el_freddo

Really? I've not had an issue with this mount and I would consider the offroading I've done to be pretty tough for most 4wd's. Here's pic of my setup, not the greatest pics to show that mount unfortunately: I'm looking at making a set of adjustable radius rods like these below: The reason I'm after an adjustable set is so that I can find my own sweet spot and move the front wheels away from the firewall. With my current setup of 3 inches lift on the engine crossmember and 2 inches lift on the gearbox/radius rod mount plate the front wheels have been pulled towards the firewall. No biggie if you're running stock tyres, but the 27's just clear it enough not to be able to run chains in winter that are legally required to get up the mountain for the snow... Hope this helps out El Presidente - these units are currently on a lifted, EJ turbo'd brat that run 27 inch tyres, so I figure my EJ shouldn't be able to kill them too easily, I'm looking at having a spare set made up anyway. Cheers Bennie

G'day all. Been too long in coming around to get this sorted. Bcoutback came along for the ride as did his mate steve who also played photographer for the day This was the start of my day, I couldn't help myself with this pic: Shortly after this pic I met up with damien and steve - and off we went. I wanted to first hit up a favourite hill climb of mine, but unfortunately overshot the turn off and ended up down another track where we discovered the location of the controversial shooting range that the locals are against. This track went down a little further before meeting with a bunch of other tracks that I'd not explored before (something to do when I get home for a bit again ), the bit before the track junctions was very washed out. I had a go at it anyway and got into one of those positions that says "I'm going to roll it" The first of many for the day Here's the pics from that particular track: ^ Headed back up to bcoutback's subi ^ I forgot how slippery and boggy the wet sand becomes. This granitic sand is great at choking up your tread depth to create slicks that get you no where. On to another track that might be more suitable for the outback (stock). So I worked out where I when wrong and got us back on track. We almost got to the bottom of the hill climb - after driving around trees over the road we were met by several huge trees over the road without a track around it for a 4wd vehicle. So instead of turning around and heading back up, we did a cheeky little dash back to the main road, 2k down the black top back to where we started... We then when looking for some better tracks that we might actually be able to use - we headed to camp track and found a good obstacle to have a go at. I tried the good ol' "keep the wheels on each side of it" trick, only to slip into the hole: It didn't take much to get out of here, but I did sustain some superficial damage to the front right guard when I fell into the hole. A bit of kicking got rid of it though... I don't have any pics of the outback having a go at this as I took video instead (now have two vids to get cracking on!). We then checked out the section of camp track that I wanted to "test" Ruby Scoo out with. When we got there I discovered that it had degraded very badly since I was there about three years ago. The recent rains hadn't helped at all either, huge ruts (at least 3ft), rocks that have "grown" and a ledge that used to be about 10cm was now closer to 40cm tall. Not a chance. So we turned around and headed back to the junction to continue on the last section of camp track. Smooth sailing until we hit this: Damien got the outback through it as well! It took a bit of effort and unfortunately I didn't get his victory on camera as I was coaching him along the way after getting stuck in the same place several times. Once that was corrected he got out with a bit of work. The rev limiter and Damien may have met too... After this we headed out on a track that I knew ended up in the sand pit - an old sand quarry that was most likely used for the road surfaces in the forest to get the logging trucks in for the timber. We took a detour that I thought looked interesting. There was one point where I thought we'd be turning around but the outback surprised myself as well as Damien and Steve. A couple of hundred metres down the track it turned a little ugly for a stock subi so we turned around. We had a go at pole track, I was keen to check out where Phiz got his unlifted, 27 inch tyre wielding MY sedan up as I was wanting a go with Ruby and her current setup. This is what we found: This type of damage was pretty hectic and unexpected too. So we left this one alone... Continue on the other part of pole track we did, until I had detoured without noticing (tree down over intersection). This is what this part of the forest looked like after some burning off in the last year or two, a bush fire also tore through here in 2003: A bit further up the track we found more damage from the heavy rains we've experienced in the last 6 to 9 months: This hole was simply huge - even a well kitted out "big 4by" would struggle to get out. At least it might fill the hole and fix the issue Previously in the day we'd had a go at the Sand pit track - it was well washed out beyond what the outback was capable of climbing, so we headed to Lancefield for lunch. We ran into the end of the farmer's market, first time I'd visited it excluding driving through town when it was on... We got some pies etc, ate and headed back out again. So back to the story of pole track where I missed the turn due to the fallen tree: We ended up in some hairy places for the outback, these tracks even gave Ruby Scoo a run for her money at times. So I turned around and did it again to meet back up with Bcoutback. We had some fun in this area getting out. I had another one of my ************ my pants moments (on film) while we got out. My head was in a spin too as I'd not been to this area - and I thought I knew this area like the back of my hand! We ended up popping out above the track we aborted earlier in the day. Since we were so close to the sand pit we went for a walk to have a look at the degraded track out of the area (if we had've headed in from the other side earlier in the day). We found another hole that could eat a 4wd or two. Here's a lame pic of me trying to show Ruby Scoo's belly clearance - I thought I was much closer to the ground and not have an inch clearance under the belly: Then we headed off for the track we weren't look forward to, at least we were headed down and not up! ^ The outback did very well with the rocky terrain coming down. I reckon Damien's now thinking of what he wants to do with his outback We tried to end the day with a go at the lower end of Stumpy's track. The last bit was always a bit of a rut, last time I was here it was a hole that could be negotiated, this time it was impassable: But some muppet decided to have a go at it, probably the night before when I heard an engine going hard for some time on dusk: ^ You can see the white paint he left behind and where the front right wheel had been working away at the wall of sand as the 4wd moved backwards! We took the chicken track around this hole and continued on. It got very rocky and unfortunately I a) left Damien and Steve behind and 2) didn't get any video or photo evidence of the climb - which was intense and enjoyable at the same time. I met up with the Bcoutback at the end of lower stumpy's track. We had some time spare so we headed off to an area of the forest that had recently been re-graded so was rather smooth - I was also interested to know why it had been graded but couldn't work it out. We cruised around this area and ended up at someone's back paddock gate - turn around again. This was basically the end of the day for us, we headed out of the forest back to where we met in the morning, had the usual chat that is meant to be to say goodbye and have a laugh at stuff from the day - half an hour later and you're still at it... I'll have to work on the video now... stay tuned as I've got another one to finish first. No rest for the wicked! I'd like to thank Damien and Steve for making the effort to come out on such short notice and on the easter weekend - it was the only time I could get out and have a go with the scorpions, I was most happy with their performance Cheers Bennie

