Silverbullets' resto

[Silverbull3t]

Hi all, this is my first post on this forum despite making an account some years ago so thought I would show off my project of 8 years which is on the road at last as of this week. I've been a member on the Aussie Ausubaru forum for many years, there's not so much activity over there these days but it is good to see so much activity on this forum  

 

To start with a little backstory; This is a 1981 GL wagon that my parents bought new in 1981. It was originally dual range 4 speed, EA81 of course. It used to be silver hence my user name and the name of the car (it used to be jokingly referred to as the silver bullet in my family because it was so slow) Even though it is blue now I don't think I can shake the name. It was also my brothers first car, and then my first car. By the time I got it there was a few rust holes and the engine was very tired, everything was very tired. I decided to take it off the road completely and do a ground up restoration with mods...I parked it for the last time towards the end of 2012!  So this is the 9th year currently, but there has been a few years of accumulative hiatus in that time for various reasons. 

There is too much information to put into one post, I had/have 3 threads on Ausubaru detailing all the work that has been done on the engine, suspension, bodywork, interior. So I will just put a list of mods and a couple of collages so maybe you can get an idea of how much work has gone into this car. It is on the road at last and I'm currently breaking in the engine. All going pretty well so far, it gets better and better with each passing kilometre. I plan to do lots of camping and road trips in this car, with some light 4WD'ing as well. 

Mods: 

• - EA81 twin carb (true twin carb engine with the larger swapped valves) fully rebuilt
• - Megajolt EDIS programmable ignition, distributor deleted
• - Custom made (by me) stainless exhaust, 2 1/4" mandrel bends and V band clamps, purge welded with TIG
• - A/C, power steering
• - L series 5 speed
• - L series complete front suspension, brakes, hubs, axles with slightly modified control arms, custom chromoly adjustable radius rods
• - Disc brake rear end, braided brake lines all round 
• - 2 inch lift kit
• -  6 Gauge "tacho dash" instrument cluster, had to make a custom PCB to drive the tacho off the EDIS. Used the tried and true 555 timer tacho circuit
• - Full custom re-wire front to back, all designed by me, using a Liberty/legacy fuse box in the engine bay 
• - LED lighting throughout
• - 90 amp Nissan alternator
• - CB radio mounted in a center roof console along with L series room light and map lights
• - Outback front seats, extensively modified mounting points on the seats so I could use the Outback seat rails. 
• - Double DIN touch screen head unit with Android auto, 4 speaker sound system with amplifier and a slim sub in the boot inside a custom fiberglass sub box. 
• - "cyclops light" passing light which wasn't a factory option hear in Australia
• - 4 x 114.3 stud pattern - this wasn't done by me but the previous owner of all the hubs and L series gear I bought. I'm wishing they hadn't done it now because ironically getting the wheels I want is easier for 4 x 140 now. I'm having to buy new steel wheels and get them extensively modified to change the offset and rim width. The alloys in the pics aren't right for this car in more ways than one. 
• -Alloy front and rear bars with a rear spare tire carrier
• - Air adjustable rear shockers 

That will do for a start, I think that is most of it but I feel like I'm missing something. Of course something that isn't really a mod is all the rust repairs and body work that were done way back at the start. I cut all the rusty steel out and welded new metal in. Thankfully in this part of the world the rust wasn't too bad, I've seen the same car at wreckers that look like they've been stored under water. The paint job is something I got done professionally since I didn't want to compromise on the result and hate painting of any description. I think it was worth the money to get it done properly. I also got the rear seat re-upholstered professionally, and this was the second most expensive thing in this car after the paint job! Also worth it though. 

 

Well done if you read through that novel, here's a few pics. I need to take some more updated/recent pictures of it though, and shoot a decent video so you can hear what it sounds like. Feel free to ask any questions on any of the mods I've done. 

 

[Silverbull3t]

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

Welcome! ...   ... That's Awesome!!!

1 hour ago, Silverbull3t said:

The 4x114.3 lug pattern is good, I'm running my Subie modified like that, since 1996

2 hours ago, Silverbull3t said:

...

• - 4 x 114.3 stud pattern - this wasn't done by me but the previous owner of all the hubs and L series gear I bought. I'm wishing they hadn't done it now because ironically getting the wheels I want is easier for 4 x 140 now. I'm having to buy new steel wheels and get them extensively modified to change the offset and rim width. The alloys in the pics aren't right for this car in more ways than one. 

...

I found that Wheels from Nissan cars from same era, had the Proper Offset for the L Series;

maybe you can find some appropriate wheels for your Subie among them.

Kind Regards.

[Probz]

I think ive seen your project on youtube, really nice mods!

[KiwiGL]

Good to see you on here! I used to follow the build on the old Subaru forum years ago

[el_freddo]

[6 Star]

Beauty.

Nice work, always loved the 2nd gen wagons. Fond memories of our '82 wagon growing up... it had the cyclops light like yours from the factory.

Many trips cycling, to the beach, camping etc...

[Silverbull3t]

Thanks all, it's been a long project that's for sure. 

She's got 200 post-resto kilometres on the clock now as of today, I've been fiddling with the ignition map adding more advance bit by bit and wow is that twin port really coming alive now. And that L series front end swap has made a huge difference to the handling, it's a blast to drive. 

I'll put up a decent Youtube vid soon when I get around to shooting something. 

[dameson]

Nice project. I'm curious about the sound of your custom exhaust.