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Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:31 am

I had an man stop in my shop yesterday and he drop off a couple of Mann filters, he had a Vanagon a few years ago and sold it and had the filters waiting for a good home. We got to talking and he mention a perfect conversion , an American V6 out of the Chevy mini vans?? He said the power curve was perfect and the motor dropped in with an adapter plate.
Does anyone know of this conversion as there are more GM V6's floating around than the other candidates.

Thanks
Steve

Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:38 am

Bassyaks wrote: I had an man stop in my shop yesterday and he drop off a couple of Mann filters, he had a Vanagon a few years ago and sold it and had the filters waiting for a good home. We got to talking and he mention a perfect conversion , an American V6 out of the Chevy mini vans?? He said the power curve was perfect and the motor dropped in with an adapter plate.
Does anyone know of this conversion as there are more GM V6's floating around than the other candidates.

Thanks
Steve

Yep, the Chevy 4.3 V6 fits in there. I've seen pictures on the conversion but not too much direct info. I believe Kennedy Engineering offers the adapter plate.

Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:40 am

You would probably have to modify,raise the engine cover to fit a V6.
I've seen 3.1L SFI GM motors used 175hp & 175 ft. lbs. torque.
I've got one in a dune buggy. Those engines are very plentiful.
But, I've a 2.2 suby in my syncro, and also one in another dunebuggy, they are really the ticket.

Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:52 am

I think that there are quite a few great engines out there that would do well in terms of size and power output to push a vanagon. The problem is with the VW transaxle.
I'll use the engine in our 2003 Grand Caravan as an example - 3.6L - BTW, I'm not suggesting it as a conversion engine, I'm just using it as an example - the engine has good fuel economy, uses about (avg) 10L fuel / 100km, good power, cruises at 110km/h at the above fuel consumption figure. Trouble is, it does all of that at just slightly over 2000RPM. At 2000RPM the vanagon transaxle in 4th is about at 40mph. If I drive the Caravan at the 3000+RPM required for highway speeds with the vanagon transaxle the engine is OK, but not really happy and the fuel consumption skyrockets. N. American engines, in general, were designed to work at lower PM ranges than are required by the vanagon transaxle.

Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:53 am

4.3 Vortec being used here on Badassdub's build. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=492905&highlight=breadbox

Definitely not an under the deck swap, but those engines have like 260 lb/ft of torque with a very early torque curve. And since it is just 3/4 of a 350, there should be plenty of applicable tuning options out there.

D

Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:02 am

I prefer the 3.1L 350 lbs. instead of the 4.3 425 lbs. because of the weight difference.

Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:34 pm

A local shop, Zolly Motors in Arlington has a Chrysler V6 Vanagon

Geoff
McLean VA

Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:48 pm

I would think there are lots of Ford Cologne V6 variants that would fit the bill.

Tue Feb 07, 2012 6:08 pm

I had a 2.8 chevy v6 with a webber in my old 73. in its day it was great. But knowing now what i do, the subaru is way better fit and finish and smoooooth as glass.

The v6 would pull like a train but you were all done at 65mph even with 15s

jcl

Tue Feb 07, 2012 6:26 pm

the gm 3.8 is a great engine-- the ford windstar is a great engine. the honda/acura 3.2 -3.5 is a great engine and transaxle--the ford and gm are transverse, so they are missing mount bosses in their blocks on one side. 3.2 honda--its what the sand car boys like nowadays on a mendeola

the honda taxle

then theres the chrysler 3.5 in a bug

a 911 tran$ would live better than the vw trans.

the gm 4.3 is a low tech engine for the astro and light truck apps. pushrods. it's heavy for the cantilever.
the 2.8 camaro engine has a harmonic problem at 3200 rpm. its a narrow v6.

the more power it has, the further from vw transaxles you get-- the more you will have to spend to manage that power. the trans will outcost the engine easily.

Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:08 pm

D Clymer wrote: 4.3 Vortec being used here on Badassdub's build. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=492905&highlight=breadbox

Definitely not an under the deck swap, but those engines have like 260 lb/ft of torque with a very early torque curve. And since it is just 3/4 of a 350, there should be plenty of applicable tuning options out there.

D
This guy is talented! Saw his build thread on the Vortex for the Vorsche!

Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:32 pm

I put a Buick 3.0 in my '78 Westy, not too difficult with KEP's adapter plate. The tough part was the cooling system, it finally ended up with looking like the Mexican Baywindows, with the radiator box on the nose. Lots of fun on the freeway on-ramps...

Wed Feb 08, 2012 1:21 am

ldhamm wrote: I put a Buick 3.0 in my '78 Westy, not too difficult with KEP's adapter plate. The tough part was the cooling system, it finally ended up with looking like the Mexican Baywindows, with the radiator box on the nose. Lots of fun on the freeway on-ramps...
The bays i've seen converted to water cooling mounted the radiator under the van... I wish i had pics of how they did it for reference....

