Ruby Scoo’s epic build, ten years and counting...

[El_Freddo]

Thanks for your comments guys - puts a on my dial...

Finally got some pics uploaded! Here they are - the coolant ones first, the exhaust next and a little treat for you at the end, which will need to be swapped later once a decent image is uploaded, but I'll share now anyway

Here's my non anti freeze coolant!







Exhaust pics, including the one from above. Middle one being boring but it show's the exhaust pipe's route under the subi:







And this is what it sounds like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-a3H_P0nFc

^ Sorry for the crap picutre quality, I didn't realise how crap the quailty comes out on the low setting as its the first time I've dropped the quailty. Now going to upload a good quailty one for you to view as I'm really not happy with this one...

Cheers

Bennie

[ScubyRoo]

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh baby

Didn't you have a hole somewhere in the old system that made it loud? Fixed now? Lookin shmick!

[Alex]

lol safe to say ive never seen coolant do that before

looks bloody good!

alex

[AndrewT]

Great looking exhaust. That coolant is pretty interesting to look at. I'm guessing it froze on a cold morning and pushed it's way out all the crevices. What do you do in that situation?

[vincentvega]

thats a great camera angle mate. what camera are you using?

its great watching the suspension do its thing, with those poor snow tyres trying to hang on

[ScubyRoo]

wow that's some pretty cold coolant . Any damage to the hoses/head gaskets?

[El_Freddo]

Well all the hoses are fine, the head gasket seems fine, that run on the footage I had half the radiator blocked off to air flow, it got to 105C and didn't move from there. Head gaskets will be a time thing I reckon... She's going all good now though.

How did I sort that one out? Well, first of all I had to see if the thing would start - there was some leaked battery acid from the battery, even this was frozen! She started and after 10 seconds had a little squeal that I thought could've been the water pump. Left her for a couple of minutes then fired her up again. No squeal this time. So I left her to warm up but still watching the temp guage like a hawk.

After thawing out the block I repeated this through out the day between work. Later that night I sourced some blankets that were used to wrap stuff up for the trip here and placed them over the engine away from moving parts. Then I basically let her get up to temp - the radiator thawed out, my radiator cap was destroyed - sucked into the filler tube dementing a spring from a smaller cap that's in the centre of the radiator cap.

We moved her down to staff parking for the night, bros got me some new anti freeze the next day, then we put that stuff in. The heater core was still blocked and I was worried about over heating it as I thought this circuit was what opened the thermostat. It was all good and after a decent drive of about 40kms we had a heater and most importantly a demister!

I've not had a problem with her since and hope not to have any problems either. The blanket still lives under the bonnet and hasn't moved. Not much fun fixing it in the cold either - getting under the subi with a snow covered ground its good to have a ground sheet, and an insulated one at that.

Alex I hope you're talking about the exhaust being bloody good. I wasn't bloody happy when I found the coolant! It did look impressive and in cave formation terms the first is a curtain or stalactite and the second is a flow formation but I can't remember the specific name for it...

VV: I'm using my olympus stylus 8000, strapped to a ruler that was strapped to my rear bar and reinforced with a screw driver that was strapped to both on an angle to create a triangle frame. All held together with trusty electrical tape Very little movement in it so I was a happy boy. I've got a pic on a mates camera but am yet to collect it

Cheers

Bennie

[T'subaru]

Cool video Bennie, thanks for the ride, sounds good

[Alex]

Alex I hope you're talking about the exhaust being bloody good. I wasn't bloody happy when I found the coolant! It did look impressive and in cave formation terms the first is a curtain or stalactite and the second is a flow formation but I can't remember the specific name for it...

yes i was talking about the exhaust haha..

i can only imagine the nightmare you had with the coolant..im use to the extreme opposite...watching it boil out of the overflow on ye old l-series haha

alex

[The Loyale]

Wow, haven't been on this site in a while. Nice progress on the Wagon and it sounds great! I'm running mine muffler-less with a 12" 2" OD straight pipe.


-Tom

[El_Freddo]

Wow, haven't been on this site in a while. Nice progress on the Wagon and it sounds great! I'm running mine muffler-less with a 12" 2" OD straight pipe.

