I guess I was wondering how much a Justy weighs. I’d want to remove as much weight as practical.
Sure I will do that too, but the Justy didnt exactly come as a loaded luxury vehicle…lol…its is as basic as it gets really. I dont think there are any “extra” parts on the car that I could remove for weight purposes. In fact now that I think of it…there arent any parts I could remove save the back seat…which weighs probably 15 lbs max. Yeah…I cant think of any other parts I could remove that I dont need…lol. The engine and trans removal is where my major weight saving will be realized Im afraid. Wish I had more to remove…but…not in this econobox.
An interesting swap and even more interesting to me because the weirder it is the better I like it.
In regards to weight and clutch issues what about this for consideration.
Figure the weight of a Goldwing powered Justy that has been pretty well stripped against the weight of a 3 wheel Goldwing conversion that is loaded to the gills and has 2 heavy people as passengers. The latter is very common and my feeling is the weight difference may not be near as much as one would think.
And I thought that I was the only goofball on this board. Way to go Blackbird!!! Go for it and post photos if you can. I would do this in a heartbeat . . . cool project. Rocketman
YEP…I thought of that EXACTLY…I have seen CRAZY crap attached to a GL1800 before…those big trike setups pulling a trailer with two WIDE passengers…doesnt seem to phase the engine at all…hell its as big as a car engine…bigger than many actually. Just doesnt have the same amount of Twist as a car crank…It should do fine if not actually be fast…lol… Its going to happen so stay tuned.
Photos will begin on day one…movies too. Prob should edit out all the beer drinking scenes naked girls on my trampoline or mishaps with welding arcs and the like…Or maybe not… I will talk to my editor…
I recall my friend’s Justy as having a 3 cylinder motor. Pulling 4 cylinder motors and replacing them with 8 cylinder motors is common, but you’ll be the first I’ve heard of that pulled a 3 cylinder motor and replaced it with a 6 cylinder motor. I like it. It’ll definitely be a one of a kind.
If I’m wrong about the 3-banger, apologies. But I still like the idea.
The last car show I went to had a 1/2 scale bucket-T hot rod with a Goldwing engine. The motor had been all chromed out; very sharp looking unit!
Yep an Iron Lung 3 banger…silly…stupidly slow and ran choppy too…3cyl is an inherintly imbalanced design…never was a fan even in motorcycles. I like cylinder numbers even… but thats just me.
A T-bucket with a Goldwing? Sure why not? Was it like a mini T-bucket tho? Thatd be cool Like a one person bucket style…
I belive it was either half or 3/4 scale; can’t recall which. I got a pic. I’ll see if I can find of it.
You should mount it in the hatch and drive the rear wheels with it. Mid-engined RWD Justy.
There’s been quite a few car manufactured over the years in which the displacement was nowhere near 1.8 Liters anyway.
Look at the early Subarus with the 1100 CC engines or the Honda 600 car as examples.
Some years back a friend of mine built a 1960 VW Bug Sedan with a 401 Buick Wildcat engine in it. (445 Ft. Lbs of torque) That one was a bit of a wheeled terror.
Hey I just thought of something…when I remove the AWD tranny and disable the front wheels from being driven…I BELIEVE I will have to hack up the front axles…Im thinking that I need to separate the axle at the outer joint and then put the splined shaft thru the wheels and tighten the nut on the end…I think this will keep my bearings in line…otherwise I think they will separate and get wonky… I’m pretty sure I am right in this line of thought… No?
I don’t know. I don’t have a Justy exploded view handy, but I’d think that the axles are held in place axially by the hub. I’d think that the outer CV joint can be disconnected without compromising the axial integrity of the axles.
and yes I have thought of mounting the engine in the back…that would actually be a bit easier and would not require an offset adapter… Hmmm
What have you been smoking? You must have alot of time and money to pursue this project.
Hopefully you will never sell this nightmare project to someone that will go through hell finding parts and someone to work on it.
FINALLY…I expected this comment FAR EARLIER…so far its getting the thumbs up round here and I fully concur. I used to have a lot of money…but I spent it cause it was FUN and I learned long ago that you cant take it with you…got no kids…no wifey…no MAJOR problems aside from being nuts…I do have more time than most being a Data Storage Field Engineer and Mechanic however…
I am doing it to say that I did it…and for fun. Outside of that anything goes I guess. If I sold it ever it would go to someone that fully understood what it was or one of my friends that own a lot of land…basically it will be like an ATV or a dirtbike…not a normal car. Although I could continue to register and insure it as a normal vehicle.
