Ruby Scoo’s epic build, ten years and counting...

[El_Freddo]

Well it's been a while since an update. In the last two weeks nothing has happened on Ruby Scoo. Two reasons for this:

1) I'm working on another L series at the moment to get it on the road for my sister
2) I got a week of work out bush on a school camp.

And an update didn't come earlier as our internet connection was damaged in a severe storm. Good times.

This is where I'm up to with her at the moment, big steps in her looking more together now after lining the floor with aluminium foil so the floor liner wouldn't stick to the sound deadener she's looking like this:



after stuffing around with the wiring for some time to this:



with still more wiring to complete! Now that the shed is dry (flooding) and this other L is going I should be making much better progress during the week. I've been told by The Kez that my deadline (the last one!) is before good friday. I hope it happens before this!

Cheers

Bennie

[Tweety]

At least its progress Bennie.

But that wiring....you can ahve that task.

And now that the area is dry....keep a look out for a alternator mount...for the tweety bird :D:D:D

[The Loyale]

What is with that floor liner? All the EA82s or Subarus for that matter we have hear all have carpeting, that looks like a vinyl floor liner! WOW!

[El_Freddo]

Tweety, you're quite right mate! I just wish that I was further along than I am at the moment. "Dropping" the dash back in was a big step, as was fitting the steering column again. This will now allow me to sort out the remaining wiring changes I've got on the go at the moment

Loyal, all DL models had the vinyl floor. Makes cleaning a breeze!

Really the only issue is that it shrinks over time with the heat we get over here, mine doesn't really fit properly anymore and I would like a new one but I've not seen an aftermarket supply for vinyl flooring, only carpet Oh, and I've got a fair sized hole under the driver's feet where the lazy clutch foot sits on the long drives.

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

Well nothing has happened on Ruby Scoo in some time, but a big step forward has been made - in my opinion anyway!

Last sunday after scouting around for some parts - just random stuff - and I was in melbourne to pick up some fleabay specials I decided it was time to make the call to have that magical L AWD gearbox.

I had a shit my pants moment when it was put to me that it was just a single range PT4wd gearbox. On further inspection this gearbox was formally a single range gearbox but IS the AWD unit. A big sigh of relief for me there - I would have been super pissed if it was just a part time box!

So I've sent in an L series DR PT4wd box, EJ DR AWD box and the L series AWD box. All of this will make one bitza box that will be the following: An EJ cased, L series AWD gearbox with the 1.59:1 low range and 4.11 final ratio.

CAN'T WAIT TO GET IT INTO RUBY SCOO!!! And yes, I meant to shout that!

That's all for now... Picking for the next couple of weeks will get in the way of shed time But this might work out well for the gearbox and Ruby S's return

Cheers

Bennie

[taza]

Well nothing has happened on Ruby Scoo in some time, but a big step forward has been made - in my opinion anyway!

Last sunday after scouting around for some parts - just random stuff - and I was in melbourne to pick up some fleabay specials I decided it was time to make the call to have that magical L AWD gearbox.

I had a shit my pants moment when it was put to me that it was just a single range PT4wd gearbox. On further inspection this gearbox was formally a single range gearbox but IS the AWD unit. A big sigh of relief for me there - I would have been super pissed if it was just a part time box!

So I've sent in an L series DR PT4wd box, EJ DR AWD box and the L series AWD box. All of this will make one bitza box that will be the following: An EJ cased, L series AWD gearbox with the 1.59:1 low range and 4.11 final ratio.

CAN'T WAIT TO GET IT INTO RUBY SCOO!!! And yes, I meant to shout that!

That's all for now... Picking for the next couple of weeks will get in the way of shed time But this might work out well for the gearbox and Ruby S's return

Cheers

Bennie

Sweet Bennie!! Your going to love AWD onroad. Is it costing you much to do?
Thats just really awesome

What about a front geared or clutch LSD?
EDIT: After talking to Venom he reckons the front LSD seems to do more than the rear. You can get a geared front for a 5 speed manual for $500 inc shipping to Aus!

Are you getting the gearset 'cryo glazed' I think it's called to make it stronger?

I can't wait to get my box done, then I can actually offroad the foz

A quick question; do you still have the standard brakes in Ruby Scoo?

[El_Freddo]

Sweet Bennie!! Your going to love AWD onroad. Is it costing you much to do?
Thats just really awesome

What about a front geared or clutch LSD?

Are you getting the gearset 'cryo glazed' I think it's called to make it stronger?

A quick question; do you still have the standard brakes in Ruby Scoo?

Not really alot - gathering the parts had definitely cost the most!

I'd love to go with a mechanical front LSD but at the moment funds just doesn't allow for it - it's either the gearbox or wait until who knows when!

No other mods to the gearsets, I'll just work with what I've got for now and see how it all goes.

Stock discs al'round is what I've got. Goes well - just have to remember to go easy on them and not drive as hard in the hilly stuff to maintain good brakes...

Cheers

Bennie

[thunder039]

sounds good bennie, seems to be a few custom gearboxs that have or been made with the AWD and l series low range. hope it all goes well!

[El_Freddo]

Today was a big day and a rather large step was almost completed. It's taken some time to get it sorted but I've gone from this (pic from above):



To this:



It might look a bit messy to you, but I can tell you that this is looking great! The ECU is mounted much neater than it ever was before and the cruise is tucked up neatly as well. I've moved the fuses to behind the glovebox which has resulted in a bit of a wiring highway below where the stereo will be, but I'm happy to live with this for more space and thus neatness above the driver's feet.

