Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

[Silverbullet]

Denzil, you are right about the little tabs/holes for the cowl panel going into the cab but I had already addressed these with the silicone solution.

Yesterday I got the rear axles back from rebuild, they looked brand new and I couldn't wait until the weekend so I got them in the car soon as I got home from work. This was probably a mistake, took close to 3 hours and I ended up dropping the diff to get them in since they are about 3mm too long to get them in with the rear end intact. Then I get this thing where when I'm on my back under the car and turn my head a certain way my head starts spinning and I get nausea, by the end I was so tired from heaving the diff around, sore all over and close to hurling from the nausea

Today on the drive in to work 2 things became apparent:
- 3rd gear in 2WD now has a new grinding noise, a very metallic noise almost like the shifter linkages clanging together but it is definitely inside the gearbox. The noise gets worse if I push the gearstick "further in" towards 3rd gear. Further proof that this gearbox is scrap and I need to replace it soon.

- There is a very noticeable and un-pleasant vibration throughout the whole car at about 90-100 km/h and above Have no idea what could be causing this, I thought maybe the diff has no oil (can't remember if I put any in it was too long ago ) but there is no diff noise and it wasn't hot when I finished driving.

So slightly disappointed with the whole situation now the rear axles are in, I was looking forward to getting out onto some tracks with it but can't do so with confidence with these issues

[TOONGA]

Sam is the tail shaft a single piece or dual piece tail shaft?

It could be a tail shaft vibration either way.

As for the gearbox I saw the video on facebook but had no idea of what was wrong.

I'm thought the syncro has gone on 3rd but Subarino thinks it is linkages

TOONGA

[El_Freddo]

I think the universe is telling you it’s time for a 5 speed box

Bugger about the head spinning thing. Have you checked that out with your doc? Might be worth looking into if you haven’t already.

I hope the vibration isn’t the rebuilt CV shafts!

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

TOONGA, it's a custom single piece tail shaft. I think it must be either the tail shaft or the rear axles so on Saturday I will get the car up on 4 jack stands, idle in gear and 4WD so the rear wheels spin and have a look underneath, see if anything is wobbling or has run-out. The other thing I thought it could be is if the g/box and diff inputs/outputs are not aligned correctly or at the same angle, I've read this can cause big problems. Might need to take it to a drive line specialist to check if it's all aligned correctly. I topped up the diff oil, it was low but not empty. Didn't make any difference to the wobble.

And yes Subarino Dave to the rescue, I think he could be right about the linkage hitting the tail shaft (it sure sounds like that) I'll check that too on Saturday.

Bennie, it IS a 5 speed box! The gearbox I got years back for $200 from Rising Sun Steve when he was rebuilding the engine, back when the wagon was still driving around in its old (silver) form! That was a long time ago. It does need replaced though, I'd say 50% of the noise that comes into the cabin comes from the gear box whining and whirring, 2nd and 3rd gear syncros are toast as well. Yes the oil is up to the full mark

The dizziness started after I got labyrinthitis one easter weekend a few years ago. That has to be the worst 5 days of my life, felt like my head was being twisted off my shoulders. It caused some damage to my inner ear/vestibular organs I found out later.

[Silverbullet]

A little update, some good(ish) and (very) bad updates and things I've noticed. But first a pic from today's adventure, a day trip down to Goolwa beach (a 4WD only beach) the first time I've really used the 4WD system since the resto and the new axles. It wasn't exactly difficult, you could get a corolla down that beach easily I think but it was still fun and the 4WD works really nice.



The vibration that appeared after installing the rear axles seems to have died down a little, it's still there but not as violent or annoying as it first was. This makes me think maybe something is up with the rear diff which is working its way out slowly. The diff is from an L touring wagon I bought for $600 and promptly scrapped many years ago, who knows what condition the diff was in and it has been sitting doing nothing for 8 years or more.

The (very) bad news is I've noticed another leak in the engine bay, probably the worst one that could happen. There's two bolts on the top of the engine block under the intake manifold that hold the block halves together, one going in from either side with a little depression in the block casting for the bolt head. In this depression some weeks ago I noticed a muddy brown sludge forming under the bolt head. I thought some oil had dropped in there when I filled it. I clean it away but it re-appears, getting steadily bigger and now most of the top of the block is covered in a brown rusty stain that dries out (not oily) Then today I stuck my head in there again and there is a green puddle under the bolt heads It's coolant, probably leaking from the coolant passage that goes between the block halves at the top. It must be seeping past the oval shaped O-ring and into the bolt holes, then past the bolts washers and out to atmosphere and rusting the bolts in the process hence the rusty brown stain. To fix this requires completely dis-assembling the engine There's no water in the oil at all, which is one good thing I suppose.

Not sure what to do here, it doesn't make the car un-drivable yet but I noticed the coolant level goes down slowly so it must be more than a slight weep. Three options I think:

- Drive it until it leaks so bad I can't drive it any more
- Pull the engine out and take it to an engine builders to fix the leak (don't know if I can be bothered completely dismantling the engine myself)
- EJ swap, I've driven this car long enough now to know the fabled twin carb, twin port engine isn't the mighty monster I might have thought. The car is slow. It keeps up with modern traffic sure but my foot is flat to the floor in most situations. It does sound good though I've got an EJ20 sitting around but no ECU, I had planned to put a Haltech on it and put it in the Brumby but maybe it belongs in the blue wagon now.

