1992 project Brumby from Finland

[FinnishBrumby]

Hello and thanks for letting me join the forum.
I'm Tomi and I'm from Finland and here is little bit story for my model year 1992 project Brumby.



I bought it at November 2019 and it cost 190 euros (about 300AUD). I'm third owner and the first owner was older lady who drives the car actually weekends and holidays. Second owner was her brother who bought the car for restoration. Brumby was then just a little rusty but one night the car was subjected to vandalism and alternator with bracket was stolen from it and the front fenders had been kicked into the dents.





Then the car owner began to annoy the whole thing and the car was left in the yard to stand for eleven years and one day I find it for sale in internet. After payment the seller agrees to transfer the car to me in the yard of my cottage where I gonna build it.
At first I started to hunt spare parts for it but here in Finland Brumby is very rare car and today I don't find any parts for sale it in here.
I join Subaru Club Finland online forum and there I meet a guy who has spare part Brumby at his yard.













I made a call for this dude and he said to me at I can come there and take any parts what I need for my project. He didn't wanted any money for the parts and the reason was at he was trying to sell parts from that Brumby but here in Finland are no buyers for them. When I call for him at first time he was really amazed that someone still have a Brumby in here. And he didn't know what price he can ask for the parts so I get the spare parts for free.
I really wanted to pay something for the parts so I bought couple beer basket and wine for him and he was very happy for that.







As you can see Finnish model Brumby is with a longer bed than usually and the only reason is much cheaper car tax when car has new and registered as a van. In Finland, a van at that time was defined as a car with enough liter capacity in the boot or on the bed. Original Brumby was not suitable as a van (not enough liter capacity on the bed) so they put a sequel to made longer bed and that's it. Finnish law is a bit complicated with regard to cars. Here you have to pay every year propulsion tax as well as fuel tax on the car when you use it in traffic. Here the tax is more expensive for a passenger car than for a van.

Here is a good example: Car is model year 2006 Subaru Forester. When it is normal 5 seats passenger car you need to pay tax about 1000 euros per year. When you remove back seats for it and registered it for a van you need to pay tax only 300 euros per year. Strange? I agree, I don't even understand either the logic of this car taxation. These prices are not entirely correct but indicative.











Car is an originally condition, rusty and dirty and only 109k km (about 68k miles) on the odometer. Need lot of work when I can drive it in traffic. The brakes are stuck and there's couple of holes in the bottom. But engine is working great, the carburetor is dirty so the car does not react well to the gas but it starts immediately.













The interior is dirty and slightly broken but not from the worst end. I am really pleased that the interior is original condition and other speaker elements have not been retrofitted to the door cartons.

My plans for this Brumby?
At first I want to find couple important parts what I need for this.
The MOST important parts I need to find now are front windshield rubber seal and new front struts with springs.
Windshield rubber is maybe the most important part what I'm hunting. I have not find this part anywhere, not even ebay. Couple Australian websites sell these but seems at they don't sent parts to Europe . Maybe have to sent an email and ask is it possible. Or if somebody knows who can send new windshield rubber to Finland it would help a lot.

Another things what I have planned is:
-2" or 4" lift kit
-Older nissan maxima 90A alternator
-Distributorless ignition (Ford EDIS conversion)
-4x140mm to 6x139,6mm lug wheel conversion
-15" wheels
-rust off (=lot of welding)
-paint job
-New exhaust system. I don’t want to modify good original exhaust, so I’m making a new one.
-32/36 DGV Weber carburetor Conversion Kit
-New seats or fix the old

This should be my first post on the forum. Hopefully there is no difficult text to read because English is not very easy for me .

-Tomi

[Suby Spanner]

That'll clean up fine, most of it's there.

Can confirm I got my windscreen rubber from ebay.com.au, but I am in Australia: They're definately available, like you say, ask a couple of the sellers, one of them would have to ship international. I also got my carpet from here in Australia.

I got genuine new front struts from subaru, that way i could keep the height adjustment. I haven't been able to find after market strut tops/mounts for the 4WD though, only the 2WD.

[Silverbullet]

Welcome to the forum! I had completely forgotten about the special Finland model with extended tray, it looks so strange compared to the standard body. Good to see you are determined to keep it alive, must be a very rare car over there by now.

