el_freddo

With the EJ five speed you’ll need to fabricate a gearbox crossmember, modified tail shaft will be needed and you’ll need a set of MPFI L series front drive shafts. You might need to modify the shifter linkages to fit the L’s body too. Make sure you’re running the same rear diff rationto that of the gearbox. If you want to run the L series dual range 5spd, you’ll need an adaptor plate and elongate the holes in the flywheel to bolt to the EJ’s crankshaft. It’s also a good ideas to have the clutch beefed up. Many talk about the XT6 clutch used in these conversions. The adaptor plate is probably the easiest way to go. Cheers Bennie

Get the factory harness and cut one down. WAY easier than making your own loom! Overlay this over your L series loomand off you go. Of course it’s not as easy as just saying it, but once you’ve got your head around it, the wiring isn’t hard to do. Cheers Bennie

Front end is bacially the same. Rear end setup is completely different. Our 2.5L RX with 17 inch rims drives like it’s on rails. A larger cat back exhaust makes the engine feel like it has more get up and go. I like it, my sister likes it - which is good, because she smashes the km on it hard! We got it at 330,000km, it’s now got well over 420,000 in less than three years. Solid platform, looks good, sounds good (genome muffler - bit loud but it keeps the Roos away! An UEL Y pipe unleashes the subi beat), comfortable to drive long distances etc. winner in our book. The RX model over head comes with climate control too. A nice feature to have - set and forget Cheers Bennie edit: these can have issues with a dead centre diff. To check for it you need to warm the drivetrain up with a short drive, then perform some tight turns - U turns are best. If the centre diff is toast, it’ll produce a rotational clunking sound and a possible light shudder through the car too.

Is there really such a thing these days out side of regular maintenance programs at dealers?? If there is, it’d probably cost more than the value of the car Cheers Bennie

It should be. Hangers could be different but wagon to wagon works as does sedan to sedan. Sedan to wagon and vice versa needs a mod to the exhaust tip length from the rear muffler. Cheers Bennie

GD, came through with “the goods”! You should read up on some build threads from those that have done this conversion before. I don’t recall many from this site but I know of one or two on subyclub (Oz site). Cheers Bennie

The rear struts won’t fit the Gen3, the rear end setup was changed on the Gen3 to a spring on shock setup. If you can, go the RX 2.5 litre version of this model, goes ace! The Gen3 runs a phase 2 engine, the EJ22 is a phase1 engine. You could swap the phase 2 heads onto the EJ22 and run the 22 that way. I reckon the Gen 1 and Gen 3 platforms are the best that Subaru produced in the Liberty/Legacy’s. That said, I haven’t ventured much beyond the Gen3... One thing to look out for is leaking HGs - typically seen on the LHS of the engine, the leak is oil externally from the no pressure oil return galleries. Replace with MLS genuine head gaskets Cheers Bennie

Clutch will fit any NA Subaru EJ equipped vehicle. In my L series I’m running a Gen1 EJ22 with Gen1 flywheel, excedy clutch kit running a slightly modified phase two forester gearbox. My sister’s Gen3 RX Liberty with EJ251 is running a Gen2 EJ22 solid flywheel with the stock Gen3 clutch setup. It’s all lego! Cheers Bennie

Holy spoob, I wasn’t expecting them to be ripping off genuine parts! Mind you, I buy genuine parts online - only from partsouq though. They’ve not been an issue with any of my dealings with them. Cheers Bennie

EJ207 is the WRX sti engine. Very strong engine from what I’ve read. Good for future mods if the stock tune isn’t enough With your intended goals with the manual and the EJ207, you’d be doing well to have this completed for $15,000 I reckon. The 207 isn’t cheap - it’s one of the most sought after performance engines in the Subaru world. You would be best off buying a damaged WRX or one that’s not on the road etc to drop into your Outback. There will be wiring to do, you’ll need the WRX security gear to make the loom work. NA and turbo gearboxes are different - and they use a different clutch system from each other too. You don’t want to be trying to put a turbo gearbox in with the NA clutch arrangement or vice versa. Engine wise from the clutch back it doesn’t matter if you have the NA or the turbo engine powering the gearbox, either will bolt up. Find a suitable donor that still has a serviceable drivetrain - this will have everything you need except the manual interior trims for the outback and possibly the tailshaft, gear selectors and manual gearbox crossmember which all *could* be outback specific. Good luck with finding a “cheap” donor vehicle. They get parted out for a reason. Now wait for GD to jump on with the “don’t do it” message! As for your current transmission situation, replace with a known good unit and look after it. Cheers Bennie

