Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

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El_Freddo
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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by El_Freddo » Wed Dec 30, 2020 8:22 pm

Top effort SB!

When welding Y pipes like ours, it’s a good idea to bolt an appropriate length of rod/pipe between the two exhaust flanges to help keep them in place.

As for exhaust size, I’d be going for 2 inch maximum with an EA81 (or EA82!). I have a 2.25 inch on the EJ22 and I reckon this is a bit big - because I think my exhaust blew out most of the guts of the muffler a long time ago. Engine could be a bit tired with this crap I’ve put it through...

It’ll be interesting to see how the collector being bigger effects the engine performance. Exhaust building is a true science in itself!

With the collector, they way I’ve done mine and the way I saw a professional exhaust builder do it, was to hammer the two edges that meet flat, then run a weld up that flat edge on both pipes so you effectively end up with two “D” shapes welded together back to back. After that, stretch a piece of pipe to go over the two pipes that are welded together. This bit isn’t easy without a machine, so mine will be a “super pretty” (read: brutal) sliced piece of pipe with infills to complete the widened section - once I get around to it.

I’m looking forward to the rest of your exhaust build, especially the bit where you fire it up to hear the note. It will change shortly after a few thousand kms, then slower as the muffler ages etc - it helps to keep water out of them too, but you shouldn’t have any issues with this!

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Sat Jan 30, 2021 6:32 pm

it’s a good idea to bolt an appropriate length of rod/pipe between the two exhaust flanges to help keep them in place.
I thought of this after I'd already welded it, d'oh :oops:
As for exhaust size, I’d be going for 2 inch maximum with an EA81 (or EA82!). I have a 2.25 inch on the EJ22 and I reckon this is a bit big - because I think my exhaust blew out most of the guts of the muffler a long time ago. Engine could be a bit tired with this crap I’ve put it through...
Had a chat online with the supplier I was getting the parts from (they build exhausts too) Super helpful they were too, I told him what the engine was displacement wise, max RPM, expected maximum HP. He thought 2.5" would have been fine but said if it was him he would go no lower than 2.25". So I decided to go with 2.25" for the rest of the system. Ordered another haul of mandrel bends and what not, and with pipe in hand I think 2.25" looks just about right somehow.

Along with that lot I ordered a "hot dog" resonator and spent hours agonizing over which muffler to get. I really wanted a chambered/OEM style of a decent size because I don't want it to be super loud. Seems like when you're buying aftermarket mufflers, chambered/OEM style does not exist because all suppliers just assume you want straight through performance type. There were some options from the USA but super expensive and none in full stainless construction which I wanted. So I decided on an X-force muffler which I was led to believe was straight through but with a chamber in the middle. When it turned up though it was just perforated pipe from one end to the other stuffed with fiberglass, and smaller than I was expecting...so I guess it could turn out loud after all :roll:

Enough text, here's some update pics from the last 2 days work. It's the center section from Y pipe to the muffler. Not quite finished yet, haven't quite worked out how to meet up to the muffler with the pipe I've got left (that thing in the pics below is the hot dog) There will be another V band joiner just before the muffler as well. For this section though it has turned out quite well, better than I expected actually :)

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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by El_Freddo » Sun Jan 31, 2021 8:19 pm

Tidy work mate!

With the rear muffler, throw a V band before it so you can easily swap it out if you need to. And if you don’t like the noise level, do some research on muffler construction then make your own! ;)

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Sat Feb 06, 2021 12:06 pm

Yep have done another V band just before the muffler, I've already needed to take the whole system apart numerous times...bad bad times ahead

I got some gasket material and made some new custom gaskets for the enormous exhaust ports on this engine, went to bolt up the exhaust manifold for what I thought was the last time, got the high temp silicone on there and bolted it up. Was doing the nuts up to spec (25 Nm) got to the last one and...
*SNAP*
:evil:
Took the manifold off again, destroyed my new gaskets, bugger bugger bugger. Stud was snapped off flush with the head so I drilled a 3mm hole through the middle and managed to get the stud out some how. Bad news is the helicoil wire came with it, no chance to re-helicoil the thread as the hole was too damaged/wallered out. Fantastic. Next plan was to drill for M12 thread, use a solid steel threaded bush with an M8 thread through the middle. Went to drill tapping size for M12, drill bounces off a steel set screw that someone had put in from the side, revealing someone had also already repaired this hole with a bushing...of 15mm aluminium round bar and JB weld :evil: :evil:
Managed to dig out what was left of the round bar, the set screw, cleaned out the hole with a wire brush in the Dremel, to find the JB weld was hiding a 15mm hole straight through into the crank case :evil: :evil: :evil:

That is an intake pushrod you can see through the hole. Cylinder head is going to have to come off to fix this. Can't wait to take the entire top of the engine apart :roll: This engine has already been rebuilt twice since the distributor gear broke after the first rebuild.
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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by El_Freddo » Sat Feb 06, 2021 7:11 pm

Holy shit Sam! Heart sinking feeling I bet :cry: :cry: :cry:

Before removing the head, what is the planned fix for this? And are you sure that isn’t the coolant jacket (not that a coolant jacket is any better than the oil drain passage).

I’m wondering if you don’t have to pull the head to fix this. Can you make up some weird stud that’s a larger diametre at one end and the normal exhaust stud size at the other end, then helicoil the head for the oversized diametre? Use some loctite glue (the hard non-remove stuff) to hold it all in place good and proper while providing a seal to the inside world of your engine.

No one would have to know about the fix - but if this isn’t up to your standard then best to go with what you’ll be so happy with.

Good idea to check the other studs and possibly do them all the same to avoid more of this later down the track.

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Mon Feb 08, 2021 7:14 pm

OK OK, crisis averted (luckily!) The thread is repaired without taking the head off, the exhaust manifold is now bolted up and torq'ed to spec.

So the 15mm chasm in the head, turns out it is the perfect size to tap a 5/8" UNF thread. So a steel plug was made up by the engineer I know (knowing someone with a lathe is worth a million bucks) 5/8" UNF on the outside, M10x1.25 on the inside. The tap cut the thread with no problems, the bush went in beautifully, drowned in loc-tite and trimmed, filed flush with the mounting face. Then the M10 stud was also drowned in loc-tite and done up snug (no too tight)

Benny - I did replace the studs on the drivers side head, somehow those threads were intact and in good condition, just cleaned them up and loc-tite on the studs, all sweet. The passenger side head is the trouble maker, it already had studs in it which I attempted and failed to extract so decided to leave them be. Well of course one of them snapped hence this drama. All good now, may be starting the engine this week to see how she sounds with the new exhaust :twisted:

On another happy note, I got my twin carb air cleaner box vapor blasted before I paint it. Looks a million bucks, almost good enough to clear coat the bare steel :mrgreen:

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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:52 pm

That stud was the main hold up, since it's fixed I was able to finish of the exhaust :mrgreen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8Y0pY_ ... e=youtu.be

A longer vid is coming soon this was just a quick clip

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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by El_Freddo » Tue Feb 09, 2021 9:59 pm

Glad that turned out to be an easy fix Sam! Your large mate must be worth his weight in gold!

Exhaust sounds alright on the video (would be better in person). It should sound better once the exhaust pipe is at operational temp too.

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Thu Feb 11, 2021 6:46 pm

Will sound better with engine up to temp, exhaust system up to temp, engine broken in, exhaust broken in :roll:
Looking back at the footage and the sound, it kinda reminds me of how the old car/old engine used to sound with the original exhaust and blown out muffler, but louder and "meaner" maybe? I dunno, if it turns out to be too loud to live with I will swap that muffler out for something bigger and chambered I think.

Today and yesterday I painted up the newly cleaned air box and rocker covers with engine enamel, VHT "GM blue" SP135. It is darker than the paint on the stock air box but almost exactly the same as the darker color on the rocker covers. Still looks mint, color matched air box and rocker covers AND brand new OEM style stickers for the air box and elsewhere in the engine bay :mrgreen: Silly me forgot to take photos of it all today, they'll come tomorrow.

