Anybody here serious into the Westy's?

I live in California, and I was wondering what the rules are for upgrading or putting different motors in these? For example, if I found myself an early 70's Camper and I wanted to put a Type IV motor in it, could I and pass inspection?

1975 and earlier are exempt from inspections. Put whatever you want in it.

BTW, the rules are the same for all vehicles. 1976 and newer vehicles can be retrofitted with a 1976 or NEWER engine. ALL smog equipment from the donor vehicle must be installed with the retrofit engine.

If you use a 1980 Chevy as your donor, all smog equipment from the 1980 Chevy must be installed into your Bus.

Hmmmmmm..... Lots of Suby conversions out their for the Westy's. There appears to be a shop that does a 1.8T conversion in Northern Cal also.

Newer cars have less smog equipment and more electronics. Subi conversions need a CAT and EVAP. The rest of the parts are easy and pretty much bolt to the engine.

Then the CA B.A.R. will put a tag on the car for future smog mechanics to test to.

You could do the conversion yourself and take it to a referee station and get it approved.

On my 914 I deleted the CAT and EVAP but it would not be hard to put that on with all the original parts, re-flash the ECU and be totally legal. I am only exempt from inspections and testing but per the letter of the law, I should still have all the smog equipment.

Even a stock T4 with webbers is illegal in California.

Might as well do the WRX conversion. That would push that van down the road faster than it's ever gone before!!

I'd suggest checking over on TheSamba. There is a lot of information on this subject. I've got an '87 Syncro Westy with a 3.3 Subie 6. Probably wouldn't be legal in California but our regs are different in Washington. I believe 2.2 and 2.5 Subie conversions have been certified in CA. KEP Engineering has done a lot of work to get these legal.

BTW, a Westy with the power to climb hills takes some getting used to, but it's worth it.

Small car performance in Tacoma does the subs conversion, also rocky mountain westy,
Do your due diligence and check around, prices and the quality of parts can vary widely.
Have a local garage here in Portland, Oregon that has been doing them with a kit from new york, very nice.components.
Craig at CAMP

I could be wrong, but was thinking there was somebody in the Oregon area that does Subie conversions, this is on the 914yahoogroups??

Could not get the video to embed. Here's a taste of the potential.

JR26 Powered Westy With Subarugears Retrofit

Precision motor car in Portland. They have a kit that they purchase out of new York, $5000 or close to it. They will supply the subie motor, 2.5, low mileage, that way if there is a problem with the motor they take care of it.
Labor rate to install is @$90 an hour.
After researching the others, this is the best value, currently the soonest you can get is October. 503-232-7669
Craig at. CAMP