Hey Sam, you’re doing better than me with a shed! Jealous. You’ll get all your tools etc in good time. You might even collect some extra ones when you work out it’s cheaper to buy new quality tools than the cost of fuel and your time to go collect them when you need them at the drop of a hat…
Ballarat eh? It should be putting on some pretty cold weather for your visit at this time of year!
Those bloody keys, painful at the time but all is sorted now and it’s good to have all the scorpions back in action and looking good. It’s amazing how changing rims can make such a change in the look and feel of a vehicle after having the same rims on for so long!
Subinats, can’t wait but can… I’m starting feet that my turbo conversion won’t be ready to drop in - or more to the point, it’ll be in but not running properly to drive it to Sydney and back. I really want it done but I want it done properly too. Still a few hurdles to get over yet and then some big ticket purchases needed that’ll jack the price of the conversion but are also needed - namely modified tailshaft and a speedo corrector/emulator box that can drive the factory brumby speedo for accurate speed indication. Exhaust will be another one too. Fun fun.
It’s all those little bits that are taking their toll on me between work, family and weather/free time… you’d understand this all too well Sam!
Red Targa Brumby
Moderator: El_Freddo
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El_Freddo
- Master Member
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Re: Red Targa Brumby
Wicked fog out tonight so I took the time to grab some awesome shots of the brumby as these photo ops don’t come around very often!
This was about 9pm.
I really wish I was carrying my DSLR with me today to take pics with - it’s way better than my camera phone - not that it’s hard to beat atm as my phone camera lens is chipped so it does writes ghost things with light in dark settings I found tonight.
This was about 9pm.
I really wish I was carrying my DSLR with me today to take pics with - it’s way better than my camera phone - not that it’s hard to beat atm as my phone camera lens is chipped so it does writes ghost things with light in dark settings I found tonight.
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El_Freddo
- Master Member
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- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am
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Re: Red Targa Brumby
The last two weeks were pretty big for Redback - an overnight trip to Melbourne with Mrs El_Freddo where we fluked seeing and hearing the Steam Rail “Snow Train” pass through Flinders St Station in the CBD. Pure fluke, and the steam whistle is not the same in the city as the country. I couldn’t imagine steam engines working throughout the day whistling all the time!
The next day we cruised around town a bit, checked out some shops etc before heading to the appointment we were down there for:
^ parked on Little Collins St.
Before leaving the multi-storey carpark we headed to the top level for some pics because why not? This one is my favourite, it was a bit hairy leaning out over the edge to take it…
During this trip I realised what a bastard my clutch was to use. I drove her to work one day again, once home I pulled the old cable out which seemed fine. Subarino guaranteed me the cable was the issue and when not under load they seem fine - but they’re not.
I put a new one in that was earmarked for Sunnie the Brumby (waiting in the wings to be sorted out for club rego). What a difference! It was like driving with a power assisted clutch compared to what it was before! No groaning clutch pedal either. This is what I used to change the clutch cable over with the old cable in the pic:
The rest of the week was spent getting used to the lightness of my new clutch feel.
The following weekend, the one that’s about to end at the time of writing this, I headed to Bairnsdale to catch up with an old forum friend and for my son to attend his child’s birthday party. It was a good catch up! We camped out last night in the swag then took off for home this morning.
I decided the night before that I’d look into darting up to the Dargo Pub for some pics and a drink. Sadly we were there too early for a drink or a sticker purchase but we enjoyed breakfast from the general store across the road. Little El_Freedo #2 and I sat out on their verandah in 7°C with the crisp alpine cold air to eat breakfast, don’t want crumbs in the brumby where possible! I do miss being in the snow (up higher than Dargo) so I really enjoy that crisp cold fresh air when I am in it.
^ I don’t think I need to say where this is - it’s probably the most photographed pub in Australia I reckon.
I heard it’s rare to get a pic with only you or your group out the front of the pub. My trick was to rock up before open time on a Sunday morning. Worked a treat for me!