Thanks Tom! Is your exhaust setup noisy? Mine's a good level - enough for some to look around for the "hot WRX" only to find a lifted L series cruising past, yet not be that loud that its annoying in the cab LOVE IT!

Here's the camera setup for the video of the mountain climb, its really expensive and you need a degree to set it up



^ Please note the technical use of a screw driver, ruler and electrical tape

Good times! I'm going to have a go at a few other setups. Thursday would've been a good run to film - 25 minutes up the hill, unfortunately with the front "lit up" around some of the tight corners. My tyres are evil and MUST be punished Seriously though, I can't wait for AWD, hopefully by december it'll be in

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

Video of Ruby Scoo's transformation, a few of the early years missing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwudtary2_A

Cheers

Bennie

[FROG]

Most awesome video
love the fast forward of the ej conversion

[username]

Thanks Tom! Is your exhaust setup noisy? Mine's a good level - enough for some to look around for the "hot WRX" only to find a lifted L series cruising past, yet not be that loud that its annoying in the cab LOVE IT!

Here's the camera setup for the video of the mountain climb, its really expensive and you need a degree to set it up



^ Please note the technical use of a screw driver, ruler and electrical tape

Good times! I'm going to have a go at a few other setups. Thursday would've been a good run to film - 25 minutes up the hill, unfortunately with the front "lit up" around some of the tight corners. My tyres are evil and MUST be punished Seriously though, I can't wait for AWD, hopefully by december it'll be in

Cheers

Bennie

This is one of the most ghetto things i have ever seen, well played sir.

[El_Freddo]

This is one of the most ghetto things i have ever seen, well played sir.

Why thankyou username!

Adapt and overcome... and you end up with a camera mount like that one

In other news I've been in contact with FROG over the last 2-3 weeks sorting out Ruby Scoo's check engine light issues.

It wasn't the power relay. So I've replaced the first 3 sensors that popped up on the check engine light display. These being the temp sensor, TPS and knock sensor. There's a bit of a saga about the parts arriving up at Mt Hotham. I was hoping them to arrive on or before monday the 6th of September so I could fit them before heading off mountain to Fall's Creek for the week. Alas they didn't make it. Probably nothing to do with the freight company though.

I'm sure you've all seen the news headlines about the flooding we've had around here. The Great Alpine Rd was closed in 3 sections after Harrietville. Myrtleford was sandbagged in preparation and punters were stuck there as well, unable to get to their accommodation on the mountain.

So I was watching the vicroads road closure webpage like a hawk waiting for the road to re-open. The first section did for me, so I was at least able to get to Bright and then Falls. But the rest didn't so no parts for me, alas a drive with a sick Ruby Scoo.

While in bright I wanted to get my tyre fixed that I put a hole in on the day after Rawson 4wd'n session. Side wall holes are a pain in the arse, even tiny little ones. So a new tyre it was. I decided on two new tyres and to have them fitted up front. The spare I had turned out to be about 15mm taller than the rest which reeked havoc with the 4wd system, particularly on the snow - the rear end shook all over the shop every now and then as the binding in the system was released.

The front left came off first and was to replace the spare tyre on the spare tyre's rim (its white, rest are black). We found the inner side was bald and severly scratched like a piece of wire was wrapped around something and cutting the tyre. There were also bubbles in the side wall. So that tyre was catcus and I was glad to see it off my subi!

I got some time yesterday to fit the new parts, they arrived while I was on camp being paid to ski I didn't have time to individually remove one sensor and test to see if that was the problem. The TPS, knock and temp sensor were all replaced. Check engine light is now off and Ruby Scoo starts with VERY LITTLE effort when stone (snow cold) cold This makes me very happy. She warms up noticably quicker, is smoother to drive again and is much more responsive. Also pulls up steep gradients once again!

A huge thanks to FROG for sorting it all out and putting up with my disorganisation etc. I would recommend anyone who's after subi parts to hit up FROG, particularly if you're not in your home area to make use of your local parts joint (like I am at the moment).

Can't wait to drive her again. Pics and a vid coming soon to show all the various bits and pieces. Video will be a "before new parts" cold start and an "after new parts" cold start. I reckon you'll notice the difference...

