After a major garage clearout, I finally found the engine and my test bed and managed to put the two together at last. The adaptor plate lined up perfectly and it is all held together using the standard 4 mounting bolts that we would normally use for a VW air cooled lump.



You can now see just how small and compact the Subaru engine is



Yes, there is a lot of plumbing, and we will deal with all of that in due course, but its really not as daunting as it looks



This should give you a rough idea on the differences in size, and as you can see - its not a lot different at all - if anything its shorter



And not a lot difference width wise either - it will fit in a standard Beetle engine bay - Just !



I have purposely made this engine stand to be the same height as my Buggy, so the crank centre line is at the same height too. This will make it easier to design pipework and exhausts etc etc.



I run a stock (and quite high) ride height on my Buggy, and that sump sticks an awful long way down even for me, so if you were running with lowered suspension, then you may need to think carefully what to do about this. When I can find where i put it, I will show you my solution.

Does it weight significantly more, and have a bit more rear end sag factor too?
(Of course you have a type 4 lump, which I think is a bit heavier than a T1 anyway)

Does it weight significantly more, and have a bit more rear end sag factor too?
(Of course you have a type 4 lump, which I think is a bit heavier than a T1 anyway)

It certainly weighs more than a stock air cooled lump, and I would say that it feels marginally heavier to move about than my Type 25 lump too, but not by much.

Not many figures on the net, but I recall that I saw somewhere that the Subaru short block was around 110Kg for shipping weight, so by the time you have ancillaries and fluids in there, it would be half that again. Remember though that a lot of bits will also be removed too. Power steering, Air Conditioning and the cast iron manifolds are heavy beyond belief for what they are, and thankfully all gone.

But, engine mounts and gearbox cradles really should be investigated if considering this conversion - the engine in the cradle sits exactly where I was hoping, with no additional sag than when a T25 lump was in there - that's a good start.

All of my engine and gearbox mounts have already been uprated though in anticipation 

just thinking another option for sump to ground clearance is to raise the gearbox like the lowriders do. With irs it is easier then a swing axle.

just thinking another option for sump to ground clearance is to raise the gearbox like the lowriders do. With irs it is easier then a swing axle.

True, but if you were going to relocate the gearbox, then you really should not be considering the EJ20 engine as a conversion. For all the extra work involved in lifting and moving the box, then you would be better off making space to fit a 6 rib bus box in there - and that way you can use the EJ25 Turbo engine which is a lot more powerful.

I have decided not to go down that route as my own ultimate goal is a more reliable engine with parts that are easy to get. The power increase of the EJ20 is more than enough in the Buggy for me and the higher revving engine should give me a bit more speed too with a much smoother delivery.

At least I hope so 

Going the high powered turbo route needs a full frame for rigidity in my book so built to suit the required box.

Going the high powered turbo route needs a full frame for rigidity in my book so built to suit the required box.

Absolutely - Beetle chassis was never designed to take that much power

I cut and welded a sump to make a 4.3/4"? deep just lower than the oil filter for a friend at the same time I made it wider and longer added some tubes in it to get to the  bolts, this made it stronger we did it all to keep the stock oil capacity over just cutting it off

How amazing 

That engine is so small, it seems, I hope all goes well with it 

Its not actually that small Peter - If you look back to the start of the thread to a picture I took of one in Sawmill Jim's Bug, it fills the engine bay about the same as an air cooled one would

Ha, Yes, thats exactly what I meant, just came out wrong.

The thing is, it fits perfectly size wise, I often think some of the bigger versions hang out
the back a lot and it all looks out of balance, design wise.

This is really nice and neat though and an obvious choice for a more modern upgrade I think,
as you are going to get a big improvement in power and a more modern delivery of it all 

Brilliant 

Some paint (maybe even the AstraChrome stuff https://www.astrachrome.co.uk)
Maybe some custom ali pulleys and a few other detail bits and the engine won't look half bad

That's the beauty of playing with the Jap stuff - the bling options are limitless !!

Don't know how good they are quality wise though as not ventured down that route just yet

That's the beauty of playing with the Jap stuff - the bling options are limitless !!

Don't know how good they are quality wise though as not ventured down that route just yet

Careful with Japanese bling you may end up with a Bosozoku buggy

Careful with Japanese bling you may end up with a Bosozoku buggy

The way my luck is going it is more likely to be a Coronavirubaru Buggy with Chinese parts