Looking ahead to what is next, I can't help but think to move forward now I really need to register it for the road :mrgreen: Found the old rego slip from when it last lapsed (2013 :oops: ) looked it up online, I could register it today with no inspections needed no problems. Also need current rego to request new number plates. Front bumper/bull bar is a bit of an issue, thinking I'll get a stock bar of some description just so I can drive it while I figure out what to do with the ally bull bar I have for it (the ally bar is seriously beaten up but a unique design which I like) Tires are another issue, the ones on there now are 205 wide profile which is too wide considering the wheels are plus 50(!!) offset, the rear wheels have 6mm spacers in there just to stop the tire rubbing the shock absorber. The wheels themselves are another issue, the aforementioned plus 50 offset is just silly and too close to the rear shock. I'm thinking I might get away with it with 195/80/R15 all terrains, they shouldn't rub. Otherwise my only option is buy steel wheels and get them completely modified (width and offset) Of all the steel wheels out there I am limited to a grand total of one (1) design option :cry: Seems nobody makes 4WD steel wheels with 4x114.3 stud pattern with a positive offset larger than 12.
But enough rambling :roll:

Here's the longer vid with a full tour if anyone is interested ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFqEZX2Vgjg

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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Sat Feb 13, 2021 9:21 pm

Pics of the air box and rocker covers painted/installed. Also you can see the reproduction foil stickers on the air box, OEM style care of https://boxerbeauty.com/
He's got lots of other OEM style stickers for EA71 vehicles, EA81, L series, Vortex, Liberty etc.

Waiting on some new hose for the crank case breather/PCV system. That stuff is hard to come by and expensive, $50 for 2 metres! And no shop in Adelaide had it in stock, soonest ETA was 3 weeks or something stupid so I bought it from ebay slightly cheaper.

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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by El_Freddo » Sun Feb 14, 2021 1:48 pm

Looking good Sam. Video was a good overview of the vehicle except for the interior ;) ;)

Have you considered modding the exhaust tip to sit a bit lower to avoid any rattling when the exhaust pipe moves? I reckon it sits too close.

Otherwise for your first exhaust build you’ve certainly nailed it!

Do you have a time this year that you would like to have the wagon finished by?

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:23 pm

Have you considered modding the exhaust tip to sit a bit lower to avoid any rattling when the exhaust pipe moves? I reckon it sits too close.
Yeah you are right it does rattle, that's another thing that moved during welding :roll: When I had it tacked up the tip was much further down, fully welding the pipe seems to have pulled it up. It's a simple fix, I'll just cut a slit somewhere between the tip and the muffler and bend it down, then weld up the slit.
Do you have a time this year that you would like to have the wagon finished by?
I'd really love to have it close to fully complete by August, that's the month it was manufactured 40 years ago this year. Also I found the original owners manual and warranty schedule, service schedule booklet which had my parents as the new owners in September 81', so I think we'll have to have some sort of family get together/BBQ in September this year :biggrin:

(but between you and me) I had a clear driveway today with no cars in the way, there was couple of litres of fuel in the tank and I just couldn't help myself :mrgreen: So today marked the first time she's been out of the driveway under he own power in close to 8(!) years! Just went up and down our street a few times (no number plates yet) it was a bit surreal actually. Happy to say it seems to drive absolutely fine, except my custom tacho is reading precisely half of actual engine speed and the alternator charge light stays on even though the alternator is charging. Big grin on my face for the rest of the day though :mrgreen:

Some pics of other progress today; got a good chrome fuel filler flap and re-painted the black areas. It looks a bit rough still because the die cast alloy seems to be corroding(?) in some places causing a pimple of oxide to burst through. Still looks fine though I think.

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Also got the emblems and logos back on the fenders and rear gate, the black parts were re-painted and I tried out some "liquid chrome" paint pen on the fender logos, turned out alright.

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And lastly I finally plumbed up the air lines for the rear air-shocks and put some air in them (no pics of that) the rear does indeed go up and down with the air pressure now, custom fender gap FTW

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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Thu Feb 25, 2021 4:00 pm

Spent the last few days mounting the front bullbar properly with a hodge-podge of the original mounting brackets welded onto the brackets that were on the bar when I got it. This involved lots of grinding and welding. The ally bar was (still is) in pretty horrible condition, every square mm has dents and scratches of some description. It had huge cracks in one side when I got it, needed to weld those up with the TIG. The bar is also twisted from side to side so the part on the drivers side where it wraps around the side sits higher and is not level, I can't fix this. Also spent about 2 days cleaning and polishing it to distract from the glaring problems.

