And so begins a few new projects.

subarooster · Post by **subarooster** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:41 am

Okay, I own a 91' L series and decided to cross to the darkside and go EJ.

After searching around for a decent engine for a good while (12 months or so) I found the perfect car. It was a gen1 Lib, just had heads recon'd, all new gaskets, new timing belts, water pump etc... But the previous owners had stuffed the gearbox putting a new speedo drive in it.

Then one day i was talking with my brother in law (Suparoo) and he said that he had hit a very large flaw in his leone project. This meant that he had a liberty gearbox and Low K Ej20 sitting at his house and he then thought of a wonderful idea.

We picked up the Lib yesterday and after careful manouvering onto my old man's truck we got it safely home. I was suprised in the condition of it as it seems to hav all new nolathane bushes, new brakes, new tyres and the interior is near perfect. Not bad for $500 ehh?

So, this is the plan as it stands. We'll put the lib gearbox into the Lib, rego it and sell it. Then split the profits, to fund my project and to get back wat Suparoo spent on his project.

As soon as that is done, The ej20 will be gracing the engine bay of my L so i might do a small write up on here with a few pics.

Tom

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:08 am

Awesome... Lucky find hey... Yeah if the Liberty is too "good" I would fix it up, clean it up and get it in good running order then sell it & make profit, good idea yeh..

Good Luck with it above.
Cheers
AP

Subaman · Post by **Subaman** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:15 am

Why not keep the Lib and get rid of the L?

subarooster · Post by **subarooster** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:27 am

The lib is fwd and automatic, Yuck. And the ej'd L intrigues me a little.

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:33 am

subarooster wrote:The lib is fwd and automatic, Yuck. And the ej'd L intrigues me a little.

That is fair enough.
Its a lot of work to convert to manual AWD (or Automatic AWD)
At the end of the day if It was in my shoes, Its too good to muck around to convert it to AWD.
Cheers
AP

Checkers · Post by **Checkers** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 5:37 pm

I would go with the EJ 22 from the lib over the EJ20 for the L series.

The EJ22 is a much nicer engine down low and fits easier.

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 6:14 pm

fix the lib! an AWD conversion is not that hard if you can find all the bits.

subarooster · Post by **subarooster** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:57 pm

haha, Well the loom for the 20 is already cut down for an L series and it comes with fuel pump, surge tank and pitching rod already modified. Also wasn't keen on the idea of getting the 22 engineered and when i saw the car, i knew i didn't wanna hack it up.
Seems like an alright option considering i've only just started second year apprenticeship.

subarooster · Post by **subarooster** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 12:59 am

Small update.

Today we got Superoo's awd gearbox and converted it to suit the FWD.
It all worked out except for a little moment we had with the speed sensors.
Theres a front and rear on the awd box and just a front on the fwd one.
But after alot of pondering we decided that if the awd box (the one going into the lib) doesn't detect a speed signal from the box, it will use a reading from the speedo in the dash. This theory still has to be tried and tested but it should work out alright.

Then in an act of curiosity, Gannon put the donor box back together that, later that day had been in absolute pieces. We were both quite suprised with the results. :P

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:19 am

Was it easy to swap over? Didn't think you could but that is good is the fwd part from the current liberty?
Keep us updated.
Cheers
AP

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:32 am

My AWD box was from a 96 Liberty, so i just unbolted the rear extension case, pulled the output shaft and MPT (multi plate transfer) clutch out and replaced it with the fwd output shaft.

This is the FWD output shaft in the AWD box.

Our only issue, as Tom said, was that the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) on the FWD box was inside the rear case, on the AWD box, it was in the extension case and we would need to rewire the AWD box with the FWD loom to make it work.
I read up on the FSM that in the FWD boxes, the speed sensor in the instrument cluster/speedo is a backup if the one in the box fails. (in the AWD box, it uses both to calculate wheel slip and would lock the MPT if one failed)

Now we just have to install the box in the Lib. Anyone have any pointers on how we are gonna lift this 110kg gearbox into place?

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 1:17 pm

subarooster wrote:Okay, I own a 91' L series and decided to cross to the darkside and go EJ.

I'll tell you now that there's no dark side to the EJ conversion in the L series! You've seen the light so to speak and I'm sure you'll be most happy with the results of the EJ.

That liberty sounds like a good find - I reckon you're going the right way with this subi

Be sure to let us know what you think of the EJ20 in the L as most go the EJ22.

Cheers

Bennie

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 4:12 pm

is that my old gearbox that you have converted to FWD?

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 4:40 pm

is that my old gearbox that you have converted to FWD?

Maybe.........

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 5:32 pm

if that maybe was a yes then its a 91 not a 96

good to see its getting used

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:01 pm

Oh i was just going off the the tcu,i think it has "96 AWD Lib" written on it in black texta.

Lets see if we can get this box in tomorrow

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 8:53 pm

lol above...

Ooh 110kgs - you kidding me? Thats way heavier than manual gearboxes!!!!!!! I'm guessing they're about 30-40kilos.

Best way, Ive made an "tray" with a large pin that i put it on the Jack (cant fall off as the weight its fitted on) and put the gearbox on the jack and lift it up but it has to be the right level to slot it behind the engine, Ive done this a few times - manual or automatics. Can show pics if you like.. (Jack is Total Tool brand, 500mm & 2 ton lift.)
Cheers
AP

subarooster · Post by **subarooster** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:15 pm

okayy, down at the local pub talking to an old mechanic who happens to hav a pit, all the gear and is keen for swapping the box. He sed its much easier to pull out the engine, bolt it up and slip in it. he reckons about a dayy and you could drive it out the door. (This dude also owns an outback with extractors, exhaust) and knows his way around an L pretty well. So presuming i can get onto Suparoo early tomorrow morning, we might snig the lib up to the garage and get the box in either 2morro or on thursday. I shall keep you updated. Cheers

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:40 pm

subarooster wrote:okayy, down at the local pub talking to an old mechanic who happens to hav a pit, all the gear and is keen for swapping the box. He sed its much easier to pull out the engine, bolt it up and slip in it. he reckons about a dayy and you could drive it out the door. (This dude also owns an outback with extractors, exhaust) and knows his way around an L pretty well. So presuming i can get onto Suparoo early tomorrow morning, we might snig the lib up to the garage and get the box in either 2morro or on thursday. I shall keep you updated. Cheers

that is even better.... awesome keep us updated and pics! Good Luck!
Cheers
AP

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:46 pm

We pulled the engine out today, look less than 2hrs from the time we drove in the shed to the time the engine was on the floor. ( Tom has some pics which im sure he will share)

But when we went to bolt the transmission to the engine, we hit a snag.....

We could not get the torque-converter to slide all the way onto the gearbox input shaft.

Is there a trick to it?