el_freddo

Interesting question. There really is two areas to explore here: 1) regular maintenance 2) desired mods Best way to keep costs down is to learn how to do it yourself Setting yourself up with good tools may cost a little initially, but the long term reward once you learn how to use them pays the tools off in no time and then some! Don't skimp on tools, get a decent set from a brand you trust. My preference is Sidchrome, only because that's what I was bought up with - the tool's quality probably isn't the same as it was when dad brought his kit when I was a kid! Happy hunting! Cheers Bennie

I just use high temp silicone. Works a treat - just make sure you clean both surfaces with a grease and wax remover before installing the exhaust with the silicone. You don't need much! Under torque bolts, leave over night if you can then torque bolts properly. If you can't leave it over night idle the engine for a minute to get some heat into the exhaust. Let cool then torque. Cheers Bennie

Geez mate, there's a lot of orange on the front of that coupe now!! I Australia we use a yellow light for foggy conditions - well, those who actually need fog lights, the new vehicles come out with white "fog lights" that are run at night with the other lights. Not cool but no body does anything about them Cheers Bennie

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

^ That's probably about right - if you had your car in 5th at 4000rpm with that tyre size I'm sure you'd be pulling that speed... but I doubt you'd be doing it with an EA! Even and EJ would probably be a push to get there - would need a very long straight road IMO. I'm disappointed they changed their calculator, the old one was so much better I reckon. You should try changing the shift RPM to see what you get, this way you could find your cruise speed rpm's and see if it's what you want/what you think your EA82 could do. Cheers Bennie

Looking tough mate! VERY TOUGH! Have you managed to take it for a drive yet with the auto? I'm still sticking to the auto being the more drivable option between the two gearboxes, so don't go changing that auto out just yet! Still those wheels and 3.7 diff ratio... Nasty! You can work out your predicted speeds etc using the gear ratio/tyre size calculator from this website: http://www.subarugears.com/Ratios/Ratios.html ^ This ratio calculator was not the one I used and seems a lot more complicated, but it will do the same thing Cheers Bennie

Hello Amy... hehehe... gotta love that AA meeting stuff you see in movies. Seriously, welcome to the forum. I'm sure you'll find some stuff you didn't know about your subarus in your journey through the forum While I'm more of an old school subi fan, you've had (and got) some pretty neat looking subi's there! Regards Bennie

Welcome Chrisso to the Huge world of the USMB! Loads of threads in here about the EA82T and how to keep it going. Key is not to over heat them! Have you got a Mega Squirt or is that what you're looking at running in your subi? Cheers Bennie

^ 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

Also try blowing compressed air through the fuel line. Then clean the tank out again. Cheers Bennie

^ What WoodWagon says. I'm not close to any of my EJ's at the moment so can't measure anything for you I'm sorry. Oil leaks/dirty engine are usually the main concern for me. I do like your idea of the wooden create though - good for packing other things in too. Cheers Bennie

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

"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

Tom, You can remove the cam box without touching the head. And if you're thinking of "playing" with resealing the EA82 you'll be sadly disappointed and wishing you had an EJ. Trust me, been there done that. Even removing this cam box is a load of fun to reseal... EA82s aren't junk, they're just a pita to reseal after opening up, the lifters tick and did I mention the resealing? The bottom end is just as bullet proof as the EA81's. I can guarantee you'll see the hone marks on the bores, it's a standard subaru thing! As for the linkages - find some tube metal that fits over the pipe on the stabiliser arm and selector rod. This will allow you to bend and setup to where ever you need it to get to. I had to bend my linkages to get them to work with the AWD box as they're slightly different between the PT and AWD boxes. The 4.44s shouldn't be too much for the box, after all it makes it easier for the drive gears to turn the wheels, the flip side is it makes it harder for the wheels to turn the drive gears on engine braking... I believe there is an outback model here that runs 4.44s and there are a couple of WRX models that are the same. Cheers Bennie

That's awesome mate!! JesZek, there is no 3at with 4.44s - I was talking about modding an AWD gearbox to have them with the L series NA low range and locking centre diff. Then you'll know what the "power" of the EA82 is! I think Tom you'll find that the 3at will be better at turning those wheels with the EA82 than the manual will. Those wheels will add some considerable rotational weight to the drivetrain, this is what the EA82 will struggle with until you're on the down hill... The 27's would be enough fun with an EA82, but they took out enough from the EJ22 with the stock manual box. Trust me when I say the it's time to upgrade to the EJ22 Then build a 4.44 box for it for the ultimate offroader Cheers Bennie

Mate THAT PAINT!!! Awesome! The rims look neat too - they fill out the guards well Cheers Bennie

Pull the oil pump right down, remove the shaft and rotors. Make sure on reassembly the shaft's oil seal is replaced, no matter how good it looks! If they leak they suck air... You can also put a spacer behind the oil pressure relief valve spring, only needs to be 2-3mm spacer to be effective. Sounds like you've got a good set of HLA's in there. Try your best to keep as much oil pressure up to them as possible, if they're ticking that's when they're wearing out... Cheers Bennie

