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Hey guys,i've decided to bite the bullet and start the transference of my Vortex running gear over to the L series parts wagon. The Vortex was running a ej22 and i think a liberty box ( anyone familiar with Shufbug's old Vortex,well that is the one).I say was,because the engine was removed earlier in the year to do a few upgrades.
I decided to swap the seats (as the touring wagon already had a matching blue interior) and didn't do my homework after realizing the rails are a different length,which was a shame as they suited the look.Not to worry,we have some different seats with custom made mounts in the process,so all good.I swapped over the drivers side rear control arm,the shocks,lowered springs and brakes,mostly because my wheel bearing was knackered,the shock was gone and my contol arm was mangled (poor previous bearing installation by other owner).I wondered why the car wasn't sitting as low as i thought it might,when i realized they were 2 wheel drive shocks .
Doesn't matter on to other things we went,i slid the old damaged control arm back onto the shaft of the Vortex (just to roll it around) and realized maybe the control arms carried a different bearing size as it did not want to slide on fully.Wondering if this is the case and even though the control arm fitted nice n snug on the '89 Touring wagon's shaft,maybe i should swap it back to the Vortex and get the correct one ,seeing i will have to buy another one eventually for the Vortex.
The other thing i'm concerned about is whether or not the front cross member will need to be swapped as i am going the turbo route and have already got an after market stainless manifold and up pipe for the spare ej25 that will be going in .Are the cross members a compatible bolt in deal and what other things do i have to watch out for when performing the swap (eg will the custom tail-shaft for the vortex be the right length for the wagon).Wow that is a bombardment of information sought !
If anyone could save me some grief i would be much appreciative.

Back from the dead ! Funny, I fitted up rear shocks and springs from my FWD Vortex to my AWD Vortex and it sat so low something wanted go CRUNCH as I let the jack down. Looked nice and low, but too low - you go fit FWD rears and sits to high ??

Howsabout you measure rear shock from centre of bottom bolt hole to bottom spring perch in mm ? The spring in it, colour ? factory black ? any id blobs/paint daubs on them ? wire thickness ?? I think FWD rears were 9mm, sedan RX 10mm , and wagons 11mm wire thickness.

Lost on your cross member questions.....you wanna know if Vortex engine cross member and L Series engine cross members are the same and interchangeable ?

Vortex = running gear and suspension will cross over to L series without an issue.

Interior, AFAIK nothing swaps over easily.

All panels are different. Really at the end of the day the drive train, suspension and struts are the same as L series. Also AFAIK the same "rules" apply to Vortex rear struts as they do with the L series rear struts...

Cheers

Bennie

Thanks Bennie,my main concern is the front cross-member,from what i've read a turbo manifold for a ej20/25 won't clear the wagon's as it's a different shape and RX turbo/vortex front members are ok ,basically any car that came with a ea82 turbo is suitable ,non turbo = no go.It will be a shame to remove the mpfi '82 in it because it is incredibly clean,has been rebuilt 30k ago and does not drip a single drop of coolant or oil.Decisions,decisions....Maybe i'll just give it to someone who needs it .

A few pics of the toys,if anyone needs a project or 2,i'm open to suggestions.The engines out of the vortex at the moment,but if someone wants it i have 2 ej22's and a 25.At this stage i don't want to part with any engines.I have 6 cars and unfortunately i can't do everything.

steptoe wrote:Back from the dead ! Funny, I fitted up rear shocks and springs from my FWD Vortex to my AWD Vortex and it sat so low something wanted go CRUNCH as I let the jack down. Looked nice and low, but too low - you go fit FWD rears and sits to high ??

Howsabout you measure rear shock from centre of bottom bolt hole to bottom spring perch in mm ? The spring in it, colour ? factory black ? any id blobs/paint daubs on them ? wire thickness ?? I think FWD rears were 9mm, sedan RX 10mm , and wagons 11mm wire thickness.

Lost on your cross member questions.....you wanna know if Vortex engine cross member and L Series engine cross members are the same and interchangeable ?

Yeah she's lower for sure,but only by an inch or so i reckon,hard to tell though because the old shock didn't have much juice left in it,and the car wanted to roll around corners,not good! I'm thinking the spring came out of a different car,i think i read somewhere Shuffbag may have used a 180sx spring or something similar,had issues with the coil-over set up but retained the spring from the coil-overs,could be wrong.Been awhile since ive had a good thorough read of his build.The Vortex did corner pretty well compared to the wagon,and i always thought it would be nice to have the feel and go of the Vortex.Hope your enjoying the Skyline,i'm sure its a world apart from the RX,can't beat modern technology.