el_freddo

I know of Subaru Gears. Good kit from what I’ve seen online. If you’re going with the Subaru Gears you shouldn’t need a different bellhousing, just use the Subaru factory flywheel and clutch You may have a dual mass flywheel on that Legacy. Hunt around for a Gen1 or Gen2 solid mass flywheel. It should be maybe $50 second hand and will bolt straight in. Cheers Bennie

Nice. What bits do you need for the Vanagon conversion? Welcome to the forum Cheers Bennie

It’s all Lego!! In my ‘88 L series I’ve got the factory 1.59:1 dual range, phase 2 EJ cases and matched drive gears from an SG foz, L series AWD locking centre diff with a modified pinion shaft for 4.111:1 diff ratio. All of this is a factory bolt in job with an EJ in front of it. And it goes well - just have to not go breaking the centre diff or pinion shaft - I’ve done that once already, very poor job on the first pinion shaft. It wasn’t fun Cheers Bennie

Torque should be 196 ft lbs from memory. Worn gearbox mounts won’t make an inner CV wear quicker, it’s designed to work on an angle! The issue is the aftermarket shaft. You might find that this shaft slips in and out of the bearings easy, when they should be a solid fit where you’re using a mallet or the like to get them out. Further, if the cone washer has a lip on it you’ll never get the job done properly in terms of torque/clamping. Cheers Bennie

Evening (and a late evening from the east coast of Oz - 10pm-ish here!) The issue you describe does sound like a drive shaft - particularly since the replacement item was an after market unit. I agree with you, the missing engine mount bits won’t matter, so long as the engine is still held on either side of the engine mount by one nut and washer setup. Other things to consider are: - tail/prop shaft uni joint on the way out. Although that’s not powered when in 2wd, so it’s a long shot - excessively worn gearbox mounts After reading that linked thread I think you’ve already got your answer - and it all points at the after market cv shaft. Bugger about not being able to work on your car at your apartment :/ Cheers Bennie

‘87 is the crossover year (at least for Australia) between the series 1 and series 2. Easiest way to work out if series 1 or 2 is: - series 1 has just an indicator stalk on the steering column, flat grey buttons either side of the instrument cluster and an elongated black honeycomb grille. - series 2 has the combination switch (indicators/wipers/headlight switch) on the steering column, black bordered buttons either side of the instrument cluster and a colour coded grille. Gearbox dimensions and bolt in are the same. The diff ratio could change. There were 3.9:1 diff ratios in the series 1 and I’m 99% sure only 3.7:1 in the series 2. So grab the rear diff with the gearbox and you’ll be sweet. Stick with carb EA82 gearbox as these have the smaller 23 spline diff stubs. The SPFI I’m not sure on as we didn’t get them here. The MPFI and MPFI turbo are the same as the EJ diff stub - larger and 25 spine. The good news is that either diff stub CV shaft is available for the L series. If you can’t find a good set of used factory you should be able to find an aftermarket set, as crap as they might be. Grab the centre console and gearshift linkages and rubber gearshift boot. All the best with it. Cheers Bennie

Not double over head cams! ”Just” dual intake heads. Very custom and I’d imagine very well built. I’d be keen to see a set these in the flesh just for curiosity. Cheers Bennie

Sweet ride mate! I love that colour. The rear diff might need oil or be damaged from lack of oil. It’s not normally used onroad as these vehicles are front wheel drive until you engage 4wd. So it shouldn’t make any noise on the open road. The other thing it could be is the rear bearings. Simply jack up a rear wheel off the ground and rotate it. If you hear or feel a rumble from/through the wheel your bearing is needing replacement. Rust is the real killer of these. Check around/under the windscreen rubber, rear side windows, below the front door hinges (open doors to check) and in the seam behind the spare wheel. But looking at that wagon I reckon you’re pretty much rust free! Cheers Bennie

Dealers should have them I only use genuine where possible. Otherwise any decent store would be able to get felpro gaskets which should do the job. Tough luck on the head crack :/ Cheers Bennie

