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Project EJ Hatch


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I thought I’d do a little write up on my Subaru project.

 

 

History: I bought this 1982 Subaru GL Hatch for $700 in Washington back in 2004 with 85,000 original miles on it. It started life as a bone stock EA81 4-speed D/R 4WD hunting rig. I did the usually upgrades like, rear disk brakes, pugs, legacy seats and a few other small things. I used it as a daily driver for a couple of years until I started reading about EJ22 swaps. Well I had this girl that I worked with who had a 1993 Legacy sedan (2WD Automatic) with a bad transmission in it. She tried to sell it for a couple of months with no luck. She really needed to have the thing moved or her aunt was going to give it to the junk yard. So she said I could have it if I took it away by next weekend. So I stared to scramble to find someone to help me with the wiring (I really suck at wiring). I found a helpful guy up in Tacoma, Wa. To give me a hand. I said I’d give him some money and trade him the rest of the car in exchange for getting my car running. Now by this time my buddies 1987 GL Wagon died and he was parting it out and gave me his 5-speed D/R 4WD transmission. So now I have the transmission, Engine and help I needed. I had already purchased Jerry’s kit for a 5-speed swap into an EA81 at WCSS8 so I was good to go with that. So then I ordered an M. Rose adaptor plate, XT6 Clutch, Slim Fan and a new radiator (mine fell apart when I took it out). Now with parts and cars in hand I headed up to Tacoma. Well after about 6-7 months and 8-9 trips to Tacoma I got the motor and transmission installed and not running. So after countless processes and lies I went back up to Tacoma for the last time and picked my rig up and brought it back home. The harness I got was off of a running EJ swapped rig that the guy who helped me owned. He didn’t get around to cutting down the harness from my donor Legacy. The harness was in terrible shape and had exposed wires and wires that were melted together. So I had to go back to the junk yard to get a new one. I had my buddy who owns a Volkswagen performance shop nearby try and help me but he was really busy and didn’t know that much about Subarus so it was back home with my car again with a really hacked up new harness. So I went to the junk yard again and pulled a new harness. ShawnW had sent me a message awhile ago and said that he’d cut down my harness for to help me out, so I contacted him and sent him my new harness. I figured while it was out I would spiff up the old girl and embarked on a simple body and paint adventure that quickly turned into another big project within itself. Here I am today just finishing up paint and putting the body back together with lots of new goodies, and I have a new Subaru buddy who’s going to come by in two weeks to give me a hand with the wiring and get this beast running.

 

 

As of now: I had finished rear disk brakes, 14” Pugs (painted matte black), H4 Headlights, EJ swapped engine (not running), Cone filter, re-gasketed the entire engine, 5-speed D/R 4WD transmission, Custom Drive Line, removed all trim and emblems and filled in holes, then painted with rustoleum flat black, cleaned and polished lights and lenses and put them back on and that’s about it I think.

 

 

Future: I still need to put on my new bumpers (u-pulling not really nos), hella horns, 3 sets of fog lights, brush guard (needs to be painted flat black), VR6 roof antenna, fender mirrors (JDM swing back style), optima batter (relocated to the back), push button starter, Toyota altimeter, Pioneer stereo and speakers, a non catalyst exhaust system with Borla muffler and super dark tinted windows.

 

 

Here are a few photos of the project along the way. I hope to have this finished by WCSS10. I’ll keep updating this thread as I get more stuff finished.

 

BEFORE BODY & PAINT

Body_and_Paint_Before_3.jpg

Body_and_Paint_Before_2.jpg

Body_and_Paint_Before_1.jpg

 

 

DURING BODY & PAINT

 

Body_and_Paint_During_1.jpg

Body_and_Paint_During_2.jpg

 

 

AFTER BODY & PAINT

 

Body_and_Paint_After_3.jpg

Body_and_Paint_After_1.jpg

Body_and_Paint_After_2.jpg

 

 

ENGINE BAY BEFORE

 

Engine_Bay_Before.jpg

 

 

ENGINE BAY AFTER

 

Engine_Bay_After.jpg

 

 

GOODBYE EA81

 

EA81_Engine.jpg

 

 

WHY HELLO EJ22

 

EJ22_Engine.jpg

 

 

STUFF TO GO ON

 

Future.jpg

Future_3.jpg

Custom_Drive_Line.jpg

 

 

 

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Looking good. Should be a sweet ride.

