Brumby Rear suspension swap

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:12 pm

Caution: Novel ahead
So it's raining and I'm procrastinating on doing some bookkeeping, thought I'd share since i couldn't find anything similar anywhere on the web
I'm building a street car out of a brumby. I still own a Wrx that was mildly modified at various stages. 257 with cp's, vf34, 3" exhaust, fmic, 05 6 speed, tein coil overs and 17" semi slicks. Was awesome, fuel consumption and police attention sucked. Now drive a golf as a daily.
Anyway, I put L series control arms in the front of brumby when I started doing the 5 stud swap. That fixed camber issues in the front. But the rear track was thinner and looked rubbish. I wanted the same width as the front. Since I planned on rolling the guards in the front, it should look symmetrical.

Solution: swap L series rear crossmember and trailing arms into it. ( bought xt arms and swaybar off someone on the forum here, and crossmember off Fuji)
I first toyed and half built before scrapping the idea of brumby torsion bar with modified mounts and L series arms. Too much fab work for not enough gain.
Step 1 was measure, measure some more.
Step 2 was build a jig to ensure everything was in the right place.

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:19 pm

L series crossmember

Hmm

That explains why it won't bolt up

Note the diff mount is also further offset in the L crossmember. It being my point of reference from the brumby ( 5 or 10mm off centre between chassis mounts in brumby)

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:25 pm

Procrastinate some more. Cut stuff with a grinder

Get it square and even

Level, trying to over think things by changing changing pickup points heights made my head hurt. And would have effected diff flange clearance.

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:32 pm

Started making some mounts out of left over 6mm 50x100 rhs

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:41 pm

So I don't know what happened there to triple post the same photo

Test fit on jig

Crossmember. Argh shit, carry the 1 not subtract

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:47 pm

Attempt 2

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:55 pm

Huh, Appears to be correct

Get grinder out again then centre it all

Check its level

Boom. Got it right this time

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 3:09 pm

At this stage, I was feeling pretty good with myself. Planning weekends to work on ute around surf boat carnivals, figured a decent push over next 2 months, I'd have the rear end and fuel tank project finished and get the rust repairs and re spray done over Christmas break. Then the Wrx engine saga started and sapped all motivation and spare cash. Anyway

Welded it up to test fit. And here it is today.
Had to adjust the outer lip out chassis rail with a hammer for it to fit between and be able to get up to the rail. Bolt holes are 5mm to far apart so can't get all the bolts in straight.
If to ever stops raining I'll grind them out tomorrow and report back

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 9:28 pm

If you're going to this much effort why didn't you retro fit a gen 4 rear end in there?

The effort you've put in is crazy. Build a kit for this rear end conversion 10 years ago and I'm sure they would've been a worth while kit.

Cheers

Bennie

FujiFan · Post by **FujiFan** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 2:37 am

Good job there mate, great to see your making things happen with the brumby!
Nice that your making good use of that original x member from my L series

J.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 2:48 am

pwoar-

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 7:12 pm

El_Freddo wrote:If you're going to this much effort why didn't you retro fit a gen 4 rear end in there?

Main reason for not swapping in a gen 4 or even liberty / gc8 wrx rear end, was still a "weak" expensive diff and width. ( I have a clutch r160 centre already, cheap of import monster) too wide and the the only ones documented on the web were the red one off here and the flat black one from the uk, used lift blocks or cut and shut the subframe and both needed flares and cut guards.
I had gc8 wrx one sitting here and measured but it would have taken a custom tank. Well outside my sheet metal fab skills.
A 3.9 r180 clutch centre was also commanding approx $750+
I toyed with the idea of shortened rear control arms and wrx setup and l series shafts but it would never have got finished.
There's a 300zx around the corner with a r200 in it that hasn't moved for years, the whole rear cradle including 2pots, double wish bone suspension etc would be the go. Easily modified to move the inner wishbone mounting points inwards, s13 nissan have a short and long axle, 2 short ones should be roughly the right width. But it's still a $1k + exercise before you even change the front hubs and shocks to 05+ sti items to match the 5x112 .5 stud pattern, then there is new rims and tyres..
Gen 4 rear end, nothing that new around in wreckers up here. If you could locate one it would be time off work to travel and pick it up. I did buy a set of teins of import monster that would suit but they turned up almost destroyed from salt corrosion. Rebuild costs quoted were 400 a corner plus freight to Brisbane. Cheaper to buy a new set of MCA Reds.
L series, I had most of the parts from a wagon I bought for the 5 speed conversion (5 speed + weber conversion) was all I had originally planned to do. Haha rigolli's far lap ute has a lot to answer for. Good old scope growth

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 11:21 pm

Yeah makes sense. Thought I'd ask

Keep the pics and essays coming (on all build threads!)

Cheers

Bennie

Proton mouse · Post by **Proton mouse** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 12:17 am

Great to see you're tackling the problem I have with my 'Brumboid' after doing the L series LCA swap, that of the way different track from front to rear.
Alas I don't have the necessary skill set to tackle the problem the way you have, so I look forward to the 'kit' becoming available sometime soon

Enjoying your pictorial essays
Good luck with it all
John

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 7:57 am

Was thinking about this concept you have nearly completed. There is something about L Series over the MY ( L Sedan 4WD V's 4WD Brumby anyway) in how they feel and handle on the road. I hope you achieve something that much better.

So, when you did the LCA swap I am guessing you went with the L CV shaft, L knuckle and was it early Camry tie rod ends, bluesteel Johns custom radius rods - soon to be a SA production run by silverbullet ?

If only Fuji did an EA82 L Series ute

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Wed Apr 27, 2016 7:17 am

********* L series arm, ej balljoint and hub, my tie rod ends and steering rack on the front. Factory my castor rods (cause I spaced back the crossmember 100mm)
Xt6 rear hubs from the U.S. Custom modified (extra holes and washers welded around new holes) ej rear backing plates for hand brake.
I originally used a Mitsubishi express van castor rods and xf falcon bushes before I moved back the crossmember but leading edge guard clearance and inner guard clearance was non existant. But that was with 215/45 17" wheels.

stenno · Post by **stenno** » Wed Apr 27, 2016 7:39 am

Before I bought the ********* front arm, I bought the correct angle taper cutter to re cut my / l series control arms for an ej balljoint. I never used it but dfoyl borrowed and used it.
A kit? The only tools I have used are a 5" angle grinder, scribe, square, steel rule, and tape, cordless drill and ordinary drill bits, and a 20yo first generation cig weld 170 stick welder. And a fair bit of head scratching. Plus a $10 magnetic angle finder and a can of wd40 that was 3mm bigger than the tube.
The jig was just scrap laying around, and not really needed. Just make sure the mounts are square and level and evenly set it to match chassis width
I'll get some more detailed photos of the measurements for height and placement etc.
For chassis rail hole spacing, use bolts in the chassis rail not centre of bolt holes in MY crossmember. The 3mm difference means I now have to take it back out and die grind the hole to a slot to get it to bolt up.
You could possibly use a "lift block" by grinding the side straps and welding the crossmember to that. Factory mounts are only really thin bent sheet metal, and the joining strips on most mounts are usually 4-5mm thick plate.