Here's the fuse panel and the ECU/fuel pump relays, (green plug and brown box):



If the fuse panel fouls on the glovebox when it's closed then I'll modify the mounting bracket and mount it higher up.

Tomorrow there's no picking (vineyard) so I've scored a day in the shed I'll be finishing off the wiring and finding the bucket that has the screws for the fuse box - that's the reason for it not being mounted today. I've got no idea where this box of screws are and I'm not 100% sure where the kick panels have got to either... It's very frustrating!

I've also got my PS pump mounted after the whole different bolting pattern saga.

A pic because I could:



And the bracket differences, I won't go into it all again here, use the link above:



I'm looking forward to more shed time tomorrow. Interior is next to nail. The front seats will be the last item to go back into Ruby Scoo before she's out the shed - otherwise I'll start driving her around without having completed the whole rebuild (once again).

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

I'm very satisfied with how well I've done over the last two days of work on Ruby Scoo. While it doesn't look like a lot compared to what I posted Monday night I've made a few custom parts, had the driver's side kick panel on and off like a yo-yo goes down and up! I've found all those little bits that didn't make the return after the initial EJ conversion - including the steering column covers but I'm still trying to track down a couple of covers for the dash mounting bolt locations, I've still got two to find.

Here's today's efforts:



^ Passenger's side kick panel below the glove box (after the GB was installed). This is now stock DL modified and fitted with the GL trim, it's modified as the GL trim was brown and doing a direct swap over would have looked crap with a strip of brown, so I cut and shut the two together. Now Kez can't get her feet up and into the fan's wiring etc, so hopefully she'll like that effort. In this pic you can also see the positive wire for the dual battery system, it runs along the trans tunnel and pokes out behind the rear seats with an anderson plug. The second battery will be in the camping setup near the fridge - secured properly so it won't move and short out. I'm looking forward to getting onto that little project too.

Centre console put in and modified to fit to the L series stock mounting point at the rear. It's solid as a rock now. I also found the lid to the console and fixed the hinge. I'll have to re-coat the lid as the cover is crap as. Here's the pic:



And NO WIRING (in the cab) to sort out other than a couple of switches that I'm going to sort out on a panel so they're in one spot neatly:



It's pretty exciting (for me!), the rear is the next area to conquer, but I've been waiting for a plug job to dry before I put all the rear interior panels back on - this also stops me from putting in the rear seats... I could have put the rear door on thinking about it now!

Also while giving the stez a going over to get rid of the dust that's built up I noticed that it's still got a CD in it, now I'm "keen az" to find out which CD it is!

Cheers

Bennie

PS - slow down time again, job apps to get sorted then probably more picking I'm so close I can see the end is near with the work required to get her rolling on her own steam once again!

[El_Freddo]

Today's efforts:

start:



then this was done:











Cheers

Bennie

[thunder039]

starting to look like a car again bennie! great work

[Tweety]

wish I had half your energy bennie.

well done

[El_Freddo]

starting to look like a car again bennie!

I know right?! It's going really well and I'm happy with the way it's turning out... Can't wait for the first drive again!

wish I had half your energy bennie.

Yeah... it seems to come with the weather - it's not T-shirt weather out there yet today

But I'll be out there this arvo and into the evening tonight with any luck. I've got more sikaflex so I can fit the other rear light after I've cleaned off all the factory sikaflex...

Then it's exhaust fitting time I think, then I'll get back into the body work before I finalise the engine hook up.

Hopefully - hopefully this will be delayed this week due to work as it's no longer school holidays. We'll see what happens there anyway.

Cheers

Bennie

[username]

Does that Dynamat make a noticeable difference?

Cheers,

Jake

[El_Freddo]

Does that Dynamat make a noticeable difference?

Dunno yet! It's not dynamat - it's a paint on sound deadener made by Motorspray. I think 4 litres was about $50 or something like that - it's been a while since I bought the tin... I put down 5 litres in total, only because I couldn't afford the 4 litre tin and I wanted to do some work that day

Cheers

Bennie

[taza]

Does that Dynamat make a noticeable difference?

Cheers,

Jake

So im told by everyone who uses it in any type of car. Id put it in if I pulled up my carpet.

[El_Freddo]

Ruby Scoo's first outing - still unfinished:



^ Only out of the shed to make way for Sheldon to go in for some work with the crap weather we were having at the time.

Height difference: Lifted/stock:




Now she's got all her front panels back on, the rear bar is dummy fitted but I think I'm going to leave it off while I do some work/upgrades to it including a re-spray as it's chipped to the shitta.

I'm hoping to pick up her radiator tomorrow as this is all that's holding me back from at least starting her. After this some wiring needs to be tidied up and I also need to "adjust" the 4wd lever as I now can't get it out of 4wd - there's not enough clearance from the console to allow me to push down on the lever. So cut and weld it is.

All going well, I hope to have Sheldon sorted tomorrow night then have RScoo on the go again this thursday. I also hope work doesn't come calling as I've only got a push bike from tomorrow until I get Ruby Scoo going again... Fun and games - and I know murphy's watching!

Cheers

Bennie

[taza]

Far out how much lift do you have in the rear of that? Looks like its 6" or so!!

Looking good though but she does need a good wash and polish

[Alex]

Awesome Bennie. Good to see its rolling along

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