Little Bandit Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Hi there, I am in the planning phase of a custom dune buggy project, and I am looking for a small 4WD set-up that I can use as a donor. Ideally I would like something like a 4WD Justy or Suzuki Swift, as it will keep the overall size down to what I want, 60" overall width, 80" Wheelbase, weight around 1,000lbs. The problem is that I have never seen any 4WD Justy's around or for sale in my area, British Columbia Canada. I have seen plenty of 4WD Loyales and 2WD Justy's, etc, but no 4WD Justy's. I was wondering if anyone knows if you can bolt up a 3 cylinder Justy motor to a D/R transmission? These are parts that I am sure I could source locally and since it will be a tube buggy, it won't really be much more work for mounts etc. The flat-4 engine is going to be too wide for what I want to do, so it needs to be an in-line motor, and I would really prefer a 3 cylinder. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferox Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 The problem is that I have never seen any 4WD Justy's around or for sale in my area, British Columbia Canada. I was wondering if anyone knows if you can bolt up a 3 cylinder Justy motor to a D/R transmission? There are 4WD Justy's in Canada for sure. The Justy engine will not bolt up to a ea series DR trans. They are totally different animals. There is a guy in the UK currently building tube frame Justy Buggy: http://subarujusty.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=display&thread=2684 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLCraig Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 The crusty engine will not bolt directly to any EAXX transmission. An adapter plate a probably a custom flywheel will be required. What is the maxium width that you can have for an engine? An EA81 engine is narrower than an EA82, so it may fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Bandit Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 There are 4WD Justy's in Canada for sure. The Justy engine will not bolt up to a ea series DR trans. They are totally different animals. I am keeping my eye out for them, but it may end up being a longer search than I hope for. I have not found any for sale in any on-line classified for all of BC. There is a guy in the UK currently building tube frame Justy Buggy: http://subarujusty.proboards.com/ind...ay&thread=2684 I have seen his build on another forum, it is very nice and similar to what I want to do, definitely has the same feel for what I want to go for. As he says, the 1200cc quad. The crusty engine will not bolt directly to any EAXX transmission. An adapter plate a probably a custom flywheel will be required. What is the maxium width that you can have for an engine? An EA81 engine is narrower than an EA82, so it may fit. I shouldn't have said width is the driving factor, it is part of it, but it all comes down to overall size. The motor that I measured at the junkyard was about 30" in overall width. Actually looking it up I probably measured a EA81 engine, it was in a 1988 Subaru GL 2WD. I have attached a very rough model of the 88 Subaru GL engine/2WD tranny I measured at the junkyard, along with a Sprint 3 Cyl Eng/Transaxle. There is quite a difference in the size between the two. The Subaru is much longer, has more overhang and appears to be quite a bit heavier (~180lbs vs 135lbs for engines only). Looking at them in person, the Subaru "feels" like a much bigger unit, and will probably end up making the buggy feel like a small truck rather than a big quad. I think I could be happy if it was about 3" narrower, and around 150lbs engine weight, I would seriously consider using one at that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi subbie Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I shouldn't have said width is the driving factor, it is part of it, but it all comes down to overall size. The motor that I measured at the junkyard was about 30" in overall width. Actually looking it up I probably measured a EA81 engine, it was in a 1988 Subaru GL 2WD. Im guessing what you had looked at was a EA82 ohc engine. Its wider and heaver. ea81 is the push rod motor which is smaller and lighter. a Ea71 I think is smaller by about 10mms on each side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricearu Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 measure an ea81. You saw a ea82. plus, you won't like the power of the justy engine. NO torque. I used to have a Justy RS w/push button 4wd. SLOW. EA81 is in the 84 and before wagons/sedans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Hi there, I was wondering if anyone knows if you can bolt up a 3 cylinder Justy motor to a D/R transmission? Thanks in advance Hey, Just some thoughts. It's said the EA-63 and Justy share a clutch. The flywheel bolt holes for the DR trans are wider than the Justy crank bolt holes. It looks to me like a person could egg the flywheel bolt holes out [in actually] and it would bolt on. Adaptor plate, use the front driveshaft from the DR, modify to fit. The MPFI 9 valve is 73 cid. 73 hp, 71 ft. lbs torque. It shares a fuel pump and injecters with the early imprezza and forester. ... Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 The guy in the UK may not be using what was a Justy in the US in all likelyhood. There are much better engines around to use for something like this, the Justy has some lubrication issues, the oil pump is weak and really may not be up to this kind of abuse. