A Little more VW conversion info and pics.

With an adaptor plate, new flywheel, four bolts 2 jacks and one Moderately experienced person.

bolted up and adding alternator

exhaust, turbo, oil feed line to the turbo, alternator wires, carb water hoses, fuel hose, throttle cable, ignition wiring.


And you have one SWEET RIDE!!! Radiator is mounted in the Front of the car where the spare tire goes and the coolant lines run underneath the car in flex hose and long metal tubes.

For those who are sceptical of my 135 hp being able to keep up with STI's, Speed3's and Evo's, here is a quick example of the calculations behind it. This chart simply shows that though a 2007 WRX STI with 316 hp has a respectable p/w ratio of .95 which means it has about 1 HP for every 10 lbs. The Deathcab on the other hand may only have 135 hp but it has a p/w ratio of .91. meaning that i have approximately 1 hp for every 10 lbs. Performance will be exptrememly comperable.

Admitedly, this will not represent the outcomes of a drag race 100% but it will give you a general idea. This chart does not take into acount your altitude pressure or temperature variation, it does not account for gearing or human hesitation at the drag "tree". Infact, if you take gearing into account. The bug would have an advantage being geared so low.

Total expenses for conversion

• 3.00 - Exhaust flanges
• 35.00 - Turbo gaskets
• 50.00 - Turbo flanges, up and down + intake flange
• 100.00 - Subaru WRX turbo w/ oil cooler (not necessary)
• 480.00 - New 40 DCOE weber side draft carb
• 483.00 - Kennedy adaptor plate
• 520.00 - Custom turbo eshaust with a 3" straight pipe :)
• 153.00 - Used, low mile subaru 1.8L engine
• 250.00-300.00 - Random remaining expenses include: radiator, hoses, hose clamps pipes, heat wrap, spark plugs, RPM guage

the total for these items is $2124.00 and the bug its self cost me $1200.00 for a total cost to me of $3324.00... where else will you find a 4-5 seater car, this fast and reliable for that price!?

Benefits of 1.8L conversion VS 2.2L and 2.5L

The major benefits to the 1.8L conversion.

• It involves no cutting to the the engine bay, it bolts in with room to spare
• The engine swap, taking the VW engine out and getting the bare Subaru engine in took about 45 minutes. Getting it running took just a few hours over a couple days
• The 1.8L has approximately 90 HP stock (non-turbo). With the carb and turbo that i have, I expect i have about 120-130 HP at 7 lbs. of boost. This is plenty of HP for an otherwise unaltered bug. much more power and you will need a roll cage, more powerful brakes and upgraded suspension. I also expect to be running about 14 sec 1/4 mile at 4500 ft above sea level... thats a 13 at sea level... this is as fast as the evolution 8, 9 and 10, the subaru STI and the Mazda speed 3. I will post my times when i can get up to the strip!
• The conversion requires limited wiring and you don't need to worry about the computers for the fuel injection
• the conversion is relatively cheap
• you have a reliable, water-cooled vehicle with cleaner emissions, more space than even a VW engine and its just about as simple! i expect 24-26 miles per gallon. really, this conversion fits the needs of just about anyone. its FAST, CHEAP, FUN, and really SIMPLE.

Deciding on the project

This project has been so much fun! I had the goal of making something "fast" with $3000.00. I have an old Pontiac Fiero GT which i was going to stick a V8 in, or supercharge... this project would have blown my budjet so i decided to go with an older car.. something light weight. so I did some research.

Bugs are cheap and light weight. when i heard about some of the conversions that have been done, i was sold on the idea. I bought an ugly '72 bug with a crack in the crankcase. i brought it home and decided to paint it up like a taxi. i sanded it down with 80 grit for a rough finish and painted it with a semi gloss black. with "Taxi" on the side and a taxi light from Ebay this car was well on its way to origionality. for the swap, i wanted to try something new. something that nobody does. instead of the common 2.2L subaru or th wankel rotary, i put a 1.8L subaru motor in my bug with a turbocharger from a WRX. which spools up quickly and produces a lot of horsepower. For carburetion, i put a 40 DCOE sidedraft. with all this and the custom, steightpiped 3" exhaust this bug is now a beast!

I cant go anywhere withough attracting the attention of 90% of the people on the road..