The Ruby Project

[Alex]

Weren't quadcam N/A EJ22's were in some Gen2 Liberties? Alex might remember, I believe he actually looked at buying one for one of his many replacement EJ22 engines.

I rekon a rear strut brace will make a world of difference to knock out alot of the body flex. Body flex is also what causes the standard braces to separate from the roof. I can feel a huge difference putting one in in my Legacy wagon has made, and that's just while cornering on the road. An offroader it will probably help heaps. Only problem is that it's quite annoying having a big piece of metal stuck right across your rear boot space! Also you'd have to be abit creative mounting it in an L series without any rear strut tops inside.

I think the voting is not coming from actual experience. Just the old "more cubes=more power" mentality. People claiming the EJ22 is so much more torquey and powerful than the EJ20 and thus voting so....I wonder have you got hands on experience driving both engines in the exact same car? I don't think there is bugger-all difference really.
I really think the benefits of a much younger, lower kms, and probably more easily available engine would outweigh the benefits of a puny 200cc extra capacity.

cant remember...but it does ring a bell the later ej22s being quad cam.

Id go ej22 becuase theyre cheaper and readily avavilable. I have a ej20 in my liberty running awd and its much heavier than a l-series. I dragged a l-series with ej22 and it was neck and neck, just to put things into perspective.

alex

[RSR 555]

Weren't quadcam N/A EJ22's were in some Gen2 Liberties? Alex might remember, I believe he actually looked at buying one for one of his many replacement EJ22 engines.

I rekon a rear strut brace will make a world of difference to knock out alot of the body flex. Body flex is also what causes the standard braces to separate from the roof. I can feel a huge difference putting one in in my Legacy wagon has made, and that's just while cornering on the road. An offroader it will probably help heaps. Only problem is that it's quite annoying having a big piece of metal stuck right across your rear boot space! Also you'd have to be abit creative mounting it in an L series without any rear strut tops inside.

I think the voting is not coming from actual experience. Just the old "more cubes=more power" mentality. People claiming the EJ22 is so much more torquey and powerful than the EJ20 and thus voting so....I wonder have you got hands on experience driving both engines in the exact same car? I don't think there is bugger-all difference really.
I really think the benefits of a much younger, lower kms, and probably more easily available engine would outweigh the benefits of a puny 200cc extra capacity.

Nope.. EJ22 was never available as a quadcam NA.. EJ20 was tho.. early 89 to 91 Liberty JDM only.

Yes.. I know what you're saying with the early and late engines and I'm not using "more cubes=more power" mentality.. it's like I wrote in my first post, lots of reasons like the easy of replacement parts, cost of initial conversion, tried and tested, etc.. and I'm quiet saddened to think you believe people here are not voting from experiance but that's you prerogative.

I don't want to start an online war as I really not fussed which way Wagonman wishes to go I'm just going from experiance like I'm sure most others are.

[Subafury]

roof pop ftw.

welcome mate.

$2k should cover an ej swap. i think i spent about that on my 22.

[AndrewT]

I don't doubt your experience Paul lol, I just always question voting in general because usually the reasons behind voting aren't based on proper experience or balanced opinions. Look at what happens with our government voting :P
Ah yeah thats right...I think it was an EJ20 n/a that Alex was looking at.

[spike]

this isnt the same ruby for sale on gumtree is it??

[RSR 555]

I don't doubt your experience Paul lol, I just always question voting in general because usually the reasons behind voting aren't based on proper experience or balanced opinions. Look at what happens with our government voting :P
Ah yeah thats right...I think it was an EJ20 n/a that Alex was looking at.

hahaha.. yeah I think you're right there about the gov

I also have a nice factory EJ22 SOHC Turbo engine that would go nicely in a L but I think someone has their eyes on it

[AndrewT]

but I think someone has their eyes on it

tyre kicking pipe dreams which will never happen.....:P

[Wagonman]

I can see there are many good reasons to go for either one of the EJ options. I guess it will come down to how deep my pockets are at the time i start looking for the donor..