For the most part the drive home was pretty uneventful which is good. There was a road from Dargo rd to Briagalong rd (Brenda rd I think) that was fun to drive. It was twisty and up and downy with lots of on and off throttle and some high speed flows. Very fun. The city driving was busy but flowing well.
On the northern side of the city when we hit the Hume (another detour) the wind was horrendous! We were buffered around as the wind came from the NE with some rain and really low cloud. It was proper winter weather with a bit of an alpine touch to it - bit of a theme of the day weather wise.
I haven’t added up all the kms done or the amount spent on fuel. The latter I don’t really want to know. It was cheaper than driving the Pajero by a long km.
I’m keen to work out my L/100km - at one point I reckon I got close to under 9L/100km.
But she’s also using some oil in there too which sadly is standard these days.
The most we paid for 98ron was $2.40/L and the least $2.12 (sadly a good score at the moment). Bring back fuel prices from three weeks ago pls!
Overall an awesome trip with lots of kms, a variety of roads and loads of tunes and convos with LEF#2. The brumby, as usual, didn’t miss a beat!
Cheers
The next day we cruised around town a bit, checked out some shops etc before heading to the appointment we were down there for:
^ parked on Little Collins St.
Before leaving the multi-storey carpark we headed to the top level for some pics because why not? This one is my favourite, it was a bit hairy leaning out over the edge to take it…
During this trip I realised what a bastard my clutch was to use. I drove her to work one day again, once home I pulled the old cable out which seemed fine. Subarino guaranteed me the cable was the issue and when not under load they seem fine - but they’re not.
I put a new one in that was earmarked for Sunnie the Brumby (waiting in the wings to be sorted out for club rego). What a difference! It was like driving with a power assisted clutch compared to what it was before! No groaning clutch pedal either. This is what I used to change the clutch cable over with the old cable in the pic:
The rest of the week was spent getting used to the lightness of my new clutch feel.
The following weekend, the one that’s about to end at the time of writing this, I headed to Bairnsdale to catch up with an old forum friend and for my son to attend his child’s birthday party. It was a good catch up! We camped out last night in the swag then took off for home this morning.
I decided the night before that I’d look into darting up to the Dargo Pub for some pics and a drink. Sadly we were there too early for a drink or a sticker purchase but we enjoyed breakfast from the general store across the road. Little El_Freedo #2 and I sat out on their verandah in 7°C with the crisp alpine cold air to eat breakfast, don’t want crumbs in the brumby where possible! I do miss being in the snow (up higher than Dargo) so I really enjoy that crisp cold fresh air when I am in it.
^ I don’t think I need to say where this is - it’s probably the most photographed pub in Australia I reckon.
I heard it’s rare to get a pic with only you or your group out the front of the pub. My trick was to rock up before open time on a Sunday morning. Worked a treat for me!
For the most part the drive home was pretty uneventful which is good. There was a road from Dargo rd to Briagalong rd (Brenda rd I think) that was fun to drive. It was twisty and up and downy with lots of on and off throttle and some high speed flows. Very fun. The city driving was busy but flowing well.
On the northern side of the city when we hit the Hume (another detour) the wind was horrendous! We were buffered around as the wind came from the NE with some rain and really low cloud. It was proper winter weather with a bit of an alpine touch to it - bit of a theme of the day weather wise.
I haven’t added up all the kms done or the amount spent on fuel. The latter I don’t really want to know. It was cheaper than driving the Pajero by a long km.
I’m keen to work out my L/100km - at one point I reckon I got close to under 9L/100km.
But she’s also using some oil in there too which sadly is standard these days.
The most we paid for 98ron was $2.40/L and the least $2.12 (sadly a good score at the moment). Bring back fuel prices from three weeks ago pls!
Overall an awesome trip with lots of kms, a variety of roads and loads of tunes and convos with LEF#2. The brumby, as usual, didn’t miss a beat!
Cheers
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El_Freddo
- Master Member
- Posts: 12732
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Bridgewater Vic
- Contact:
Re: Red Targa Brumby
I’m finally doing a huge push on this project in the hope that I’ll have it up and running in time for Subinats ‘26 in October. Accommodation and entry is already sorted, now I *just* need to complete this project before then and get some kms on the clock for testing before the big drive there and back.
