Silverbullets' resto: Engine, gearbox, suspension

[Silverbullet]

I had the clutch apart during the engine swap, the friction disc is almost worn out but that was about it. Torqued the pressure plate bolts to spec. The old flywheel had the holes modded for the EJ but this clatter existed before the engine swap. Spigot bearing was still there when I put it all back together. Who knows, I'll just have to hurry up those guys building the new box, not sure how much longer this one is going to last

In other news, today I put in a front and rear facting dash cam The rear cam is hanging from the L series trunk light I cut into my head liner years ago. This is so I didn't have to run the cable through the wiring grommet into the lift gate, it works quite well this way.


It's a FineVu GX35, chose that one because it had a few things going for it that others did not mainly a supercapacitor instead of a heat-sensitive lithium battery inside, and a solid on/off switch! It's hooked up to constant and accessory power from the roof console. Have to say, dash cam shopping is unbelievably frustrating. The market is flooded with everything from $50 to $1500 units with 90% of them using 1 of 2 generic 8 year old tech camera sensors and a sea of marketeering wank. More money doesn't mean more good either with all of them having bad reviews mentioning un-usable UI/software or bricked units especially the ones with brand names you might recognize. We'll see how this one goes. From what I can see so far setting it up and the footage played back on my phone, so far so good.

Also spent some time investigating another weird noise in the driveline There's a *crik crik* if I accelerate hard enough, then on hard decel or braking there's a loud *thump* that I can feel through the floor. And yesterday after the decel thump I swear I could hear something rubbing the rotating assemly. Almost feels like the body is moving on the subframe/s or lift blocks. It's definitely in the front end, I think front right hand side.

It started after I took out and put back the gearbox crossmember 1.5 - 2 years ago but the noise isn't coming from the X-member. I've been under there numerous times investigating this but have never been able to find anything loose and today was no different. Only the engine X-member bolts on that side, they weren't loose but not extremely tight either, snugged them up. I've had the lift kit bolts out and back in one by one, there's no broken captive nuts. The strut-top blocks aren't loose. It's frustrating, I'm almost thinking I should drive it hard and ignore it until something breaks then I'll definitely know what it is! Not very safe though.

[El_Freddo]

Check your pitch stopper rod and mount are all tight. The “crik crik” sound could be a dry CV or a CV joint that’s just not happy in general under that amount of stress.

Dash cams - that’s a joyous shopping event to take on! There’s scant details on how the unit actually operates - turns out ours records in 1 minute blocks. Painfully frustrating! I thought they’d all record in one block with a he time of day as the reference point for what you wanted to download etc. Can’t really complain, it’s better than not having one - it’s fitted to the family bus. I’m yet to fit the second one to a vehicle…

Lastly, sure you don’t have a dead engine or gearbox mount? Anything touching the engine or gearbox will reverberate the internal noises to the body, or whatever it’s attached to.

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Well I dunno how but that crik thump noise I was going on about seems to have disappeared! I gave it a good hiding yesterday trying to make it happen, sometimes it used to happen every time I moved off from a stop but not now. Surely it wasn't just the two engine crossmember bolts on that side? They weren't even that loose and there is no evidence of movement like shiny spots or worn paint...I dunno but not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

The other one which I thought was related, the rubbing sound, turns out its not! Heard it again today on exactly the same bit of road I heard it Friday arvo within 10m either way, weird. Almost sounds like an axle nut is loose (they're definitely not) but it could also be the exhaust touching something and rattling; I slightly botched the catalytic converter placement which pushed the tip sideways at the opposite end, need to fix that.

Old, customized car problems for sure

[Subyroo]

Dash cams - that’s a joyous shopping event to take on! There’s scant details on how the unit actually operates - turns out ours records in 1 minute blocks. Painfully frustrating! I thought they’d all record in one block with a he time of day as the reference point for what you wanted to download etc. Can’t really complain, it’s better than not having one - it’s fitted to the family bus. I’m yet to fit the second one to a vehicle…

Cheers

Bennie

Hi Bennie,
I have a Street Guardian Dashcam fitted to my Honda HRV. Previously it was fitted to my 2013 Honda CRV, then the 2016 CRV and it's now been in the HRV for 4 years. It's the Street Guardian SG9665GC v2, it takes a bloody good video.