Stevo, it’s steering wheel off for a clock spring swap Cheers Bennie

Thanks Kiwi brumby. I’ve got a 3/4inch drive breaker bar that I jump on good and proper, this was done twice now (second time to check the concave washer was installed correctly). So I’ve not given this a second thought. Cheers Bennie

I wouldn’t do that. Jonno (Steptoe) and I go way back on forums, I get his humour. The drive yesterday was a bust. It actually rained all morning very lightly - just enough to need wipers constantly and not be able to hear noises due to the water spray off the road. Thinking along the lines of brake pads, I reckon it could be a shim that’s just touching the disc at one point. I’ll get around to pulling that wheel off at some stage and checking out the brake setup. Then I’ll report back. That could be up to two weeks time. Busy busy, brumby not in high use atm. Cheers Bennie

Thanks Jeezek, I’ve never come across it referred to like that. Always before TDC is what I’ve heard. Cheers Bennie

Why bother? Front bearings replaced already, rears wouldn’t be far off if they’re factory fitted. Money better spent on labour replacing the bearing if not going the DIY route. My first thought was a bearing before looking at the video or reading GD’s post. All the best with it - I’d replace both rear bearings to a) know the history of both rear bearings and b) potentially save a second trip to the mechanics and further down time on the vehicle. But I’m a DIYer so it’s your call (I’d do both regardless of one being replaced or not). Cheers Bennie

Excuse my ignorance, but what’s “b”?? Cheers Bennie

Cool project on that hobby machinist forum! And I love your collection of tools. Keep up the good work. Cheers Bennie

I totally didn’t know this was a thing! Mind you, why would you want to buy spark plugs online? They’re reasonably priced in store and it’s much more convenient than buying online!! Anyone actually been caught out that are willing to share? Cheers Bennie

Yeah it’s an interesting one. It doesn’t sound like brakes, too high pitched. I’ll have a good listen this morning as I’m going for a decent drive now so plenty of listening time... Cheers Bennie

Since completing new bearings and shafts on the front end I’ve got a squeak that seems to come from the front left. It is definitely rotational dependant and it comes/goes when there’s side load on the wheel. I initially thought it was the washer being fitted backwards. So I’ve rotated it and no change. I want this issue to be sorted! Any ideas or solutions welcome! Cheers Bennie

To be clear, the EA81 does not have a cam belt not available in the L series. More modern fuel injected Subaru engines are a very worth while conversion and can get around many of the NLA parts for the engine side of things. Most common is probably still the EJ22 conversion from the Gen1 and Gen2 Legacy’s. Cheers Bennie

Have you adjusted the spark timing? You’ll need a timing light to do this. Cheers Bennie

I too did this after my initial rebuild of the EA82. Money that would’ve been best spent on an EJ conversion. If you ever rebuild an engine and don’t know the history of the radiator with plastic end tanks - replace it!! My dodgy old radiator cost me a 9 month old rebuilt engine Cheers Bennie

It will bolt in and work regardless of what EJ engine is used. If the final drive ratio is the same, you won’t have any drive issues. It will rev higher in fifth though. Your speedo may not be accurate, you’ll have to suck it and see - the speedo drive gear may be different and thus give a different speedo output signal rate. A speedo corrector may be needed. Cheers Bennie

That above your oil filter with the pipe coming from it is an oil cooler. The pipes have coolant in them. I’ve only ever seen them on H4 turbos or the H6 NA. I’ve not seen them on H4 NAs before - unless this is a turbo equipped vehicle. Cheers Bennie