Liberty E XMember to L

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:55 pm

just planning out my eventual EJ swap in my head and i know its been done, just wondering what exactly is involved to use the EJ Engine crossmember in my L series so i can keep my scolloped EA turbo one with the motor.

EDIT: oh and while im at it any more tips on putting the Lib radiator in to the l aswell? adamb i know have done it so any pix would be cool. or i might just have a looksee at yours later on.

adamb · Post by **adamb** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:37 am

Yeah come around and have a look whenever, i've pretty much just chopped the top of the bottom support out and shoehorned it in with a few brackets to hold it in place. Seems to do the job quite well.

I'll try and get a few pics up over the next few days.

Adam

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:28 am

Only two cars so far I have actually seen with this mod and thats my wagon and Tristan's brumby.

To get the Lib engine crossmember to fit in is very easy. You just need to slot the 4 mounting holes outwards by a few mm.
The real problem is the control arms.
The L series control arms will not bolt to the Lib crossmember.
Originally Tristan modified his Lib crossmember to accept the MY (similar to L series) control arms but wasn't happy with the strength (as far as I know).

The other option is what I'm doing, and what Tristan has now done.
Modify the actual car to accept the Liberty control arms. The Lib control arms are shaped so they also do the job of the radius rods.
It's a major custom job which I'm only just starting to become satisfied with my mental blueprints now.
Tristan and his dad have done it, check out his Brumby some time.

Matt for your car you're prolly better off just mounting the EJ on your L series crossmember. Make up some wedges to get the correct angle for the EJ engine mounts to make them last longer than everyone elses.

Hey here's something u might not have thought of....if you are going EJ22 you can change to an N/A L series crossmember and sell your L series turbo crossmember for profit

I probably have an N/A crossmember somewhere for you.

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:02 pm

yes andrew that is the reason i posted the thread- in attempt to keep my x member separated. i did find your old thread on this topic which has a few shots of tristans brumby- looks pretty complicated and custom as you say. so yeah maybe ea is the way to go

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:07 pm

I gotta ask matt: why the swap to the EJ all of a sudden? You seemed to be doing some interesting things with the EA82T. Will the EJ be sporting a turbo or are you "hanging up your turbo jacket" for now?

Bennie

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:04 am

Goody goody , less competition for Ellie

A .

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:26 am

well as ive been told and finally come to realise the EJ series is much newer and better designed than the old EA- i havent really had many engine problems with the EA but its getting old and id start to expect some soon. It does already have some oil leaks that seem to be getting worse. So im going mainly for the reliability for the next few years to come. and it should save me some dosh too in the long run as you cant do as many mods to an N/A engine- and i already had heaps more ideas for the turbo motor.

plus i was going to do it last year when the ea started playing up but decided to spend money fixin it, and now sh'es playin up again with this damn td04.

so fingers crossed and ej22 will be better.

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:03 pm

Your calls on the Lib front cross member in an L series .

Personally I prefer the idea of having a separate control arm and radius rod (a la L series) because you have some flexibility in altering caster and camber at the foot of the strut .
One of the most difficult problems to overcome in a Lib or Presley is lack of caster adjustment in that fixed wishbone lower link .
Be very sure you know people who have the smarts and fabrication abilities to be able to fit the Lib/Pres rear wish bone mount into a body that has no factory inbuilt strength or stiffness in that area .

As far as getting the EJ engine mounts to fit properly on an L cross member - c'mon , seriously . If the angles aren't right get someone to cut and weld steel plates in that area on the L cross member to mimic the Lib one .
Trust me this is far easier/cheaper/safer than doing mods to the unibody to fit not std suspension members .
I reckon I know what an honest mechanical engineer would do if it was his car .

A .

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:11 pm

...that's a given. You'd be nuts to custom fit the lib control arms and crossmember if the ONLY reason was to get the engine mount angle correct!
Making up two wedges is a good home-made alternative to getting someone to cut and shut the EA crossmember tho. Not too hard to do.

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:23 pm

well looks like putting in a std EA one is the way to go- and swappng all the ps stuff over. good to have the info up there for others to try with a bit more fabrication skill.

stamp_licker · Post by **stamp_licker** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 12:22 pm

I've seen a ea crossmember with bits of angle welded on to make new mounting points.Modding the mounting points is so simple i wonder why more don't do it.