I'll mull it over for a while...

[El_Freddo]

5 speed already... I should’ve known that!!

That leak, considered removing all the coolant, fitting an average radiator (stay with me!!), block off/reroute the heater circuit to bypass. Then run seal up or something of the like. Not chemiweld!

Go for a VERY long drive and let the stuff do it’s thing. Then let it cool and do it’s thing. Once that’s done, drop the water concoction, clean out the remaining crap, swap radiators back to your good one and replace the coolant.

I don’t see any other way to fix this issue other than removing the bolt and trying to pack some sort of sealer on there then do the bolt back up good and proper - then hope for the best.

Or EJ it. Could get an impreza AWD box (more mods!) with the low range (1.447:1) and it should be about right for gearing with your tyre diametre. I like factory management cutdown jobs - easy to get parts etc and no need to spend more money on tuning. But that’s just me. I have three cut down looms - two EJ22e Gen1 looms. One in Ruby Scoo and another that’s bench tested and works without issue. The third is a new loom to me, a GT foz loom, untested and hoping it’ll work without any issues. Time will tell on this one!

Subarino can do a cut down for you at a cost. He does quality work but is also flat out atm! You’ll need a loom, ECU and matching intake with wiring (and ANY of the security if it has that, including the key for the transponder chip).

It’ll kind of suck if you go EJ in the wagon you planned to keep relatively stock...

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Good one Bennie I had not considered a stop-leak kind of fix until you mentioned it, now I'm wondering if it is actually worth a shot as you say replace the rad with an old one for the treatment. I just don't want it to coat the whole inside of the engine with copper faux-metal crap I don't think putting sealer on the bolts would work sadly. It's coming out of both bolt holes now (one going in from each side of the block)

Re the EJ, I have an EJ20 and most of the engine loom but no ECU and no idea what car it came out of. I didn't remove it, just bought it from (formerly Subareck) Paul for a bargain $200. My theory was it's just going to be too hard to try and work out what factory ECU I need for this engine, then find out the loom is incomplete anyway and/or going on Subarino Daves' waiting list for a cut-down.
I like the idea of an aftermarket ECU for customization potential and since I wired the wagon I think I've got the know-how to do the wiring myself with a Haltech. Plus the wagon wiring as it is now lends itself nicely to an engine upgrade, just don't have a hole in the firewall big enough for the wiring pass-through.

Or maybe I could go on a road-trip and book the wagon in to Subarino Daves' workshop and get him to do the conversion That is, if/when the border ever opens again

[El_Freddo]

I’m sure Subarino would be most accommodating for a conversion! That would be awesome. But like you said, you know enough about wiring to run an aftermarket engine management...

Factory looms can become tricky once you’re in the factory security system stuff if you don’t have the matching bits. That’s an impossible job.

I’m sure you’ll work something out.

As for the stop leak, I believe it doesn’t coat the inside of your engine, just where the leak occurs. Where it settles in the engine would be the issue, but this doesn’t seem to be detrimental to engine cooling efficiency.

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

A little something turned up in the mail this week for the wagon



Have been debating getting one for a while, talked to someone who has one in his Brum recently and he said it transformed it off road. I had some spare money lying around, Subie lift oz had one left in stock so I thought what the hell, just do it. Do I need it? probably not. But with this at least I know the old girl will be as good as she possibly can be on the rough stuff. Gives me a good chance to inspect the rear diff inside and out too, see if I can find a cause to the vibration at high speeds.

I got some new stub axle seals to put in at the same time, still waiting on the special deep torx style socket for the stub axle bolts which I have ordered. Subarino has a good video explaining how to install it, doesn't look very difficult at all, should be able to do it in an afternoon.

[El_Freddo]

You’ll find the install process easy. Fitting the retainer caps for the stub axles is the fiddleiest (is that even a word?!).

Make sure you have the long punch mentioned. That retainer pin can only come out one way... ask me how I know.

As for those torx sockets, I’ve used an 8mm hex deep socket for the same effect. Works well.

All the best with it.

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

You're right Bennie it was pretty easy, I tackled the job this afternoon Got the deep E10 torx socket in the mail this week and had bought some new stub axle seals to put in. I memorized Subarino Dave's tutorial video before I went out to the shed, made the process much easier when you know the little tricks to get it all in there. The retainer caps being the trickiest part, I pressed one in and out of the new mating part a few times to loosen it up and make it easier for the bolt to pull it into place, worked a treat.

It's not 100 complete/back in the car yet, have to scrape off the old cover plate gasket and make a new one then throw it all back up under the car tomorrow. Didn't think it worth making a full pictorial step-by-step since Subarino's video exists and shows everything in great detail. Here's a few shots from today anyway. Can't wait to test it out! Have to think of somewhere to go to see what she can do, I'm thinking a night camping at Loveday 4x4 park might be on the cards in the coming weeks.