Sun Oct 26, 2014 5:41 pm

Subarugears has developed several new adapters so you can mate a converted Subaru 5 speed manual transmission to a GM LS motor or an Air cooled type 1 or Type 4 motors . I have seen a 1970 Bay window with the 4.3 and it was way cool and fast as heck. It was raised up and had 30" tires for off road. Very impressive. Obviously the VW trans is the weak link, Fellows Speed Shop in Europe sells an under mount radiator set up that goes between the frame rails. Based on some discussions with persons familiar with this set up it is recommended to insulate the under side of your floor. http://www.subarugears.com/Adaptors/Adaptors.html

Sun Oct 26, 2014 8:04 pm

No way a transaxle lasts very long behind a 4.3 GM! My opinion of the 2.8/3.1 isn't very high....lots of cooling problems like blowing intake gasket cooling passage into oiling system. I think between a TDI, 1.8T, or Subie there are plenty of good alternatives already. Now if you could find me a good transaxle to take 300+ft/lbs of torque......5.3 aluminum LS motor!

Sun Oct 26, 2014 11:30 pm

VanaConn wrote: Subarugears has developed several new adapters so you can mate a converted Subaru 5 speed manual transmission to a GM LS motor or an Air cooled type 1 or Type 4 motors . I have seen a 1970 Bay window with the 4.3 and it was way cool and fast as heck. It was raised up and had 30" tires for off road. Very impressive. Obviously the VW trans is the weak link, Fellows Speed Shop in Europe sells an under mount radiator set up that goes between the frame rails. Based on some discussions with persons familiar with this set up it is recommended to insulate the under side of your floor. http://www.subarugears.com/Adaptors/Adaptors.html

FWIW, I think a Vortec 4.3 would be a good match to a Subaru 5MT. The most powerful Subaru engines that were hooked to the 5MT had 258 lb/ft of torque. The 4.3 has 260 lb/ft. The torque peak is about 1400 rpms lower, but I think it would still be okay. The 4.3 doesn't really fit the van very well, but it is a powerful and durable engine.

Dave

Sun Oct 26, 2014 11:30 pm

VanaConn wrote: Subarugears has developed several new adapters so you can mate a converted Subaru 5 speed manual transmission to a GM LS motor or an Air cooled type 1 or Type 4 motors . I have seen a 1970 Bay window with the 4.3 and it was way cool and fast as heck. It was raised up and had 30" tires for off road. Very impressive. Obviously the VW trans is the weak link, Fellows Speed Shop in Europe sells an under mount radiator set up that goes between the frame rails. Based on some discussions with persons familiar with this set up it is recommended to insulate the under side of your floor. http://www.subarugears.com/Adaptors/Adaptors.html

FWIW, I think a Vortec 4.3 would be a good match to a Subaru 5MT. The most powerful Subaru engines that were hooked to the 5MT had 258 lb/ft of torque. The 4.3 has 260 lb/ft. The torque peak is about 1400 rpms lower, but I think it would still be okay. The 4.3 doesn't really fit the van very well, but it is a powerful and durable engine.

Dave

Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:09 pm

I bought my 80 Westfalia with a partially completed 3.8 liter Ford V-6 conversion. I spent a few months finishing the conversion, and drove it sporatically for a couple of years. I found that the mismatch of the final drive ratio (4.86) and a pushrod V-6 detroit engine designed to cruise at say, 1800 rpm to be difficult on all counts. The engine revved so high at cruise that it was hard to keep cooled, returned 10 mpg and was so busy sounding at speed that it was not comfortable to drive any distance without feeling worn out from the sound. I worked on the problems for a couple of more years, and one weekend, I finally pulled the engine, putting it up for sale before I wasted any more time trying to make something work well that could only just work. Given the limit of the transaxel both in available final drive ratios and in power it can hold, it appears that an engine that is designed to cruise at higher revs would be a better match. Maybe a later American engine will be a lot better match, but most of them I have driven/owned are designed to run at a much lower rpm. I am in the midst of installing an Audi 2.2. liter 5 cyl, and we will see how that plays out.

Fri Oct 31, 2014 8:58 pm

There was a guy here in Salt Lake City back in the '80s that had an yellow-orange Bay with a Buick V6. The radiator was mounted on the front end and he had a big silver canoe rack that lifted his canoes way up in the air, like 2 feet above the van. He could go over steep passes at 80 mph as I remember.

Wed Dec 24, 2014 9:11 am

Merry Christmas everyone

I want to bring this topic back up and I hope someone could shed some light. I've posted before about installing the Chevy 4.3 and I've been told it would break the stock transmission and you'd have to hit 9million rpm to hit 60 mph. I will admit I'm no gearing expert so I've pulled some numbers from the web and I hope someone can help me out. Here's a listing of rpms based off a 16" tire

Subaru 5MT
1st 3.785 10 mph = 794 rpm
2nd 1.945 20 mph = 815 rpm
3rd 1.500 30 mph = 945 rpm
4th 0.994 40 mph = 835 rpm
5th 0.780 - 1065 rpm 65
5th 0.780 - 1147 rpm 70

2002 Chevy Blazer 5 speed manual
1st 3.49 10 mph = 733 rpm
2nd 2.16 20 mph = 907 rpm
3rd 1.40 30 mph = 882 rpm
4th 1.00 40 mph = 840 rpm
5th 0.78 - 1065 rpm 65
5th 0.78 - 1147 rpm 70

Go-Westy 5 speed manual
1st 4.11 10 mph = 863 rpm
2nd 2.33 20 mph = 979 rpm
3rd 1.48 30 mph = 932 rpm
4th 1.02 40 mph = 857 rpm
5th 0.82 - 1119 rpm 65
5th 0.82 - 1205 rpm 70

My 4.3 I have is from a 2002 Blazer, if I swapped the stock trans for either a Subaru OR the new Go-Westy 5speed, would that work ???? Am I missing something else in the equation?