Labeled the VW Engine

Today, I spent about 4 hours labeling my VW Vanagon engine before it gets pulled.

I focused the labeling on the wiring harness and hoses that went through the "firewall" to the front of the van, so they are preserved when the engine is pulled.  The labels should allow me to know what to hook up to the Rocky Mountain Westy kit's hoses/harness when the Subaru engine is hooked up.
I used the Bentley Vanagon manual to figure out what is what and if I still could not figure out, I posted photos of engine parts to TheSamba.com.  I got feedback within 2 hours of posting and was easily able to label the remaining parts.

 Driver Side
The driver side of the engine bay has most of the wiring harness, since that is where the Vanagon brains come through the firewall from the bench seat.  This side as the oil pressure sensor/switch, temp sensor and sender, ignition wiring, and the AC hoses and wiring.  I will not be hooking up the AC right away, so it is important to keep all that stuff labeled until that time comes.

Passenger Side
Some funky stuff happens on the passenger side with air intakes, vacuums, and power steering.  There are some VW sensors like Air Flow Meter, Throttle Position Sensor, and P/S pressure sensor that I won't care about since these will all be done by the Subaru engine instead.  There are vacuum hoses that come from a vacuum actuator located in the rear wheel well on the passenger side.  I am not sure how important these are once the Subaru engine is installed, but it is worth a label to keep them all organized.

Subaru Intake Manifold Installed

Today I finally installed the intake manifold back onto the Subaru engine block. To do this, I had to do the following modifications, which were unplanned (e.g.:  undocumented in my 2013 Rocky Mtn Westy Installation instructions :):

1. Lengthen the Subaru 3 pin temp sensor wires, so they reach the new location on the RMW reverse coolant manifold.  This was my first soldering experience.  It probably shows in the workmanship too.  Oh well!
2. Remove the corner guard on the Subaru engine because it got hung up on the RMW reverse coolant manifold where it exposed a pipe to the expansion tank.
3. Bend up some tubing underneath the Subaru intake manifold so it didn't interfere with the relocated Subaru temp sensor.

Once I did these unplanned modifications, the Subaru intake mani seated just fine.  Then, I finished by plugging in all the other intake harness plugs and tightening the bolts to factory specs.  Job done!

When I had Rocky Mountain Westy do my wiring harness, I had them save all the scraps.  Can you tell!?  This came in handy as I was able to sift through and find the exact colored wires for the Subaru temp sensor modification I needed to perform.

I also kept all the connectors, which I may or may not need for extending various parts of the wiring harness.

This was my first soldering experience, but after some expert advice, I was able to wrap and solder the wires.  I used tape to secure the wires and sensor so they didn't move while soldering them.  Think of it as a vice for wires.

The soldering gun I bought was 25w and it did not heat up the wires very well, so I used Paul's, which was beefy and worked much better.

After soldering the wires, I used a heat gun and melted heat shrink around these areas to seal them up.

The final step was to wrap and tape them.  Rather than buy this stuff, I went back to my Subaru donor car and pulled the headlight wiring off then cleaned up and used the wire wrap to protect my newly lengthened temp sensor wires.  It worked like a charm. It is so nice to have a full car to pull parts from as needed :)

End product - extended Subaru temp sensor

And the final product looks like this.  It was longer than necessary, but why skimp on it and have to redo it if it comes up too short?    

The RMW reverse coolant manifold has a pipe extending out for the heater hose that goes to the expansion tank.  This prevented my intake manifold from seating properly on the gaskets.    Unfortunately, this was not documented by RMW and I was puzzled a bit before getting a Hangouts reply from a friend saying, "Mine doesn't have that part on it! Just remove it!".  So, I removed the protective guard (4 bolts) and then it sat better on the block.

Finally, after bending some vacuum/breather tubing running under the manifold, it seated perfectly.

Rear engine protective cover in the way

How To Handle Reverse Coolant Manifold Temp Sensor

I checked and all the reverse coolant manifolds (Rocky Mtn Westy, SmallCar, Tom Shiels, etc.) have the temperature sensor in the same place, which leads to a problem connecting the Subaru intake wire harness back up to it. As you can see in the photo, mine is at least 6" short.  I figure there are 3 options to resolve this:

1. Get both a male & a female 3 pin connector, more wires, and make a pluggable extension.
2. Cut off the end, extend it with similar gauge wire to make it reach
3. Peel back the Subaru harness, stretch the wires for the sensor over and hope they reach.

I'm opting for #2, as recommended by RMW.
#1 seems about the same amount of work, but I'd have to source the connectors.  #3 seems like a lot of work for something that may not even fit after it is done, or maybe it will fit, but will be so tight, it will suck to work with.  So, #2 it is.

Installed New Subaru P/S Pump

Today, I bought a 2002 Subaru P/S pump from Super Rupair ($45) and installed it.  The original had been ruined when my engine tipped over onto it's front.  The install was easy.  My model of Subaru has a remote reservoir, so the RMW kit's power steering hoses are made to connect remotely to my VW Vanagon P/S reservoir.

The 2002 Subaru P/S pump sensor was not compatible with the 2001 intake manifold wiring harness.  Luckily, I had the old sensor and just connected that up to both the pump and wiring harness.  Glad I kept the old one around.

From $75 to Free

I ended up calling NAPA in Boulder. The nice lady, Sara, said they didn't have any spools of fuel/evap-rated hose. Then, she called me back an hour later and said she found a random foot of it in the store that she'd just give me for free. How's that for luck! From $75 at deal to free - can't beat that!

WTF... This costs $75!?

This hose needs to be replaced before I put the intake manifold back onto the block.  The old hose was brittle and cracked as they commonly are on these old Subarus.  If you are doing a Subaru/Vanagon conversion, REPLACE IT when it is easy to get at!  Anyway, I asked the Subaru dealership for a replacement hose, but they ONLY sell the whole kit-n-kaboodle, not just the bottom hose.  AND... they are charging $75 it.  Wow.  I'm on the look-out for a cheaper solution for sure.

Installed timing belt kit and water pump today

I'm very psyched to have done this work myself.  I messed up along the way, but I learned a ton and it will all be good in the end.  I used a Gates Timing Belt Kit and an Aisin Water Pump.  Both supply OEM parts and their quality is fantastic.  Remember to only use OEM parts on these critical areas of your engine and never buy them from a dealer, where they are way over priced.
Thanks to Tom and Paul for their insights and use of their tools to get the job done and to the members at http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/ forums for support as well.

Timing Belt and Water Pump installed!