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I thought it time to share my full L series build - I had a thread in the welcome forum, but since writing this out recently I thought it a good time to move over here. Some of you will already know this vehicle... This is the short version I purchased Ruby Scoo from Yackandandah, VIC, Australia (google it!) in 2004 or 2005 for $500. What we didn't know was that the engine was toast - over heated to the point that one cylinder was cracked about halfway down. After some research I found that the EA82 engine came in EFI format, so went with one of these and had a steep learning curve into the operations of EFI systems. Pick a part became my best friend here! Problem was I lived over 1 hour away. After a year in the shed she was ready for rego. This is me learning some 4wd'n with a mate near Kangaroo Flat, Bendigo: From here I had a few mods done - welded rear diff. This was a good and bad mod as it gave the vehicle awesome point and shoot abilities but with the lack of lift I managed some damage to the underside of the body, I inverted my floor pans and didn't realise this for some time. In 2007 I roadtripped to WA with my brother with a "fresh" 9 month old rebuild that was going really well: SA/WA boarder: Perth: Hit a new milestone while I was there: And we had some fun too: On the way home we (read: my brother!) blew the side out of the plastic radiator end tank on a hot day drive home. We were stuck in Tintanara and were trucked home the next day. After sorting a temporary radiator it turned out that the engine was severely cooked. For 18 months I put up with a jerry-rigged carb engine over the MPFI wiring. It got me around while I sorted all the bits for my EJ22 conversion - again pick a part played a huge role in this conversion - this time I got all the bits I needed the before getting into the conversion. Cutting down the wiring was another steep learning curve and in hindsight quite easy to do, just need to know what you actually need and go from there. I didn't do the HG's on the EJ as I bench tested the engine and was happy with how it operated. When pulled from the yard it had 127xxxkms on the clock. Turned out the clutch was completely fried. All oil seals were replaced, cam belt replaced and I should have replaced the water pump - did it about a week after the conversion hit the road. Easiest way to do the Engine and gearbox - out from under: I cased an L series gearbox in a set of EJ front cases to avoid an adaptor plate and an EA clutch. This conversion is all EJ clutch and bolts straight up without issues: The initial test was a bit of fun in the paddock - I should've put the bonnet on though, it wasn't fun to clean! All fits in like it should be there. The L series should've come with the EJ from the factory, it's a great combination! Out at Robe, SA: After a chance purchase of a lifted L series, in one weekend the swap was done and Ruby Scoo grew to this: More fun, Otways, VIC: A few years down the track and a lot of searching I managed to track down a set of the infamous Scorpion 14 inch rims, these ones with the awesome general all rounder Wild Conqueror Super Trippers (can't get them anymore ): Robe, SA: Wyperfeld NP, VIC: Lerderderg SF, VIC: After two seasons at Mt Hotham and a 4wd'n trip with a "rally section" on the Dinner Plain Track south of the township I got Ruby Scoo airborne unintentionally. Not realising for some time but I did some extensive damage to the suspension mount on the LHS. Not ready to part with her I stripped her out and went to work between other things: While everything was reinstalled I added power windows, mirrors and central locking. That took a pot load more time than I anticipated and blew out the build time. I would say this took me 6 months over the summer period to sort out and get back on the road. Return to the road: Getting back into the thick of it: Mt Cole: Getting out in the High Country with the Subaru Club of Qld (offroad club, can't remember their official title) - most of these guys are online mates from ausubi: Basalt Knob South Tk before it was switchbacked: Back at Mt Hotham for another visit (Love this place!) New "trick" gearbox - L series AWD locking