 

Staying matte/satin black? Whats that like to wash? I done a hood like that and it pulled apart my sponges and left lint'y stuff everywhere.

 

I'm leaving it satin black. So far so good, it's very smooth so I don't think I'll have any trouble washing it.

 

I just finished the installation of the hella horns and the mud flaps today.:clap:

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I just pulled my wiring out and have reinstalled it in the glovebox. Its kindof a PITA to get up thru the spot behind the blower motor and into the glovebox but so far so good. I got tired of messing with all the wires running thru the kick panel on the drivers side (mine started EA81T though). Leaves me some room to run my 3rd eye harness and other wiring thru the left side too. I had to cut and splice every wire running to the intake manifold plugs but the rest of the wires were long enough or too long. I also removed the air conditioner pieces from under the hood. Lots less clutter with that gone now. If you need any help with the wiring feel free to call...and dont hesitate to buy a butane torch, solder and elec tape for the joints it is worth it.

I have that same battery and inclometer from a Tercel. Where are you mounting that at?

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I have that same battery and inclometer from a Tercel. Where are you mounting that at?

I ditched the dash pod and I'm going to cut out the center console where the super sweet push button stereo and pocket are. Then cut some expanded foam PVC plastic or brushed aluminum to fit into that space, cut two rectangles out and mount my new pioneer stereo and inclometer. If I have enough room I'll mount the switches for my 3 sets of fog lights. That's the plan for now, but we'll see what happens once I start that project.

 

Were you able to wire up the inclometer so that the lights turn on with your lights and the 4WD light comes on when you’re in 4WD? If so can you break down what wires needs to go where, if not then I'll figure it out (trial by error)

 

 

Hopefully I’ll have this beast running by next weekend. I’ve got Matt (aka Mellow65) coming over to give me a hand with the wiring.

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Lookin' Good!

 

For your inclinometer and switch panel look into Dibond over Sintra/PVC. I've had the PVC warp because of the heat in a closed up car in the sun. If you don't have any dibond scraps kickin' around let me know. I'll send a piece down for the price of shipping. We have TONS laying around the shop.

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Lookin' Good!

 

For your inclinometer and switch panel look into Dibond over Sintra/PVC. I've had the PVC warp because of the heat in a closed up car in the sun. If you don't have any dibond scraps kickin' around let me know. I'll send a piece down for the price of shipping. We have TONS laying around the shop.

That's not a bad plan ether. Thanks for the offer on the Dibond, but I too have a lot of scraps kickin' around. I own a sign and design shop and it sounds like you work in one too. Also thanks for the heads up on the warping; I didn't think that there would be enough heat in that spot to warp the pvc but now I know (and knowing is half the battle G.I. Joooooe). My only problem with using the brushed aluminum is that it might look stupid 'cause there isn't anything else in the car to accent the pattern so maybe I'll use some .080 Aluminum and sheet it out in black or medium gray so it blends in more with the rest of the interior.

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This is my swith panel setup

IMG_6966.JPG

 

Constructed using dibond w/ brushed aluminum vinyl I edge printed the black design to. Does look sorta out of place, but I've grown used to it. The durability is good too... Vinyl is just now starting to get little problems in it (upper left screw hole its lifting off).

 

You can see in this pic, how 2 hours in the sun caused my sign board to warp. Its the one sitting on the rack in the picture.

256126063_hyioX-M.jpg

 

That board is 6mm PVC, I thought it would warp less... I guess I was wrong! Ultimately though, its kind of a neat effect.