Since getting into the workshop at work (VERY grateful for this) two weekends ago, I completed the gearbox crossmember build to a point that the gearbox is where I want it to be. The hurdle here is the sway bar that I need to fit and check clearance etc.
Engine crossmember sorted for an EJ rack, spaced down 10mm, engine mounts modified to space up 5mm and push the engine and box back 20mm - this 20mm rearwards give me ample room for two 11inch thermo fans up front and clears the turbo from fouling a bleed nipple on the brake master cylinder.
Yes, things are close! Interestingly, the VF turbo clears the MC easy, I’ll be swapping to one of these turbos - a VF8 because I have one, it needs a mod of course - it came with a 90° bolt on snout. So I’m in the process to fabricate a straight snout so it’ll drop straight in where it should.
Gear stick linkages almost sorted. Got some wiring to finalise, some easy, some not. Air box setup is a work in progress.
Then other fiddly bits plus a fuel system upgrade. You know how conversions go if you completed one yourself!
I’m working on it after work hours and on weekends currently. Things are moving quickly in the right direction and hopefully it stays this way!
That engine is a mock up, the intended block is on an engine stand at home waiting for fitment of new head gaskets, modified heads etc then I can transfer the intake and turbo gear to this block before it goes into the brumby.
Hopefully it’ll run mint under load mounted in a moving body. This is what I need to confirm because I’ll still be running NA cams at this point. I’ll go for a “turbo” grind if needed. Time will tell.
One desire is to paint the cam covers and intake manifold the same Kawasaki green as the brake calipers - I reckon that’ll tie everything in nicely. If I don’t get this done this time around, I’ll do it later… kind of need something to show as “progress” between Subinats events
Since getting into the workshop at work (VERY grateful for this) two weekends ago, I completed the gearbox crossmember build to a point that the gearbox is where I want it to be. The hurdle here is the sway bar that I need to fit and check clearance etc.
Engine crossmember sorted for an EJ rack, spaced down 10mm, engine mounts modified to space up 5mm and push the engine and box back 20mm - this 20mm rearwards give me ample room for two 11inch thermo fans up front and clears the turbo from fouling a bleed nipple on the brake master cylinder.
Yes, things are close! Interestingly, the VF turbo clears the MC easy, I’ll be swapping to one of these turbos - a VF8 because I have one, it needs a mod of course - it came with a 90° bolt on snout. So I’m in the process to fabricate a straight snout so it’ll drop straight in where it should.
Gear stick linkages almost sorted. Got some wiring to finalise, some easy, some not. Air box setup is a work in progress.
Then other fiddly bits plus a fuel system upgrade. You know how conversions go if you completed one yourself!
I’m working on it after work hours and on weekends currently. Things are moving quickly in the right direction and hopefully it stays this way!
That engine is a mock up, the intended block is on an engine stand at home waiting for fitment of new head gaskets, modified heads etc then I can transfer the intake and turbo gear to this block before it goes into the brumby.
Hopefully it’ll run mint under load mounted in a moving body. This is what I need to confirm because I’ll still be running NA cams at this point. I’ll go for a “turbo” grind if needed. Time will tell.
One desire is to paint the cam covers and intake manifold the same Kawasaki green as the brake calipers - I reckon that’ll tie everything in nicely. If I don’t get this done this time around, I’ll do it later… kind of need something to show as “progress” between Subinats events
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El_Freddo
- Master Member
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- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Bridgewater Vic
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Re: Red Targa Brumby
Some pics of the above move to work for access to lots of awesome tools and equipment I don’t have at home (but would love if I had a shed to use them in!).
Unloading procedure:
Engine bay layout looking really messy (I think I took this to take a later “completed” pic - that never came to fruition):
Gearbox crossmember was the first item to be fabricated - previous to this I was bending up material, taking it home, checking, making notes, wash-rinse-repeat. That wasn’t working ultimately. And here it is with only half its bolts holding the mid section in place. The swaybar clearance/setup will be sorted once it’s in Redback.
