The Ruby Project

Wagonman · Post by **Wagonman** » Sun May 16, 2010 11:17 pm

Hey Ausubaru,

Been reading on this site for awhile now and have been able to find information on almost everything to do with my car of choice.. The L series wagon, i have 2 white ones.

I finally decided to actually get around to "publishing" my project on here. I have been taking pictures but have been putting them on facebook and never got around to sharing them with other people who actually like L series!

The story goes like this..

Bought a 1990 L Wagon with an apparent blown head gasket with spare engine for $1000.. named her Ruby. (yes, im one of those guys who names their cars)

The plan is too fix the original engine. I would love a EJ but i just cant afford it yet but will come later and i also wanted to have a tinker with the EA82. 3" inch lift, 14's, bullbar, spotties and personalisations..

This was around october last year. Since then I have pulled the engine out and stripped down to the cylinder heads for testing and have a full gasket kit to put it together with. Pulled gearbox/put another gearbox in, put in new lower ball joints, swaybar with nolathanes, new front bearings, front cvs from my other L and front brake pads. Stripped out seats, floor cover, roof lining and side trims for cleaning and possibly painting still decided on interior modifications

Still to do:
Get cylinder heads tested and then put engine back together and put back in and try to get it running!

Put in lift kit and lengthen the steering link and swap the heavy duty suspension, bullbar, spotties, roof racks and 14" from my other beloved L (Lizzie is her name if you wondering)

The interior is going to be a little different to make it less of the dull grey/blue colour with no interesting features that is. Havent fully decided exactly what im doing but it wont be standard and i guarantee some people wont like it.. but i'll guess we'll see.

I'll have pictures eventually.. working that out atm..

Cheers for listening..
Wagonman.

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Mon May 17, 2010 8:51 am

Welcome Wagonman and hope to see you out and about on a trip

As for EJ conversion, I have voted EJ22 for many reasons but the best reason is you can buy them cheap. You should be able to pick up a unlic'd Liberty (early 90s model) for around $1000. This would then give you everything you'll need for the conversion.

Sounds like you have a bit of work infront of you with your EA engine, so hope that works out all well for ya.

Cheers,
Paul

Dane · Post by **Dane** » Mon May 17, 2010 5:58 pm

From a distant, long bearded sage atop Mt Fuji Heavy Industries....

"Beware the man with expensive interior who plays in mud...

for one will be dirty with oneself "

Wagonman · Post by **Wagonman** » Mon May 17, 2010 8:17 pm

Alas the look and material im going for will be niether expensive or impractical, however such advice as you have provided will not go un-noticed..
If i was successful in putting a picture in this is Ruby from behind..

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Mon May 17, 2010 9:51 pm

there is virtually no difference between the two. EJ20 you can probably find one newer with less kms. Really just comes down to what you come across.

Post by **TOONGA** » Mon May 17, 2010 9:56 pm

I voted Ej22 simply because they have more torque at low revs

TOONGA

Wagonman · Post by **Wagonman** » Mon May 17, 2010 10:03 pm

Heres a few more pictures of the progress i've made in the last few months.

Cheers for the EJ opinions guys, i have plenty of time to decide and save up for..

Im leaning towards an EJ20 because of the 'newer' factor and it may easier to get licensed..eventually

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Tue May 18, 2010 12:24 am

I voted EJ22, As toonga said, better low revs torque, cheaper to get. You can still get pretty good Ej22. just need to look around:)

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Tue May 18, 2010 12:36 am

a much lower kms and newer EJ20 probably better torque than an old clapped out EJ22 anyway. Besides, look up the standard specifications, it is virtually no difference at all when you compare the difference from the EA82!
If you can afford to recondition an EJ22 then naturally it's gonna be better, but it might be false economy.

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Tue May 18, 2010 12:45 am

if newer is what you want then look at the EJ25 SOHC.. wouldn't cost you any more than a newer EJ20

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Tue May 18, 2010 1:00 am

So many options to choose from hehe... Just put a H6 in and dont bother about the EJ's hahahahah:)

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Tue May 18, 2010 9:24 am

EJ22 = 9 votes (atm) and EJ20 = 1

Should tell you something

I was thinking last night do you have a budget that you are planning to work with?

Brumby Boy · Post by **Brumby Boy** » Tue May 18, 2010 6:45 pm

guyph_01 wrote:So many options to choose from hehe... Just put a H6 in and dont bother about the EJ's hahahahah:)

Yea EZ30R only .7" longer than an EJ25, would be an epic project if you have the cash...

Wagonman · Post by **Wagonman** » Tue May 18, 2010 9:53 pm

As i said before im playing around with the EA82 just making it work and getting some experience from it until im ready to do the conversion.. "learning in a pool before swimming in the ocean"

Im looking to have a budget of about $2000 inc getting an engine and doing most of the work apart from the wiring loom cut down myself and hope to start on it next year some time.

Has anyone come across and done anything about the flimsy roof and its braces? Getting the roof to not pop up when you reach 100kmh?
Im thinking of cutting out those braces and putting in a better setup that supports the roof better as well as a custom roof lining.

Brumby Boy · Post by **Brumby Boy** » Tue May 18, 2010 10:32 pm

When your ready to do the EJ swap you could probably buy a whole car, I picked up a complete 1st gen lib for 300 bucks, needed a crankshaft but thats nothing for me, you could probably pick something up with a good motor for less than 1k, maybe even less than 500 if you buy one from the auctions, then you know you will have everything for the swap bar maybe an EFI pump

Is your L MPFI or Carb?

Wagonman · Post by **Wagonman** » Tue May 18, 2010 11:50 pm

Yeah both of my L's are carby and im not sure of the set up needed for a EFI engine apart from the larger diametre return line.

I'll be keeping my eye out for a decent ej22 or ej20 wreck.. i know libertys have the 2.2 but what else has them?

hey guy, I'll chuck a H6 in there ay radiators and firewalls are over rated anyway!

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Wed May 19, 2010 12:27 am

Wagonman wrote:Yeah both of my L's are carby and im not sure of the set up needed for a EFI engine apart from the larger diametre return line.

I'll be keeping my eye out for a decent ej22 or ej20 wreck.. i know libertys have the 2.2 but what else has them?

hey guy, I'll chuck a H6 in there ay radiators and firewalls are over rated anyway!

You'll also need an external EFI fuel pump.

EJ22 were only available in the Liberty as SOHC or as a DOHC in the 22B

GOD · Post by **GOD** » Wed May 19, 2010 12:53 am

Wagonman wrote:Has anyone come across and done anything about the flimsy roof and its braces? Getting the roof to not pop up when you reach 100kmh?Im thinking of cutting out those braces and putting in a better setup that supports the roof better as well as a custom roof lining.

It's always going to be a flimsy car. That said, I've never heard of roofs popping up. Is your roof skin still fully bonded to the braces?

Dane.

Post by **Alex** » Wed May 19, 2010 10:28 am

Wagonman wrote:
Has anyone come across and done anything about the flimsy roof and its braces? Getting the roof to not pop up when you reach 100kmh?
Im thinking of cutting out those braces and putting in a better setup that supports the roof better as well as a custom roof lining.

nearly every l-series wagon ive been in thats had decent off roading has done this.

pull the roof lining off and stick some dynamat or something up there. Should stop it.

alex

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Wed May 19, 2010 10:33 am

RSR 555 wrote: EJ22 were only available in the Liberty as SOHC or as a DOHC in the 22B

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.

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NA EJ options for L series retaining D/R gearbox

The Ruby Project