el_freddo

That’s really balls. Not much you could do there otherthan sell parts. Front bumper from the brat will bolt on your hatch. Even then, some wire or cable ties and you’ll have your bumper reattached and ready for action again! Cheers Bennie

Why claim insurance anyway? Get a new bar, replace, move on, insurance company doesn’t need to know... Cheers Bennie

Your insurance company sucks. That’s not totalled!! That a damaged bumper bar! My brumby was backed into by a tray back ute that sliced open my front right hand guard like a tin can. The insurance company found a new guard and replaced it. Now that panel is the best looking one on the car! I hope it’s not totalled. Too straight to have a salvage title on it. Cheers Bennie

I’m in Australia too and I know that panel (plastic) above the driver’s feet as a kick panel. It’s there to tidy up loose wiring from interfering with the driver’s feet. It probably does a small job of reducing the driver’s feet ending up in the dashboard during a crash - at least it does in newer vehicles! And yes, it’s tight in there but isn’t too bad overall. Cheers Bennie

If you’ve got noises from the CV shaft on that side of your front end, then it could be a dead outer joint. I had this issue on my brumby and it would pull on the steering wheel right off the mark. But it had mega noise when turning corners from that front driveshaft. Cheers Bennie

How many km/miles? I’d say your rear suspension bushes need replacement. Cheers Bennie

Remove kick panel for better access. From memory the last time I did a cable swap I didn’t remove the clutch pedal (I could be wrong though - I removed the pedal for the L cable recently), the driver’s seat certainly did not move out of the vehicle. Use a torch or some sort of light to brighten up that dark space - it’ll make work so much easier! Cheers Bennie

Said no one ever! Looks good mate! *almost* makes me want to do a lifted sedan. But I’m a wagon boy at heart (or ute, either way!). Cheers Bennie

I’d be using new gaskets an sealing washers. 5ftlb is just keep the bolt in, on the EJs, it seems the thread is all taken up and the bolt bottoms out on the cam retainer plate. Any tighter and you risk stripping the bolt or the thread the bolt fits in to. Cheers Bennie

I didn’t realise how badly I typed that post! Apologies! Cheers Bennie

@Steptoe Wiring loom and processes would be similar if not the same. Tried a forester workshop manual? Have you done a JDM workshop manual search? Cheers Bennie

Brake lines aren’t ballooning when applying pedal pressure are they? Cheers Bennie

Why did you weld instead of bolting the centre piece in? Cheers Bennie

And Redback is back in action as of yesterday (second time since last post!)! And in good time too, it was raining this morning and that’s never fun on a bike! New front drive shafts and bearings this time around, plus painted hubs (knuckle). If you ever pain hubs just make sure the paint doesn’t build up where bolts etc go. Not fun sorting that out, especially in threaded sections. So I’ve finally lost my steering wheel wobble under all conditions, plus the clacking noises from the front left and the steering wheel shudder under brakes that was the initial issue ages ago. It’s bliss! And I forgot how much I enjoy driving this little beast! Now that everything is smooth up front, I reckon I’ve got a niggle up the back now. I’ll look into that in time as I’ve got a few other things to do first. Cheers Bennie

You’re adding the engine loom to run the engine. There’s no need for the brake res wiring unless the ECU references it. Otherwise just stick with the EA brake reservoir level setup. Thermo fans: the ECU has one wire that is earth switched that triggers the thermo fans. Hook this to the radiator switch wire (MY) or the trigger wire (L series - have to work out which one triggers the relays) to make the fans come on. If you don’t want the EA thermo fan loom doing its thing you could use the EJ gear or make your own setup with some wiring and a couple of relays. I hope this helps. Cheers Bennie

1 - don’t need 2 - correct. Cam, crank and O2 sensor 3 - correct 4 - never seen a double diode but you definitely need them so leave them be 5 - don’t need. Just use the wire from the ECU to trigger the fans. Run your own wiring or wire into the trigger for the factory EA wiring. 6 - correct. Igniter and corresponding plug 7 - correct (AFM) 8 - looks about right. 9 - relay block. Don’t need for the engine loom cut down, but could be reused for other purposes 10 - something like that. Keep it 11 - definitely need them! 12 - dunno what that plug is, it doesn’t look like the third plug in the three plug wiring loom Looks like you’re making some good progress! Getting your head around the wiring really is a journey - kind of like being enlightened. Once you’ve done one it’s much easier! Cheers Bennie

Sounds good mate! Yeah @STi 22B - join in!! Cheers Bennie

No harm at all Jono! Lokks good. What are you using for the centre piece between the rear and front gearbox crossmembers? Cheers Bennie

@Steptoe - tried these sites? https://www.allcarmanuals.com/factory-service-manual-48-Subaru-Impreza-WRX-GC.html This is another good one from memory: https://workshop-manuals.com/subaru/ Or find an old Haynes manual, they actually have a good pinout for the ECU - at least the one in the liberty manual is good, if that’s anything to go by it’ll be the same for the impreza one. Cheers Bennie

You need to look for the FSM. They won’t show you these at the dealership. Cheers Bennie

Paul, I’ll call you this weekend. Either tomorrow night (yay for daylight savings!), or Sunday. Jonno, I use an 8 or a 10mm hex deep socket to get these retainer bolts out. It’s worked for me every time (twice so far). Cheers Bennie

Ah, by shielding you mean the plastic conduit stuff. I am talking about the metal shielding on the sensor wiring - it’s under a grey wrap/tube. Keep that stuff there, do not remove! No worries about messaging Cheers Bennie

Yeah sorry, metho = methalyated spirits. It’s a white alcohol, not for drinking! I’m not sure what it’s called over your way (if it is named differently). Cheers Bennie

I wash down with petrol or whatever I have on hand. Then use metho to wipe all mating surfaces before applying silicone sealant (where needed) or fitting the rubber seals or the gasket needed. As for head bolt thread tap, I used GD’s suggestion of cutting a slice in a used headbolt (recommended to use new bolts if you don’t know their history or they’ve been used more than once - from what I’ve been told - and I’ve done this on my current HG job) and using the headbolt to clean up the threads. The rest of the engine cleaning, it comes down to how fastidious you want to be about it. Cheers Bennie

Ooh... you definitely want the shielding. This does not need to be removed in the cut down process. Tape removal is all good. Knowing what each plug is or having the mating plug is not always necessary. You just need the plugs and wiring to the engine harness, the igniter, air flow metre, O2 sensor, knock sensor, and the cam and crank sensors. And the ECU of course! It’s normal to be overwhelmed with your first cut down! First link looks pretty good. Second link, I don’t like how they’ve cut up the WHOLE loom to then piece it back together. You need numbchux’s conversion guide: this is where you need to be looking. It’s specific to the conversion into an EA platform. I hope that helps. Cheers Bennie