el_freddo

I've run with one before but I also removed one of the drive shafts while on the black top. But Phizinza has done the same in his 83 project with both shafts in all the time, he'll probably tell you it'll churp corners in the carpark and make carparking a real *************** if you don't have power steering. Also things got lose out back too. PM him, he'll probably tell you what the go was. Here's Project 83 from start to finish. Cheers Bennie

Ok, so what everyone needs to do is remove their alternator and have a look a the diagram in the sticker under it. This sticker will give you a set of codes for each wire, a code that will line up with the below diagram in some way or another - I'm not 100% for the 2 wire alternator, the ignition wire might be built into the internals of the alternator. Once you've checked out both stickers between the EA and EJ alternator and compared it to this diagram you should be able to work out what you're going to do to wire in the EJ alternator to the EA harness. For an example, and while this is usually the method of sorting out an issue (sorry xbeerd) with a photo, in this case you simply cannot state that your alternator has two wires or three, the alternator's wiring diagram is what is key to this issue. If your alternator has lost it's sticker, which can happen, you need to find someone with the same alternator or a wiring diagram for that model of alternator to work it out. If the letters don't line up, as in there are different letters used then they will have to be found out before you can match it up with the diagram below. I would like to note again that the below diagram isn't the answer to all alternator wiring conversions, it is for the Gen1 and I believe Gen2 alternators... Now it did take me some time to get my head around it - it's the same as doing the wiring for your first EJ conversion, those who have done one or more will still remember their now naive questions asked before getting into the thick of it. I hope this helps out, it all comes down to the wiring/plug diagrams! Cheers Bennie

Yeah we call it chicken ************ over here Thanks GD. As I've said I'll keep an eye on it and will be considering the plating later. Ultimately she'd be gutted and put on a rotisserie so that the welding can be done with the aid of gravity. But I doubt that will be happening. Cheers Bennie

Thanks LPGsuperchargedbrumby for your suggestion. We didn't go the whole hog with the plating but will keep that in the back of my mind for future reference if I feel the need. This is what happened, a bit of a re-cap for some background info on the situation: Basically I found some substantial damage under Ruby Scoo. It had me quite worried about her future. It started out when Matt (nachaluva on Ausubaru.com) found some cracks when checking out Ruby's undercarriage on our Walhalla 4wd trip: I wasn't happy and thought it may have been a large pot hole or two that did the damage but really had no idea. So we watched these cracks and continued on our way. They didn't move which was great. Then when I was putting the little boots back on after enjoying a week of 27 inch rolling goodness I found that there were identical cracks on the left hand side. Not good. Then I thought I'd check out the repair my uncle and I did on the LHS radius rod/gearbox x member mounting bracket, specifically that plate that is welded to the firewall that has two of the three captive nuts for the RR/GCM mounting plate. It had developed a crack so we put a bolt on it to hold it back on the firewall. All good. Then I found this to my horror: I went a bit funny shortly after this. So I organised to drive it home ~400km off a large mountain with a twisty road and get it welded up at my best mate's joint. We had a closer look and what I found out was that it wasn't the plate moving away from the fire wall, it was the firewall that had moved from the plate, and to balance things up the plate then pulled all the spot welds to be where it naturally was from the factory. Crazy I know. I had previously thought that the torque twisting of the EJ in low range with the 27's and some tough 4wd'n was responsible for the plate moving away from the firewall. But once I found out it was the other way around it was clear to me that this was done pre-season when I was 4wd'n with Richie and Roger below dinner plane area. We had a "rally section" where we gave our 4wds a fair flogging, Ruby Scoo out front being the lighter unit. I've been driving all season with this un-ware of what hideous mess was lurking under the bonnet. A freshly graded road sometimes gives large ripples that bounces the front then the rear of the car. I was coming over a hill on the throttle, noticed the road started to curve to the left so I started braking with the hill dropping away quickly - too fast on a road I didn't know. I then hit one of these ripple sections which put the car airborne, nothing spectacular, just enough for me to slow the wheel speed down lower than the airborne vehicle speed which had the front end landing with an almighty BANG! It really felt like my captive nuts were cactus on the radius rod plate and that everything there had moved about an inch backwards. This is where I think the firewall was moved, captive nuts still look good and are holding up well. So after a couple of rums, a few hours and some photos of Jimmy doing his best upside down Ruby Scoo now has a new lease on life and a few scars. Here's some pics of the progress of work: Rear right being welded: This is the LHS floor that I hammered out with a block of wood and BFH, once that was done everything lined up perfect under the bonnet. I was on fire watch while we welded this section from below. The holes (3) are the spot welds that were pulled out, you can clearly see one in this pic, the dark little circle: The front LHS being welded: Not the prettiest welding, but being upside down while doing it using a Mig I wasn't expecting a great looking weld: Rear left all welded up, ground back and sprayed against rust: Very happy with the finished product - Ruby Scoo now feels very tight on the road and doesn't float around which I thought was a worn component on the front end, so I wasn't really worried about it. Now to monitor the whole thing and make sure it doesn't happen again or start to crack again. Needless to say I'll be taking it easier on unknown roads to avoid the same situation. HUGE shout out to Jimmy for his help and the use of his vast facilities! His hoist really helped out with the job, that thing is an amazing piece of kit! And good times had catching up as well - been too long between drinks for us! Cheers Bennie

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