Redback Brumby (aka BRAT)

[el_freddo]

"I'm El_Freddo, and this is my Brumby Story:"

 

Ok, time I "came clean" about the Redback Brumby.  This is how I picked her up about two years ago.  AFAIK I'm the third owner:

The previous owner was a bit of a talker/player.  I went out to check her out as a bit of a tease for me, it was local enough for the drive - I've always wanted a targa top since Sunnie the Brumby that we got for my mother inlaw.  I would've loved a blue one but beggers can't be choosers.  The owner said a fella was coming up from Melbourne that weekend so I bid him good luck, he was asking too much for my liking.  6 weeks later it was still there so I made an offer - he still played a hard card so I told him to offer it to the other guy at the price he mentioned and I let it be.  Less than 5 mins later he called me back and said deal.

As you can see from the pic above there's some front guard damage, pity, it's pretty straight otherwise!  The engine wasn't working - reckoned it just stopped one day on the way to work and has been sitting like this for 6 months.  I thought blown HGs straight up - empty radiator and creamy oil told the story.  In the tub it had a rubber mat that concealed some foundation sand/packing sand (the orange stuff) that had held the moisture and rusted the middle of the tray.  The main areas where rust shows up were pretty decent which I was happy about.

After getting her home she moved around the yard a few times before making it into the shed for some work.

 

Family photo:

 

 

First up was pulling the engine - pretty easy in these things!  I had to entertain dad as a decoy for his surprise 65th - he sat and watched for most of it :/

Once on the stand we drained the "oil":

Second bucket:

~15 litres of water and oil in total.  Now thinking major head gasket and a possible engine replacement.  Continued stripping the engine before jumping to conclusions though.

Heads removed, such a pretty sight (not!).  Never seen this before:

 

This was the culprit - and the previous owner's story checked out at this point:

That's a Welch plug that dropped out, dumping the entire contents of the radiator into the engine, stopping things pretty quickly I'd imagine!

After getting busy with work and other things (4wd trips etc) Dad came up and put the long block back together for me while I was at work - this saved me loads of time!

Once the engine was all back together I got it running - it blew a lot of blue smoke and I shat bricks.  It was also running as rough as guts.  Turned out that I needed to adjust the valve clearances better than I did - it was running on two cylinders, just.  Once all 4 were back online it blew more blue smoke.  Not happy Jan!

This finally cleared up and ran without any smoke.  Very stoked.  One of the things we had to do was remove rust from the bore.  This was a cheap build for a daily cruiser - so instead of a rebuild or even a hone and new rings we hedged our bets and went this way.  No1 cylinder had a couple of small pits at the very top of the cylinder so we left it this way and ran with it.

Now it was time to look at other parts of the vehicle.  Redback got her name when I was working on the rear end pulling drive shafts off that had probably never been removed before.  While hammering away a redback dropped out from behind one of the rear wheels. Sorted that one quickly!  It wasn't the last - I think there were five all up from memory, so a name was born for this beast. 

The rear bearings were an unknown and seemed rumbly and one of the rear brakes was leaking.  So after a small investment in parts:

This was done: Rear end being worked on:

Rear diff was out as well, swapped in for one that leaked less instead of swapping seals!  Home made tool for bearing retainer nut
removal:

All coming back together well:

"New" rear drums were sourced from one of the parts bombs, the originals had a decent 2-3mm groove dug into them!  The new ones barely looked like they'd been used!

