Al Zhiemer

I'm sure there is info on this somewhere but I'm not sure where I found it but do a google search and I'm sure it will pop up somewhere. Don't quote me 100% on this but this is how I remember it. There are two different base plate adapters available for the EA81 manifold/weber conversion, to my memory it had something to do with the measurements of the inlet manifold stud placement. If I remember I will measure the manifolds I have here as I'm sure I have both manifolds and post up what I find. The theory is that the EA82 is the better manifold, can't comment as to the truth of it because I've never seen dyno sheets to prove one way or the other. I had one laying around and chucked it on anyway. I seem to remember that the larger stud placement manifolds for the EA81 is also the same as the EA82 manifold, like I said, I may not be entirely accurate on it all. It was a long time ago that I done this conversion. Something I was going to look at oneday, you can actually buy a top for the weber that allows the air to be drawn in from the side which would make for an easy snorkel fitment or placement for an airbox in another location. Having a larger enclosed filter in an airbox was the way I was going to go. I haven't had any issues with hood clearance and don't see why anyone else would. The only thing I did loose was my manual choke, I elected to stay as a manual choke set up as I prefer them over electric but that's personal preference. She can be a bit temperamental in the cold to start sometimes but generally, two pumps on the throttle and turn the key, she fires into life and with a little bit of lite throttle control for a few seconds to clear her throat, it'll idle away and warm up while I get my spoob together to go. Cheers, Al

A garment/clothes steamer works a treat usually to get the bulk of it off and then a product called "Oomph" is great to finish off with to remove the sticky residue. Not sure what the equivalent would be called over there. The steamer is also the best way of removing old window tint as well. Cheers, Al

From previous experience importing GTR's into Australia, it isn't all that difficult but the taxes... They were the bloody killer!!! Shipping and insurance wasn't so bad if you go roll on/roll off, shipping in a container can get pretty bloody expensive. All up including shipping, taxes and compliancing, it usually added an extra $5,000 - $10,000. Back then, if it cost you $18,000 to buy the car, it usually owed you between $25,000 and $28,000 landed and ready for market. After it was all said and done, there was at least $7,000 min. profit per car so it wasn't a bad way to make a few extra bucks on the side and drive some really cool cars :-) What was also another killer that I almost got caught out on the first time was RWC items. Rediculously, when a vehicle comes into Australia and goes through compliancing/RWC, if items need to be replaced, they must be replaced with factory original items. So things like brakes can become a real issue, GTR's being fitted with Brembo brakes, it meant they had to be fitted with factory Nissan items or Brembo original pads and rotors only. Aftermarket pads and rotors were not acceptable. Back then, they were talking figures of between $1,750 and $2,500 and upwards for new pads and rotors and god help you if you needed calipers rebuilding. That quickly chews into the profit margin. Especially if there were any other faults that needed attending to. Now we have no vehicle manufacturing left in Australia, its going to be very interesting to see if the plans to open up the importation laws as much as they reckon go ahead. There are some WAY cool cars in Japan just begging to be brought to Australia. Oh... And speaking of roo's writing cars and themselves off. I've hit several over the years, been lucky to get away with minor damage in all of them bar one. And you guessed it, nailed one in my own personal 97 R33 GTR V-Spec II. Nothing I could do about it, halfway through a bend, came out of no where and bang. I can remember watching his legs fold over the bonnet, his body slam into the bonnet and thinking to myself, "spoob, he's about to come through the windscreen". Sat back in my seat as far as I could, closed my eyes and waited for the glass shower to stop. How he never hit me I will never know, the complete drivers half of the windscreen was completely missing, regurgitated grass was all through the car everywhere!!! Took weeks to get that spoob off the dash and out of the seats. All up, complete front end including rad support panel, left and right headlights, bonnet, wiper arms, windscreen and also damage to the roof where it got peeled back a couple of inches as the Roo went over the roof. All up from memory, about $15,000 in parts and labour to repair my pride and joy. And yes ladies and gentle man, all that damage was caused by hitting one of those big bastards at 100 km/h - 105 km/h. Thankfully at the time I had GPS proving that for the whole 700 km trip up until that point, I hadn't exceeded 115 km/h. And FFS don't hit a wombat, those fuckers will really ruin your day!!! Sorry, off topic I know. Cheers, Al

