ej20 turbo into Brumby (condensed version)

velocityboy · Post by **velocityboy** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 8:51 am

I wasn't going to post this until I finished it and had it running, but I have a snafoo that will not allow me to finish it for a little while. ( tip, be carefull of electric thermo fans they CAN do a lot of damage to fingers) I am not going to go into a lot of detail because there are plenty of postings here om this topic, I am just going to do a short list of parts and mods and that might be helpfull for someone.

Parts used; 1991 Liberty RS GT halfcut (complete good runner)
Early WRX VLSD 4.44 ratio to match the front diff (Ebay)
1988-89 M.P.I L series inner front CV joints. (BCV driveshafts brisbans)
VDO Speed sensor (whittakers speedometer services. NSW )
Could have used another cheaper speed sensor, and I'm sure someone will point that out.
Modified Liberty wiring harness ( AM auto services Qld)
Transmission coller with fan. ( ebay)
Thermo fan ouch! ( mate)
1st gen Outback steering link (sunspares)
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This is how I cut the rails.
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I used 1.6mm zinc sheet to make the new rail peices and full TIG welded them in to get the strength back.
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Modified cross member for up pipe and power rack. I also flattened out the little lump at the top edge of where the engine mount goes so it sites nice and flat. I also welded a bit of extra flat at the front(not pictured) so the enigine mount has plenty to rest on. I used the square WRX type engine mount.
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I turned the tie rod end a bit first before cutting the thread, I though it was a bit too much material to take off with a die nut and result could be a "rough" cut thread. The Liberty rack needed to be machined a bit. The cast aluminium end is too fat to fit the Brumby rack mount properly so I milled it down buy 2mm. There is plenty off material so no worries about strength. You could do this with a file and some time.
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I removed the origanal spare tyre thingy and engine stay and replaced it with this smaller bracket that is out of the way of the intercooler.
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1st gen Outback steering link (bottom) fits straight onto liberty power rack with 2" lift kit in the car.
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Gearbox crossmember I made in place. I adapted a Ford gearbox mount because that's what I had under the bench.
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I wanted to use the radiator out of the Liberty but was way too big so I had to use the Brumby one ( hope it's big enough) Because the Brumby rad has no trans cooler I mounted the cooler under the rear of the tray. It is switched on and off by a thermo switch that is plumbed into the trans oil line.

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 8:55 am

4.444 ratio, transmission cooler, I assume it's an automatic gearbox then? Those things are massive! Must have been a tight squeeze into the MY tunnel?

velocityboy · Post by **velocityboy** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 9:33 am

Ye it is auto. No not an ideal fit but it's OK.

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 10:23 am

Great work. Thanks for putting up the photos of the gearbox crossmember, there is not much info floating around for an EJ auto into MY body.

How is the bonnet and transmission tunnel clearance with the 2 inch lift? and is the amount of lift the minimium you would recomend for an auto gearbox? Im almost ready to swing an ej22 and auto into my brumby for daily duties these next few weeks and this has been the latest head scratcher.

Also what whats the radiator to engine clearance like? are you mounting the thermo fans infront of the radiator or stock fans and shrouds between the engine and rad? Did you consider cutting out the brumby and using the liberty radiator support panel while doing the engine bay body work?

thanks

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 10:33 am

Have to say one of the neater chassis rail modifications around!

Looks good...keep the pics coming please.

Post by **TOONGA** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 10:38 am

that looks really good all round

well done

TOONGA

78sti · Post by **78sti** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:03 am

Very nice work! I love that gearbox x-member.

The radiator should be ok but you can get a triple core to fit the standard brumby tanks and also I got them to put baffles in the tanks that forces the coolant to flow across the face 3 times making it work much more efficiently.

Another way to do the tie rods is to use gen 1 tie rod ends as they are much shorter, nothing wrong with what you have done though.

I like what you have done with the oil cooler it is a good idea. This is what I will do if I ever decide to put ac in my ute as I have no room in front of the radiator due to the fmic.

Cheers

Troy

spambo · Post by **spambo** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 12:24 pm

car looks great vvery clean and tidy mods, just a question i have been wondering about i live in nsw and we aren't allowed to modifiy any chasis rail so i had to use a twin cam motor not quad cam is this the case in qld or is it just a case of hope the engineer doesn't notice?