Fred Flintstone style!! So the end game will be sheet metal replacement once the strength is in the tube chassis? Makes for a wicked looking Brat! Cheers Bennie

Hmmm... the water pump shouldn’t make a knocking noise. That to me points at the cost belt tensioner that’s in the same region as the water pump. If you remove the driver’s side cam cover and inspect the tensioner with the engine running you can accurately diagnose the real issue. We carefully used a stethoscope to listen to the tensioner. This pinpointed our knocking sound as the tensioner (new aftermarket unit, replaced with second hand OEM and haven’t looked back). All the best with it! Cheers Bennie

Thanks Gouda, I’ve got a 3 inch lift. Square tubing with crush tubing that the bolts pass through. Other than ripping a captive nut after an unintended jump at speed, I’ve not had any issues with the lift The snorkel is from a Mitsubishi Pajero NG NH NK model. It was filled with sand and the two elbows heated gently to allow it to be pushed into to position to match the angle of the A pillar. The top elbow was given the same treatment to make the snorkel head sit on a more natural angle. Then all the plumbing into the mpfi airbox was sorted. The roof rack is ancient. I’m looking at upgrading to a newer unit and selling the old one to a rat rod enthusiast. Loads of things you can do with these vehicles! You just have to use your imagination Cheers Bennie

What lift and how do you go off-road without low range - or are you running an auto? Looks mean mate! Cheers Bennie

Epic build! Do you have a tube bender for the sliders and tube chassis? Fromthe rust in those pics I can see why you need a tube chassis! I’m looking forward to the next instalment Cheers Bennie

Looks good mate. I love your shopping trolley roof basket! You’ll love the EJ and dual range. It’ll actually be able to go off-road Cheers Bennie

Mine’s on 528k km at the moment, it’s done some pretty serious off-roading and doesn’t have many original parts on her anymore except the doors, glass and back seat... She’s a beast though Cheers Bennie

I’ve done this prior to our last trip: Worked a treat and made packing/retrieving gear soooo much easier compared to the old setup. It’s also lighter There’s a kitchen cabinet that slides in under the left shelf - it will end up on a set of slides so you can use it from the back of the vehicle or remove it and use it on a bench/table etc. Our setup is pretty much sorted now. I’m very happy with it. Cheers Bennie

No, I think it’s been modified for aviation use. The EA81 bell housing looks very similar to the EA82 bell housing Cheers Bennie

Try your vin at partsouq.com You might manage to find the part numbers you’re after through this website. Cheers Bennie

Welcome to the forum! Nice L I love mine!! Keep the rust out of it and she’ll be apples for a long time to come Cheers Bennie

You guys are such downers! Looking more closely at the lhs head near the intake mounting area I’m reckoning this is an EA81S engine. Cheers Bennie

I think you need to identify what the noise from the engine is - if it’s a shot tensioner then replace it! The valve knock is really valve knock? It doesn’t sound like the engine is as dead as others seem to make out. If you’re going to do suspension work replace the struts with forester units as these will provide some lift. Someone will know what springs to run. Lift blocks can be added later. There are a few mobs that do lift over your way to choose from. Otherwise Subi Lift Oz over here can ship internationally All the best with it! Cheers Bennie

Maybe, but theoretically it can be done. I’m still wondering why you’d want to reduce displacement... Cheers Bennie

Why would you want to drop to a smaller engine? You could put the ej22 block between the ej25 heads. No need for wiring stuff then. Cheers Bennie

With an EJ swap the L's AWD box is worth the effort, especially since they came with the dual range that can easily be swapped to the better L's low of 1.59:1. the AWD with the EJ makes a huge difference in traction in the wet! Even in general for that matter. if dual range isn't needed, shove an EJ AWD box in. The conversion is same same but different to the EA 5spd box. The rear discs are a neat upgrade over the drums. That said if your rear drums are serviced and working well, you may not notice much of a difference in performance. Discs seem to require less maintenance. Cheers Bennie