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Hey Nipper, " my area, British Columbia Canada" he wrote, and it sounds like he's talking about the same Justy I'm talking about. The oil pump fix new is about $400.00. Genuine Subaru. That's the problem, the cost of parts. Or have a local machinist install a bushing in the original cover and use a new oil pump and shaft. If he finds one in running good condition, that's the best. I have one of those. I have another I'm going to have bushed, and it will probably last a 100K miles. Yea, the only problem with Justy is the cost, IMHO. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88JuSTi Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 (edited) I would not recommend using a Justy motor for any kind of "toy" project. Most of the parts are expensive, and difficult to find outside of dealerships. EDIT: Oh and Ferox isn't from Canada. He is from my neck of the woods where we also have lots of Justys. There are boardmembers from the justy proboard forum in canada, which is how he knew about their presence. Edited October 8, 2009 by 88JuSTi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Bandit Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 Thanks for the comments guys. My plan was actually to use a NA or Turbo 3 cyl Firefly motor and have the buggy as rear-wheel drive only up till about two weeks ago. I had actually ruled out Subaru's for my drivetrain as it was too large. It wasn't until I realized that you can get a d/r 4WD transmission for them that I became interested in them again. I still think one of those tranny's with an in-line 3cyl (maybe 4 cyl) would be the perfect drivetrain. There are some 2wd justy's around here, still not many though. Not nearly enough to make me overly keen on basing my buggy around a justy. I think I am going to try and find an EA81 to measure up. It might be a little difficult, as I have not found anything older than a 1988 in the junkyard. How do the EA81 with d/r tend to hold up to 27" tires? That is the tire size that I am aiming for at the moment. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigo1966 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Put a motorcycle engine on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quidam Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Here's what the 1.2 Justy looks like. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott in Bellingham Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Thanks for the comments guys. My plan was actually to use a NA or Turbo 3 cyl Firefly motor and have the buggy as rear-wheel drive only up till about two weeks ago. I had actually ruled out Subaru's for my drivetrain as it was too large. It wasn't until I realized that you can get a d/r 4WD transmission for them that I became interested in them again. I still think one of those tranny's with an in-line 3cyl (maybe 4 cyl) would be the perfect drivetrain. There are some 2wd justy's around here, still not many though. Not nearly enough to make me overly keen on basing my buggy around a justy. I think I am going to try and find an EA81 to measure up. It might be a little difficult, as I have not found anything older than a 1988 in the junkyard. How do the EA81 with d/r tend to hold up to 27" tires? That is the tire size that I am aiming for at the moment. Thanks I made a sand buggy out of a suzuki swift a few years ago I just took the complete front wheel drive train out of the car and mounted in the back of a tube frame buggy , worked super with no custom stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Bandit Posted October 14, 2009 Author Share Posted October 14, 2009 Put a motorcycle engine on it. That is what my original plan was, I actually have one in my garage that I was going to use, but they are not as great of a system as one would first think. 1. They tend to stretch out the car, adding 16"+ easily to the wheelbase, more if you want a decent length chain. 2. Reliability is always an issue 3. Maintaining and living with a chain drive 4. Not the best powerband for most operations 5. Most importantly no reverse, and not many very good options unless you want to spend $2500 for a reverse box. Best option I have seen is running a chain into a car transmission but that still does not help with 1-3. I want this trail buggy to be ultra-reliable, which I can take anywhere. I am probably going to save the motorcycle engine for a future project which will be a smaller single seat more race style buggy. I made a sand buggy out of a suzuki swift a few years ago I just took the complete front wheel drive train out of the car and mounted in the back of a tube frame buggy , worked super with no custom stuff I still think this can work very well, even if it is RWD only. Unless I think I can make the EA81 work when I see one, I am sure I will end up going down this road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Bandit Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 I have had a hard time finding an EA81 I can measure. By searching online I have found widths from valve cover to valve cover to be listed anywhere between 26" and 28", does anyone know what the max overall width of the EA81 is? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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