centre diff, front OBX (cheap!) LSD, 1.59:1 low range, low range oil feeders and 4.111:1 diff ratio (old box 3.7:1 stock ratio): Diff locking mechanism: This was an awesome mod - the diff ratio change has transformed the drive for the better. The ratio matches the tyre size the same as the foresters run so it's a tried and tested setup, just not really done in an L series in this fashion on a regular basis. I added a snorkel for added confidence during water crossings: This was 2013. For the christmas period we were planning another road trip to WA to catch up with some mates I made over there on the cruise in 2007. Unfortunately after finally getting my AC sorted the Head Gaskets let go. Not a bad run so I shouldn't complain - just the timing over the silly season slowed down the new parts arriving in a timely manner. But she's sorted again and running very well. First time I've had an EJ stripped down like this: Where I think the HGs let go, wasn't major but enough to run hot on a warm day. No damage resulted, money saved there Back together sporting a new radiator conversion (N14 pulsar) and new thermo fans - a good setup so far: Over Easter 2014 we ventured into new territory out at Walhalla in the foothills of the Vic Alps: First real good use of snorkel - Fulton's Creek Tk, Walhalla: Messing around, Fulton's Creek: Trig Track - 12 switchbacks! Loved this area and seriously cannot wait to get back out there! Last trip most recently was to McKillop's Bridge (very speccie!) and the general Snowy River NP, VIC: ^ Pics do not do this bridge justice, it's very high, very long and has been flooded over several times! I was with a "different" cohort for this trip with some mates in larger, "real" 4wds: Ruby Scoo held her own: Until I managed to blow 2nd gear coming off throttle on a down shift from third. Nothing harsh about it. From here it was a tow job, not fun! Once back on a decent track - logging truck track - we decided to see if I could manage third, using low range as another gear. This was done to avoid time delays, rocks flicking up and damaging the front of my vehicle and my newish windscreen. It was noisy in the box but it kept going, at the time I was kind of past the point of caring. After stopping for the others to catch up (I was rally style, they weren't!) we continued but I think it was too much, once the oil settled in the gearbox bits had moved. At walking pace I ended up locking up all four wheels. We were trailered from there, trailer came from Orbost. Then another type of towing occurred a week later: ^ These guys were great, they let me park up for a week in their yard very cheaply! Near M&D's, not quite "home" though: The gearbox came out at M&D's before I took the car home as I was itching to get it started. Once the box was stripped we found this damage: I've since sourced an SG forester gearbox for it's stronger internals as Subaru did a big overhaul on the 1st and 2nd gearsets in these boxes along with a few other things. My bench looks like this as I work through the little hurdles that are thrown my way: I've had to modify a few things along the way, the low range synchro hub being one of them: Latest modification hurdle is the woodruff key for the 5th gear as I want to use the 0.87 ratio I've got in the shed, not the SG's 0.78 as that's what I used to have and I wasn't too keen on it at cruise: That's where I'm at. Using Redback (Brumby - more to come on this addition to the family!) as the daily which is what I got her for, but I can't wait to have Ruby Scoo back on the road and 4wd'n again. I'm also working on some surface rust I've found since removing the gearbox, this is a slow process itself and work/family/social life is getting in the way too. Weekends are not at home at the moment I hope you've enjoyed reading and viewing the pics. While writing this and looking at the large number of pics I've got I've surprised myself just how many places I've been with Ruby Scoo. Many more pics if you want to view! She's currently knocking on 500k kms... I've had many great times out bush in this vehicle and I'm hoping there will be a number of years of more good times to come! Just have to get it back together and out of the shed!!! Regards Bennie