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Ultimately though, its kind of a neat effect.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I remember seeing your switch panel at the WCSS last year. It was very nice work. Those foil type vinyls never last that long. Even if you buy the outdoor type it's only good for a couple years.

 

Oh the good 'ol thermal transfer Gerber Edge machine. I've spent many a year on that machine. Great for spot color jobs but sucks for process color jobs. We're in the process of saving up for one now for our shop. Spendy little buggers, but so worth it for short run screen print look decals.

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I was thinking the same thing. I remember seeing your switch panel at the WCSS last year. It was very nice work. Those foil type vinyls never last that long. Even if you buy the outdoor type it's only good for a couple years.

 

Oh the good 'ol thermal transfer Gerber Edge machine. I've spent many a year on that machine. Great for spot color jobs but sucks for process color jobs. We're in the process of saving up for one now for our shop. Spendy little buggers, but so worth it for short run screen print look decals.

 

Yeah... my switch panel is about 4 years old.

 

At my shop we have an old school gerber edge... the newer edge fx looks like it can do a bit more for process colors, but its still hard to compete with a digital inkjet print.

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Here is what I'm going to fab up for the center dash piece. I didn't have enough room for the retractable cup holders so I'll have to figure something else out for that. Now I'm thinking about having it cut out of Acrylic at tap plastics. I just need to see if I can get a matte finish on it.

 

 

 

1_-_Temp.jpg

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So I went to tap plastics with my pattern and they wanted $85.00 to cut it out so I'm not going to go that route. I did manage to find the perfect material. Its call ABS and it’s a very durable 1/8" think plastic. What also great about it is that it come in a textured pattern that almost matches the original interior so it should blend it well. I'm going to cut the pattern out of vinyl and stick it on the material then very carefully cut it out using my dremel tool. I bought 2 pieces just in case the first one turns out like crap. I should have it all fabricated by tomorrow and I'll post some photos and give my opinion on the substrate as well.

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I hooked up my wiring harness today that I got from ShawnW and it didn't work. (not saying that he did anything wrong, but I'm a little slow when it comes to wiring). I wasn't even able to get power going to the relays. I took a few photos of the wires I wasn't sure about. Any insight would be great. There were two wires marked for battery power, one marked for ground and one marked ignition power. Does that sound right? I just thought there should be more power and ground wires.

 

 

 

 

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DSC01967_copy.jpg

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I hooked up my wiring harness today that I got from ShawnW and it didn't work. (not saying that he did anything wrong, but I'm a little slow when it comes to wiring). I wasn't even able to get power going to the relays. I took a few photos of the wires I wasn't sure about. Any insight would be great. There were two wires marked for battery power, one marked for ground and one marked ignition power. Does that sound right? I just thought there should be more power and ground wires.

 

 

 

 

DSC01968_copy.jpg

take a look at these wires and try to trace them back to their origin. Or look on the other side of that connector. If there is no wire there, then you can chop them. Also remember to post connector color and shape, wire location on the pin and the wire colors. This will help a great deal in the trouble shooting.

 

 

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yes

 

 

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yes

 

 

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One of the lines should go to the ECU. The other should be hooked up to a 10 amp fuse. I am referring to my EJ22T wiring diagrams so yours might be a bigger fuse, but the wire is the same. This power source also taps into the igniter.

DSC01967_copy.jpg\

From the pics it looks like a lt green white or lt green yellow. It should come from pin #10. This could be the AT inhibitor switch or the neutral switch. If there other one is blue/orange, this is the other lead to the switches. Should be coming from pin #9. I didn't hook that up on my EJ BRAT. No problems starting.

 

If you need a copy of the wiring for your car send me a PM I can print on at from the disk i left at work.

 

BW

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i guess i will add this before earl does, we got it running, never seen a grown man dance like that:banana:

 

started right up after a few hours with a wiring diagram and some more wires hooked up. and sounded great :headbang:

 

and now, the clean up, aw gee i think i might be busy for that. :rolleyes:

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