Tom0 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 So after a bit of thinking and a whole bunch of 'why not' coming to mind I've decided to undertake an ej swap on my 84' wagon. Since I now have my 83 sedan to drive around throughout the process times not going to be too much of an issue, and with work taking a 4 week holiday over the new year I decided it would be a perfect time to get it done or even just the bulk of it.My car as it sits now is a carbureted ea82 4wd hi/low wagon. The plan:Replace ea82 with ej20Recase ea82 hi/low gearbox front with ej hi/low front case (Like el_freddo has) except I plan on just keeping it 2wd/4wd. Use a FI Leone fuel pump and FI hose Radiator, unsure on this one, the one in my car needs replacing due to a slow leak so this bit is up in the air. Strip down the wiring myself (What could go wrong)Hopefully someone i know will help with an exhaust, if not get an exhaust made. Swap rear drums to disks, maybe swap fronts to turbo for the 25 spline? This should keep the cert guy happy.Hopefully get it certified no problem (Plan on contacting the guy on monday to hear his thoughts) The Donor: 1993 Subaru legacy wagon 2.0 4wdhttp://puu.sh/cfeJo/afe1518548.jpghttp://puu.sh/cfeIJ/f475a49924.jpghttp://puu.sh/cfeHJ/b5e5b012e8.jpgQuite rough on the outside and its been sitting a couple of years but it starts and runs fine with no known faults.At the moment I'm waiting on somewhere to do all this, I could do it here at home but it wouldn't be nice. Would love to do it at work (everything I could ever need there) but they may not like it even over the holidays. But I will see. Will try and rope in some help from friends I suppose as well.So thats where I'm at, the beginning.Cheers,Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 Started with the wiring over the weekend, between doing other things. Got the harness out and ready to start stripping all of the not needed wires.Doesn't seem too bad, but I'm still nervous about messing it up one way or another.http://puu.sh/cihaX/d7493c8d36.jpghttp://puu.sh/cihcC/1e377f92c2.jpgTom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman2 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 You good folks in other countries just have so many to pick from. Just not fair being able to get an EJ hi/low! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 Yeah, lucky indeed I suppose. Just starting to wonder if I need a pt4wd legacy box, but I dont think so. Seems that our wiring is a lot simpler too, since main engine plugs are on the opposite side to where the smj is its not routed through there, unless I'm missing something.Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted October 21, 2014 Author Share Posted October 21, 2014 Finished cutting the harness down tonight, Pretty sure I have the powers all sorted and the rest seems right so yeah, here's hoping anyway haha.http://puu.sh/ckvRZ/fbdd9bca95.jpgTom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) Got the gearbox out of my parts sedan over the weekend, went a lot smoother then I thought it would. Had to buy a set of pin punches but I needed them anyway.My old parts sedan('84), dad bought it when he first moved to NZ ~2002 then left it in the driveway after buying a turbo legacy wagon, rego died and rust around the windshield made it impractical as a car for me. http://puu.sh/cqYVH/1d933288c4.jpgGearbox dropped and about to drag it outhttp://puu.sh/cqYUn/cbb5471862.jpgGearbox out before I cleaned it today with degreaser and water blasterhttp://puu.sh/cqYTi/cb18e24db5.jpgAnd if anyone was worried about that dodgy jack there, just needed to do that to roll the gearbox under the engine crossmember.Gearbox is now in the back of my wagon ready to take to work on Tuesday to find a spot to start taking it apart and cleaning it a bit more.Still not sure about a radiator solution, leaning towards the ej one for ease of hoses. and known cooling capacity.Also getting my rear disks on tuesday, will have to ask about a FI pump to.Cheers, Thomas Edited October 26, 2014 by Tom0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 Got the rear disks today, need to clean up the backing plates and bend them back to shape, damn wreckers. Should be all fine without much work though.Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hsoj Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I built a pair of little tabs for mounting the EJ radiator to the lower core support and zip tied the radiator to the upper support. It gave me a little extra room for the pusher fans in front of the radiator. Everything stays stock EJ that way eliminating funny custom little parts. Thats on an Ea81 though so the room was needed for the fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 Finally got around to doing a bit more! A guy from work is lending me his engine crane so I pulled the legacy half into my garage and got to it.Took about the whole day to get the engine and gearbox out, most of that on stupid little things.Halfway through pulling ithttp://puu.sh/cJaJc/d58235174f.jpghttp://puu.sh/cJaK8/0f2ebc3d15.jpgEngine and gearbox outhttp://puu.sh/cJaKY/ebfc1ba5cc.jpghttp://puu.sh/cJaIk/b5ba7f5966.jpg Somewhat of a milestone, at least now I can clean them down, pull the gearbox clean it up take both the gearboxes apart and see what I'm in for. Then go over the engine I suppose, not sure how much I'm going to do there. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Split the engine and transmission apart today, was a bit of a pain with the alignment pins being slightly corroded but wasn't too bad. Although one pin stayed in the trans, the other in the engine.Both gearboxes in the back of my wagonhttp://puu.sh/cKH1c/d0850f4ce2.jpgLegacy on the bottom, Leone on the top.Time for the part that has me slightly nervous, opening them up and swapping the insides. Would hate to do it and mess it up, but I'll just have to go slow and be careful with it all.Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 So, after a couple days of a couple hours after work I got both the trans split. Hardest part was taking the transfer/centre diff section off the back, after I found Gloyales write up (http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/117820-easy-transmission-front-seal-replacement/) And saw that 10mm bolt that had to come out for the tail section to slide off it wasn't too bad, although taking that bolt out of the leone case was a pain compared to the legacy one, a 1/4in t bar extension and wobbly worked just enough. The legacy one I could get with my 3/8 set.Leone boxhttp://puu.sh/cReKs/94e8801522.jpgLegacyhttp://puu.sh/cReLm/57e2176e78.jpgAt the moment I'm not sure if i just swap the main gear, d/r selector and speedo gear and the rest is fine or if i swap everything. Think i will end up swapping everything(including shifter forks?), need to swap the output stubs anyway to smaller spline.Anyway, i was really pleased when I got them apart haha. And they don't seem too complex just yet, mostly because they're still together i suppose.Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 After cleaning them up a bit and seeing how the gears all fit into the legacy case seems pretty good, the legacy gear selectors are slightly larger so i might swap them, need to get rid of the legacy detent spring and ball holder for dual/range since the leone fork hits into it stopping the cases seating together. Figure out swapping the speedo bits over. then once it all fits and works, set up backlash and contact patterns, that will be fun. Unfortunately I had to (probably could of left it there but it might of been a bit rude) bring it all home since I'm going to Auckland for work for 3 weeks, so nothing new is going to happen for awhile which is a bit annoying, but ahwell. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiGL Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Also, since you're getting it certed, will you be installing a lift at the same time? 2" body 3" strut top seems popular on the L, it was what I was considering with my old one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Didn't see this^Thinking I might not lift it, just new springs/struts.In other news my cel light is giving me issues. Bought a warning light panel from a ea82 turbo car so that it had the ecs writing on the red part, pretty sure my cel wire from the ecu is right, and when i turn key on engine off, there is 12v where the bulb goes, but with the bulb in it doesn't light up. Somewhat frustrating. Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxy Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 (edited) I agree with Hsoj the way to do any modified vehicle is so that standard replacement parts bolt up to the Vehicle , Modify the car to fit the part do not if at all possible modify the part to fit the car it make things so much easier to maintain down the road. Edited May 28, 2015 by coxy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxleone Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 This is cool man - I've never seen another documented thread on a New Zealand build (or RHD build either). Was there anything you ran into that seemed to differ from the instructions in the EA to EJ writeup? Looking to get stuck into a swap myself at some stage later on this year. I'm in an 88' Leone wagon so might be slightly different from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 Ahh, not too many big differences, probably the biggest is the wiring schematics are different to what numbchux posted along with his write-up, so I used one for the australia domestic market I found online, and I think rhd legacies don't run as much of the engine harness through the smj, so that made it easier (i think). I needed to change throttle cables as well, mine was far too short. since we have dual-range legacy boxes here I built a hybrid gearbox instead of using an adapter plate. Do you know what kind of ej your going to go for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 "Proof" I'm not crazy and this cel light hates me? 12V on multimeterhttp://puu.sh/i4ssl/0427bc1fd8.jpg Bulb not lighting uphttp://puu.sh/i4st3/446226f23c.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxleone Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Ahh, not too many big differences, probably the biggest is the wiring schematics are different to what numbchux posted along with his write-up, so I used one for the australia domestic market I found online, and I think rhd legacies don't run as much of the engine harness through the smj, so that made it easier (i think). I needed to change throttle cables as well, mine was far too short. since we have dual-range legacy boxes here I built a hybrid gearbox instead of using an adapter plate. Do you know what kind of ej your going to go for? Nice - the wiring is the biggest hurdle I think I'll encounter so that takes a load off. I find the read ups really confusing - do you know what parts on the body side of the harness you needed to keep? Relays, etc? I think I'm going to go for the old EJ20D DOHC motor out of the first gen Legacy VZ or maybe one out of a second gen TSR. Not too sure yet, depends what is readily available. I'm considering going with a Forester dual range box (I actually own a Foz with one already) however the loss of a locked center diff puts me off a bit and I'm not sure if I'm mechanically inclined enough to muck around with gearbox internals. Can you explain with a bit more detail on what you did with your box? Also how'd you go with getting it certified? Any issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Ahh, the two relays main power and fuel pump are the big 2, then the wires going to gauges i think. Just make sure to have a wiring diagram when you strip it, and label everything when you remove the harness, and take your time with it tracing wires.With the gearboxes, Took the transfer case off them both, split the cases on them both, took everything out of the leone one cleaned it up in kero, took everything out of the legacy one, cleaned the legacy cases, brought new seals for it and 2 input shaft bearings, then started puting it back together so it had leone shifter forks/shafts, leone gears, leone diff. Had to grind where the legacy case has a hole for a detent ball and spring on the dual range selector to make the leone one clear. Then once the cases were together again I had to set the diff up so i followed the subaru instructions on that (pre-load and backlash) So, its not really for the faint of heart but if you've dealt with bearings/seals before have a dti handy to measure backlash and can follow subarus instructions its not impossible. *disclaimer* Still havent moved my car with ej and gearbox more then a couple of metres so yeah haha. I made the somewhat mistake of using a 93 ej20 non-turbo, which dont have a knock sensor or o2 sensor, although I'm sure the wires are in the harness And i havent got it certified yet, but i dont think there will be too much problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comatosellama Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 That looks scaaaaary http://puu.sh/cqYVH/1d933288c4.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom0 Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 Yeahhh, poor old girl, not the best way to do it.Still searching for help with that ecs light too. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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