2.8L Chevy Adventurewagen

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:09 pm

Well,

I decided on the 60 degree 2.8l Chevy V6. It's a decent size engine and will fit nicely in my '73 Vw Adventurewagen. It makes good power up to 6000 with the cam i chose .....not that i'll be driving there and parts are abundant. I found a cheap doaner S-10 pickup. The engine is carburated and has HEI ignition.I am putting a 350 Holley 2 bbl w/electric choke on it instead of the factory Varajet 2bbl it came with.

Wiring this thing up will be a sinch.... I plan on running a 75amp GM 1 wire alt. to supply the juice for now. Later i'll look into the 105 amp model for more charging power.

I ordered the adapter from Kennedy Engineering to bolt this thing together.

I am going through the engine and freshening it up. The head rebuilds were expensive i thought ... .....needing lot's of work. All the exhaust valves were shot......

I have a friend freshening up the tranny for me. It's a '79 6 rib tranny and he's installing the .77 4th gear to drop my rpms down at highway speed. I figured this tranny with 30" AT tires will drop my rpms to 2600@ 70mph approx. That's good enough for now. The torque of that engine will pull it nicely there. He's a very reputable tranny guy here and he's in my Vw club: http://www.arklatexvwclub.com

This is the look i'm going for......
http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i160/ ... aja%20Bus/

I am putting the radiator up front. I'm building this camper with a "Baja Bus" offroad look so the brush guard/radiator mount will workout. I'm working on a plan to install a "Mexican Rad Grill" in the brush guard and attempt to make it look good....... We'll see..... I'll probably change the style 4 times before i fire up the torch....

I found a auxilary heater from under the rear seat of a mid 80's Vanagon. It's completely self contained hot water unit with 2 speed Fan,heater core, box and heater valve. I got it for $16.00 at a U-Pullit parts place. It will make a nice aux heater for the conversion....... I'm goin to try find another to build in up front......Easy Defrost.....

Mostly waiting on themachine shop to get the block done , then i'll be real busy for a while........

More to come......

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Tue May 09, 2006 4:18 pm

Well, I just got back from a 3-1/2 week deployment to Fairbanks Alaska. Now i can get back to work on my V6 conversion. When i got home i found the Kennedy adapter kit waiting for me...

.

.... When they say 6 weeks ..... they mean 6 weeks.

It looks awesome. Great machine work. Props to them......

I went with the 200mm flywheel kit. For my conversion the 1700 lbs clutch will work fine.

All of my machine work on the engine is complete. I need to get off my lazy ass now and get it put together.

I went .040 over on the bore. I installed a torque improved cam also.

I haven't decided on the 2bbl Holley, the Original Rochester Varijet carb or a 4 bbl Holley carb yet. I have all three and i think top clearance will dictate which one i use. I really want to use my 2bbl Holley as it's a 350 cfm w/ electric choke and is new. To run the holley's I have to switch to the Edelbrock intake which is taller than stock. I need to get the engine in to measure what will fit. I really don't want to raise the engine compartment roof if I don't have to.

The motor should push around 140hp when complete and be torquey. Plenty power for an old bus camper.

My 091 transmission should be finished also. I need to check. I had it rebuilt with a .77 4th gear installed to help with highway driving.

More to come........

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Tue May 23, 2006 6:54 am

I picked up my 091 from my buddies shop. Looks great. I also purchased a high torque starter for the 091 to turn the Chevy over. I'm sure the new engine will be a little tight and would kill a stock starter.

I hurt my back recently so that has slowed my progress. I can't lift any thing with any weight so most of my project is on a snails crawl

.

I just purchased a Mexican Kombi radiator grill from Mexico. Antonio from [email protected] really set me up

. The new grills were very expensive but he found me a very nice used one that will work fine. Fed Ex really likes to screw ya though......

This weekend i'm going to finish the engine assembly and get the adapter installed. I am going to cut the rear apron out of the bus and fab it so it bolts on like the earlier models. This will make engine installation and removal easier. I want to set the engine in this weekend to measure for clearance and motor mounts.

I am getting concerned about the carb hitting the upper deck when it's in. It's gotta be very close if it doesn't.
I may have to raise the rear deck 1-2" to make things more comfortable.