Thanks fellas, I found the issue. There are changes in the reverse gear that I wasn't aware of between the phase one and two gearboxes. And I forgot to mention that's what I'm doing, using a Phase two gearset in an early Phase one gearbox. The phase two has moved the reverse slider gear ~0.2mm away from the input shaft, they've increased the height of the teeth on both the slider gear and the input shaft's reverse gear. Now I'm working out with some mates exactly what needs to be done to make this work. So much for the "drop a new set of gears in there and off I go" - it's been a couple of hurdles to get this thing sorted! Thanks again for your replies! Cheers Bennie

HAHAHA... sorry mate, did I just read you saying "torque" and "EA82" in the same sentence? They don't go together. EJ it and thank us later! Those wheels look great. As I said in the PM you'll need 4.44s to run them well/easier! Also, you should totally make up a sticker or badge to fit in the little circle/oval on your snorkel - I reckon a neat subaru badge will fit in there just nicely! I don't have a spot like that on mine, I've got "Safari Snorkels" moulded into mine - I'm happy with that! Cheers Bennie

How have I missed this thread? Awesome work. But I am confused, is this thing a turbo awd or NA PT4wd single range with a turbo dash? I've not seen an engine bay pic yet! I love your ability to just cut bits out, weld in new then spray them up like that so it all looks new. Personally I wouldn't go a two tone but it works well! The rim selection you have also look good! Don't lower it! RAISE it!! Cheers Bennie

The blackening of the trim looks neat mate! Personally I'd be tacking the rust issues first, but if this gets you back into it you've got to do what you've got to do Cheers Bennie

G'day all, I'm reassembling my gearbox after changing some gear sets. When I get the front cases together I can easily select 1st through 5th, but cannot fully select reverse, it'll only go half way without any gear engagement. Is this normal, as in should I just assemble and know it will work once back in the vehicle or is there something else at play here? I'm out of ideas and have now had this box split three times! NOT FUN! Regards Bennie

You could say that Nico, it's good fun just about anywhere I take it! I've certainly learnt a lot about EFI systems, conversions and just how much you can mod a vehicle if you do your research! Cheers Bennie

Interesting. If you were in Oz I've got a 3spd auto that's flogged the front diff that you could have for parts - it's just taking up space in Dad's driveway. My sister tells me that having the front diff lock up at 80km/h isn't fun, can't imagine why! Glad you've got a grip on these gearboxes, we swapped ours out for a manual. Getting way better fuel economy now! Cheers Bennie