As for the roof popping.. the roof has come apart from the supports which as GOD said is cause by it coming off the braces. however the roof panel has also sagged down so i'll fix something up to hold it up.

Back to the reason for my thread.. this week i sent the cylinder heads off and im getting them faced and pressure tested. I forgot to tell the guy that one spark plug hole was cross threaded and if he could do anything about it. Anyone got any ideas? The engine ran before so it should run again but i would like to fix the issue..

[D3V1L]

tyre kicking pipe dreams which will never happen.....:P

much like MW efforts

[guyph_01]

I had the same problem with my roof when i cranked up my two 12 inch subs in my car, The roof would wobble like crazy and make heaps of noise. When i did my roof liner cloth, i used the foam that you buy at bunnings that hardens when left to set to fill the gap between the roof and the supports. It helped 70%. Im happy with the result.

Was cheap, $15:)

[Wagonman]

Hey a few quick questions on a 3 inch lift kit..

i bought this one from adamb and i would like some help identifying the parts and to see if i got all of them..
The parts i have are apart from the steering extension..

2 x long 3" blocks: engine cross member mounts
front and rear strut spacers.
*4 x 3" long blocks. i think i need 6?? for in front and behind the rear axle and the diff hanger?
*2 x 3" blocks ???
*2 x 3" C shape blocks ???
*6 x 2" blocks ??? im prity certian they are for the part that the radius rod joins onto but why are they 2"?
*2 x 1" solid little blocks.

* means one of them is in the photo i attached.

if you understood what i tried to explain. any help would be awesome.

cheers
wagonman

[Wagonman]

Over this long week i got quite a bit done.

Earlier I had my cylinder heads faced, pressure tested and something with the valves to make them seal.. Anyway i put one side of my engine together. I forgot about the ruined spark plug hole and atm i dont have the tools to fix it yet so the engine had to wait til another weekend.

I worked on finding out how many nuts and bolts i need to get for the lift kit install. I dropped the rear diff down to aid getting the fuel tank out for cleaning and to get the lift kit in. I also dropped the front cross member and gearbox down.

At some point in ruby's life the master cylinder had leaked and taken all the paint off the booster and chassis below it so I removed the master cylinder and booster and will be sanding down and repainting another time.

I started cleaning out an old little shed in the back corner of our property to make into a painting booth so i can paint and not worry about the over spray or it getting rained on etc.. I put a light in and small make shift shelf but I still need to move some more stuff out, sweep it out and cover the paint area.

[justin35]

try a tap and dye set for your head,,you may be able to re thread it if not to bad if not take it to your local mechanic and he should be able to helicoil it.the put in a new thread .(its actually cheap)i voted ej22 from experience.i have owned and driven both ej20na,ej22na in a liberty and the 20 goes well and revs hard but the 22 does go better (in my opionen).Did you have a steering extension for your kit if not heres a little trick..optain yourself 2 steering nuckles(cant remember if its p/steer nuckles or not but you will no by the lenght required) and simply cut the end of another steering column(the end spline) ,place this in the middle of the 2 nuckles,,,(you will need to grind the piece of steering shaft that the bolt goes thru to clamp them together)then put onto your steering column,,this can be used from 2" to 3" lifts and i have done this many times,,

[Wagonman]

Hey.

I managed to get my cylinder head's spark plug hole tapped out at work so thats sorted and i have painted various engine parts and put it all together almost.. should be going back in soon.

I have installed all the lift kit blocks but i'm keen to clarify about the steering extension for a manual rack justin35? Do i get a l series steering column and cut the end off and put it inbetween the two steering uni joints?

Currently working on the roof lining and console and have marine carpet ready to lay on the floor.

Will post more pics of engine later.

[Wagonman]

Just got some pics of the painted brake booster and the 3" lift and heavy duty suspension in the rear.

[Wagonman]

I got her back on her wheels last weekend so that i could move her to clean up the mess a few windy nights made aorund my work area..

I have all the struts in and now i just have to put in the sway bar that i just got from Guyph.