I will get some pics posted when i get off my dead a$$ and do some work....

I found a company that will build me some raised spindles for my bus. They can go 2-1/2" up for me and retain the speedo cable. That will help so i can put the larger 15" wheels and all terrain tires on the front. Later i will relocate the front beam and raise it 4 more inches. I guess i'll get my spindles off this weekend so i can send them in.

Have a good Memorial Day weekend !!!! I'm gonna........in the MOnster Garage.....

regis101 · Post by **regis101** » Tue May 23, 2006 7:20 pm

Greetings. Well, myself and 275 other hits are reading your thread. I like your enthusiasim.

Metropoj is also doing the Mexican front grill. Search on his posts or contact him for more info.

Cool thing about the VW grill is that it's VW approved. That makes it O.K. to use in my book.

Peace

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Wed May 24, 2006 4:42 am

Hey Regis101,

Thanks for the props

I have been in touch with Metropoj about the grill install. He hooked me up with Antonio down in Mexico City on the grill. I have searched this site a lot and downloaded tons of info about radiator locations.

I'm very excited to get this thing going. Right now, I have most of my parts to get it running. I'm waiting on the Edelbrock Performer intake to come in this Friday then i'll have all of it.

When this thing is done it should be a nice quiet ride to travel in and pull my Beetle to shows with. I know with this engine it'll be a stout tow rig and look cool too.

Now to get started.........

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Sun May 28, 2006 8:10 pm

Well, Here is the engine finally...... I still need to install the oil pan tomorrow.

I think i'm going to have a distributor clearance problem. I may have to axe the HEI and get a narrow Mallory unit or something else. It looks like the HEI might hit the firewall. I checked behind the firewall for room to modify.........Yeah right...

.... None there..... I guess i could notch the fuel tank.............Where's my torch........

I'll be installing the tranny tomorrow and shift rod bushings while all is apart. I have to remove my front spindles to ship out Tuesday to be modified. I found a company that will build 2-1/2" raised spindles for me. ........... HMMMMM .......Must Have............

More to come .....

iggi · Post by **iggi** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 5:01 pm

thanks for the pics and the updates.
looking forward to final road test report.

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 7:31 pm

Thanks Iggi, I hope things go ok on this project. I have some more brainstorming to do along the way but we'll get there. I installed the new tranny yesterday.

Today i recieved my custom built wheel adapters in the mail.

I had some made for the bus 5 x 112 - 5 x 4-1/2" so i can mount my Jeep wheels and my 30 x 9.5 x 15" tires. The guy did an awesome job making them. This will make finding wheels much easier down the road also.

Well...... My weekend is ruined...

... I have Reserve Duty this weekend.

More to come......

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:57 pm

I have done a little work today.

Finished the engine assy yesterday and bolted on the Kennedy adapter plate and Stage 1 clutch. I also went ahead and installed the engine so I could see how it's all gonna fit.

http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i160/ ... en%20Baja/

Above is my photo album of my work. I am rethinking the radiator up front.

I really don't want to cut the nose and loose all the duct work up front. I originally wanted to use them for my custom heater I designed. """"I may have a Mexi Grill for sale when i'm finished."""""

Since I have to resize the engine compartment upwards 3" to clear my tunnel ram manifold. (MORE POWER!!!! ARR !!! ARR !!!)

I may look into building some radiator mounts in the sides also. I'm looking at a custom built aluminum racing radiator to supply the cooling. If ones not enough cooling then i'll get 2.......

I will have plenty of room and I have a fresh air idea...... Get another set of the upper bus vents and graft into the lower rear sides, right at the radiator. .......Yeah.............Where's my Sawz-all......

More tomorrow..........I took my wifes birthday off.......... She has to work.......

mazda_6t9 · Post by **mazda_6t9** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 12:10 pm

hey could you do me a huge favor and measure the center of your crank to the top of that cover. I have a nissan v6 and I wanna see if mine will be close to the top. mine is FI so no big mani or carb.

That is a sweet setup but I am doing the oppsite. I am gonna have a camper more street orientated(not lowered though) to pull my off road baja.