Thanks fellas, Thinking I'll grab a set of cheapies to see me to the end of the year before I go with the L AWD gearbox and a set of 25 spline shafts - then I'll be looking at OEM shafts for the long haul I guess I'll do a search for more feedback too - always forget about that function, its a really bad habit of mine Cheers Bennie

Ease up mr fox - we don't have un-rustable cars! Any rust that is found on a vehicle is good enough to have a road worthy knocked back... lucky for us in victoria you only do this when you get your car initially registered - unless you're unlucky and a member of the constabulary goes over your vehicle for an on the spot inspection... Keep up the good work loyale! You may be keen to know there's another short clip of ruby scoo available on youtube now Cheers Bennie

I doubt its possible. It's pretty tight in there as it is! Best fix I've done for these is the EJ conversion - but I won't side track you on that one. The lifter tick is not detrimental to the operation of your EA82, just a pain in the arse! Replacing the oil pump seal, shaft, rotor and matching pump gear can do wonders for the oil pressure as it is basically a new oil pump without the cost of a complete unit. One thing that kills the lifters is letting them continually tick without regular oil changes - the gritty oil wears out the cylinders that fill with oil that allows the "piston" end to compress the oil. These cylinders can leak oil out allowing the lifter to compress and thus make the ticking sound you hear when you run your EA82. I pulled a set apart to make some solid units (note: don't do this with MPFI units, not good before 4000rpm, after that it goes off like a frog in a sock!), some were really sloppy and others were pretty tight. Also if you do the solid units, they're a PITA to get the right clearances to make it run right without ticking... Cheers Bennie