From here I was able to sort out the gearstick rods/linkages with accuracy as I wasn’t guessing where the gearbox would be located. I used a brumby gearstick too, this one is cut down but it won’t be hard to swap in a stock length one if I wanted to (I don’t think I will as the ball pivot is mounted higher than stock). The brumby gear stick adds the benefit of being a short throw setup too:
To adapt the brumby gear stick to the EJ ball at the base I folded a piece of ally tube with a section cut out to suit the bottom of the brumby gear stick. This turned out to be the size needed to fit the EJ ball (it’s removable!) - I drilled a hole through the gear stick and fitted the retainer pin. Worked a treat.
I planned on using the factory EJ gearstick boot with an adaptor plate over the EA trans tunnel hole. In the end I figured it was just easier to cut out the section of the EJ boot that protects the ball and socket from any dirt etc (much like the boot on a ball joint) and use the factory EA81 gearstick boot - this keeps it all simple. It also means I didn’t need to go to the effort to retain the disc piece on the selector rod that the EJ boot secures to. This is now redundant and I might as well cut it off.
Here’s the pitch stopper rod, I’m pretty stoked how this turned out (pardon the pun - read on). I didn’t want to weld anything here. The lathe got a bit of a work out for this, but it was good fun making it myself. The factory rod was shaped on the press, trimmed and threaded for an M12 I believe - same thread size as the engine mount studs. There’s a crush tube in the factory pitch stopper rod bracket on the gearbox. Shame no one will ever see it!
This is the battery and airbox setup I’ve finally settled on. This configuration took ages to come up with - finding a suitable airbox was somewhat of a nightmare:
I still need to sort out some PS lines. Options are to steal a set from a turbo forester I was gifted but that’s not ideal as it’s a complete running vehicle awaiting club rego. Other option is possibly a gen4 or gen5 (unsure which one) remote mount res setup as this is mounted on the side of the engine bay - it could also have other unforeseen issues such as the brumby engine bay not being wide enough to accommodate that. One way to find out but that’s time and money I don’t really have to experiment at this stage.
From that battery and airbox location I knocked up a new battery tray to take up any available holes to bolt into or utilise as a mount point. It still needs a few things but you get the idea:
With the fitting of the EJ rack I needed to sort out the steering knuckle. This is what I ended up with, a cut down SF foz steering knuckle from when 1wdfoz did his monster lift, this was the original steering knuckle I buggered up when drilling out the original retainer pins. I drilled out the remaining two pins and threw out the rubber guts to just use the upper and lower uni joints. I still had a gap to fill so I lathed down a section of solid ally bar that I used for the turbo snout job to create a solid disc. From this I marked out four holes equally spaced to bolt the uni joint flanges to. This turned out really well. In the pic I’m only using two of the holes as I didn’t have enough bolts long enough to use all four with the uni’s offset from each other:
EJ throttle cable modified to fit through the Brumby’s firewall.
Still loads of things to do:
- modify the battery tray - essentially finish it off. This will also mount/hold the airbox.
- extend the AFM wiring to reach the new airbox and AFM location.
- finalise the wiring to mate to the main loom - this will be done in Redback. There’s a few other wires to be sorted in there too.
- sort out the tailshaft. I think I have a solution to this.
- finish off the gearstick rear mount bracket.
- heads on the turbo block plus everything after that.
- fit the modified diff stubs (yet to get a pic of these) and set the backlash as I swapped the sundials.
- setup the EJ rack with parts from Subarino’s care package for this project.
- find and fit the clutch cable mount to the gearbox. A Subarino 5spd clutch cable will be used in this conversion.
- sort out the WAIC radiator. Hopefully a long time forum friend will be able to help me out on this one. Problem is he’s flat out with work at this time of year
I’m sure there’s more I missed above. Radiator and fans are basically sorted - two 11inch spal fans fitted on the factory radiator, good clearance with the engine and gearbox sitting that 20mm rearwards.