I have not found a camper bus yet but I have the 3.0 from a nissan 300zx turbo and the adapter. The turbo motor come with 210 hp stock and for $10 boost controller can get you into the 300hp range. good times, lol

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:07 pm

Hey Mazda 6t9,

The center of crank to underside of deck is 19".

My engine would of fit without mods except for the intake/carb I want to run. The stock Varijet 2bbl would work ok but is not very tuneable. The 350 cfm Holley I have is very adjustable and very economical as far a Holley's go. I got the Edelbrock for this thing to mount the carb and maybe ...... help my towing cam a little. I'm towing my bug to shows and my jetski sometimes.

I am really making mine a streetable camper except for raising it a bit. That's just to clear my larger tire that is required for gearing and I don't like a raked van at all. This thing with 14" tires would rev itself to death. That's why i changed the 4th gear and went to larger diameter tires. This will bring my r's to 2600 @ 70mph.

That 300Z engine should do fine. It should handle high rpm at highway speed pretty well......How long is it? Mine is about 26" tranny to pulley edge and i can just close the decklid. I thought that 6cyl. was longer.....

My V6 wouldn't cruise well at 4000rpm. It's red line is 6000 rpm. I want to cruise 70mph quietly and pull a house uphill.

.....or make that a Breadloaf.....

Plan your cooling system well...... I am having to rethink mine mid project............ before I cut anything.

Well good luck with your project and keep us updated if we can help......

Peace

Mike T · Post by **Mike T** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:07 am

Good work so far.

I used a modified 2.8 in my SCCA autocross car for 7 years and have a lot of experience hunting up performance parts.

A good distributor to use is a unit from an early 1980's Chevy S-10 or GMC S-15 with the 2.8 engine. These are small diameter distributors but are NOT computer controlled. They are the smallest HEI distributor available for the 2.8 and are usually cheap at the boneyard.

Also you should really consider a Holley 390cfm 4bbl instead of that 350 2bbl. The 390 is perfectly suited for the 2.8 and has excellent drivability with the vacuum secondaries. Best of all it works right out of the box. You would also be able to get rid of that adapter and get a little more overhead clearance.

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 2:35 pm

Thanks , I'm actually off to an autocross event Saturday in my Orange bug in the avatar....

I have just purchased the 390cfm model Holley. I was thinking the same thing about getting rid of the spacer/adapter. I still will have to raise the rear deck some. Maybe 2" for aircleaner clearance.

I already have the early 80's distributor but am unsure of how it wires up. It has 2 wires coming from it off the module. I got a coil from the another S-10 but had to cut the harness to get the connector. Any Ideas? This module only has 2 pins w/2 wires coming off the coil side. I don't wanna fry modules if i can help it.......

I can get about 40 degrees of movement with this smaller model distr. before it hits anything. That should be plenty.

I have a new set of Hedman Headers for it. I will have to "Adjust" them a little but that's no big deal.

Peace,

Mike T · Post by **Mike T** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 7:50 pm

Good deal on the Holley. You won't be sorry I'm sure.

I didn't know how to hook up mine either. I think I ended up looking at an early S-10 wiring diagram in a Hayne's manual. They have colors noted and I hooked it up using that. Remember it's an HEI and uses a full 12volts. Early GM distributors had a resistor in the power wire. This doesn't need it.

Awesome! You autocross a Bug. I autocrossed Beetles in H-Stock extensively during the 1980's. Got my picture in Grassroots motorsports twice and SportsCar magazine too. I used to run Pro Solos. Great times.(see avatar) I have been participating in the roadrace forum lately and the guys over there are getting me fired up to get back in a Bug and get out there again. I may have to park my E-Modified 914 and scrounge up a Beetle.

fastmc25 · Post by **fastmc25** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:27 pm

Cool,

I used to drive a "E" Prepped Mustang about 7 years ago and did several Road Rallies in Germany 20 years ago in a 914 powered bug...... Definately fun....... This will be my first run in this 914 powered bug......

My daughters boyfriend has a 07 Cooper "S" and wants me to teach him how to drive it tomorrow so i figured the autocross was a good start for him.........

I have been working on the headers for the bus today... I have the right bank done and working on the left........ Tedious work........ I'll do some more tomorrow evening........

Peace,