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dfoyl

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Posts posted by dfoyl

  1. I can help you with shipping. I am actually in the US in about 3 weeks so could hand-carry it and save you the shipping across the Pacific (which is expensive!).

    I don't know much about gen 1's, ie. if the hub adaptor is the same or not. I bought a gen 2 hub adaptor new from a parts retailer for about $60 AUD ($50ish USD) for a member in Guam and it looked pretty good...it was the SAAS brand. Autotecnica also sell one, but the price was a little higher and not as reputable a brand imho.

  2. Phiz's website linked further up shows the hub-drilling option.

     

    My preference is slightly different. I get a stock rear brake drum, punch out 2 of the 4 studs (diagonally opposed, not next to each other!). Bolt the other holes on to your donor 6 stud wheel. Drill 2 fresh holes into your 6 stud wheel, which makes it 8 studs, using the brake drum as a template.

     

    Then weld up 4 of the 8 holes in the 6-stud wheel. Grind back and paint. Will look stock so no legal issues.

     

    Finding a suitable offset wheel is the trick - especially for a Loyale. And it needs to have a smooth centre, as many modern steel wheels have ribs around the 6 existing studs.

  3. Never heard or seen a Subaru wave. My "other" car - a 1971 Valiant (US 1967-69 Dodge Dart) will generally get the Valiant "V" (2 finger salute, but with the palm facing the other driver, like the V for victory rather than the other version!) - this is almost definitely a uniquely Australian action based on the mid-70s Charger ads ("Hey Charger" - look it up on Youtube).

  4. I briefly fitted some 15" Ford Courier 6-lugs to my Brumby a few years ago, which *just* fitted with low profile tyres and no lift. They didn't quite need fender flares or trimming, but if I had gone to wider tyres to suit I would have needed some flares (legally) (and definitely some trimming).

     

    I have also fitted Mitsubishi Pajero (Montero Sport I believe is the US name) 6-lugs, which were a wider (and much much heavier) rim - I think 7" wide - and they also fitted fine.

  5. Subaru have been working in the opposite direction of the Lotus formula (reduce weight and simplify) for decades. My Brumby feels light compared to an L-series wagon I bought for the gearbox years ago, and isn't even comparable to the first gen Forester I gutted for the EJ20 & driveline. And the first gen Forester is tiny compared to the current bloated pig of a design.

     

    I recall on a stock Brumby the heaviest individual part was the gearbox at about 80kg. The engine was a little less, including the ancillaries (but excluding the insanely heavy AC bracket, which was just a crazy bit of design and should have been cast alloy).

     

    If you compare a stock L-series wagon to a comparable vehicle from Toyota / Nissan / etc of the same era, I'd guess the Subaru would be ~70kg heavier. An interesting comparison would be the Toyota ripoff 4wd station wagon (can't recall the name, but it was basically a Corolla platform stretched with 4wd and a tailgate that looked like a soda vending machine)...

  6. I'll work out the AUD price first, as I paid in AUD converted to TWD. Then update the USD price based on the exchange rate of the day people buy (which will be after I have them in hand).

     

    Gave the Brumby a quick run this evening with the v2 hub fitted to pass-side only and no issues at all. Will fit the driver-side tomorrow and give the green light with a few more minor changes.

  7. It's going to be around $200 US / pair, maybe a little less. I actually don't have the exact figure yet as I gave the cash (in AUD) to my boss last week to give to the supplier as he was heading to Taiwan. I know he got a poor exchange rate but it was better than going through the banks for the amount (a bit over $2800 AUD from memory). That doesn't include the tooling cost, which I will amortise over this batch. Depending on sales I will run a second batch if I get the interest, which will be a smidgeon cheaper as it won't have the tooling cost.

     

    It won't include studs either, which can either be bought new (about $10 from rockauto) and fitted by the buyer or collected from a JY car (depending on budget and inclination). They will use standard Liberty studs - only the 2nd proto version used XT6 studs (simply because I had a new set, and didn't want to waste them). I *can* fit the studs for those who don't have access to a press but I'd rather not (it takes me a good 20 minutes to do a pair on the dinky hand press at work, while using the big hydraulic powered press is just a hassle with OH&S), plus local prices for studs are stupid (try $30) and with shipping with Rockauto it still costs me at least $20 US. Plus it adds to the shipping weight of the complete hub.

     

    Original XT6 hubs are going for $250 if you can find them, and I believe mine are better in design with the improvements suggested here by users like wagonist. Certainly much better than the Crossbred design, which were a lot more than $200...

    • Like 1
  8. Slight change of plan to the above. Now I will press out the factory rubber center of the strut top, and use some decently thick (10mm-ish) steel with slots cut for the coilover camber adjustment (will lose some of the extreme adjustment points, but most camber will be done at the knuckle). Weld that to the top (now bottom) of the strut top, add a hard rubber gasket between the top of the strut top (was bottom) and the bottom of the vehicle strut tower to give me back some insulation, and it should all work. If I need more strut travel I can add a packing plate between the rubber under the strut tower and the tower itself - like a standard engine mount.

     

    Just need to press the factory rubber center out on the industrial press tomorrow and cut those 10mm thick plates...

  9. Agree on the rubber strut tops - with the move to pillowtops on the coilovers I will lose that insulation from the road, and combined with low (45 profile) tires I will probably have to go quite soft on the coilover setting.

     

    What I have also found since mocking up is the coilover setup is I don't have enough length so will need to put a spacer in - essentially turning the stock MY strut top upside down. I will mill / turn it out of 6061 alloy with a sunken center and then mill in the coilover adjustment. Once anodised black it will look stock.

  10. Transmission - EA82 into an EJ housing is the easiest if you can do it. Otherwise EA82 with adaptor plate. Note there are two different EA82 - 3.7 and 3.9 ratio - change your diff to suit. The MPFI has a different spline count (23 vs 25 from memory) so you need to mix-and-match CV's. Finding a good cheap used EA82 box is getting tough. Absolute best would be a AWD box from a RX, but these are very difficult to find.

     

    Fuel pump - most people use the early VN Holden external fuel pump (or VL Nissan engine) but they go pretty quick at the wrecker. I used a new FuelMiser brand from eBay, which is extremely noise even on insulated rubber. Looking at boxing it up.

     

    You will need the complete wiring loom, ECU, etc. Y-pipe would also be good as you can re-use it. Catalytic converter also, as your MY will be too small.

  11. According to the FSM, the orientation of the front strut mount on EA81 / MY vehicles is different from 4wd/PS/wagon to sedan/coupe. The position moves the strut top forward or backward. The question I have is - why was this designed in ?

     

    STRUTTOP3_zpssjhlnifr.jpg

     

    (Sorry the photo is sideways, Photobucket and M$ are dicks)

     

    Here's a photo of a stock MY strut top for reference :

     

    STRUTTOP1_zps2pd6bqy4.jpg

     

    And here is where my question is going. I am running stock EJ Impreza struts as part of my 5-stud setup and am now looking at coilovers. The best way to retain the adjustability of the coilovers for camber adjustment is to make a new plate essentially the same as the stock unit but with a center using this design :

     

    STRUTTOP2_zps9ulf4hgx.jpg

     

    The question I am trying to ask is ultimately, do I need to have the same offset design for my new plate or simply center it between the stud holes.

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