Just so I can be first... There is plenty of info about this if you use the search feature. But seriously, very easy conversion to do, these are the parts I used and a rough guide on how I went about it. The 5 speed will bolt directly up to the EA81 engine, so no problems there. I'm using the EA81 starter motor and built a spacer to go between the bell housing and the starter motor as the starter motor needs to sit out from the bell housing by about 4mm. Some solve this option by spacing it out with washers but I wasn't to keen on that idea. With the tailshaft, you have 2 options, get the EA81 4 speed tailshaft modified to suit or use the 5 speed tailshaft. The 5 speed tailshaft does have a centre bearing that you will have to figure out how to mount, different people have different ideas on how this should be done, some cut the mounts out of the 5 speed and weld in to place, others just make brackets and mount directly to the floor. I opted for the second option and also reinforced the floor with some 3mm plate steel to give it a bit of extra strength. For the clutch, I was lucky enough to have the larger diameter flywheel for the EA81, somebody will correct me but I think the clutch surface measures around the 225mm's. I used this flywheel, EA81 clutch plate, EA82 pressure plate and EA82 throw out bearing. Clutch seems to work fine at this stage and its well over half worn. You will have to get the lip of the flywheel where the pressure plate bolts to machined down as it is higher and the EA82 pressure plate won't function properly. Use the 5 speed gear selector linkages for the gear selection, the 4WD selector is a combination of the original 4 speed and the 5 speed. Apart from having to mount the 5 speed shifter, this pretty much fits perfect. Now the 4WD linkages are a little different, once you have worked out the length the linkage needs to be, cut both linkages and weld back together, the reason for having to do this, is that the 5 speed gearbox attatches differently to the 4 speed at the gearbox end and the 4 speed connects differently to the 5 speed at the shifter end. If its left hand drive, I don't think you have to worry about changing the clutch cable. The next thing is to workout how to attatch the gearbox to the sub frame, once again, a bit of scrap metal floating around, a quick buzz with the welder and brackets are made. As for the 4WD dash lights and reverse lights, a quick test with either a test light or multimeter will solve that quick smart. I'm sure somebody will correct me but if its left hand drive, I don't think you need to modify the pedal box or the clutch cable to fit the 5 speed in to the EA81. Now each to their own and at the time I done my conversion I had the complete engine, gearbox and sub frame dropped so it was all just sitting out in the open. I would suggest that this is the easiest way if you have never done it before, you can get a good clean look at everything and see what exactly has to be done, the conversion itself is extremely easy. Take your time, check everything twice and then another 2 more times before you start cutting and welding or bolting everything into place. Cheers, Al

Piece of cake. Once I got all the lines connected up that I need to run, I removed everything else so you can't see any other anti-pollution crap that should be under there but isn't hooked up. Plan all your vacuum line placement before removing anything, depending on how and where you want to run your new vacuum and fuel lines, it may pay to go and get what you think you will need before you start. Depending on the adapter being used, pay particular attention to how it mounts and make sure it covers the water jacket in the manifold. Cheers, Al

I bought a FWD only sedan here in Aus, it had the exact same boot around the gear lever and that car was 100% original. Think I still have it floating around in amongst all my spares somewhere. Still think that little speaker grille would fit the RHD models, I'd certainly like to get my hands on one and check it out that's for sure. It would make a great place to hide the external speaker for the UHF. Cheers, Al

This is really easy to solve... Ditch it and buy a weber, problem solved LOL Cheers, Al

Rather than using a stop leak, try using pepper, as in salt and pepper pepper. If its only a small leak, pepper can seal it up enough to at least help diagnose the problem but apart from being either a head gasket problem or a cracked head/block, no other way air can be pumped into the system as previously stated. You can buy a test kit from some parts store that from memory wasn't all that expensive and it will tell you if exhaust gasses are getting in to your cooling system. Cheers, Al

Correct, 3903 is decoded as you stated. I'll have a dig through my book collection oneday when I'm home and have the time but I have a book I bought several years ago, it's part training manual that goes in to a lot of detail about tyre technology but its best feature is that it lists pretty much every rim and tyre combination that was available for almost everything that roles on tyres. Stud patterns, offsets, rim diameters and widths are all listed, is a fantastic reference for checking what rims will fit what cars. When I can dig it out, I'll get the name of it and where you can purchase it from if anyone is interested. Cheers, Al