The original carburetors respond quite well to a rebuild e.g take it apart, clean everything, re-assemble with new gaskets etc. A rebuild kit should be available online still. That is if you want to do anything before upgrading to a Weber. Also an exhaust upgrade with larger pipe and better flowing muffler will help the engine breath easier. With a Weber and larger exhaust you can more easily get to higher revs in each gear before it runs out of breath.

EDIS is a worthwhile upgrade, the distributor is a major weak point on these engines IMO. I've done the Megajolt conversion to my wagon with the Ford EDIS module, if you need any help on this subject then ask away

[El_Freddo]

G’day Finnishbrumby!

Awesome story you’re brumby has there! Is it actually called a brumby over there?

That interior looks awesome. Your seats look good too, we didn’t get that style of seat in our brumbys.

I reckon you’ll find an eBay seller that will mail one to you. If not, I’m sure someone local could send it your way after it arrives at theirs.

No stress on your English mate, you did well! Keep it up! Good mix of pics too

Cheers

Bennie

[FinnishBrumby]

Hello and thanks for the comments .

Suby Spanner: I found one seller from there who can send windscreen rubber internationally. I have to ask them how the package sending thing goes in this Corona time because in here Europe couple car part online stores sending time is very long, about 2-3 weeks at they send products.

Silverbullet: Yeah, the bed (or a tray as it is called there in Australia) looks little bit strange but it is Finnish tax avoidance art .
I was thinking at I do in the future Weber conversion after I make a new exhaust system. At first I gonna rebuilt original carburetor.
I have read a little of that EDIS conversion what you have made and wrote in this forum. If it is okay for you I put PM for you when it's time for my EDIS conversion and if I have something to ask .

El Freddo: Official name for the car in Finland is just Subaru Pickup but enthusiasts talk about the car by name Brat like in USA. When I speak about this car for other people I use name Brumby or Pickup. The seats is indeed a little different looking than those sold Brumbys elsewhere in the world and Finnish model Brumby have not never got power steering, air conditioning or rev meter.

At first I gonna find new windscreen rubber and front struts with springs before I start building this car.
And have to see, when I got more time for this because I do evening work and night work and I have two little kids and the third is coming in a couple of months.
See you next time...

-Tomi

[Bantum]

Nice find ...
In one of your images there's a wheel I haven't seen before, got any info on them ?

[FinnishBrumby]

Nice find ...
In one of your images there's a wheel I haven't seen before, got any info on them ?

Hello and sorry for the long response time.
That day when I was getting spare parts from that Brumby I ask about these wheels because I would remember at Finland Brumbys has not never sold with alloy wheels. If I remember correctly, he said at these wheels are not original from subaru but from some other Japanese car.
I'm going visit this guy maybe soon if he still have this sparepart Brumby because I need couple small parts for my Brumby. I can ask more of these alloy wheels if he have this car.

[El_Freddo]

Hey Tomi, any updates to share?

Cheers

Bennie

[FinnishBrumby]

Hello after a long time!
It's been too long since the last post . I'm trying to get a bit of a story about my own Brumby within 48 hours ...

[El_Freddo]

Good to see you’re still around finnishbrumby!

I hope the update has pics with it (no pressure)!

Cheers

Bennie

[FinnishBrumby]

Hello!
Now it's time to update the news in more detail. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to start repairing the car yet due to family reasons and other cars in the house because they also needed to be repaired . My ex family car (Mercedes Benz S210 E320 model year 1997) was totally rust bomb and it got lot of electric problems and also I got two other project cars that needed attention and repair. But now I got only three cars in family and this Brumby is the only project car .
If it's okay I want to introduce my family car and work travelling car. I hope that the small mention does not violate the rules of this forum terribly, but if it does, I am ready to edit my text again .



My work travelling car is model year 1987 Mitsubishi Lancer 1.2L with 4-speed manual gearbox. I bought it 9/2022 for only work travelling (about 80km per day five times per week). Why so old car for work travelling? I love old cars because these are easy to fix, parts are unexpensive and old cars are beautiful. The only bad thing of this car is the same like with my Brumby in Finland, you can't really get any spare parts from here.