Then it was off to a mate's place for some detailing - 4 hours of degreaser and pressure washing! Only got a phone pic of that, it's not been uploaded

At some point, either in the transit there or back I managed to get a stone chip in the windscreen, just a small one but right in the
driver's view.  Again, stole a windscreen from a parts bomb. This one cleaned up very well - I was stoked.  This also gave me the opportunity to replace the old hard windscreen rubber and tackle the rust that I knew was under the front right corner:

Putting the windscreen back in - always fun.  Had to look it up on ausubi as to how I did it last time on Sunnie the Brumby.  Once
that was read the windscreen was in within 20 minutes:

A new heater hose above the water pump was sourced - I use another unit from a Toyota Camry, just trim to size:

 

 

A few other things along the way and it was time for a roadworthy inspection:

^ I didn't like the original rims, different offset and to me they didn't look that great on this brumby.  I also had a set of black sunnies in the shed with my snow tyres on them which easily swayed my decision.  I reckon they look way better even if they're only 13 inch and don't fill the guards.

 

So she didn't pass first go.  A few excited rookie mistakes:  

1/ Didn't fill the wash bottle

2/ Didn't bolt down the passenger's windscreen wiper arm, so that didn't move!  

3/  Apparently I had a front indicator that was blown - I didn't find it on my check so dunno where they got that from.  and

4/ worn front uni joint on the tail shaft.
 
I fixed the other easy little issues straight up, had to order in the uni joint so got two and did them both at the same time.  I also smashed my thumb pretty good doing this - only now is the damaged nail almost grown out about 6 months after the event!

Once those things were sorted the RWC was issued and I was off to rego.  Vicroads now make it nearly impossible to get an appointment!  I was pissed that I didn't get one before the weekend, but got one Monday and had to take some time off work to do it - just frustrating!  The blessing was that my birthday/christmas/birthday pressie rocked up in the mail at M&D's (home base for important mail!) - so I was able to use them during the rego process, saving me some extra coin on not needing new plates:

At Vicroads just after rego was granted:

Back at home:

Used her for driving to work, loved it!  Didn't have to worry about rain (I'd been on the scooter prior to this!)



And of course, hanging with the family members:

Since this pic Dad borrowed Redback for a few months.  I missed the old girl, the scooter's fun but there's just something about a
brumby, plus it can do over 55kmp/h without trying hard.  It's easier to speed in that Ruby Scoo IMO.

While Dad had her M&D headed overseas and I had a conference close to their place, so my wife and I crashed there and I drove to the conference in Redback. The issue that came up after frying a few alternators (dad went through this issue) was a severe lack of performance - the exhaust would become blocked at certain levels of acceleration.  This got worse until I was stuck on the way to the conference travelling at 60km/h, and that was before hills!  Not fun!  Pulled another Y pipe from the parts bomb and that sorted it.  This wasn't an ideal fit due to some spacers on my EA81 for the ERG system that wasn't on the earlier year parts bomb, but it works and Redback goes very well for an EA81!

I've also got to fix the choke - dunno what's wrong with it but it doesn't work properly.  The carb could probably do a with a rebuild too, she runs too rich overall for my liking.  I've solved the slop in the gear stick with the classic slot and bolt arrangement:

The Welch plugs were sorted by Dad's idea - massive grub screws/threaded plugs:

They've worked a treat!

I've been hunting for a bullbar - found one in Talem Bend, South Australia, got a mate to pick it up for me.  So I need to roadtrip to the city of churches to pick that up soon.  I've since found an ideal bar that fits the bill for what I want.  If all goes well the first one purchased might end up on Sunnie the Brumby if it's better than the one already on her.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've also been tossing up the idea of a lift kit, but it really comes down the right price at the right time - I don't want to go all
out like Ruby Scoo lift/tyres.

One thing I would love to do is make the engine run with the stock L series MPFI system.  I'm a true believer in EFI over carb setups.  I don't know if I can do this due to space constraints without converting the auxiliaries to the EA82 setup - not an easy task unless you've got the EA81 turbo brackets and crank pulley.

Also an AWD gearbox would be great.  Will have to build one up and fit it in at some point.  EA casing an EJ gearbox can be done without issue over here with a dual range gearbox.

Cruise and remote central locking would be sweet and I'd like to add a neat little tacho, oil pressure and coolant temp on the steering column in a manner that doesn't cover the other gauges.  It's just a case of time and money for those things - after all this is meant to be a cheap build!