Sent my front brake calipers to WA brake fabricators to get them overhauled and painted this afty and will post pics of them when i get them back tomorrow.

This weekend i have to spend my time on my daily drive l series, lizzie. Just did an oil change to 40-70 in the hope of stopping the oil leak with the thicker oil and instead i lost it all in 5 days.. i change to 20 50 and is still pissing out but as bad. Im pretty sure its the RH cam seal and rocker cover that are leaking. i have a spare cam seal so i'll whack that in and hope for the best that it stems the flow a bit!

[Wagonman]

I got my brake calipers back the other day and slapped them on but i lost all but one of the brake hose retainer clips.. have no idea how. probably put them somewhere and forgot where.. So i have to get some soon..

I've also been working on the steering extension for the 3" lift kit. I ended up cutting out the straight part of a broken swaybar i had and grounded it down to slide into the original uni joints. Then i tightened the bolts and it seems to hold but i will be getting it welded to be sure..

[Wagonman]

I finished off the brakes the other day and they look very nice, pity no one will see them behind the sunraysias though hehe..

Also got the steering extension welded. i havent put it in yet but i think my amature engineers skills will prevail and all will be well.

Looking forward to putting in the engine soon.. this weekend is a right off but most likely next weekend given i sort out getting an engine crane by then!

[Wagonman]

I haven't update on here for a long time cos i kinda forgot to but now i cant sleep so i thought i would use my time effectively rather than fail at sleeping.

Since i last wrote on here I have put the engine in! finally! Hooked it all up and adjusted the clutch and go cables. I started her up for the first time and 1 yr and she started first pop. i was very impressed. But the noiseyness from no oil in the cylinder heads did not subside so i figured something was amiss. Turns out the oil pump needed priming.. learning something new everyday. So primed that the way Steptoe prescribed: by shoving a hose down the offest hole in the where the oil filter screws on and squirting oil in. Did the job no worries. the ticking is still there but the overall noise is alot less now. I assume the lash adjusters just need some running in to get all the air out of them?? i hope.
After i got it running noticed coolant coming in the cabin. surprise surprise the heater core is leaking. Dont have time to fix it atm so i bypassed it for another day.

Outside the car i still have put the headlights, side panels etc on and rip the bullbar from my current drive car and put that on and rig up the indicators, spotties and thermofans. I need to put on the 215/65R14s on white sunraisers?? that i got from Guyph01 as with most of the parts i needed.. Thanks Guy! Install the flares and make sure the wheels dont scrub the splash guards too much.

In the cabin i have put new marine carpet on the floor which looks great and I am currently getting kick panels laser cut from 0.9mm stainless steel.. should look nice. I have to properly mount the water temp and oil pressure guages that just hooked up roughly to keep an eye on the engine after the oil pump mishap. I will be putting the front seats in soon and at least then i can drive it. After its driving on the road i can start designing and building the rest of the roof lining/console that i have completely changed and also sort out a decent stereo. just a headunit and two 6" to start with before i re-model the door skins later..

Im going on a holiday to esperance in feb so thats the due date to have it ready to run! possibly running a little later then i would like but making good progress.

Then when i get back.. start the new project of this car.. the EJ conversion.

Wagonman

[Wagonman]

The last two weekends i had a good run and worked on Ruby solidly.

I have re-cut the bullbar (off a brumby) to make it fit the L a bit better and not look so dodgy from the last time we did it and generally cleaned it up while it was off and painted the indicator protectors and then put it on.

I fitted the flares all round.

Replaced the rear wheel cylinders and gave them a good clean out and painted the drums with left over caliper paint.

I also bought two roof racks and bought a 91 liberty awd with an almost gone clutch for $700. woo.. only thing is that the interior is such good nick that it would be a shame to strip it! its still got rego til april so i might drive it until then and start the conversion process when the rego runs out.
But i have to find the time to pull the motor and see what is going on with the clutch.. probably needs a new clutch disc and pressure plate.. second hand one maybe??

Ruby is soo close to driving. sorting out insurance first and a few details to take care of but she should be good to go in two weeks