Hopefully Wednesday - four days away - will be the main drivetrain swap into Redback. That’s when “shit gets real”.
Unloading procedure:
Engine bay layout looking really messy (I think I took this to take a later “completed” pic - that never came to fruition):
Gearbox crossmember was the first item to be fabricated - previous to this I was bending up material, taking it home, checking, making notes, wash-rinse-repeat. That wasn’t working ultimately. And here it is with only half its bolts holding the mid section in place. The swaybar clearance/setup will be sorted once it’s in Redback.
From here I was able to sort out the gearstick rods/linkages with accuracy as I wasn’t guessing where the gearbox would be located. I used a brumby gearstick too, this one is cut down but it won’t be hard to swap in a stock length one if I wanted to (I don’t think I will as the ball pivot is mounted higher than stock). The brumby gear stick adds the benefit of being a short throw setup too:
To adapt the brumby gear stick to the EJ ball at the base I folded a piece of ally tube with a section cut out to suit the bottom of the brumby gear stick. This turned out to be the size needed to fit the EJ ball (it’s removable!) - I drilled a hole through the gear stick and fitted the retainer pin. Worked a treat.
I planned on using the factory EJ gearstick boot with an adaptor plate over the EA trans tunnel hole. In the end I figured it was just easier to cut out the section of the EJ boot that protects the ball and socket from any dirt etc (much like the boot on a ball joint) and use the factory EA81 gearstick boot - this keeps it all simple. It also means I didn’t need to go to the effort to retain the disc piece on the selector rod that the EJ boot secures to. This is now redundant and I might as well cut it off.
Here’s the pitch stopper rod, I’m pretty stoked how this turned out (pardon the pun - read on). I didn’t want to weld anything here. The lathe got a bit of a work out for this, but it was good fun making it myself. The factory rod was shaped on the press, trimmed and threaded for an M12 I believe - same thread size as the engine mount studs. There’s a crush tube in the factory pitch stopper rod bracket on the gearbox. Shame no one will ever see it!
This is the battery and airbox setup I’ve finally settled on. This configuration took ages to come up with - finding a suitable airbox was somewhat of a nightmare:
I still need to sort out some PS lines. Options are to steal a set from a turbo forester I was gifted but that’s not ideal as it’s a complete running vehicle awaiting club rego. Other option is possibly a gen4 or gen5 (unsure which one) remote mount res setup as this is mounted on the side of the engine bay - it could also have other unforeseen issues such as the brumby engine bay not being wide enough to accommodate that. One way to find out but that’s time and money I don’t really have to experiment at this stage.
From that battery and airbox location I knocked up a new battery tray to take up any available holes to bolt into or utilise as a mount point. It still needs a few things but you get the idea:
With the fitting of the EJ rack I needed to sort out the steering knuckle. This is what I ended up with, a cut down SF foz steering knuckle from when 1wdfoz did his monster lift, this was the original steering knuckle I buggered up when drilling out the original retainer pins. I drilled out the remaining two pins and threw out the rubber guts to just use the upper and lower uni joints. I still had a gap to fill so I lathed down a section of solid ally bar that I used for the turbo snout job to create a solid disc. From this I marked out four holes equally spaced to bolt the uni joint flanges to. This turned out really well. In the pic I’m only using two of the holes as I didn’t have enough bolts long enough to use all four with the uni’s offset from each other:
EJ throttle cable modified to fit through the Brumby’s firewall.
Still loads of things to do:
- modify the battery tray - essentially finish it off. This will also mount/hold the airbox.
- extend the AFM wiring to reach the new airbox and AFM location.
- finalise the wiring to mate to the main loom - this will be done in Redback. There’s a few other wires to be sorted in there too.
- sort out the tailshaft. I think I have a solution to this.
- finish off the gearstick rear mount bracket.
- heads on the turbo block plus everything after that.
- fit the modified diff stubs (yet to get a pic of these) and set the backlash as I swapped the sundials.
- setup the EJ rack with parts from Subarino’s care package for this project.
