.

Good luck.

Wed Jan 14, 2015 7:43 pm

whynotvw wrote: I had mine done by S&S performance and had him install it. He did the 2.5 frankemotor. I definitely would go that route cost about $500 more then the 2.2 engine. But much more power with about the same gas mileage. Steve did a awesome job and they know what they're doing. Joe at europro does great job but his prices are at least $4k higher and he doesn't build the engine himself. S&S builds the engine in house and does the conversion in house. I would never go back to 2.2 engine after having the 2.5 frankenmotor.

Good luck.

Thanks for the info..... I haven't spoken to anyone on their installs...

Sat Jul 30, 2022 9:06 pm

whynotvw wrote: I had my Suby rebuilt and installed by S&S performance in Alpine ca. They build for Randy's by the way. They took little longer then they said but price was the best. Very happy with the results.

Hi, Its been 7b years since S & S did your build. Is it still going strong? About how many miles do you put on it annually under what types of conditions? Anything else you would add? Thanks so much.

Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:12 pm

l've done 7 so far, and start on #8 on monday.
my phone number is down there
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