The average life span of a tyre is a maximum of 6 years as recommended by the manufacturer, regardless of the condition of the tyre, even brand new tyres that have never been fitted. I'm pretty sure that here in Australia, it is even illegal for a tyre dealer to sell tyres older than five years old. In the case of an accident and an insurance inspector that knows his stuff, discovers tyres older than 6 years fitted to your vehicle can be enough to make your insurance null and void. In most cases but not all, it is about the outer blocks on the tyre, usually they will have larger blocks on the outside of the tyre, this is to create stability in cornering as a smaller tread block will allow the tread to move around under cornering load. A lot of tyre manufactures actually use a staggered outer tread pattern, for several different reasons, starting with smaller blocks and increase in size in several different stages. This allows them to have the best of both worlds, more sipes for clearing water, larger blocks to help prevent the tread from moving and also helps in reducing road noise created by the tyre. Thats my understanding of it anyway. And even with 50 series tyres, I'd suggest that 36 psi is to high and would probably drop back to 32 psi as there isn't a whole lot of weight on the tyre to make it bulge/flatten out. Higher pressures won't allow the contact area to maintain grip especially in cornering situations because there is no give in the sidewall allowing it to flex under load, just like low pressures can have a negative effect on vehicle handling, so to can over inflation. Start playing with cold tyre pressures a bit more as tyres will react differently to both pressure and weight, sometimes even half a psi can make a world of difference and enable you to find the sweet spot for the tyre and vehicle combination. Same as winter and summer temperatures can have an effect on what pressure you should be running. Cheers, Al

Probably going to be a lot of people not agree to this but have you tried filling the lines with oil or even some WD40 or similar product? Occasionally giving it a good soak with something to soften up the corrosion for a day or two before you hit it with compressed air will make all the difference. Have also had some pretty good results using Eucalyptus oil on corrosion as well. Cheers, Al

Check for an exhaust leak where the header pipe/manifold connects to the head. Had a similar issue with Ruby when I first got her, wasn't to bad at first but progressively got worse. Got around to fixing the exhaust leak and has been fine ever since. Cheers, Al

Volt meter won't necessarily show a dead battery, it may still show that the battery is holding 12 volts but won't tell you if the battery has a collapsed cell. Best way to really tell is to have your battery load tested. Recharge your battery and then take it down to an automotive electrician and get them to test it, this will show whether or not the battery is holding enough charge to start your car. More than likely, when you shorted the battery it has discharged it and all it needs is a good charge and see how it goes. Cheers, Al

You'll find KYB struts on ebay by the hundreds also. Also noticed they had hieght adjustable KYB fronts as well, which reminds me, I need to go and buy a set. Cheers, Al

Yeah, I may join a photo share site one day but I'm not overly keen on using them. I do use Onedrive and it shows up on my screen that the images are there but apparently no one else can see them but it could also be the PC operator as well doing something wrong. Will see what happens. Cheers, Al

Well there you go, I didn't know about the design rule thing, that's interesting. I figured and most other people I've spoken to about this have the same opinion, that it was due to the fitment of the V8 diesel as that seemed to coincide with when the difference occurred in the wheel track. Am going to have to do some research on this as its the first I've ever heard of it. Nice work el_freddo, thinking we need to change your name to wikifreddo. Cheers, Al

Many vehicles have a narrower wheel track rear to front, both the new Landcruiser and the older Ford F100/150 (I think by memory the F150 was 15mm narrower at the rear compared to the front) had a narrower wheel track at the rear than the front.The new V8 Landcruisers where so bad that on soft sand you could watch the rear end shake its booty as the rear wheels fought over which wheel was going to follow the front wheel tracks. It may affect the areo to some extent but on these old girls, I'd doubt you would feel the difference. Most high performance sports cars have a wider track at the rear than the front, particularly mid/rear engine mounted vehicles Handling issues may arise if the rear track is off center or camber, caster and toe-in/out was incorrect but that would be a fabrication thing mostly. Cheers, Al

Yeah, sand blasting can cause more damage than its worth if you don't take your time but in my opinion, its still the best way to clean up rust and show how much cancer is really hidden under the paint work. Complete under carriage is being sand blasted, its covered in surface rust and any of the areas that are either rusted (To my knowledge I have to sections of semi severe rust, at the back of the cabin where the tray meets and a small section in the drivers foot well) or starting to are also being done. The body panels on these old girls is just not heavy enough to cope with the stress of a complete head to toe sand blast. I restored an old Landcruiser years ago and completely sand blasted the entire cabin, I swore after I finished blasting that old girl I would never do sand blasting again, the old saying about damn sand gets everywhere most definitely is true when it comes to sand blasting. I discovered even on that old pig you could only blast small sections at a time to help prevent the warping/rippling of the panels. Have also found that using walnut/almound shells as your blasting medium causes far less damage as well. He's a good mate, known each other for about 35 yrs now (Holy crap, working out how long we've known each other has just all of a sudden made me feel old LOL), we have been through hell and back with each other and to be honest, the only person I would trust with my life. He mostly works from home with 90% of his work being restoration work on older model Holdens and Fords. A couple of years ago he offered me space to build my own 6M X 6M shed on his property for myself to use as storage and a workshop, am seriously considering it now as I'm fast running out of room here and all I have to pay for is the shed and concrete slab. Another mate of mine in Toowoomba who is a qualified sparky will come down and wire it all up on the cheap. The bonus is that if I go through with it, the only conditions he has set is that I have to put a hoist in. What a bugger, having to install a hoist in a shed at my disposal. Seems a reasonable request considering that the shed will be mine to use for as long as I want rent free Cheers, Al