- find and fit the clutch cable mount to the gearbox. A Subarino 5spd clutch cable will be used in this conversion.
- sort out the WAIC radiator. Hopefully a long time forum friend will be able to help me out on this one. Problem is he’s flat out with work at this time of year
I’m sure there’s more I missed above. Radiator and fans are basically sorted - two 11inch spal fans fitted on the factory radiator, good clearance with the engine and gearbox sitting that 20mm rearwards.
Hopefully Wednesday - four days away - will be the main drivetrain swap into Redback. That’s when “shit gets real”.
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Bantum
- Senior Member
- Posts: 2075
- Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 4:30 pm
- Location: Northern Territory + QLD
- Contact:
Engine swap ...
Like your commtment to it - well done on the mock up font cut.
Sorry I might of missed it, but was wondering what the donner moter came from ? Was it a Forester EJ ... ?
Will it be ready in time ? Subinats is just a few weeks away now ...
Cioa, Bantum ...
Sorry I might of missed it, but was wondering what the donner moter came from ? Was it a Forester EJ ... ?
Will it be ready in time ? Subinats is just a few weeks away now ...
Cioa, Bantum ...
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El_Freddo
- Master Member
- Posts: 12732
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Bridgewater Vic
- Contact:
Re: Red Targa Brumby
I forgot to add a pic of the halfcut project arriving home and put into position to start swapping stuff over. Nothing like an open air shed and zero supporting facilities!
The engine block and management is from a GT forester. The heads are from an EJ202.
The aim is to drive this to Sydney with the conversion done. We’ll see about that. One way or another it’ll be on display as an EJ or (worst case) the original EA.
Now to crack into it for the day.
The engine block and management is from a GT forester. The heads are from an EJ202.
The aim is to drive this to Sydney with the conversion done. We’ll see about that. One way or another it’ll be on display as an EJ or (worst case) the original EA.
Now to crack into it for the day.
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Silverbullet
- Senior Member
- Posts: 2960
- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:20 pm
- Location: Adelaide
Re: Red Targa Brumby
Wow, just wow, awesome effort! 
That half cut test bed method is such a good idea. As is having all the machinery at your disposal to make those custom parts (very nice parts btw) Can't wait to see how this turns out.
FWIW, if it's the L series 5 speed clutch cable from Subarino (that's actually off a USA model XV) they are way, way too long. I got one and it had to snake through two 180 degree bends, made my pedal so stiff as to be almost un-usable. Ended up TIG welding the end back onto my original broken cable, and got a new cable made as a back up.
That half cut test bed method is such a good idea. As is having all the machinery at your disposal to make those custom parts (very nice parts btw) Can't wait to see how this turns out. FWIW, if it's the L series 5 speed clutch cable from Subarino (that's actually off a USA model XV) they are way, way too long. I got one and it had to snake through two 180 degree bends, made my pedal so stiff as to be almost un-usable. Ended up TIG welding the end back onto my original broken cable, and got a new cable made as a back up.
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Silverbullet
- Senior Member
- Posts: 2960
- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:20 pm
- Location: Adelaide
Re: Red Targa Brumby
Wow, just wow, awesome effort! That half cut test bed method is such a good idea. As is having all the machinery at your disposal to make those custom parts (very nice parts btw) Can't wait to see how this turns out.
FWIW, if it's the L series 5 speed clutch cable from Subarino (that's actually off a USA model XV) they are way, way too long. I got one and it had to snake through two 180 degree bends, made my pedal so stiff as to be almost un-usable. Ended up TIG welding the end back onto my original broken cable, and got a new cable made as a back up.
That half cut test bed method is such a good idea. As is having all the machinery at your disposal to make those custom parts (very nice parts btw) Can't wait to see how this turns out. FWIW, if it's the L series 5 speed clutch cable from Subarino (that's actually off a USA model XV) they are way, way too long. I got one and it had to snake through two 180 degree bends, made my pedal so stiff as to be almost un-usable. Ended up TIG welding the end back onto my original broken cable, and got a new cable made as a back up.