Why did I bother putting this much effort into a scrap bullbar? 2 reasons, first it is a unique design which has the front posts angle backwards, sort of "wraps" around the front of the car, I've never seen another one like this. Second as it turns out it is the matching bar for the rear bar/wheel carrier that I bought from JP147 years ago. Somehow it turned up at a local U-pull-it and I grabbed it not even realizing at the time that it used to belong to JP147.

I'm thinking this bar is only temporary until I can find a SubaXtreme alloy bar, if ever. It actually looks half decent from a distance, just don't look too closely :lol:
So with that the "look" of the car is complete and I pushed it out into the sun for some piccys. If anyone can remember what it looked like before I started this mammoth project, this is a huge difference.

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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by El_Freddo » Thu Feb 25, 2021 4:10 pm

Looks good Sam!

Have you thought about taking the bar to a panel beating shop to counter twist it back straight?

The blue looks very minty! A far cry from the original silver that I remember in the early pics (and you avatar)!

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by TOONGA » Sun Feb 28, 2021 7:44 am

Looking really good congratulations Sam

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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Sun Apr 18, 2021 6:48 pm

So today was the day I got sick of waiting for the wheel shop, I installed longer wheel studs in the rear hubs so I could run a 6mm spacer "safely". This stopped the tire rubbing on the shocks. This is a temporary solution just while I wait for my final wheels to be completed. So with that done the car was ready to drive safely...and that I did :mrgreen: Put 10L of 98 RON in the tank and off we go...

First proper shakedown, a 10 minute drive around the local side streets, 500m or so on a major main road up to 60km/h. I did a few runs in a high-ish gear from low revs to put some load on the engine, help bed the piston rings in. And I can safely say all is well...pretty much ;) There were a few little niggles:

- Heater hose started pissing coolant onto the exhaust 5 minutes in, turning the heater tap off stopped this. Need to replace that hose.
- Engine idle is all over the place when the car is warmed up, hunting high and low. The carbies need a proper tune
- Coolant gauge in the dash didn't work, maybe just a loose wire or the temp sensor is faulty.
- Throttle seems to get stuck open when the car is warmed up, "pulling" on the accelerator pedal didn't bring it down again, I think something is getting stuck in the linkages of the twin carbies.
- Gearbox has a slight whining sound to it in 1st/2nd...but then I think I remember Dads L series did this as well, is it just normal for L series boxes?
- Valve clearances need adjusting, they were very annoyingly noisy by the end.

Other than that she actually is a pleasure to drive :mrgreen: Pretty much everything just worked (apart from above) it handled great considering the wheels aren't aligned properly yet. The power steering is mint :biggrin: There is plenty of power but I can tell the ignition map needs to be tuned properly, around 2-3k rpm I can tell she has more to give but the ignition isn't perfect. The timing map is just something I guessed/threw together based on the graph from the FSM, needs a dyno tune to get it spot on.

The suspension, man is it comfortable :biggrin: Big bumps upwards or pot holes downwards, there is the initial bump but then it just settles immediately, those monroe air adjustable shocks are a thing to behold. The brakes took a few stomps to start working properly, but then there was a lot of rust built up on the discs all around. They worked pretty good by the end.

What else...oh the exhaust sounds fantastic :mrgreen: it certainly has some volume but I don't think it is too loud at all, at least not from inside the car. And anything off idle it literally sounds like a WRX. Dad was following close behind me and didn't even notice the noise level, his windows were up though.

So it's going to be hard to go to work all this week with this beauty sitting in the drive at home, just want to drive and drive and drive some more :mrgreen:

Here's a shaky sneak peak video, I'll have to do a proper video soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj6i8etPA10

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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by El_Freddo » Sun Apr 18, 2021 8:04 pm

We need a like button! That’s awesome Sam, I bet you were grinning from ear to ear!

The issues you list seems to be relatively small, most annoying but necessary is that dump time for the timing - that could be part of the fluctuating idle too.

I’ll check out the video later. Stoked to hear it’s had a small shake down run now!

Today must be a car day, I’ve got an update on the RS, nothing too exciting (not at all actually, more stripping it down) and I know Subarino was at a Subi day in Perth somewhere... Toonga might have attended too..?