78sti · Post by **78sti** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 1:08 pm

In qld you would only need a engineer if you modify the chasis. Most mechanics that do rwc inspections also do `blue plate' mods.

Usually if it is done neatly it is not noticed it can be approved with just a mod plate.

Anyway that is how it worked when I did my ute.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 1:40 pm

Don't hold it against me, but can we see your fingers

velocityboy · Post by **velocityboy** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 2:12 pm

Thanks for the kind comments guys. I 'll answer all your questions in 1 go.
The bonnet clearence is no prob, although a 3 " lift would be ideal because the back of the gearbox is about 20mm lower than I would like it but raising it any further would need the tunnel to be cut and reshaped. I have done enough tunnel mods like that before to not be interested in doing another.
Gearbox to tunnel clearence is VERY tight hence the use of that type of mount to restrict gearbox movmnet. I did use a "dynamic interface correction device" (hammer) to adjust tight spots.
Radiator to engine is annoyingly tight and I can't use any factory fans. I am useing 2 10" thin thermo fans mounted on the inside that will only just fit.I need the space in front of rad for the intercooler radiator.
I wanted this to be as easy as possable a conversion so I only thought about cutting the radiator support for about 3 nano seconds.If the Brumby radiator dosen't do the job I'll rethink it then.
The guy who is going to mod plate the ute is not worried about the rail cut because it's not real a chassis rail.
Steptoe I did think about putting a pic of my fingers up as reminder to us all of how easy it is to hurt yourself doing this sort of stuff but it is just too groosome. I lost the end of my ring finger and got 12 stitches in my pinky.Who would have thought a 10" thermo fan could do that?

velocityboy · Post by **velocityboy** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 2:26 pm

A better pic of gearbox crossmember
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Clearence around brake cylinder.I really wanted to keep the heat sheild so it was worth the time to get it to fit.I was also able to keep the origanal Liberty cat,it is massive and I held no hope that it would fit but it does. That will keep the mod plate guy happy.(img)

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78sti · Post by **78sti** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 2:43 pm

I lost the end of my ring finger and got 12 stitches in my pinky

Ouch!!! that must of hurt!

I have had 2 very close calls with fingers (damaged but not lost) with a nail gun and rip saw and now have a much higher respect for them.

velocityboy · Post by **velocityboy** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:38 am

[quote="78sti"]Ouch!!! that must of hurt!

I have had 2 very close calls with fingers (damaged but not lost) with a nail gun and rip saw and now have a much higher respect for them.[/QUOTE

Allways got to have safety in mind I guess. One little laps of concentration and it means weeks of not being able to do much.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:44 am

Looking very good there. Should be a real neat conversion once you're done!

Keep the pics coming!

Cheers

Bennie

velocityboy · Post by **velocityboy** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 12:40 pm

I took the Brumby for it's first test drive today. Couple of things need fixing, the rack ends are to long and I can't get enough toe in ( maybe about 10mm shorter each end will do the trick) My "perefect condition" Ebay diff would have to be the noisiest I've ever heard. The gearbox has some issues, I'm hopeing they with resolve them selves as it is getting a little better the more I drive it. It has sat in the half cut for years so we'll see how it goes. Other than that it's all good, power steer is great and everything else works as it should. Just a little advise, the best thing I did was to get AM auto servies to do the wiring harness. I don't know these guys personally but they were very helpful and did a good job, money well spent.
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This is how I mounted the ECU and gearbox computer.
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YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 5:02 pm

Ok I think I'm beginning to itch! Just need a brumby and a half cut of my own

Vb, got any pics of how the brumby's looking at the moment? Got the crossbred kit in it?

Keep up the good work!

Cheers

Bennie

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 5:48 pm

This conversion is full of win.

You should proud of your efforts

AM Auto has an awesome reputation making life easy(er) for those that convert.

PS - would dearly like to see the injured fingers!

velocityboy · Post by **velocityboy** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 6:11 pm

Just figured out that diffs make less noise with oil in them, d'oh! I'm real happy with the car now, everything has setteled in and is working great. Fixed the toe problem, now steers like a car instead of a truck. Gearbox is good now, it shifts hard into second and occasiounally cherps the tyres into second. I had installed the speed sensor incorrectly and I think it was making the gearbox do the wrong things, but now it seems to have more power and that's always good. Looking forward to my first 4wd outing now.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 6:15 pm

I'm interested to know what sort of brakes you're running or going to be running

Cheers

Bennie