el_freddo

G'day all, Subaru in question: 1988 L series station wagon 4wd with EJ22, 3 inch lift and discs all round. I bounce between the standard 23 inch tyre and the 27s for offroading. She's also my pack mule for moving our gear around, something she was meant to be doing next week. Anyway, here's the issue(s) I've got, apart from just welding them up, anyone got an idea as to how I could strengthen these areas, the front in particular? Rear RHS front mount for the rear K frame: Identical cracks on the LHS: The last fix on the plate that's usually welded to the firewall where the radius rod and gearbox crossmember plate mounts to, it failed obviously: And the rest of that plate peeling off the firewall: Plan is to weld all cracks up and close the gap in the radius rod mounting plate and stitch weld it back onto the firewall. I'm hoping this will be strong enough to keep her going for some time, but I also want to brace all of these areas, anyone got any ideas of how to go about it or have anything you can share that's worked for you? I don't know exactly how these have occured, I did get her airborne under brakes 2 months ago which was when I put the bolt in to hold that plate to the firewall. Other than that I look after her offroad but do get out on some pretty serious tracks... The airborne event was over the top of a hill on a dirt road that had recently been graded, a slight rise in the decent of the hill sent me airborne as the road dropped away... Any help or ideas short of getting another shell are welcomed. Cheers Bennie

If the oil's getting dirty that quick I'd suggest you pull it and take a look at the internals. That doesn't sound right to me. CVs in good condition? Cheers Bennie

Try out this diagram - worked a treat for me and it used the EA's wiring on the EJ alternator Sorry for the hijack, but thought it required to help out xbeerd. OP - does it really matter how many have been done? The simple fact is that it's been done before, there's a load of info out there that will help, but not every conversion is the same! Crazy I know but once you're over the wiring if you're doing it yourself you're more than halfway there... I'm looking forward to my next EJ conversion when it comes along, it'll probably be an OBDII system I reckon. Cheers Bennie

To add to the confusion that you're trying to clear up, the front wheel drive EJ gearboxes (not AWD) are still 23 inch spline. But why you'd drop in the EJ and a front wheel drive gearbox is beyond me! Cheers Bennie

Yep: http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/265046_246283432055552_100000216909175_1213464_5539739_n.jpg[/*img] With the above code, to change it from a hot link that uses and [/*url] (remove * to make it work) all you need to do is use at the start and [/*img] at the end of the image's address, again without the * to make it work. Piece of piss once you know the coding etc. So the above image is essentially the code you see below it, I've added the little * to make it not show up as a second image of the same thing And as for the subi's in the yard, we've got the same thing down here. Many will come in with new leads, dizzy caps and alternators - when it was probably the battery! I've stripped subarus that are in better condition than Ruby Scoo. It is sad but unfortunately we live in a disposable society. Cheers Bennie

SOOO JEALOUS that we didn't get these out here If you're going to go the EJ route, it has to be a turbo with one of these! No two ways about it. Sleeper style and no one will know what passed them off at the lights Cheers Bennie

If you're hearing clunking while turning in a car park I think you'll find that that's the pretension releasing as it should. Not pleasant but that's the way it is when you have them wound up tight! How long have you had the subi for and do you know the history of the diff? It's not hard to pull them apart and shim the springs for extra tension on the plates - and if the plates are super worn you'll need new ones. Cheers Bennie

Definitely get the longer helicoil thread packs - I replaced several threads with the regular kit length, only then to get some heat in the block (slightly too hot), blew a HG - when I stripped it down I found that the smaller threads held too much torque and could be moved easily... You want to avoid that at all costs, not a good feeling! Cheers Bennie

If this is the condition of your old water pump I would suggest that you seriously consider taking the radiator to a radiator specialist and have them do a channel clean or "rod the radiator" to clean out all the cooling channels. The L series radiator can apparently be 50% blocked before you run into trouble. I've been caught out with this once before, it cost me a newly rebuilt engine To really hit this one home get the radiator sorted then put fresh coolant in there Cheers Bennie

The pinion bearing oil problem shouldn't be hard to sort out if you can tap a couple of tapered nipples in there/that area to pump oil from the bottom of the diff up to these bearings with the use of an electronic pump. Is the pinion shaft centred or is it the same funky helical cut gears (correct name, I'm not sure that's it) that subaru use in all their diffs? If it's set up the same as the VW's diff in the gearbox you could get away with flipping the carrier and ring gear inside the diff housing - but you would have to look at how the R&P gears interact and are orientated to each other. *Edit* How much larger is the Audi locking diff centre compared to the subaru one? Just think aloud on this one - maybe possible (long long shot!) to retro fit the audi locking centre into the R160?? That would be awesome if it is possible! Where there's a will there's a way! Cheers Bennie

Dunno about that trick with the Cam, but someone will. The pulley I can help with though. That is the pulley that's required for either Power Steering and/or Air Conditioning... Cheers Bennie

How did you go with this? The wiring for the coil: copy what's been done in your subi or another non efi car... You should be fine grounding to the engine as the negative of the battery will have a thick battery cable going to the engine/gearbox for cranking as it is in every vehicle. Cheers Bennie