Cheers

Bennie

 

[Dinky26]

Nice, very NICE!

 

Reminds me of mine.

 

 

 

[el_freddo]

Yeah Dinky, yours looks good!  No longer got it?  I love mine, really can't drive it enough!!

 

An update: I managed to get close to Redback this week as M&D are still borrowing her due to mum writing off her car with a roo.  The only positive thing to come out of Mum's car being written off is that I got the after market cruise thrown my way for nix  

 

After a day of stuffing around with some new connectors, wrapping wiring, making brackets and getting confused with a wiring issue I now have sorted the cruise control.  I've used the AP60 kit, usually retails for between $230 and $250, about the same price as the "base" level speeding fine in Vic so I'd rather put money towards a tool that can help reduce the chance of a fine.

 

Here's a few pics of how things have been fitted for the cruise; first up is the actuator mounting position and the cable fitment:

 

 

 

Speed sensor pickup - the mount took some time and stuffing around to get it right.  I prefer to mount off the gearbox so the sensor moves with any drivetrain movement eliminating the sensor rubbing on the magnets:

 

 

And the all important control pad which is also mounted on a tin plate that's been shaped to fit as best I could behind the little coin tray/storage bucket thing in the dash on the right hand side:

 

 

Then I got my "mod hat" on and pulled this from the parts bomb the next day:

 

 

Cleaned that up, put a new set of boots on and fitted it to Redback.  To get the rack in you need to typically drill out the four spot welds that hold the jacking plate to the engine crossmember:

 

 

The brake booster vacuum pick up gets in the way of the PS pump, so I relocated it to the other side of the manifold and extend the hose to fit.  The bung from the other side is moved to plug this hole.  I then had to shave it down to allow the pump to fit without rubbing on the bung or manifold:

 

 

And a longer thermostat housing needs to be fitted to clear the rear of the power steering pump:

 

 

Here's a dodgy pic of the power steering pump fitted in place - it's hidden pretty well by the air cleaner, the reservoir lid pokes up behind the air cleaner:

 

 

This mod transforms the feel of the Brumby - it makes the vehicle feel much lighter than it actually is and now I can throw the vehicle around much easier than previously.  The exact same experience I had after fitting PS to Sunnie the Brumby.

 

Lastly, I checked out some seats from another vehicle to fit as I was pretty keen to swap the original seats out, even though they're not a bad example of MY seats.  I came up with a bracket that adapts the Honda Integra (early 90's model I think) seats to the MY rails for a direct bolt in application.  Pretty stoked and the seats are awesome, even though the ones I'm using are pretty worn out - I wanted to make sure they would fit and work before I really invested in this mod.  Total cost for these seats to be fitted is $15 on 2m of two inch right angle steel.  They fitted much better than I thought they would.

 

Pics to come on that mod - I want a better set of seats for the pics!

 

It's been a busy few days and an amazing change in some vital areas of a vehilce, you wouldn't think this is the same vehicle going by the feel of how it drives.  I also took the time to track down a whistling sound that occurred since putting the bullbar on - turns out it's the mounts for the LED light bar...

 

Now I can't wait to drive it for some time!!!

 

Cheers

 

Bennie

[Dinky26]

Bennie,

 

I guess I used the wrong term there in the wrong sense.

 

I do still have it,  ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO DRIVE IT ALSO    !!!

 

I would like to add cruise to mine also, not sure about getting it completed.  I got it started then wasn't able to finish then and there.

[el_freddo]

^ Sweet!

Get the cruise sorted  I love it for long distance driving and not stressing about my speed in general - just keep an eye out for speed limit signs and set accordingly... you can't go wrong!

Cheers

Bennie

[el_freddo]

I scored about 300km or more of driving in Redback today.  Awesome.

The seat mod is great!  The PS and cruise made things easy.