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Sat Apr 24, 2021 6:57 pm

Today was another fun day :razz: I spent the morning addressing a few of the issues from last week namely:
- Adjusted the valve clearances, they were waaaayy too loose
- Looped a hose onto the heater tap to isolate the leaking hose, I have some new heater hoses on order
- Investigated the non-functioning temp gauge, looks like the sending unit in the manifold is cactus
- Adjusted the carbies into some semblance of idling properly, again whatever they were set at was way off. They still need proper adjustment with the right tool but at least it idles alright now.

I then proceeded to put 40 kms on the trip counter and it felt like the car was getting better and better as I went. I'm still breaking the engine in so changing gear at or below 3k rpm and putting plenty of load on it up hills etc when I can. So after spending some more time behind the wheel some other things have become apparent:

- The gearbox is very secondhand (third hand? who knows) It whines in most gears and the synchro on 3rd doesn't work very well (crunches into 3rd most times) Still plenty drivable but it transmits quite a lot of noise into the cabin.

- Went to put fuel in it, very quickly the bowser cut out and fuel sprayed out and covered my hand, as if the fuel was coming out of the nozzle faster than it could drain into the tank. Could only fill it very slowly. Not sure what I can do about this, it never used to happen and I haven't changed anything in the fuel tank department.

- The exhaust is in fact too loud after all :roll: Had to speak at elevated volumes to the passenger and hands free phone calls were hard to hear. I will be putting a bigger/better muffler on the rear end at some stage. It does sound bloody good though :twisted:

- Again, ignition map is letting it down, I can tell it's not as fast as it could be.


So I would say she is a little "rough around the edges". Needs dialing in to be perfect but for now it is perfectly drivable, it is comfortable to drive and keeps up with traffic no worries. I might be driving it everywhere now :mrgreen:

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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by El_Freddo » Sun Apr 25, 2021 11:24 am

Nice one mate! Once it’s dialled in and run in the fun will really begin!

I too the brumby on a 450km pick a part run with some catch ups with mates in between. Damn I love driving it, especially cruising through the twisties. Sure, it’s not the fast or best handling but it’s lots of fun and is leagues better than the new ute out there ;) ;)

I filled her up this morning. With all the hills and urban traffic she still pulled 10L/100km. Could be better but I’m happy enough with that for a 30 year old vehicle!

Keep up the efforts, you get there before long!

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

Post by Silverbullet » Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:47 pm

El_Freddo wrote:
Sun Apr 25, 2021 11:24 am
Nice one mate! Once it’s dialled in and run in the fun will really begin!

I too the brumby on a 450km pick a part run with some catch ups with mates in between. Damn I love driving it, especially cruising through the twisties. Sure, it’s not the fast or best handling but it’s lots of fun and is leagues better than the new ute out there ;) ;)

I filled her up this morning. With all the hills and urban traffic she still pulled 10L/100km. Could be better but I’m happy enough with that for a 30 year old vehicle!

Keep up the efforts, you get there before long!

Cheers

Bennie
You are right there, I dunno what it is about the old Subis that make them so fun to drive :razz: Even my old ute which is pretty beaten up and slow at this point, I always enjoy driving it. I get about 10L/100km in mine as well with the Weber, but I do think the jets are too rich so it could be improved I think.

And this wagon, put another 30 kilometres on it today and it is definitely getting better and better after each kilometre. The suspension is performing very well so the comfort is great, I even heard some crackling on downshifting into corners, couldn't wipe the smile off my face :mrgreen:

But it wasn't all good today - had my first major breakdown :cry: I was 5 mins from home when I noticed the battery voltage was way down (thanks 6 gauge tacho dash!) so I assumed the alternator was dead. Which wouldn't have been an issue if I wasn't driving with an old battery that can't even hold a charge over night, just haven't got around to replacing it yet. It went from 12v to less than 8v in 2 minutes, found a park to pull off into just as the engine died, and nothing electrical worked so no hazards or indicators.
Popped the bonnet to find the alternator belt had snapped, the remains of it were very brittle and perished so I think it just gave up. There was nothing rubbing up against it.

Lucky there was someone at home I could ring to bring a fresh battery and my spare belt, I had my emergency toolbox in the car so fixed it in under an hour and drove it home again.

So, a new battery and some brand new fresh belts are first on the shopping list now.

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