My family car is Mercedes Benz W164 ML500 model year 2005. I bought it on chrismas 2022, wife wanted 4-wheel drive family car where children's safety seats can be securely attached and I wanted V8 engine and Mercedes Benz. This was a good solution at least for now .

But now to "japanese el camino". It haven't got lot of attention but I have searching couple spare parts for it. I still need windscreen rubber and front struts with springs before I start building this car. I have found one australian webside which can send windscreen rubber internationally and also I found two ebay sellers which can send front struts and front springs to Finland. For now I need to save little bit money because postages and custom duty payment are expensive when to deliver here .







At first I remove front struts and I started taking them apart. I wanted to see are these old struts okay at need I replace them or not. Struts and springs are okay and good condition but they have to be sandblasted and painted if I want to use them. But if it's possible, I want to find new. I have look about KYB struts and King springs .





The first parts what I bought for it was a new brake drums. At the beginning year 2021 those brake drums were very hard to find but one night when I was in working I see on the rockauto website at those drums was in stock so I made order very quick. Parts came to Finland about 9 days, I was happy and my daughter was very curious .









Next thing what I found little bit year later was tuning front brake discs and front brake caliper repair kits. I was thinking at maybe normal brake discs are better for beginning but let's see what's happening.



Right now Brumby looks like this. Pictures are from summer 6 months ago...









Front right control arm and sway bar is bad shape but I got good parts from that one spare part brumby .
My two youngest kids love cars and anything with wheels and engine .





And to the end I found from USA eBay two weeks ago couple rare parts to EA81 engine, these are timing crankshaft gears. I have to say at I don't know why I ordered these but I only know at these are very rare here in Finland. Have to look if I find somewhere other timing gear which is attached to the camshaft.



See you all next time, hopefully soon .

[El_Freddo]

Hey Tomi,

Great update! Don’t worry about the other cars, we’re enthusiasts and we don’t really know what you have available over there so it’s good to read about them! The one thing I wish the older cars have is the sort of fuel economy the newer cars have! I had a 1978 Chrysler Lancer (just before Mitsubishi bought them out, it even had the Mitsubishi logo on the bonnet!), 1.4 litre with a three speed auto. That thing was slow to say the least! I put a 5 speed manual in it and instantly got another 100km/tank of fuel without doing anything else. I couldn’t imagine driving a 1.2 litre!!

You’re lucky to get the new rear drums! They’re very hard to find and I know ppl in Australia are hoarding a set or two to keep their brumby going longer.

Yes, interesting purchase on those crank timing gears. If you don’t end up using them at least they make for interesting paperweights!

Those front discs look crazy - I didn’t even know they were available drilled and slotted. They’re very shiny too

Thanks for updating your build, I look forward to the next update

Cheers

Bennie

[Suby Spanner]

I'm in Australia, and I've never found a local source of rear drums: But I too, did see them on rockauto: I didn't order them through.

My theory is, when I run out of drums, I'll do a rear disc conversion (using EJ stuff, it's plentiful).

[FinnishBrumby]

Hello after 7 months!

Little bit was happened here but not much.
One of the hardest things has arrived from there Australia to here Finland .





Last week I received very important package that contained a Brumbys windscreen seal rubber.
I ordered 3 pcs of them because this guy who gave me here Finland those Brumbys spare parts I wanna give him one of those. The reason is because I'm very grateful to him and this rubber is super rare here. I think he will need that in future . Second rubber is for me and I keep the third one in case of a bad day or if some local Subaru enthusiast needs it.
It was little bit complication to buy those and get those to here North Europe. Hard to explain...









The quality is super and I'm very pleased because right now those windscreen rubbers are available only in Australia and I feel really lucky to have something so rare ordered here .

Interesting to think all the expenses that come with this.
One rubber was 57,90 Euros (about 98 AUD). Alpoz emailed me an invoice in euros. Total price 3pcs was 173,70 Euros (about 294 AUD). Postages/Freight was 107,87 Euros (about 180 AUD).
When it arrived to Finland the customs get their part of this (83,28 Eur = about 140 AUD). And the Bank transfer payment when I sent money from Finland to Australia was 38,50 Eur = about 64 AUD.
Total price to one (1pcs) rubber including all postages, taxes and everything was 134,45 Eur (About 225 AUD) if I didn't miscalculate .