36mm socket, 1/2 inch drive breaker bar and my 82kg's bouncing up and down on the other end until it doesn't move anymore. This has worked front and rear for me without issues! As for specific torque settings I believe it would be the same as previously posted ~196nM but without a bar that can read that far it's hard to gauge exactly And I agree with the rear disc conversion being the best brake upgrade besides an xt6 or crossbred conversion. IMO its a must before dropping an EJ in! Cheers Bennie

G'day all. I'm looking at new front (and rear, later) half shafts/drive shafts. I have used a company called GSR I think, anyway they were made in china, copped a flogging for about 20 months but have now given up the ghost - too noisy for my liking. After then fitting a second hand set I had in the shed and getting a weird vibration, I worked out that it was the drive shafts that was causing it. I now have another second hand set, history unknown, going well, eliminated the vibration but they click when crawling on the street in traffic (in a straight line), while cornering and anything under 45 miles an hour. So with all of that I'm considering a new set of shafts but don't want anything made from china as that seems to be all we can get over here I've looked on Rockauto.com and have found EMPI but no details as to where they're made. I'm keen for something that's made in america or canada as I would say that they will be far superior to anything from china. If anyone here can suggest brands or specific items that have served you well, I'll be keen to know about them. My search for parts pretty much stops at rockauto when looking OS. Cheers Bennie

Holy crap Loyale! I can't believe how much rust you're fighting there!! I thought I'd seen some bad rust in L's but this one is unfortunately the worst You do an amazing job to keep your L going! It certainly makes what I'm dealing with an easy task, mainly body fatigue after a good 440k kms with some hard 4wd'n since I've had her at 293k km Cheers Bennie

That is a tough question! I personally would stick with the diff lock, but the advantage of the 4.11 diff ratio is very appealing too. With this in mind, some fellas over here have been "building" the best of both worlds. With some ingenuity and good welding skills they've created a 4.11 ratio pinion shaft that will fit the RX AWD tranny with locking centre diff. Here are some pics of the one that is destined for my AWD L box build: ^ Note the weld about a 2 inches from the pinion gear. I'm not sure if this was made from two EJ AWD pinion shafts, one being the 4.11 gear or if an RX AWD pinion shaft was cut and shut. I currently don't have an EJ pinion shaft handy to compare I'm sorry. Food for thought, sorry I didn't actually give you an answer to your question! Yeah you were!! Classic. Totally agree! The thing looks wild with no lift and the large tyres! Keep up the good work - can't wait for some pics on the tracks! Cheers Bennie

Fixed the bent moustache bar that the EJ, 27s and an open rear diff managed to twist. I took a straight one I had on the welded diff (ironic isn't it?) and went to a mates place with the open diff and parts needed to put it back in once done. Using the bent bar, I tried to straighten it, not entirely successful or a wasted effort either. The bent unit was cut up to be welded to the straight bar. This is what they looked like: With the two units mounted to the diff and clamped together I got to work: ^ Not the cleanest welding (MIG) like pauls but it will do the job. The bar has been stitch welded top and bottom as well as welded at each end. The nuts for the diff stubs have enough bite to allow the two bars to be directly welded together which is what I wanted to do. Here's the bar fitted up after painting Should go well. Now to see what bends next. Hopefully nothing. Cheers Bennie

Apparently it won't work using the air suspension compressor as these are high pressure low volume comprssors. The AC compressor is the way to go, seen many setups that work well. Cheers Bennie

What have you done to your subi, is it bog standard or have you tweaked a few things?? I'm not sure how to interpretate those sounds you're trying to make, did something bad happen or did the ticking lifters go quiet at 95mph? Cheers Bennie

Check the stabiliser bar's mounts and the rubber inserts where they connect to the control arm. If these are all good I'd be considering new drive shafts - mine used to clunk all the time particularly when at full lock left or right, only one klunk heard each time you were moving at full lock. New drive shafts got rid of this noise for me - or you can just put up with it. Cheers Bennie

Yeah sorry mate, i didn't mean to rub anything in - just that over here I seem to be one of very few with out an adaptor plate in my EJ'd L series and I don't think that its common knowledge about this modification to make it bolt in "as factory with a twist"... I forgot about this issue. I'm just used to dual range gearboxes through out the subaru models - and I'm not intending to rub it in either if you're thinking this! Can't wait to see some pics of the progress Cheers Bennie

