OutBack Ute ...

[Bantum]

Ok - I've located some more pictures of this beast courtesy of Grant on FB :







More info to be had here : RS Liberty club

Cheers, Bantum ...

[El_Freddo]

Looks good, but I wonder why they butcher a (presumably genuine) RS? Why not a liberty mocked up as an RS?

Looks the goods though, I reckon they worked hard on the proportions and got it right too.

Now, what sort of "load" can it handle?

Cheers

Bennie

[Bantum]

Stumbled upon this :



Interesting Concept ...

[El_Freddo]

BIG IMAGE!!!

looks odd with those small wheels, but looks like it would slip stream well too.

Cheers

Bennie

[OB1]

Gday from New Zealand. As an introduction I'm new here. I live in Whanganui, born in South Africa.

I did not think my question warrants a whole new thread so I dug up an old one. Probably 12 years ago in Pretoria South Africa, I stood next to a gen3 facelift 3.0H6 Outback that was converted to a ute. I took a lot of photos. Could anybody remember Blackberry bombing out? That's where my photos went otherwise I would have posted it. It looked as if it rolled out of the factory. Singe cab monocoque ute. The Brumby that should have been.

The owner has a automotive engineering workshop. He does all sorts of conversions. Bespoke stuff, and quite niche. One time I was there he was casually welding on a near new Porche 911 intake manifold to put in a bigger turbo. He also had a kit car there that someone developed to be a replica of a McLaren F1. He was stashing it for a friend. Apparently the friend got in trouble with McLaren amout the intellectual property of his kit he wanted to make and sell. So interesting chap, very publicity shy. I can't find him anywhere online.

The way he did was to take the bin out of I cant rememmber either a Opel Corsa utility, or a Nissan NP200 (very very common in S.A.) took the roof behind the B pillar off, along with C and D pillar. He took the bin and rear window from the donor ute. He welded the bin in, according to him a straight fit. I'm guessing it was more involved than what I just said, but the net result really looked like it could have been stock standard.

So it has been done. It looks good. Had anybody else attempted something similar on an Outback? Any lead or threads available for it?

There are youtubers who does it to Beamers, Volvos, Volkswagens and a minivan that I saw. Mostly looks cr@p and badly done. In the US (inevitably) there is an outfit called Smyth performance that sells kits to do it to Hellcats, Audi A6, VW beelte, and a WRX as well. These rely on a lot of fiberglass body panels and panel bonding. What I like about that Outback that I saw is it is all metal, and looks thr business.

[El_Freddo]

That sounds like a legit modern brumby OB1! Shame that the photos are lost, I’d like to see those!

I’ve seen a gen1 Liberty/Legacy converted to a 2 door ute and done properly to look the part. The only downer was the door looked a bit too small since the Brumby’s one is long like the old style coupes used to be. A retro brumby would ultimately need to have this feature too.

I reckon the best way to do a modern brumby would be to revive the old body panels with modern strengthening of the body overall, modern Subaru drivetrain (bin the CVT!!!), modern interior without too much button work on the steering wheel etc - keep it simple in that department. I reckon that would be a winner and ppl would jump at them, especially if there was a turbo variant.

Anyway, not going to happen but we can dream and build custom versions of what should have been.

Cheers

Bennie

[OB1]

Not going to happen, at least not through Subaru. But through someone's shed at home..... It has to be done right so it doesn't look like Frankinbaru.

I believe the Gen3 facelift is a sweet spot giving everything ElFreddo mentioned. It happens to be exactly what I think a modern Brumby should be . No CVTs, minimal buttons, a good choice of engines and gearboxes depending what you want it to do. Hell even a diesel is possible. After all real trucks don't have spatk plugs I dont think a Forester or Impreza wagon is as suitable, it will look like a wannabe. I believe the Outback will look more Shouldavebeen. That being said the XV that was done in another thread will work just because it looks so dang qute.

[OB1]

[OB1]

That image was my attempt at a quick mockup, and an upload to ausubaru. I think I failed ad both.

As said earlier there are plenty of opinions as to what it would take to give a car it's rigidity back after you have taken a tin opener to it's roof. There is an opinion that welding up it's rear doors will stop it's back sagging like a daschund. That could be true. Personally, without any engineering background, I would have liked to see some diagonal reinforcement from the top of the B pillar to the rear wheel well. Not a roll cage, but body work. Or a roll cage covered in body panels. That would give it that sloped side profile of the old Brumby, plus add rigidity.
One also have to think about the bin pinching in from the sides. Adding a rear window would counter that to some extent, but how can one stop the tailgate opening from collapsing over time. The only way I can think of is adding ribs from the one side to the other, under the floor of the tub. Looking at some examples on youtube, this usually involves 25mm square box section. Looks horrible but I suppose it is acceptable?


The most meticulous looking conversion that I found was some Scandinavian bloke cutting up his Volvo. You can tell he knows how to wields that grinder and reciprocating saw he serious about it. Not just hacking away at it as most youtube efforts. But as good as it looks on the outer skin, I do not agree at all with the style of the bin. Very small, and made out of aluminium tread plate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOxiDJ1M8_A&t=25s

I recon take his approach, but do a proper custom sheet metal bin, and rear window panel. It would take a lot of skill with sheet metal working and welding, but it is perhaps a nice place to learn the art of shrinking, stretching and welding sheet metal. In the back of a ute, under a thick layer of rubberizing. That would hide most of the learning curve.

[El_Freddo]

I tried out your image link but it’s set to personal I think as I’m being directed to log in to view the image. The coding on either side looks good to me for the forum.

See if you can make it a public image OB1, that might change the ability to view it on the forum. Just edit your post with the original pic in it to change the image address

Check out the brumberty on YouTube, it’s a mate’s work that’s not finished yet. He’s taken a brumby and a Gen 3 Liberty and is smashing them together we some good results so far. I think the A pillar is a bit match stick spec with the gen3 panel work… he might get something sorted. Good effort though that’s well beyond my abilities!!

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

I've seen in the flesh a very convincing and well made 2nd gen Forester ute here in SA. Paul (formerly Subareck) had it at his property a couple of years ago. He was trying to sell it for a long time but nobody wanted it. I wasn't in the market for more cars so couldn't help him moving it on. Complete with stainless steel boat rails down the sides of the tray for tie-down points. IIRC it was professinally done by a coach builders. Tried finding a pic online or in the FB group but couldn't find it. Don't think he has it any more.

[Bantum]

I've seen the SA ute conversion, it came from Darwin & was based on a Silver Forester - I do have some images of it somewhere ...
Another is a White Liberty ute from VIc ? From memory they used a Holden ute for the rear tray. ( will post when I find them )

There's also another more recent conversion being done I think in NSW ? Will see if can find it again .. ( think it was on FB )

Subaru Australia has a history of not listening to what we want, so not expecting anything to come out of it ... :/

Cheers,Bantum ...