Installed remote central locking today. Surprisingly easy to do - mine already had central locking, so all I needed to do was to install an actuator on the driver's door, and then mount the unit in the cabin and run some wiring. Hardest bit was mounting the actuator but I found a spot.

Works perfectly - the new actuator flips the locking mechanism on the driver's door, triggering the original central locking mechanism. Installed it this way to keep it clean, as I haven't cut or modified any of the original wiring and can pull out the remote locking if I need to in the future and still have the original central locking functioning.

I ran the constant 12 V feed to the remote unit from the back of the stereo.

Pic of actuator mounting

Edited July 17, 20223 yr by KiwiGL

Nice one! I’m pretty sure I did the same actuator setup in my L series. Remote central locking is awesome. Mine was part of an immobiliser kit so it does more than just lock and unlock my doors  

Anything that adds a bit of luxury to these old rides is mint in my book! 

Cheers 

Bennie

Should share your ej22’s lol haha. Haven’t logged Into here for ages but note I commented ages ago ok when I read it from the start. I should prolly document my one on here instead of FB but I’m pretty sure everyone would get sick of rust repair updates every 6 months.

Edited July 23, 20223 yr by 573417h
Spelling and grammar

On 7/20/2022 at 3:30 AM, el_freddo said:

Nice one! I’m pretty sure I did the same actuator setup in my L series. Remote central locking is awesome. Mine was part of an immobiliser kit so it does more than just lock and unlock my doors  

Anything that adds a bit of luxury to these old rides is mint in my book! 

Cheers 

Bennie

Yeah I just use a steering wheel lock, bit tricky to install an immobilizer on a Carby motor haha 

You could put an immobilizer in the starter circuit or maybe the fuel pump wiring, this will stop 99% of thieves, my favorite antitheft tech is whenever I have to leave my car in an exposed area is to whip the rotor out and put the cap back on, small and easy to carry... 

 

When i think of who would target these cars i think of young people joy riding, if it cant start then its not going anywhere, i really cant see a reason to steal these cars unless its at the extreme end of performance mods... although as they become more collectable this may increase.. some cheeky crackhead stole my external visor off my car when it was sitting in my driveway, didn't bother trying to start it or go thru the car itself, change in ashtray still there and stereo... Hmmm

Well, having now blown my second EA82 (another head gasket) it's EJ time. I found and have wrecked a very rare early EJ18 Legacy (don't worry, it had already been cut down as a river basher), with a carburetor and distributor, and a part time 4wd dual range manual box. I also have an EJ22 sitting here.

Plan is, to bolt the dizzy and carb onto the EJ22 and drop that into the Omega in front of the matching PT4WD EJ box. In theory, this engine and gearbox should drop straight into the Omega and run without needing any custom wiring, mounts, driveshafts, shifters or anything. Only thing I'm not sure will fit is the pitch stopper. 

Then comes a lift (when subarino finally release theirs), a torqlocker and some 185r14 muddies on Peugeot steelies (already have the wheels and tyres). Should be fun!

Also, if anyone wants a dual range shifter setup and interior surround to suit a gen 1 legacy I have this available and can ship internationally at your expense. Yours for $50 and shipping.

That’s an awesome score there @KiwiGL! That’s the sort of conversion ppl want to drop in their Brumbys over here! The matching PT4wd box is good too. It should have better ratios for larger tyres and possibly have the 1.59:1 low range too. 

It’ll be interesting to see how the gearbox mounts are same or different, and whether the gearbox is the same overall length. If it is, no tailshaft mods needed (winning!), or you might be able to use the front section from the donor vehicle if the gearbox length is different. I’m keen to know! 

It’ll probably have the 23 spline diff output stub axles too. Makes it all easy! 

With the pitch stopper rod, cut down the factory L series one to fit the EJ bracket on the gearbox. Overlap the two rod halves when fitted, pin them and tack weld. Finish the weld off properly on the bench  

Should be a good setup once you’re done. I do prefer the EFI over carb, but that’s me, others disagree! 