Also - an old thread to dig up to ask this question... Bennie

I used a slide hammer with a hook like attachment on the end to pull the gudgeon pins out. The clips that hold them in were removed with long nosed pliers from memory. Cheers Bennie

I hope he put all the little balls and spring back in the right places for the 4wd and low 4wd gear engagement mechanisms - its pretty messy in there! Need a keen eye or loads of pics for every step of the way. No kidding! Hope its just an adjustment that's needed, the other option I've mentioned would not be fun Cheers Bennie

I'm still not convinced that you've spun a bearing - and I hope for your wallet that you haven't either! Might as well rebuild the engine or do an EJ conversion - they're about the same cost once you lay it out on paper if you do you're own labour on the conversion... Anyway, the only way to know if you'll need to go oversize is once you've pulled the engine down and checke that the crank is still within specification for the standard bearing - otherwise its a grind and oversized bearings. Cheers Bennie

Will you be using an adaptor plate for the fitting of the RX AWD tranny or will you use the EJ front half casings with the RX gearsets fitted to make it bolt directly up to EJ engine? The advantage of the re-casing of the RX internals is that you get to retain the stock EJ clutch setup. I've done this with my L series EJ conversion. Gearbox bolts straight in as factory with the EJ - in the L series anyway (gearbox crossmember will be different in later model subi's for the Rx tranny). Looks like it will be an interesting build! Cheers Bennie

So what will you be filling the rest of the engine bay with??? Sooo much room if you've only got effectively half a stock rotary in there! The gearing will be interesting to work out - really need to know how this rotary performs on the street to get any idea of whether or not the stock subaru ratios will work with this engine. As for the 4 or 5 speed question - 5 speed has a much better "step gap" to the top gear by splitting it with another gear. I've had loads with the 4 speed that bogged the EA81 going from 3rd to 4th unless you really flogged the engine to "jump" the gap in the revs between the different gears. The 5 speed is generally nicer to drive, feels better in the gear changes unless the 4 speed has new gear lever bushes installed. The L series 5 speed is basically the same as the EJ/Legacy 5 speed, well over here it is as we've got the dual range function on the EJ/legacy 5 speed gearboxes where as I believe that you missed out on this in the US. Hope this gives you something to think about/research. Cheers Bennie

I had the same problem with my rear diff the first time I took it out. This is how I did it - I was able to re-use the drive shaft, its still in the subi now ^ removed the diff for a welded unit. Point and shoot offroading from then on! This is an old pic trying to show what I had done. The grey lines are the wire that was used to hold the CV in place - cable ties work well too I used an angle grinder to grind the pin down to the stub axle so I could get the CV shaft off. After this was achieved I then smashed the remaining roll pin out of the stub axle until I had it all clear again. Worked a treat and I would do it again if needed. Cheers Bennie

G'day all! I ran with the stock L series exhaust modified to fit to the factory EJ22 Y pipe on my '88 L wagon. Before heading to the snow last year I "lashed out" on a new exhaust setup that also tucked up where it should be with the three inch lift. Here's some pics of the setup - 2.25 inch cat back with resonator and new rear muffler "to release the subi burble" which the exhaust shop got right. A nice note, not really refined but still sounds the goods! Pics: ^ I was hoping for a hotdog style resonator but this is what I got - beggers can't be choosers! And a flexi joint is a must to stop vibration through the exhaust system. And a video of the note while climbing Mt Hotham from Harrietville in Victoria Australia - gets a little repetitive! Love the note and the perceived performance gain if there's actually any there. I know she loves to rev easier! Well worth the money for such a "small" mod! I really enjoy my subi a pot load more since the exhaust - plus the tucking it up under the vehicle again has been very valuable offroading Cheers Bennie