Right now I'm writing to one australian ebay seller who can maybe send new front struts and front springs to Finland.
Let's see what's happening and let's hope the best .

When I get new front struts and springs I can slowly start building this Brumby properly.
I'm really waiting that day because kids are growing up and I think I'm starting to have time for this.

See you next time...

[El_Freddo]

G’day Tomi!

Awesome timing sharing about these windscreen rubbers, I’m after one for a wagon I just picked up plus the side windows and rear window too. They don’t make them but they have one of their stores in Bendigo where I work.

So I’m hoping they might be able to get some of these window rubbers made up. I’m still stoked that you shared those pics with us.

And that tax is up there! If you didn’t buy them from the shop and a mate shipped them to you after purchasing on your behalf, would you still need to pay those taxes as they entered your country?

How’s everything else going on the restoration?

Cheers

Bennie

[FinnishBrumby]

Hello and thank you very much El Freddo .

Tax things are very .
And answer is yes. I still would need to pay those taxes in that case. The only way to avoid taxes would be to mark the price of the products on paper lower than what it would be in reality. But in Europe/EU customs follow the information on the packages very carefully and sensitively ask for additional explanations if something is not to their liking.
This has been happened to me many times when I have ordered stuff from China and USA and on purpose I don't want to do that job.
In Finland, even a small amount of tax evasion can result in a surprisingly large sentence and especially fines.



I was cleaning my garage yesterday because I need to change my ML500 rusty rear brake lines. And also I looked parts of the pictures.
I have front brake caliber repair kits so I can rebuild those when comes good moment.

And also I got bad news. This one ebay seller do not ship internationally front struts and springs. One other seller will but the tax and customs price is higher because the products costs more money.

But now autumn is coming and couple months forward comes frost and snow and I cannot then built Brumby. My garage is full of tools and motorcycle parts and motorcycles so I cannot build Brumby there. But in winter I can restorate Brumbys spare parts and do for example 6x139,6mm lug wheel conversion.
As you can see, I have anothers front wheel hubs and rear drums so I have one original 4x140 wheel hubs front and rear if I want to change it original some day.

I need to buy column drill so I can do lug wheel conversion .

See you hopefully soon

[Silverbullet]

This is excellent I wonder how many Brumbys are left in Finland? Not many I would bet. I admire your determination with this project.

[Suby Spanner]

For the front struts/shockers, here in Aus I bought genuine, height adjustable ones. I might be able to find the part numbers, see if you can get them from your local subaru or a jap exporter? They were same price as kyb etc. but height adjustable

[FinnishBrumby]

Thank you . One of my biggest wishes is at I got more time to this project but family (=small kids) and work keep care of that at I don't have much time.
But luckily I'm still young and life is just ahead of me .

15 minutes ago I check transport and the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (=Traficom) sites on internet. I see at right now here Finland is 33pcs Subaru 1800 cars in traffic use. That 33 cars keeps inside for example Subaru Leone and Brumby models here. I can't see, how many Leones, Brumbys or XTs are totally left here. But I know, many of them has rusted away.

I sent an email couple of finnish Subaru partstores two months ago about front struts and springs. They respond and write to me, at Subaru Pickup front shock and spring parts production has been discontinued. I ask about KYB 333227 struts and same answer .

Is it true that KYB no longer manufactures front struts to Brumby? Or they just don't send those to Europe or North America?
It's little bit interesting at there in Australia many of partstores are selling KYB and Gabriel struts to Brumby.
Is there some factory who make those in Australia?

[FinnishBrumby]

Hello and happy new year!

Small steps forward...



I finally ordered new front struts to Brumby. I'm very excited .
Tracking number shows at the package has been sent and everything is going well.

I hope at I can write here more soon.

Ps. I buy front springs after I received struts and then I can start to built this Brumby or I hope so .
At first I'm thinking I do weldings and rust jobs. Then I can start to buy new spare parts for example alternator(s) (1pcs original and 1pcs Nissan maxima 90A), bushings, brake pads and shoes, brake hoses and more and more and more...