Cheers 

Bennie

 

1 hour ago, el_freddo said:

That’s an awesome score there @KiwiGL! That’s the sort of conversion ppl want to drop in their Brumbys over here! The matching PT4wd box is good too. It should have better ratios for larger tyres and possibly have the 1.59:1 low range too. 

It’ll be interesting to see how the gearbox mounts are same or different, and whether the gearbox is the same overall length. If it is, no tailshaft mods needed (winning!), or you might be able to use the front section from the donor vehicle if the gearbox length is different. I’m keen to know! 

It’ll probably have the 23 spline diff output stub axles too. Makes it all easy! 

With the pitch stopper rod, cut down the factory L series one to fit the EJ bracket on the gearbox. Overlap the two rod halves when fitted, pin them and tack weld. Finish the weld off properly on the bench  

Should be a good setup once you’re done. I do prefer the EFI over carb, but that’s me, others disagree! 

Cheers 

Bennie

 

Agree EFI would be nice but this obviates the need for custom wiring, fuel lines, high pressure pump etc and keeps it fairly reversible. I've got the complete wiring loom and ECU for an EJ22 sitting with my other EJ22 for the green sedan so if I can't find another distributor when it comes time to build that motor, then I will probably convert this one to EFI.

Yes I believe this part time EJ box has the same transfer section on the back as the ea box so hopefully the tailshaft fits but I did keep the entire legacy drivetrain, axles, rear diff etc just in case. Also kept the front hubs in case I end up 5 stud swapping my silver sedan at some point.

Too many projects haha and that's not even mentioning my Nissan 4wd.

Edited September 16, 20223 yr by KiwiGL

Have now got all the parts needed to put this together except for some EA82 turbo front axles (the legacy gearbox I've got is 25 spline unfortunately). However I will soon be picking up a wrecked Leone rally car (parts car for the turbo sedan) so I'll be able to source the axles from that. Nearly at the point of building it! 

NA MPFI manual shafts are also 25 spline count too like the EJs  

Cheers 

Bennie

8 hours ago, el_freddo said:

NA MPFI manual shafts are also 25 spline count too like the EJs  

Cheers 

Bennie

Unfortunately not many MPFI in NZ, they were basically all either turbo or carby

Making some progress on the EJ swap. Got the EJ22 all stripped down, distributor installed and carby manifold prepped to go on. Looks like it'll bolt straight up to the injected heads which is great. Just need some 25 spline inner front axles and then it's go time!

46 minutes ago, KiwiGL said:

Making some progress on the EJ swap. Got the EJ22 all stripped down, distributor installed and carby manifold prepped to go on. Looks like it'll bolt straight up to the injected heads which is great. Just need some 25 spline inner front axles and then it's go time!

 wheres the pics

TTIUWOP

LOL!

EJ22 stripped down. Dizzy fitted. Hope I times it right though it's a lot easier with an offset slotted keyway than trying to align a toothed EA dizzy gear. Coolant crossover removed as the low carby manifold has an integrated crossover.

Factory Subaru EJ18 carby and manifold. Will put this on to get it running before attempting the twin carb setup. This setup should be plug and play into my factory carb Omega wagon (Gertie).

Carby manifold gasket sitting on the ej22 head. You can see how the contour of the port differs between the Carby head (round, matches the gasket) and the injected head (has an indent for the injector). There appears to be enough overlap that the Carby manifold should bolt on using new injected gaskets.

Carby vs injected manifold gaskets 

Geez! You’d think from a tooling perspective they’d make the carb heads the same as the EFI heads, then adapt the carb intake manifold to the heads as it’s a “custom” piece with the carb anyway - then there’s one gasket across many EJ engines! It wouldn’t greatly effect performance, I really don’t understand why they did that! 

Well spotted. 

You must be getting excited right about now! 

