new brumby owner :D

jakebrumby · Post by **jakebrumby** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 6:48 pm

i have just bought a 1990 MV subaru brumby, im new to the whole forum thing so go easy please

i would like to put a 2 inch lift, 6 stud conversion w/ 14" rims and bigger tires, power steering and have heard something about an L series dual range box being alot better? any other mods i should be considering? and the best way to do the ones i have stated would be much appreciated

jakebrumby · Post by **jakebrumby** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 6:57 pm

also considering a 5 speed and bigger motor?

revmax · Post by **revmax** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:01 pm

WOO HOO! Welcome Jake.
Let your Brumby adventure begin.

thunder039 · Post by **thunder039** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:48 am

wow another another person from Victoria who has a brumby and is called jake, must be my double :P

Venom · Post by **Venom** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:50 am

EA81 is a great little motor, best of all it's super simple without the major maintenance like evey other suby motor. I.d stick with it and get it running sweet. Mind you the carb can be a hassle if it as in bad nic. If you match the biggrr tyres with l series gearbox the gearing should still be pretty good too.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:59 am

He is a Victorian so it could already be sniffing LPG the way they are down there, that'd eliminate carby issues

All those plans depend on financial and time resources too

Jake, get a handle on the SEARCH function 'advanced' change th date time from 'last two weeks' to any date , use me as the poster if you like and should find a lot of info on your 5 speed conversion and stuff - except 14" and bigger tyres or kift lifts. I only use standard tyres on 13,14 or 15

From my varied experience some of the best things you could do for your 22 year old is to inspect the fusible links in the cable box near the battery - for corrosion of the spade terminals as one in there can strand you, get a new ignition module and correct coil, and because it is yours now, get new dist cap, rotor button, spark plugs and new lead set - then see how long it takes for one of those components to let you down - be a bloody long time. Oil and filter change, run some fuel cleaner through a tank of fuel then change the front and rear fuel filters on empty tank is better.

Also would not hurt to add an oil conditioner along the stop leak idea, one that claims to soften seals to make them softer and more likely to seal better.
Run coolant with anti corrosion stuff and chck to see the cooling fan if any in electric works, cuts in cuts out.

One reason people sell cars is it is time to spend money on it, or has an intermittent problem they can't fix or it has been so reliable it is tim to sell ....

alang · Post by **alang** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 11:01 am

Hi Jake if your going to the bigger wheel size you also need to look at how wide, rim off sets and tyre selection. looking at some of the forums has given me some good ideas to do the same with my 1990 MV brumby, but money has slowed me down and not owning one before so i am just going to start from standard and build up from their. It all comes down to what you are going to use it for on road only 10 sec quarter mile mean machine or day drive with some off road work or full 4x4 comp truck, its all here and much more this has to be the most informative forum on any mod's or repairs for the Subaru's

jakebrumby · Post by **jakebrumby** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:37 pm

i know all about tire sizes and offsets and such like as i work at tyre power

, thanks for the tips steptoe i will look into it

, is an l series gearbox alot of work to put in or??? and the carb does seem to be playing up abit

choke is very inconsitent and seems to bog at the very bottom? and thank you rev max

B00sting · Post by **B00sting** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:48 pm

Hey mate,

If you work at a tyre joint no doubt you already have an idea of how easy it is to sink money into cars (asuming you like modifying them if you work at a tyre place)!

I continually sink money into daily drivers and project cars and then wonder why, all part of the fun though lol!

When I first got my brumby I spent time familiarising myself with the car, bought a gregorys manual, pulled the spare out of the way and got dirty etc.

Originally I had no plans to offroad it but the challenge of it drew me in, I have mates with lifted cruisers, patrols etc and the way I figure it is this: If I have a go at something and make it, well done, I did it in a bloody brumby, If I dont make it, well I'm only in a bloody brumby!

I'd only do the engine conversion if you can do it yourself, i've done a turbo/efi conversion on another car and it was a steep learning curve, about to gather parts for an engine conversion for the brumby that wil hopefully happen this year!

Good luck mate.

jakebrumby · Post by **jakebrumby** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 8:55 pm

haven't been there long but i have always been a motorbike kinda guy and know how easy it is to sink money into them, and cars just seem to be more expensive haha, iv never done an engine swap myself but have a cert II in auto so i should be able to i hope, what does everyone recomend for parts to lift and whats good motors etc?

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:55 pm

The EA81 is an excellent motor, but they get tired so a rebuild has always done me proud. The 5 speed was more time in the research than the fit. Good thing you have a hoist. I started mine at 11am and finished at 4 am with a hoist and some dramas, already prepped a modded pedal box to swap in, get a box and tailshaft to match yer dif or get a rear diff with it.....

alang · Post by **alang** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:08 pm

jakebrumby wrote:i know all about tire sizes and offsets and such like as i work at tyre power , thanks for the tips steptoe i will look into it , is an l series gearbox alot of work to put in or??? and the carb does seem to be playing up abit choke is very inconsitent and seems to bog at the very bottom? and thank you rev max

so you know that any bigger then 27" you have to start cutting guards

jakebrumby · Post by **jakebrumby** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:18 pm

alang wrote:so you know that any bigger then 27" you have to start cutting guards

haha yep thats why im putting on 27" kelly safaris

and steptoe do you think a 5 speed is worth the time and effort or just stick with the 4?

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:12 pm

sitting on the fence ...... I had a 4 speed that needed a new seal in the fornt which is done by removing and stripping box entirely, also kept replacing shifter seal every year as the weld someone left on the shift shaft kept ramming it, also had to keep making a fix for shifter slop and was itching for a 5 speed project. Did it, lost smart arse torque in second and sort of found it in third

. In seven years not had to tend to sloppy shifter or oil seals so it was well worth it and the pain obviously forgotten coz i just bought an L wagon for its box etc to shove in my other Brumby

jakebrumby · Post by **jakebrumby** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:56 pm

ah fair enough

well mine seems to be in good condition mechanically except for the extension housing gasket is leaking, anyone know where i can get a new one of these? also thinking i should probably do the tailshaft seal while iv got it out?

alang · Post by **alang** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 11:21 pm

jakebrumby wrote:ah fair enough well mine seems to be in good condition mechanically except for the extension housing gasket is leaking, anyone know where i can get a new one of these? also thinking i should probably do the tailshaft seal while iv got it out?

maybe ask frog he works in the trade got me a shifter kit for the 4 speed

AshR · Post by **AshR** » Wed May 23, 2012 9:25 pm

alang wrote:maybe ask frog he works in the trade got me a shifter kit for the 4 speed

what's the shift kit for the 4spd brumby?

I haven't got hold of mine yet, but had a Nissan Exa I put a short shifter leaver into it, and it transformed the car. Lowered the gearstick height by about 1 inch and shortened the throw by about an inch forward and back

that the sort of thing Frog's made shifter is like?

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed May 23, 2012 9:37 pm

Ah you misunderstand, the "shifter kit" for these cars is just to take the slop out

Before mine had about 250mm in either direction when it was IN gear, the kit consists of new bushes and things and takes most of the slop out, now I'm down to <100mm, still alot but alot better

There's also a roll-pin you can replace with a bolt, you'll see it when you're down there.

Welcome to the forum!

AshR · Post by **AshR** » Thu May 24, 2012 5:01 pm

ahh fairy snuff, will have a look when it's up on the stands in a couple weeks.