Old thread dig warning! Ruby Scoo all loaded up for camping over Australia Day on the Murray River near Cohuna in a place called the Gunbower Forest in 2010: Sunnie the (stock) Brumby in 2009: ^ Awesome little camper, I'm currently in the process of building a stronger chassis for it as some family friends borrowed it and drove it through a washout way too quick with the jockey wheel still in it's place to lift the hitch off the car Ruby Scoo moving house earlier this year. About 4 weeks after this she was geared up again to do the same thing, except it was up a mountain to Hotham. About 4 weeks from now the same happens again, just minus the table and chairs etc: Best bit is that the EJ pulls the whole lot very well even at speed. I get some good economy too considering the weight being moved! Cheers Bennie

Good stuff! How have you gone with the EA82 manifold on the EA81 block? I'm starting to think this might be a good way to go with my mother in law's brumby/BRAT. It's got a choke issue and is hard to start - I've got an EA82 manifold and matching carbie with the same sort of auto choke setup that I'm thinking could be the go now. It's also a slightly bigger carb over the EA81 - I found that out when I was trying to swap the carbs between the EA81 and EA82 Cheers Bennie

Probably Leone, Loyale or L series from what I've been reading around the traps. I thought you got an answer over at ausubi, or are you looking for the actual parts to ship over to Oz? Good to see you've ventured over here too! Cheers Bennie

I've always just used a silicone that is suitable for sump gaskets, can't remember the exact make but it's doing well on several vehicles now. I remember that it was grey Loyal, your subi is looking awesome mate, just thought you needed to hear it again incase you forgot! Cheers Bennie

Sweet, looks like I've got options! And it also looks like I'll have to have some shed time - something I don't have at the moment living in a snow resort Which also means that I'll have access to welders etc when I get home Cheers Bennie

Tell the machine shop what GD has said above and they'll do the rest - all you need according to GD is 0.815" height from the clutch plate face to the clutch pressure plate mounting surface. Cheers Bennie

No stress mate, I used to be the same a few years ago... Happy to help out. You need to use the EA82 clutch pressure plate as this matches the throw out bearing and clutch fork setup. The EA81 flywheel is the one to use - it has all of your timing marks on it for tuning the EA81 It doesn't hit on anything AFAIK, rather the EA82 clutch pressure plate either can't clamp the clutch disc OR the EA82 clutch pressure plate can't be properly bolted to the EA81 flywheel without machining. The other little tid bit you need to know is that the starter motor will need to be spaced out a couple of mm to make it work. Same as what happens with the typical 5 speed conversion. It could be a good idea to do a search on the L series 5 speed conversion to find out exactly what you need to do for your clutch setup. GeneralDisorder will also be a good souce of info if you ask him nicely, I've noticed that he's very knowledgeable in my short time on this forum Cheers Bennie

G'day all, I've got hold of a set of '98 foz seats to fit into my L series (RHD). First thing I noticed was that both rails do not detach like the earlier legacy seats do, only the outer rail unbolts, the inner one is fixed with only the slide rail being able to be removed with some work. Here's a couple of pics of the rails: Driver's outer rail: Driver's inner rail - fixed: Any thoughts on how to go about fitting these into my L series? I'd prefer not to weld as I don't have access to a welder, i'm hoping I can just drill out the spot wells and "hot rivet" style rivets then drill the appropriate holes to fit my rails where I need them. But I'm also keen to see what others have done with a set of seats such as these. I'm hoping I can fit them easily as I paid a good price for these seats to be shipped from one end of Australia to the other! Plus they're sweet as comfy in front of the TV where they're currently living (no shed/garage ) Any input is most appreciated! Cheers Bennie

Subaruguru, could you also post up a couple of pics of the instrument cluster install, I'm intrigued! Cheers Bennie

GD would a simple reed switch do the trick - something like this that is used for my cruise control: I've got the VSS from the stock L gauge plumbed in for my EJ - seems to go well but is not boosted with all of those cut out "features" you speak of subaruguru. Cheers Bennie

Flywheel - you need to use the EA81 unit as it has the correct timing marks on it for the EA81's timing. Have you got the amount it needs to be machined? I'm pretty sure you only do it on the outer bit, not the recessed, but I could be wrong in that so best to check with someone first. If you've got the clutch disc and pressure plate you should be able to work out with surface it is that needs to be machined by holding the CD and CPP on the EA81 flywheel - or do it on a bench and let gravity hold them for you "might need to nut it out" is probably aussie slang for working it out/thinking about what needs to be done etc. Hope this answers it for you. So which engine did you get all the brackets and hardware for, I presume the EA81. Did you get the crank pulley too as you'll need this to run all the extras. Cheers Bennie

Chad, as already posted in another thread: I think you'll have trouble keeping the EA82 auxiliaries in the same place - best to retro fit the EA81 gear to the EA82 as in hook up the power steering pump from the EA81 to the factory EA82 PS rack and the same for the AC - it's pretty basic but you might need some hoses made up unless you can bolt your current AC compressor in the bracket of the EA81's old unit. You might have to move the battery to the other side of the engine bay, not hard to do, just a little annoying. With some imagination anything can be achieved - deep pockets help sometimes as well As already said the fly wheel will need to be machined, search for specific measurement on this. Other than that the rest of the initial engine install will be plug and play! Cheers Bennie

Chad, here's an EA81 with Power steering and provisions for the AC - the compressor is not mounted in this pic but you can see where it should be on our right: Hope this helps Cheers Bennie