Cheers 

Bennie

Sure am! Part of me is tempted to install the spare rear LSD I'm getting (3.7 ratio not 3.9 like the box), and to just put axle stubs back in the front, so I can run it RWD for a bit...

 

 

do it lol

 

 

On 11/21/2022 at 9:12 PM, KiwiGL said:

Sure am! Part of me is tempted to install the spare rear LSD I'm getting (3.7 ratio not 3.9 like the box), and to just put axle stubs back in the front, so I can run it RWD for a bit...

 

Pulled off the left side rocker cover today to try and investigate why I've got a milkshake for oil.

Looks like there's a small hole in one of the freeze plugs. 

Now, do I throw in my EJ and box?...

On 12/26/2022 at 10:14 AM, KiwiGL said:

Now, do I throw in my EJ and box?...

Seriously, you have to ask this?? 

Only an insane person would fix the EA! 

Since the EJ and box is almost plug and play in this instance why wouldn’t you?! 

Cheers 

Bennie

I'm stopping in this thread to say thanks to KiwiGL for posting about his repairs and mods. It keeps me inspired to work on mine. I added central locking to all the doors on my 87 DL wagon as well as added a hidden switch to disable the fuel pump.

As for being crazy to repair a EA82? Well, I've been called worse.   I actually enjoy the challenge to daily drive a 35 year old import which is easier to deal with since I have a backup vehicle available.  Everything has limits of course but so far, I'm still rocking the EA82 and enjoying it so far. 

 

15 hours ago, azdave said:

... I'm still rocking the EA82 and enjoying it so far. 

Also I'm doing the same, since 1985 

However, he has everything to go to the dark side EJ route already,

So I wish the best luck. EJ engined old subies feels like another car, by the way...

Kind Regards.

On 12/27/2022 at 3:42 PM, el_freddo said:

Seriously, you have to ask this?? 

Only an insane person would fix the EA! 

Since the EJ and box is almost plug and play in this instance why wouldn’t you?! 

Cheers 

Bennie

Problem is it needs cert if I do that and the vehicle currently doesn't have a warrant of fitness. I instead just pulled the motor and replaced the freeze plug. Managed to do it leaving the cam tower in place. Unfortunately one of the bolt holes for the rocker cover broke so there's now no left front bottom bolt in it... Had to throw a random bolt through the hole in the rocker cover and silicone the gap, looks very hory.

I'll start the EJ swap once I get it WOFed again, though looking at the gearboxes I'll probably have to swap the EA82 PT4WD transfer box onto the EJ PT4WD front case as the shifter setup on the boxes is quite different and I would prefer to keep the EA82 style 4wd shifters to make it look stock. Also need to rebuild the right front CV as the inner CV was destroyed in the crash that wrote off the donor vehicle - I kept the 25 spline Legacy inner CVs so we'll see if they fit the EA82 shaft.

Here's a couple of pics of the busted freeze plug and the replacement. An annoying amount of work for a $5 part.

And after

On 12/31/2022 at 6:55 PM, Loyale 2.7 Turbo said:

Also I'm doing the same, since 1985 

However, he has everything to go to the dark side EJ route already,

So I wish the best luck. EJ engined old subies feels like another car, by the way...

Kind Regards.

Yes, in some ways I like the EA82, it does have a wonderful unique rumble to it, subtly different from the later model engines. It will still eventually be getting an EJ though.

On 12/31/2022 at 3:00 AM, azdave said:

I'm stopping in this thread to say thanks to KiwiGL for posting about his repairs and mods. It keeps me inspired to work on mine. I added central locking to all the doors on my 87 DL wagon as well as added a hidden switch to disable the fuel pump.

As for being crazy to repair a EA82? Well, I've been called worse.   I actually enjoy the challenge to daily drive a 35 year old import which is easier to deal with since I have a backup vehicle available.  Everything has limits of course but so far, I'm still rocking the EA82 and enjoying it so far. 

 

Should add remote control for the central locking! One of the best mods I've done to this car, super cheap to do and dead easy.