I thought it time to share my full L series build - I had a thread in the welcome forum, but since writing this out recently I thought it a good time to move over here. Some of you will already know this vehicle... This is the short version I purchased Ruby Scoo from Yackandandah, VIC, Australia (google it!) in 2004 or 2005 for $500. What we didn't know was that the engine was toast - over heated to the point that one cylinder was cracked about halfway down. After some research I found that the EA82 engine came in EFI format, so went with one of these and had a steep learning curve into the operations of EFI systems. Pick a part became my best friend here! Problem was I lived over 1 hour away. After a year in the shed she was ready for rego. This is me learning some 4wd'n with a mate near Kangaroo Flat, Bendigo: From here I had a few mods done - welded rear diff. This was a good and bad mod as it gave the vehicle awesome point and shoot abilities but with the lack of lift I managed some damage to the underside of the body, I inverted my floor pans and didn't realise this for some time. In 2007 I roadtripped to WA with my brother with a "fresh" 9 month old rebuild that was going really well: SA/WA boarder: Perth: Hit a new milestone while I was there: And we had some fun too: On the way home we (read: my brother!) blew the side out of the plastic radiator end tank on a hot day drive home. We were stuck in Tintanara and were trucked home the next day. After sorting a temporary radiator it turned out that the engine was severely cooked. For 18 months I put up with a jerry-rigged carb engine over the MPFI wiring. It got me around while I sorted all the bits for my EJ22 conversion - again pick a part played a huge role in this conversion - this time I got all the bits I needed the before getting into the conversion. Cutting down the wiring was another steep learning curve and in hindsight quite easy to do, just need to know what you actually need and go from there. I didn't do the HG's on the EJ as I bench tested the engine and was happy with how it operated. When pulled from the yard it had 127xxxkms on the clock. Turned out the clutch was completely fried. All oil seals were replaced, cam belt replaced and I should have replaced the water pump - did it about a week after the conversion hit the road. Easiest way to do the Engine and gearbox - out from under: I cased an L series gearbox in a set of EJ front cases to avoid an adaptor plate and an EA clutch. This conversion is all EJ clutch and bolts straight up without issues: The initial test was a bit of fun in the paddock - I should've put the bonnet on though, it wasn't fun to clean! All fits in like it should be there. The L series should've come with the EJ from the factory, it's a great combination! Out at Robe, SA: After a chance purchase of a lifted L series, in one weekend the swap was done and Ruby Scoo grew to this: More fun, Otways, VIC: A few years down the track and a lot of searching I managed to track down a set of the infamous Scorpion 14 inch rims, these ones with the awesome general all rounder Wild Conqueror Super Trippers (can't get them anymore ): Robe, SA: Wyperfeld NP, VIC: Lerderderg SF, VIC: After two seasons at Mt Hotham and a 4wd'n trip with a "rally section" on the Dinner Plain Track south of the township I got Ruby Scoo airborne unintentionally. Not realising for some time but I did some extensive damage to the suspension mount on the LHS. Not ready to part with her I stripped her out and went to work between other things: While everything was reinstalled I added power windows, mirrors and central locking. That took a pot load more time than I anticipated and blew out the build time. I would say this took me 6 months over the summer period to sort out and get back on the road. Return to the road: Getting back into the thick of it: Mt Cole: Getting out in the High Country with the Subaru Club of Qld (offroad club, can't remember their official title) - most of these guys are online mates from ausubi: Basalt Knob South Tk before it was switchbacked: Back at Mt Hotham for another visit (Love this place!) New "trick" gearbox - L series AWD locking centre diff, front OBX (cheap!) LSD, 1.59:1 low range, low range oil feeders and 4.111:1 diff ratio (old box 3.7:1 stock ratio): Diff locking mechanism: This was an awesome mod - the diff ratio change has transformed the drive for the better. The ratio matches the tyre size the same as the foresters run so it's a tried and tested setup, just not really done in an L series in this fashion on a regular basis. I added a snorkel for added confidence during water crossings: This was 2013. For the christmas period we were planning another road trip to WA to catch up with some mates I made over there on the cruise in 2007. Unfortunately after finally getting my AC sorted the Head Gaskets let go. Not a bad run so I shouldn't complain - just the timing over the silly season slowed down the new parts arriving in a timely manner. But she's sorted again and running very well. First time I've had an EJ stripped down like this: Where I think the HGs let go, wasn't major but enough to run hot on a warm day. No damage resulted, money saved there Back together sporting a new radiator conversion (N14 pulsar) and new thermo fans - a good setup so far: Over Easter 2014 we ventured into new territory out at Walhalla in the foothills of the Vic Alps: First real good use of snorkel - Fulton's Creek Tk, Walhalla: Messing around, Fulton's Creek: Trig Track - 12 switchbacks! Loved this area and seriously cannot wait to get back out there! Last trip most recently was to McKillop's Bridge (very speccie!) and the general Snowy River NP, VIC: ^ Pics do not do this bridge justice, it's very high, very long and has been flooded over several times! I was with a "different" cohort for this trip with some mates in larger, "real" 4wds: Ruby Scoo held her own: Until I managed to blow 2nd gear coming off throttle on a down shift from third. Nothing harsh about it. From here it was a tow job, not fun! Once back on a decent track - logging truck track - we decided to see if I could manage third, using low range as another gear. This was done to avoid time delays, rocks flicking up and damaging the front of my vehicle and my newish windscreen. It was noisy in the box but it kept going, at the time I was kind of past the point of caring. After stopping for the others to catch up (I was rally style, they weren't!) we continued but I think it was too much, once the oil settled in the gearbox bits had moved. At walking pace I ended up locking up all four wheels. We were trailered from there, trailer came from Orbost. Then another type of towing occurred a week later: ^ These guys were great, they let me park up for a week in their yard very cheaply! Near M&D's, not quite "home" though: The gearbox came out at M&D's before I took the car home as I was itching to get it started. Once the box was stripped we found this damage: I've since sourced an SG forester gearbox for it's stronger internals as Subaru did a big overhaul on the 1st and 2nd gearsets in these boxes along with a few other things. My bench looks like this as I work through the little hurdles that are thrown my way: I've had to modify a few things along the way, the low range synchro hub being one of them: Latest modification hurdle is the woodruff key for the 5th gear as I want to use the 0.87 ratio I've got in the shed, not the SG's 0.78 as that's what I used to have and I wasn't too keen on it at cruise: That's where I'm at. Using Redback (Brumby - more to come on this addition to the family!) as the daily which is what I got her for, but I can't wait to have Ruby Scoo back on the road and 4wd'n again. I'm also working on some surface rust I've found since removing the gearbox, this is a slow process itself and work/family/social life is getting in the way too. Weekends are not at home at the moment I hope you've enjoyed reading and viewing the pics. While writing this and looking at the large number of pics I've got I've surprised myself just how many places I've been with Ruby Scoo. Many more pics if you want to view! She's currently knocking on 500k kms... I've had many great times out bush in this vehicle and I'm hoping there will be a number of years of more good times to come! Just have to get it back together and out of the shed!!! Regards Bennie