It Goes!

[2strokebloke]

Today I had a little extra time, so put the 360's top end back together and tried to get it up and running.
Unfortunately, having been sitting for so long, the crankcase filled with oil and it didn't want to start (this condition, on a four stroke car would be like having an intake manifold filled with oil).
After some coaxing, I got the engine to turn over couple of times each time stalling after less than a second. The exhaust puked out a puddle of vomit green 2-stroke oil onto the driveway... I got some starting fluid, fiddled with the choke, and managed to get it to start up and hold an idle without stalling. Then I was off! Shifted into 2nd, flew around the 90 degree angle in the driveway, and managed to stop before bouncing into the street. Ground my way into reverse, and reversed up the driveway - into the 100 ft smoke trail I left (filling the car with smoke), then the engine starved of fuel and stalled just in front of the garage door.
I got out the smoke cleared, I felt like I had accomplised a great feat, and began cleaning all that oil off of the driveway.
Now I need to adapt a muffler to the exhaust system, and finish getting the brakes working (right now only the front brakes work, so going on the street would be a very stupid idea).
Driving these things is so much fun.

[SabreKhan]

Keep us updated! The 360 is my new dream car. I've been drooling over the VW Karmann-Ghia and the Subaru 360 for quite some time. I just don't have the money/space for a project right now (graduate student). Then "Gran Turismo 4" came out and you get to race Subaru 360s!! There's also a Karmann-Ghia in the game, but I haven't gotten one yet. But now the 360 is on my "Most Wanted" list instead of my "Wish List". How much of a blasphemy would it be to put a new motor in a 360? I've read lots of project pages on the internet, and nobody puts a new motor in one.

[2strokebloke]

Putting other motors in the 360 is a challenge because of how little space there is to fit one.
I know that somebody in Japan had fitted a 200+hp Mazda RX7 engine into one, and I know somebody had also fitted a BMC Mini engine into a 360 van. But both projects are pretty complicated swaps, requiring total replacement of all of the 360's drivetrain.
A imple way to gain power is replacing the top end of the engine with parts from a Subaru R-2 this boosts power from 25 to 30hp. But good luck getting someone in Japan to send you the parts.

[2strokebloke]

pictures and words:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...91#post2858491

[SabreKhan]

I have friends in Japan, so that's not as big a deal as it would be for others. I was thinking like a motorcycle engine or something, though, rather than another car's motor.

[2strokebloke]

I had the nerve to get it up to 40mph yesterday! I'm still getting used the handling of the 360, while it's a very nimble responsive car, it's soft suspension and rear engine give a "teetering" feeling going around corners, as though the car is tip-toeing over the road's surface.
And the brakes only seem to work sometimes in unison (usually it will pull slightly to one side, and the brake in the other opposing wheel will kick in after a short lag time) which seems to be a normal habbit of cars using such simple braking systems.
Still needs a muffler!

[rxwild]

I have seen at least 15 Sambar vans, but only ONE pickup style...

Once while on vacation I was traveling through Kansas and saw a 360 car on a car lot...LOL


These cars were outlawed in New Jersey due to the way the brakes were made, there are steel bands made into the aluminum wheel hub...if hard braking was done, the steel band would separate from the aluminum hub and you no longer had brakes...
After driving my van for over 17,000 miles, I never had a brake related issue.

I wondered where all of them had gone, now I see a few folks here that are resurrecting them...not sure if my project is ressurection or mutilation, but from the outside, it will look pretty close to how it did when new(other than the 13" wheels and fender flares in the rear)...

[360Deluxe]

2strokebloke I've had my 360 up to 55mph and that is about as fast as I have the nerve to get it up to. I start to think about 10 inch wheels and split rims and that's enough to scare anyone.