While I own it it will be street legal and driving around on the roads in PA…after I make sure it is mechanically solid and able to drive at normal speeds and STOP. Other than its powerplant it will be a normal car…in every respect. Whats the problem, I dont see it? If anything it will be safer just from being able to FINALLY get out of its own way…the stock config was scary if you ask me. A 3cylinder with an AWD CVT Transmission? NO thanks. This is going to be super fun and it might be fast I havent been able to flesh that out in my mind, but it should be at least as fast or slow as the original 3 cylinder engine…NAW…it has got to be faster… I am doubling the Horsepower and the torque is one ft/lb higher with this engine.
This is just a fun project…what? You dont like to have fun? Wont cost much money at all I got the engine for a song and dance…and the original 3cylinder runs perfect with 50K miles on it…in fact I am selling the original engine to fully offset the GL1800…Got the car for $200 I am FAR under $2000 right now… I dont see any major or high dollar part that I will need as of yet…the only thing I will be spending money on is the pulleys, belts, bearing carriers, bearings some old driveshafts and u-joints and steel or Aluminum plate to make my offset drive device. IF I decide to make it…If the engine goes in back I dont think I will need to make that offset adapter. I dont see it going much over 3000 even after its completed and I still think that will be a stretch…not like I have to have somone to do the work for me… My labor is free. I also dont need much help or advice as I know far more about engines and cars and all of their subsystems than most. I’m in good shape here…If you lived close by I will come over and pick you up so we can go Joy-riding…and you KNOW you want to drive it.
As for buying parts…whats the issue?
You have a 90 Subaru Justy…and an 02 Honda Goldwing engine…I am sure any one can figure out which part of the car they are working on and what parts to be lookin for…
I think you need to get out and have some fun…Maybe make a zany project like this?! Yep…all for SH$#ts and Giggles really. Its AWESOME and you know it…lol
As for those front wheel bearings needing the outer splined shaft for support…I do believe I was right in that assesment. While the bearings ARE pressed in and SHOULD be OK I have found that this is not the case. My friend just came over with his civic stating that his front wheel was smoking and smelled really bad…I suspected a stuck caliper but when I jacked the car up I was able to move the bolted on wheel in and out at the top…like it was loose with bad bearings.
I looked at the wheel and noticed that he lost the big nut that goes on the outer end of the drive shaft… I found him a new one in my spares and tightened it up…it pulled the bearings back into allignment. WHat occurs is that the inner races begin to get loose…that end of the shaft prevents the races from backing out and making everything loose…so…there you go… I recalled this happening to another guys car a long while ago…his nut was just loose not lost so…tightened it up and no issues…to this day actually. This must be where I came up with this idea…I came across it before without really recalling it…I just sort of knew it had to be in place… One more issue solved. HONDARU HERE WE COME! Wingaru? SUBARONDA? JUSTAHONDA? LOL… I like the last one… Maybe a Vanity Plate…LOL JUSTAHONDA!!!
Odds are the Justy will run far better with the GW engine than it ever did with the 3 banger.
Many an old VW Beetle and Bus has been moved around with 1.3 and 1.6 flat fours.
The weight issue got me to thinking about how many of those 3 wheel conversions are also pulling loaded down trailers behind them.
The last time I went to Sturgis I met an older gentleman and his wife there and he was pulling a 4 X 6 trailer with everything but a kitchen sink in it. Huge tent, full set of dishes, cookware, silverware, lanterns, full tool kit with small floor jack, fishing equipment, portable air pump, and even a small chain saw. That wasn’t even all of it either.
I asked him about towing that much weight (he had no idea what the weight was) and he said it was no problem; he couldn’t even tell it was there. No clutch issues on this one. 
I was building a Suzuki Samarai and bought a tub and misc parts from a guy in South Florida. This guy was making a swamp buggy using a Honda 650cc street bike engine mated to the Suzuki transfer case. It was a wild set up and looked good turning 42 in tires. If you are having motor mount issues the old reliable is the Volvo 240 series mount for the 4 cylinder. Cheao rubber mushroon with offset mounting studs. Good Luck, I kindof think the GW motor is alittle large but do not think the clutch will be an issue for you, I do think the rear diff will crap out before anything else though.
The GW must be badly wrecked for you to be stripping it…Right? I would try to save the Honda motor mounts, cut the M/C frame tubes and adapt THAT structure into the Justy. You will have to deal with the fact the Honda output shaft is not centered on the crankshaft…Something is going to have to be off-set to compensate for that…Everyone’s worried about the clutch, I think that will be fine as long as you don’t abuse it…The Justy’s MUCH lower final drive gearing will take care of that…
I remember some USAC Midget open wheel cars that were using V4 Outboard Marine (Johnson-Evenrude) two stroke powerheads in these race cars… So anything is possible if you have the time and money…Is the GL-1800 injected or carb?? Dealing with 6 carbs is always a nightmare…Is the Honda driveshaft “wet”? If so, that could be a big problem getting power to the Justy rear differential…The Honda transmission output shaft was not designed to support a long heavy open driveshaft…Good Luck!