Its already happening, have dropped the replacement front fenders and bonnet off at my mates panel shop. Engine bay is almost completely stripped out ready, motor and gearbox come out today and she gets picked up at the end of the week to be delivered to the sand blasters. Have ordered the steel to make up a rotisserie to put Ruby on so she can be moved and have the underside painted as well. This was always the plan, this year was meant to be the EJ conversion year and next year was going to be the body. With me now heading back to work, I get to spend very limited time at home to be able to work on her but my mate has no problem with keeping her in his workshops for the next 12 months while body work gets done and the EJ gets transplanted so that makes my life a little easier. All the engine mounts where checked and in good working order, I did notice that nut loose on one of the engine mounts but I made sure to tighten both of those before reinstalling the engine and gearbox and have been checked since. You can definitely feel something is not right in the front end, it's almost as if a wheel bearing has collapsed but they have all been replaced less than 7,000 km ago, once I've done the complete tear down I'll investigate further and see what/if I can find anything. At the moment, its got me completely stumped and I'm out of time. Cheers, Al

https://www.graysonline.com/lot/0001-7735424/motor-vehiclesmotor-cycles/1994-subaru-gl-sports-l-series-4wd-wagon?spr=true

Well the time has come, after spending well over $3000 on Ruby in the last couple of months, finally get her back on the road to only have 2 days of trouble free motoring, it seems I'm making no progress. Its time to let Ruby die a peaceful death. The last couple of months have just been one problem after another with her, I fix one thing, she breaks somewhere else. At the moment she has developed another REALLY bad vibration, seems non related to the original vibration that I set out to fix. And this one is so severe I'm not even game to drive her anymore and I'm out of ideas as to what it could possibly be. Everything has been replaced in the front end, nothing has helped. But its not all bad news... The plan... Take Ruby off the road permanently and do a full restoration job on her, replace every nut and bolt in her and anything that can be rebuilt, will be rebuilt or replaced with new. Remove any rust or dents, straighten the panel work out and a new coat of jam to finish her off. Hopefully within 12 months, Ruby 2.0 will be back on the road and be better than brand new. It looks like my nice low mileage 1290 R is about to start racking up a few extra km's this year Not that the low mileage (1400km's since Jan 2017) has been my choice, stupid bloody job, if they didn't throw so much money at me a week I'd go find something else to do. Not that that seems to work anyway, I've quit 3 times now in the last 2 years and they keep offering me more money to stay. Also on the upside, the north Queensland trip planned for later this year will now be done on 2 wheels instead of 4 so I can't wait for that, 4 weeks of touring Cape York and the gulf on the bike is going to be awesome!!! Cheers, Al

To my knowledge and I don't know anything but I have wrecked 2 FWD EA81's now and both have had 5 Spd manuals in them (Both have made a new home at the crushers, it isn't really a sought after gearbox over here) so I'm guessing they are out there somewhere. Cheers, Al

A: Axles should be the same. B: Reverse Lights and Speedo Cable will be plug and play. C: Personally don't know, never done a FWD swap. D: Being in the US you only need the standard EA81 clutch pedal box and clutch cable (Apparently). E: 4 Speed has a reputation as a crap gearbox but there are still plenty of them running but stick with the 5 speed. F: You will need to make a Starter Motor spacer. And work you way through any number of other little issues along the way. If you have an EA81, it would be much easier to source a FWD 5 Spd out of an EA81 vehicle than to retro fit an EA82 5 Spd. And if you are going to convert from FWD to 4WD, then yeah, you got a crap load of work ahead of you. Cheers, Al

What Bennie said, it helps to paint a spline and a matching location on the housing for reference. Makes it much easier to see if it has moved. Cheers, Al On a side note, while you have access to the flywheel, go and get some reflective tape. Cut 4 thin strips, 2 about 5 mm long and another 2 at about 10 mm long. I run Ruby at 12 degrees BTDC, I've placed the two long ones at 0 and 12 degrees BTDC and the other two shorter ones on 10 and 14 degrees BTDC. The timing light picks these locators up beautifully. I've used paint before and that works well but the reflective tape makes it far easier to see.

Kuhmo, Toyo, Maxxis, Nankang and a couple of others I can't remember off of the top of my head all make an all terrain or mud terrain tyre in 14". Most of them are no longer available in some countries, like here in Aus, but are still available in some places. Interco use to also make some nice 14" tyres but I don't see them on their website anymore but you may find some old stock around somewhere. Cheers, Al.