88 WRX Touring Wagon Project

[wagonist]

I'll get some pix up when I get home again, but basically the gist is this:

Achieved so far:
88 Touring wagon rolling shell bought
87 EJ20T RX Turbo sedan bought
both stripped to within an inch of their lives (actually the sedan has been stripped way beyond that & is now officially dead)
JDM 4.11 gearbox & diff sold
00 Oz spec WRX gearbox & Oz Lib RS rear diff bought
engine bay of the wagon prepped & repainted.
00 WRX 4 spot front brakes bought
JDM 93 WRX front brakes sold
custom twin core rad to suit EJ20T fittings bought
inlet manifold & cam covers painted for that blingage factor (water/air intercooler & front calipers are next)
nose cut bought to replace some bent panels
rad support modified so rad drops vertically onto mounts
steering column tilt mechanism swapped to later version
WRX ECU mounts remade to fit onto L series ECU mounts
WRX hydraulic clutch master cylinder mounted
WRX brake master cylinder mounted & brake lines modified to suit
new uprated clutch kit bought
factory full skirt kit bought

Tasks remaining to get it on the road:
reinstall WRX engine wiring loom into touring wagon.
modify central locking
finish installing the alarm
finish modifying clutch pedal to suit hydraulic clutch
finish modifying handbrake cable to suit rear handbrake
buy Lib RS turbo rear brakes (got some? pls contact me)
modify RS rear backing plates to fit L series
change suspension

Stuff to do when I can afford it:
modify RX turbo interior to fit wagon (when funds allow)
paint rest of the shell (when funds allow)
get custom swaybars
get upgraded suspension

[Guest]

We want pics when you get back too.

[mattw]

I saw a freaky L wagon/WRX conversion happening here in Adelaide a couple of years ago which blew me away. Whoever owned it had tasked a chassis repair workshop to perform a total WRX running gear swap, suspension and all. the guys at the workshop had boxed up new suspension/ diff mounts front and rear.
major work went into making the mounting point to suit the rex lower wishbone arangement, unfortunately resulting in a shortened wheelbase at the front (scrub, scrub I bet). Major structural work performed from front to back. Aparently the owner had plans of rallying it (or thats what he said, and was going to put it on the road on the sly). It sat around at this workshop unfinished for ages, low on its gold wrx alloys (ran out of money?) If I wasn't at uni at the time I would have made an offer. ... Amazing effort was put into it. don't know of its whereabouts now. he paid up his bill and took his unfinished project home..
Anyone else see this one?

Love to see pics of your work, mad keen to do one myself one day, before we run out of the 'distilled dino juice'

[BlackMale]

when u get back i want them now.

[wagonist]

My camera's been playing up & my unwired connection at home hasn't been allowing me to upload photos to imageshack.

Got the camera sorted now & I'll post up some pix next week.
Hopefully the weather clears up a bit so it looks ok.

I've heard about someone doing the WRX rear suspension swap, but it sounds like too much work, though the rear suspension setup in particular is a lot better than the L series.
With some adjustable castor/radius rods, I reckon the front could be made better than the WRX.

[Guest]

I did see an article in an old Zoom magazine about a guy who simply swaped in the whole brakes from an RS Liberty.

He got the front lower control arms machined to accept the balljoints from the RS steering knuckle and then the strut bolted in. Used the RS steering rack as well. Not sure what he did out back, I'll see if I can dig the article up for you.

I do believe MechaWagon has done a similar swap however.

[wagonist]

I've got that Zoom as well.
I've got the complete WRX struts fitted into the lower control arms, hence the reason I can now fit my 4 spots to the front.

Mine had WRX (well mostly) rear brakes on, but the way they were fitted was well dodgy & wouldn't hold up to an engineer.

going to an engineer this weekend hopefully with some ideas to get an opinion on what can & can't happen.

[wagonist]

Some pics
Before of both cars:


Damage on each:


Mid term pic of wagon (RS rims are now sold):


& this is the engine

Not sure how its going to look in a bright yellow engine bay yet....

If the sun stays out I'll get some pics ofthe cars in their current states.

[wagonist]

The current status of the 2 cars:

[BlackMale]

Nice 1... she is really comming along. Oh and Thanks 4 the pixs.

[wagonist]

The problem is that its been in that state for about 3 months now.
I've hit a few snags that require money to fix.

[wagonist]

The wagons is also going to end up:
grey, white, red & yellow with a mismatched interior of blue & RX turbo checks unless I can sell my current car.
The extra money to paint & upholster it just ain't there at the moment.

[subarursliberty]

How is this thing coming along? All stopped for the time being?

[wagonist]

Just slowed down a bit as I've had to find some replacement parts.
The rear brakes are currently being worked on to make the EJ type ones fit, & then I'll be re-installing the motor, gearbox & then getting the wiring to work.

[wagonist]

There may be some progress on this shortly as it looks like the brake upgrade kits are about to become available

Also, I'm looking at bringing the engine & gearbox back to the car, instead of the other way around. That way I can start working on the EFI wiring as well.
This needed re-routing because the previous installation was through the firewall where one of the air-con lines goes. But since I'm installing A/C, I need to change the wires (they'll be running through the factory wiring grommets)

Anyone willing to come around to help me install the engine & box?

BBQ & Carton of beer will be laid on!

[smoov]

gimme some dates and i'll see if i'm not working.

if i'm not, I'd be happy to lend a hand!!

[wagonist]

There's a box in there,
an engine as well.
The diff is in,
with a tailshaft to tell.

Open wide, come inside,
its happening!!!

[wagonist]

some progress has been made lately (bout time too:rolleyes: )



Spagetti Junction!!!!



That's what a 93 WRX EFI loom looks like Naked!!

[wagonist]

Bratgeebah's kit has arrived & been fitted, meaning

I HAVE BRAKES!!!!

I can finally move the car again without fear of it disappearing 15 houses down the cross street across from my house.

Next stage is to tow it the radiator shop to get the rad top pipe modded to fit.
Also need to take it to a brake shop to get new rear brake lines made up.

[Chris_Rogers]

looking good, mine is still a mess,