Wanna snorkel my brat, but with the weber it seems a little harder. Would be awesome if people would post theirs! Thanks - CL

Wanna snorkel my brat, but with the weber it seems a little harder. Would be awesome if people would post theirs! Thanks - CL

Hey everyone, I've got my '92 Loyale Wagon up and going and I want to start moding it for off-road. The only thing is, I can't find places or websites to get exactly what I want. So I'm on here asking for some help. LOL. Here is a small list of what I'm trying to accomplish. First is a Snorkel, I think I can manage this with some PVC pipe and a saw. Next a nice and sturdy roof rack. Rear bumper with spare tire and jerry can holder Similar to a Jeeps Smitybilt. Suspension lift kit or custom lift. Under Engine protection plate for off-roading. Some wheels that are larger than 13" and are 4x140 lug pattern or an adapter kit. Dual exhaust or just a replacement. Mines in pieces! I think that's it for now. So can anyone help me out? Thanks SOOOOO much! -Mike

G'day all. I thought I'd share my snorkel conversion that I've done to Ruby Scoo. This particular modification was done to an EFI air box that's factory with the MPFI L series. The base is factory L series and the top is factory EJ. I started off making this adaptor for the airbox into the inner guard: This is a 2.5 inch exhaust pipe stretched at one end to 3 inch then squashed to the oval shape to fit the air box. The tab loop is for fastening. Ultimately when this whole thing was done it would have been easier to start with 3 inch pipe and keep that size the whole way through. The snorkel is from a Mitsubishi Pajero, NK/NH/NJ 1990 to 1996ish without the flare modification. I hope you guys got them over there! The most important part was nutting out the fitment of the snorkel, namely to find out where it would poke through to the inner guard for the rest of the adaptor work: I used a "dead" front guard on the spare L series, held the snorkel where I think it needed to be, marked where the main hole should go and ended up with this: Marked where the bolt holes need to go: Bolted on to the guard: This is what it looks like dummied up on the car, some bending required: Once the bending was complete: ^ I also bent the top tip of the snorkel to make it sit flat so that the head attachment looks like it should be there rather than being cocked to one side. Bending was done with the snorkel filled with sand and a heat gun. The sand stops any distortion of the snorkel while heating, more of a precaution than anything. I've heard of people using a blow torch but I reckon that'd be too hot and change the texture of the plastic's finish. I had access to an electric heat gun that did the job very well. Now that I had that sorted I made a template and went from there on Ruby Scoo: The big moment where it was imperative that I get it right! This is the same adaptor above once we were done with it - We shortened the side on the inner guard and welded a 3 inch piece of pipe to it on a 45 degree angle. The angle that it faces up is also off centre to the oval part of the adaptor, so that the upward piece is vertical. Included in this image is the cut down 3 inch silicone pipe that joins to the snorkel in the inner guard: Fitted without the guard: ^ Next time I have the guard off I need to put the wiring over the top of this pipe work... next time... Also note that you need to come up with a new washer bottle setup. This one is temporary but will no doubt live here for some time. The washer pump fits nicely into the inside of a soft drink bottle's neck with the factory rubber piece. I've use a cooking oil bottle and some heater hose as the adaptor between the two. It's one litre which isn't much but does the trick. Fitted with guard and snorkel all hooked up - very happy with the results! The guard's wiring should go over the top of this pipe work - something I'll do next time I have the guard off. While I had the adaptor out I shortened the end that's in the air box - it was about another inch longer previously. The adaptor also copped a lick of matt black paint just to make it look good and stop rust (maybe). Between the adaptor and the sheet metal is two pieces of closed cell foam matting (the camping matt stuff, can be seen two images above), and between the sheet metal and the air box is three or four pieces of the same foam - this is here to help seal up the air box intake hole. I've also bolted the top of the air box bottom piece to the side of the engine bay to help squash the foam. The adaptor is screwed in place from the outer guard side, this also squashes the foam to help with the seal. The finished product: I need to get some more angles of this for a better view on here, and drop the camper off the roof too so I can really see what it'd look like on the L's body. There's less induction noise than what I was expecting until you hit 4G rpm at WOT - then it's just a roaring angry EJ sound! But that's only when you've got the window down... Cheers all for having a look. If you're after a snorkel just have a go at it! The inner guard work is usually the hardest bit to sort out once you've got the snorkel sized up and sorted I think I've got all the details in here, if not, ask away! Cheers Bennie PS - feel free to drop your snorkel's conversion guide in here too!

Any good ideas on how to make a good snorkel for my 01' lego? pics would be great too!!