Thanks for reading my essay, hope you packed a lunch

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

***Note - after typing all of this out I have realised the gearsets of each gearbox I have available are the same - is this really the case??***

Also, just been doing some research for the gearbox thread about ratios. Found these on wikipedia. Not my favourite place for info but its the best I've found so far!

So gearbox ratios: Stock L gearbox - the most common one. dunno the final ratio (diff)

Gear Ratios: 1st 3.545 2nd 1.947 3rd 1.366 4th .972 5th .780, Rev 3.416 Low Range 1.59

L series AWD lockable centre box ratios:

Gear Ratios: 1st 3.545 2nd 2.111 3rd 1.448 4th 1.088 5th .871, Rev 3.416 Low Range 1.196

Now what I was wondering is: I've got an L awd box, EJ Gen1 & maybe Gen2 AWD gearbox, yet to pull the Gen1 box apart to find out diff ratio. Guessing its a 3.9. Anyway, I'm aiming to build a 4.11:1 diff ratio'd L AWD gearbox with 1.59:1 low range. I'm wondering which gearsets to use in building this box.

I'm guessing I've got the following ratios to play with. I realise the pinion shaft is longer in the L awd box, I'm really hoping I get this part sorted and in my shed soon! It'll be a 4.11 pinion shaft for the L awd box CAN'T WAIT! The diff ratios cannot be used from the below (except the factory L awd ), not that I'm aiming to anyway...

L series AWD lockable centre box ratios:
Gear Ratios:
1st 3.545
2nd 2.111
3rd 1.448
4th 1.088
5th .871,
Rev 3.416
Low Range 1.196

Gen 1 3.9 diff Aus Del model
1st 3.545
2nd 2.111
3rd 1.448
4th 1.088
5th 0.871
Rev 3.416
Final Drive 3.9
Low Range 1.19

Gen 2 Aus Del model (got this information from Subaru Australia)
1st 3.545
2nd 2.111
3rd 1.448
4th 1.088
5th 0.871
Rev 3.416
Final Drive 3.7
Low Range 1.19

Hmmm... Doesn't look like I have a choice They all appear the same. Have I found some miss-information about the L's awd box ratios? Can someone verify this for me? Cheers.

I'm off to get this vid sorted and pics hosted. Be back soon I hope.

Cheers

Bennie

[Venom]

Good to hear she is in top form again Bennie! Your cold starts on the Rawson trip were pretty epic, must've been a real PITA in the snow It must be a relief to have it running well.

Interesting that your spare was such a different size, did you have that on for the Rawson trip? I can't remember.

Cheers,
Rhys

[El_Freddo]

Interesting that your spare was such a different size, did you have that on for the Rawson trip? I can't remember.

Yep, same make of tyre, same tread, slightly different wall size!

As promised, here are the pics:

The front left that was fine the day after the rawson trip when I had to change tyres while cruising with Richard and Rhys:

The scrubbed out inside of the tyre:



A chunk cut in the side wall:



One of the small bubbles in the side wall:



The height difference between the spare tyre and the other four on the subi:



The old knock sensor:



The new knock sensor:



Notice the cracks on the old sensor, these kill the knock sensors! Mine was like this when I put the EJ in...

There wasn't anything to see in the difference between the temp sensors. I only replaced the last one before coming to the snow when it threw a code for it. I reckon the freezing incident was its demise.

And the little video of the sick ruby scoo to a healthy ruby scoo. Some might find it boring but it explains how Ruby Soo was running before and after.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLxO4ETlk9c

Cheers

Bennie

[T'subaru]

It's good to see you ride posted up again Bennie, and glad you have your running issues sorted out.
Cheers Dude

[El_Freddo]

It's good to see you ride posted up again Bennie, and glad you have your running issues sorted out.
Cheers Dude

Thanks mate.

I've still got a little bit to do. It turns out that it doesn't start with the turn of the key like the video shows But if I press the throttle pedal very slightly she roars into life without an issue - my thought is that I've not adjusted the TPS properly.

Other than that she's going really well again, her note sounds strong again and I spent most of the Mt Hotham climb in 3rd or 4th using low revs

Very happy. Now to finish off the interior and adjust the power window runners - the rear ones make a hell of a noise! Wakes up the rear passengers though...

Cheers

Bennie