Cover plates off


The rotating assembly removed


All the spider gears removed and the threaded plates recovered to re-use


Some fiddling later and it's all in


New stub axle seals in the side plates and it's all back in the diff, ready to be sealed up again.

[TOONGA]

nicely done Sam

this is a very helpful video of the process that I'm told Sam memorized

TOONGA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HljeYBiAg5Y

[Silverbullet]

I entered the blue wagon in a car show! Have a few cosmetic things to address before the 27th of Feb, hope there's some other old school Subies there as well.

Driving with the diff locker: Mostly fine, a noticeable new clicking noise from the rear end in corners but nothing that bothers me much. A few times though I have felt the rear end bind up and then release the energy with a loud, disconcerting *bang* and can feel it through the car. Twice while reversing out of/into a parking spot and once today turning off a main road onto a side road. Hope this isn't doing anything bad to my hubs or axles

[El_Freddo]

All the best mate! I’m sure you’ll snag something.

And he locker is just reminding you it’s still there

Cheers

Bennie

[Bantum]

Yep I'm not a fan of the snap locker, reckon it'll only end up destroying things what with all the clanking that it makes.

Try to convince the powers that be to develop a proper diff locker : https://www.facebook.com/R160.Diff.Locker.Project

Ciao, Bantum ...

[Silverbullet]

All Japan day was last Sunday just passed, had a great time! The event spread over 2 reserves, I was put in the smaller area with all the older generation cars and 4WD's. This was the best area I reckon, so many weird and wonderful oddball old Jap stuff you'd never expect to see including plenty of imports, everyone so friendly. There was a super lifted Forester opposite me with all the 4WD gear and snorkel, friendly guy. I was the only MY Subaru there surprisingly, next oldest Subie was a 91' Fiori, and an SVX in the other field. Got heaps of interest in my car, plenty of people taking photos which I was kinda surprised by. Plenty of "OH my first car was one of those!" comments and many people were shocked to learn that my parents bought the car new back in 81'.

The other area had probably 200+ cars about 50 of which were R32, R33, R34 Skylines, you can only look at so many Skyline GTR or non-GTR before they all look the same. Heaps of imported modern stuff, Crowns, Cressida, Majesta, heaps of Imprezas, STI, GT Liberty and some STI Foz.

Was a good day, weather was perfect, will go again.

[El_Freddo]

Awesome Sam! Glad you were there to represent.

Looked like the weather turned it on for you. Was that at Glenelg foreshore area? It looks familiar for the same scene as around Colley reserve (I had to look it up) area.

I haven’t been to Radelaide in several years, last time was when I caught up with you and the wagon was painted with the running gear fitted and the interior in bits!

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Colley reserve is correct With the newer gen cars on Wigley reserve about 50m away. Weather wise is was cool and cloudy in the morning, turned partly cloudy and 28 after lunch, perfect.

Can't remember when exactly that was last time you were here, a few years ago for sure Could you see yourself heading this way again in the future? Or even half way, if you're ever planning a 4WD trip around the border area again then let me know I'd be keen to join in

[Silverbullet]

A very nice upgrade this week for the old wagon, cold A/C! The old compressor had a leaky input shaft seal so a brand new Sanden replacement was found and fitted by the radiator shop along with new suction and discharge hoses. A new receiver/dryer and also a new pressure safety switch. The system was leak tested then charged with hydrocarbon based refrigerant which is supposed to work better in these old R12 systems compared to R134A. The result is 3.5 degrees at the vents! Despite the weak interior fan it still feels so good to have cold air in the car for the first time in its entire life Power draw on the engine when driving is noticeable but not the end of the world, if I need to get up a hill quicker I'll just turn it off.

But the main reason it went to the radiator shop in the first place was for a new rad. So they also made me a real schmicko custom radiator which compared to the cheap ebay one is wider, thicker and has more cross tubes. The core is from Redback Radiators in QLD and the end tanks are from an old rad that used to be in my Brumby. They also had a custom ally shroud made up for the condenser thermo fan to improve its effectiveness. The temp gauge barely gets to half way now whereas before I had to keep both electric fans on most of the time to keep it at half on the gauge. This little lot was definitely not cheap but I'm so happy with the result, definitely worth it.

Also before I dropped it off at the rad shop on Monday I did a stop-leak treatment on the cooling system on Saturday to hopefully stop the weeping from the engine block bolt holes. I cleaned up the area where the old stain used to be and so far no new stain has appeared so fingers crossed. If that stop-leak fixed that issue I would be absolutely over the moon

[El_Freddo]

That’s a pile of dough dropped there! It would want to be cold AC with that amount of work!

Looks good Sam, you must be very stoked with that! I’m surprised they had a factory compressor still available. I thought you might have had a newer style compressor adapted to the factory EA81 setup.

And that hichill style stuff is awesome - I had it in Ruby Scoo until the front seal in the compressor died, presumably due to the hichill and the seal not being compatible with the new gas… it was awesome while it lasted!

I hope yours lasts longer than almost a year!

Cheers

Bennie