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G'Day fellow subi fans...

Its about time I created a 'Members Ride' thread on my lil baby...

She's an 85 'L' Touring Wagon, that I bought stock standard about 7yrs ago and have grown more and more attached to the dear 'ol battleaxe' ever since.... Some cars have a way of doing that dont they...?

When it came time to upgrade to a stronger 'dirt hugger' I couldnt find any later model subes that I liked or could afford. The only one I liked was the 04 Forrester, but I wasnt prepared to spend that much on a 4WD car. (I have my 02 'Bug Eye' REX for my onroad thrills). So I decided to 'buildup' my dear ol 'L'.... I have always LOVED the square design on the L, it appears strong and bold and clean to me....

Subes have been in our family since I was a kid....an eager 12yo hangen out the window of my dad's 'MY' as we went bush...Ive been drawn to offroading and the exploring the bush ever since...I can think of nuthin better than hitting the bush in my ol L...

Here are some links to my 'L-Raising' thus far....

- Luckilly the body was in good nic, bugger all dents or rust. I did all the basic body prep work and rust repairs after doing a short course at TAFE doing 'Basic Auto Body Prep and Spraypainting'. I was planning on painting it myself, but the perfectionist in me needed a decent job, so I got the paint done by a professional. We discovered a nest of rust under the windscreen though which was nicely repaired by the boys.

- I wanted a real clean, fresh, younger look for my L, so I removed the old badges, filled, bogged, n sanded the tailgate in readiness for the paint, to give it a smooth look, then I attached late model Impreza SUBARU letters to add to the younger look. It turned out much better than I had hoped...

- Here is a shot of the insides of the car getting its first taste of the new colour, which is Ford 'XR Rapid Fire Yellow'. I adored that colour for so long on the Fords. I wanted to stick with a bright colour, a colour that would also make it stand out as unique....I had bad experiences with dark coloured cars in the past, too many people pulling out in front of me, so I wanted to be seen.



Yet to come in the near future:- .....I cant WAIT!!!

-EJ25 SOHC 1999 ( Which is going in very soon )
-AWD D/R 5spd box
-2" Lift Kit
-LSD
-14" GOLD PAINTED Scorpion Rims with BFG ATs

Stay tuned..... hehe

Regards

Karen
'L-Raiser'

It's a beautiful car Karen, you have every right to be proud of all that work

wow. a lot of time and effort has already goneinto this soob. should be wikid once finally finished. get some 14s asap i reckon.

hope everything goes good with the conversion!

shoudl be the canary of DEATH!!

alex

Hi Karen
Are you using an ej25 off a gen3?
Who cut down your harness?
Thanx
Chris

Great to see the history of it like this!
Now would be an ideal time to respray the engine bay too.

Now here's a gal with talent and taste. Excellent job Karen. I like that color.

chriSTIan wrote:Hi Karen
Are you using an ej25 off a gen3?
Who cut down your harness?
Thanx
Chris

Hi Chris,

Engine is a 1999 model....SOHC no too sure which gen...
I think thats a Gen II isnt it...?
'Swan Autos' are doing the rebuild for me in total...



Kaz

L-Raiser wrote:
Kaz

Is that a custom/homemade bumper?
I Like

Suparoo wrote:Is that a custom/homemade bumper?
I Like

YUP....its a one-off...
I had a friend of mine who works for a Bumper Workshop fabricate me one out of aluminium to replace my stock 'roo dented' one. I also wanted it to accommodate my 100W Spotties...and be able to be colour matched to the bodywork. Painted Plastic would have suffered too much for offroad use...

If you want one for yourself....'PM' me and I will put you in touch with my friend....

Regards

Kaz

I had an EJ25 out of a 1999 Outback. It's now is Lapsed's L series. That's a quad cam. Maybe that was the year they changed?

AndrewT wrote:I had an EJ25 out of a 1999 Outback. It's now is Lapsed's L series. That's a quad cam. Maybe that was the year they changed?

From memory, they were still making both types of EJ25 then both SOHC & DOHC....depended on what car they went in.....I may be wrong though...

I chose the SOHC because ONE - it would give more room between the chassis rails and TWO - it has a higher 'torque' at lower revs than the DOHC. Which is exactly what I want in my offroader....

And who cut downand fitted the harness?Swan?

chriSTIan wrote:And who cut downand fitted the harness?Swan?

As I said in my earlier message....'Swan Autos' are doing the lot....including the harness mods....it is scheduled to begin in just under two weeks time....

(EDIT) YAHHH ROIT!!!! ....I wished.... :P Man, was I ever hopeful....

Kaz

Well....after a long and arduous wait....work has finally begun on the mechanical upgrades.....< huge sigh of relief >

The old, tired, EA motor, gearbox, front suspension have all been removed and sent to a well earnt retirement in Subaru heaven after serving me very well for nearly 8 years, with hardly any breakdown at all. I'll say one thing for the ol EA.....they are extremely reliable. Tiz a shame they are dissapointing in the torque and power side of things.....

The rear Liberty Disc brakes are in.....and now that I have finally found a donar vehicle.....we can now install the EJ25.... You bloody bewty!!!!

Below is a pic of the damaged Forester I recently bought to source my new engine, g/box, suspension and dash etc....followed by pics of the early stages, in the workshop....as well as a pic of the Bucket seats I will be installing.....I got these new, for $330 for a PAIR...!!! and they bolt directly onto most seat frameworks AND they match my paintwork perfectly...( ignore the rusting Holden that they are sitting in...hehe ...my mechanics mate wanted to see how they looked in his car)

Before the engine goes in....they engine bay will get a nice lick of yellow paint to match the exterior....

the seats look good. Should paint the engine bay while the motor is out.

haha Lapsed didnt u read..

yer engine bay looks pretty boring being white shuld look good when painted up.

good to see its started properly to.

(who removes engine otu the bottom...LOL)

guess i didn't. its called scan reading, plus to busy looking at the pics

L-Raiser wrote:as well as a pic of the Bucket seats I will be installing.....I got these new, for $330 for a PAIR...!!!

Them seats look awesome... Where did ya get them?

Matatak wrote:haha Lapsed didnt u read..

yer engine bay looks pretty boring being white shuld look good when painted up.

good to see its started properly to.

(who removes engine otu the bottom...LOL)

Yeah I cant wait to see the engine bay yellow.....and smick lookin...!

My mechanic takes most of his engines out through the bottom....I guess it uses gravity to do most of the work, eliminates the need to disconnect the g/box, and suspension etc......simply cut the wires/hoses....undo the main bolts holding it all up there, disconnect the drive shaft.....then simply let the jack down slowly....BANG its all out in one hit! I guess is also reduces possible damage to engine bay while engine danlin on a chain etc....

My mechanic found these seats for me....I will find out where he got em....and let you guys know....