jboymechanic

What, no update Tom? I guess I'll spoil it for you, Safariwagon II lives on!

The Dodge gets 14 mpg no matter what, not worried about the plow. Make sure you let me know how tomorrow goes picking up the trans. Hopefully this warm weather will keep up through the weekend. Either way, I'll be ready.

Have room for any more stickers?

You guys want to talk old school, I'm more of a 1950s kind of guy. And if you want more power in that FJ, find an old Cummins to drop in and crank that *************** up to 1000 ft-lbs.

Yup, I'm in one of five counties in WI that have to go to emissions testing once every two years (basically the southeastern corner of the state). My Brighton is a manual trans, no EGR. Any way, it's good to know my options, I'll cross that bridge when (and if) I get there.

So rather than tear apart my 2.2, the best thing to do would get a 1995 2.2 dual port heads and 2.2 intake with EGR.

Getting an EGR intake would be the key then if you have to pass emissions. Okay, good to know. Thanks for the replies people.

So let me get this straight. 1. Remove 2.5 intake, exhaust and heads 2. Install 2.2 heads. Use 2.2 timing setup (cam sprockets and everything) 3. Adapt 2.2 exhaust headers to rest of exhaust system 4. Re-install 2.5 intake? 5. What about all the wiring for censors? Are they all the same? Is it really as simple as people say. No CEL on in the dash? 180 hp!?

I may be buying a clean 1997 Outback with the beginnings of a head gasket problem. I have a scruffy 1996 Brighton with a strong running 2.2, I was wondering how to make one car from these two. I understand the quad cam 2.5s have dual exhaust port heads, but other than that can you really just put the 2.2 heads on the 2.5 short block and everything just bolts up and runs with no "check engine" light issues. I have to pass emissions where I live, so this is an important detail.

Let's shoot for weekend of Feb 3rd, will that work?

Piece of cake!

Just wait for me to buy a newer Outback this summer and you can buy my Brighton and have all the 5 speed swap stuff you need. Or swap your good stuff into my car as it has a better body (no rear crunch) and working AC. If you want 4.44 gears, if the front diff doesn't bolt up you could probably swap out the ring and pinion and do it "the hard way". Rear, as you know, is just a simple swap. Having bumped my tires up to 26.5 inches, wish I had 4.11s with the 5MT instead of the 3.9s, 4.44s might be a bit much.

Tom and I put new axles in the Brighton today. Both had ripped boots, the passenger side was really bad and the roll pin was missing as well! No more shimmy, no more clicking. Oh, and new exhaust manifold gaskets, had the wrong ones in there before and it ticked. Nice and quite now.

Just got my new front axles, hope the warm weather holds on long enough for me to do the job this weekend.

What oil are you using? Many of us use a thicker viscosity than the factory recommendation to quiet the engines down and extend life.

Went to the junk yard to get everything I need to convert the Brighton to power windows and locks. New skid plate from TheLoyale too.

Went to the junk yard and found a Legacy wagon the exact color of mine with a really nice rear passenger door. Bought it and swapped out the really rusty door on my '96 Brighton. Now the only rust is behind the rear wheel wells and a small spot on my front passenger door.

Idle hands are the devil's work shop.

Here is a link to the 2 inch lift kit that is in your car. I painted the parts with Silver POR15 so they wouldn't rust. Let me know if you ever sell that baby. http://www.sjrlift.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=191&category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=100054

Those little rectangular tubes are the remaining pieces of the 2 inch SJR lift kit Tom and I put in the car. They are spacers to drop the engine cross member down two inches. So, if you're willing to drop the from cross member and re-do all of your radiator and power steering lines and make a steering column extension you will save some axle wear. The car was originally automatic and then swapped to a 5 speed dual range. Caleb in NC did that work and made his own cross member. I purchased (through members on this board) the proper cross members for the 5 speed dual range, too bad the guy in MI didn't include them. I really do wish I could have kept that car, but I was hurtin for cash at the time and I knew if I did the swap I would have sunk another $500 into that EJ engine to do it right (head gaskets, timing, seals, and so on).

C'mon guys, lets not hijack this guys thread. With that said, really glad to see my old car has been picked up by somebody with a brain and some ambition. I bought that car from a guy named Caleb in North Carolina and had it shipped up here in June or July of 2010. The car was in amazing condition and Tom and I did a TON of work to it. I had trouble figuring out an ignition problem pretty much the whole summer before I finally figured it out (the resistor on the base of the coil mount had a short in it). Then, I started driving it more and more and then the turbo got cherry red hot and then the head gasket blew in it. Not sure why the turbo failed, but I had so much time and money into it and I did need money for home repairs so I said hell with it. So, it was part necessity and part frustration. Glad you have ended up with it and completed the EJ swap that must make it a sweet car now. Did you also get the proper transmission cross members and the SJR adapter plate and my donor wiring harness? Did you end up with all the paper work for that car, I had a folder of receipts that I provided to the guy in upper Michigan. As Tom mentioned, we did EMPI axles, ball joints, tie rod ends, radiator and hoses, K&N air filter, new plugs and wires, distributor, rotor, CPS, and on and on. Let me know how this one progresses.

Meh.

New Timing kit New alternator and power steering belt New AC belt New trailer hitch New trailer hitch wiring harness (works great) Running out of things that need attention.

I ended up just cutting the plug off the trailer harness and wiring it up "the hard way". Works great and the wiring is just as clean.