 

I didn't find any decent seats at the parts yards, so no pics of that yet

I've decided I just want more subi rumble out the back and I'll be a happy fella...  Exactly like this: 

 

Cheers

Bennie Edited April 8, 2015 by el_freddo

[el_freddo]

Some recent shots of Redback, new boots and some 14 inch scorpion rims (the originals)

 

And after some rain, looking roughly east over the centre of Bendigo: 

 

looking roughly North: 

 

I added some square IPF driving lights. One spot, one flood. Awesome lights and suits the front of the brumby well! 

 

I’ve got a set of Integra DA9 front seats fitted. Very comfy! I’ll have to get a pic of this at some point to share. They look right at home in the brumby! 

A few things will be happening to ol’ Redback over the next month or two. I’ll have to remember to update this thread more often! 

I’ve also got a detonation issue I’m battling with. It’s got the factory spec carb on it, that’s not going in the bin, so no need to suggest a Weber... I need to test the compression as this could be a major issue causing the detonation - this happens:

- under light load at proper running temp at highway speeds (then under load like a decent hill)

- under load when the engine is headed towards the thermo cut in temp and you’re pulling away at the lights from a stand still. 

Frustrating! EJ conversion with AWD box is in the wings at some point!

Cheers 

Bennie

[el_freddo]

This is happening    

 

Stock brumby dash up top. This is the ONLY factory available dashboard and instrument cluster for the brumby in Australia. 

The lower dashboard and six gauge analogue cluster is from some touring wagons (most are digital), Coupés and the GL sedan. 

And of course it’s all Lego  

So this will be in soon. 

EJ wiring loom is being laid out for future use too  

Cheers 

Bennie

[el_freddo]

Dashboard is in. I had a few little issues putting it in, namely around the air vent ducting clicking in properly. 

But for the most part it’s in and almost everything works. It looks good and I can’t wait to go for a drive.

 

Much better to look at than the original speed, oil/fuel gauges and a clock that didn’t work - I set it to 5 o’clock

 

I’m not sold on the green backlighting, time will tell about what happens here. 

After finalising this install I need to fit an alternator and an air filter, pay rego that’s overdue, then go for a long overdue drive! 

Cheers 

Bennie

[Mitchy]

That’s quite a task you got yourself into. Pulling and reinstalling a dash is probably the job I would least enjoy.

well done!

I peeled all the liitle dash bulbs of their blue ‘skin’ on the forester once, as I had to replace two fried bulbs and didn’t know about the blue tint on the existing ones until I pulled the dash apart.

The green dials became a warm pale muddy colour. Not green any more.

[el_freddo]

@Mitchy - there is a bit of effort involved with a swap like this. But it’s nothing compared to a dashboard swap or removal of an EJ dashboard - a common occurrence went people “drop” and EJ turbo into their non turbo Subaru. 

This is my second dash install and my fifth removal in the MY platform. It’s very similar to the L series dash removal and install process, as I’m sure it is for the EJ dashboard. 

I’ve worked out the indicator issue - it was the plug to the indicator stalk cluster. The plug on my indicator wiring had one pin that’s been hot enough to melt the plastic of the plug, changing the pin’s position slightly. 

With a small tweak with a pair of pliers I was able to seat the plug properly with its mate and I had indicators again. 

I also located the plug for the intermittent wiper relay canister to live on. It was tucked right up behind the instrument cluster. For now I’ll place the single looped wire plug on there so my wipers will at least self return. Then I’ll go hunting for my intermittent relay canister to fit for my wipers to work with the four position switch - off, intermittent, low, high. 

Such high level of luxury! 

The windscreen was fitted yesterday. So now I can focus on getting the rest of the interior back together and sort out the rust in the tray - clean it up and seal the metal. 

Cheers 

Bennie

[Mitchy]

Good work , sir!

I once owned a ‘classic’ 1969 morris 1100 which had dash-mounted rocker switch operated wipers.

That was a pain.

[STi 22B]

Nice work. Almost makes me want another Brumby

[el_freddo]

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