... and where can I find out about the BYB and/or hatch patrol? Cheers Bennie

I'm sure I've spoken to the same guy as well - got the same response. I'd love to win some money from the lottery to get this happening... Just need to win the lottery as this will be the only way I personally could get this moving. I have contacted some diff locker manufacturers with the following responses: ARB flat out said it can't be done the first time around. Last time I emailed them they said the diff would not be able to with stand such forces. I have emailed them back about the auto unlocker I know of and have not recieved a reply as of yet... TJM are starting up a manual locker production. I've emailed them as well. Their response was a long the lines of "we're focusing on the well known brands and models used in offroading, once we have sucessfully established this we may look into the R160 diff design" or something of the like. So at the very least if it does happen with this mob it will be a few years at the least before something is available. I have also contacted some chinese diff locker producers that I found on google. I don't know how legit they are or what not, but I've not had a response from any of them. They could be learing english but who knows... 1) been there done that, back with this setup now for snow travel in winter 2) did this mod and it was the best offroad mod I've done to my subi - "point and shoot" was the motto with a welded rear. Got my subi into places it shouldn't have without lift or larger tyres! More on why I want a manual locker later in this thread. 3) Not an option. Love my subi and love showing others what my modified subaru can do in the scrub. Because those of us who are truly after one are hoping that someone/something/this group and discussion result in a suitable manual locking rear setup for our subi's. B, maybe you kept breaking your subi because you asked way too much of it OR you didn't know how to drive your subi in rough terrain while also preserving the mechanical health of your vehicle. Why do I want a manual diff locker?? I'm building my subi for a purpose. A hard core offroader - not rock crawler (even the big rigs can't do this unless its very heavily modifed to comp truck level IMO) - that is also a great tourer and daily driver. What I have now is EJ22 stock L series gearbox, 3.7 ratio diffs and 27 inch tyres. That is a great setup for a subi, an LSD even better, but I'm going one further - the gearbox is going to be swapped out for one of the dual range L series AWD centre diff locking gearbox with 4.11 ratio diffs. THIS is the reason why I want the manual diff locker. A welded diff and removing a drive shaft with AWD will not work for me, nor would the same setup with a free wheeling hub or the like. An auto unlocker isn't great in the rear or front for that matter (not that there are front units out there) with AWD - a friend of mine has an auto unlocker in an r160 diff housing of his subaru MY, it goes amazingly well! I've been mentally designing a locker in my head at work when I can, then physically looking at an R160 diff to see if it could possibly work, when it doesn't its back to the drawing board, fun fun. I might get there one day but like many others I don't have the skills or knowledge to machine parts, let alone the hardware to do it... This is my subi, I'm rather proud of where its been (literally) and where its at in its build that continues. The outback was a good comparison: If a welded diff can take the forces of locked offroading - I'm sure a manual locker could do the same with the same strength. Just need to nut out a mechanism that locks the spider gears. A mate of mine said it would be easy to do with some time, a little bit of money (initially) and the right equipment. Basically the go would be to buy a readily available off the shelf diff locker and "map" with CRC techniques (I think its CRC) then down size all the components to a size that will fit in the R160 rear diff. Next step would be to find suitable manufacturers of the components and then assemble and sell. I'm also after a manual locker for the later model subarus to be able to use as well as the older subarus too - the R160 diff has not changed a great deal from the early 80's MYs through till now. The datsun racing fraternity could also be interested in a device such as this. I live in hope and want to work towards something that will hopefully one day end up in the back of my (and other's) subi's. I have little time for those who just stamp this idea with the "get a toyota"/"put your money where your mouth is"... Cheers Bennie

Got some pics for ya From this: ^ 3 inch lift + honda civic front springs in the rear (I've only just put these in and are very happy with the result) and the stock 23 inch tyre diametre for correct gearing and offset. To this: Scorpion Subaru 14 inch rims for the 4 stud hubs with 27 inch tyres. The bee's knees! Love these rims and its a shame they don't make them anymore! They really compliment the L's shape better than I could ever imagine - and the 27's tuck neatly under the guards which is what I was after. I've been hunting for a set of these for ages, ironically now I have two sets plus a spare - so one set for offroad tread, the other for primarily blacktop commuting... Now to get the gearbox sorted so that I have the proper ratios to drive these things. I'm feeling VERY tall once again! I'm thinking of sorting out a set of adjustable radius rods sooner rather than later then sourcing some new chains to run these tyres in the snow for the winter season - no swapping off the 23's to head into the bush... Plans - we'll see where they head! Cheers Bennie