The Director/Founder of “Street Guardian”, “Guard Trak” , “Cell Power” used to live in Sydney, until he passed in 2021. He was highly respected all around the world on the DashCamTalk Forum... https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/.
You will find loads of information on Dashcams and can talk to members about what you are looking for in a dashcam.

[El_Freddo]

Subyroo, thanks for the dashcam info! I’ll follow that up when the time comes again.

Sam, have you thought that the noise you’re hearing is actually the road surface? As soon as I read that you heard it within 10m of where you heard it last time I thought about road surfaces or local noises in that area. There’s several sections of road around my area that gets me worried about the noise that’s just appeared, or a new vibration is felt in the steering or body of the car. Then I realise it’s just the road - and we have some very shit roads across the state! But that’s another topic…

Tightening things up even when they don’t show signs of movement can lock down the smallest of movements. Noises don’t need two surfaces to slide over each other, just loads moving will do it and this may not cause a friction mark.

Hopefully these wins continue and the noises don’t return. That idle vibration still has me stumped and curious as to what it is.

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Think I found it It is the exaust touching something. Either it has settled in or something has relaxed because the cat and associated piping is about 3mm from other metal parts at rest now. Really need to get ontop of that.

[Silverbullet]

Fixed it!

My boss is a good guy, he has a new hoist in his shed he likes to loan out the use of. He's also 2 streets away from work so we went over there after work today and had a shed party. So much easier to get an overview of the system when it's up in your teeth. I found that my wimpy hanger bracket hard mounted to the gearbox had snapped so the exhaust had shifted sideways into the radius rod bracket. Now there's heaps of clearance, more than a fingers width No more bad noises. It's more centralized in that hump in the sway bar too which is very nice.

[Bumpty]

Win win with the hoist and easy fix! It must have been a relief when you discovered the snapped bracket.

[El_Freddo]

That’s awesome! How many beers did the hoist hire cost you?

Glad it’s sorted! What’s next now? Still got that vibration at idle or is that sorted too now?

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

That’s awesome! How many beers did the hoist hire cost you?

Glad it’s sorted! What’s next now? Still got that vibration at idle or is that sorted too now?

Cheers

Bennie

No beers, he's happy to lend it out if it means having a shed party The idle vibration from the box only happens when it's cold, by the time I reach home it is still noisy at idle/neutral but no vibes. What's next is the waiting game for when my new box is ready, have to chase them up again about it.

Todays escapades, I towed a trailer! For only the second time in my life and the first time actually using one to do stuff. Very impressed, the car handled it just fine and now I will be confident to do it more often. I really am not convinced there is a more practical vehicle combo than a wagon with a trailer. The dirty stuff can stay outside, still have clean/dry space inside and I can still stretch my legs out which isn't possible with the back seat down or in a Brumby.

Don't know the max weight I carried, maybe around 500kgs with the load of soil. With this acceleration was...non-existent but still adequate. Brakes were fine. That's a 7x4 trailer.

There was a third trip to get an empty IBC. For anyone interested, this is all for wicking beds to grow veggies in But not before rebuilding a rotten retaining wall with the sleepers, right in front of where the beds will be located.

[Silverbullet]

For a while I've been looking for a solution for a jack while offroad/camping but also just a jack to use in general for a flat tyre. The stock scissor jack is too short now with 2" lift and big tyres unless blocked up to the moon. A hydraulic bottle jack is guaranteed to leak its oil out if you store it sideways and leave you stranded. A high lift jack? Where would I store something like that and would it even work on a subie? Hydraulic trolley jack, talk about bulk! heavy and awkward if not on smooth concrete and again, leaky.

Came across this recently, just ignore the fact it comes from a land cruiser/hilux It's small and compact, extremely solid construction (1.8 ton capacity!) completely mechanical with no fluid to leak out and it goes to 3x its height which is taller than the stock jack. To top it off, it was less than $100! Handle not included, I'll see if the stock jack handle works. Still I couldn't say no for that price. I like that I don't have to jack from the pinch welded area like the scissor jack too. Keen to see how it goes in a real world scenario, might have to do some testing to see what works.

[El_Freddo]

Wicking beds will be awesome. We’ve got some planned for our place too. Our location requires the moving of two water tanks first though… like a domino effect one space effects another before you can achieve the initial goal!

For a moment there I thought you’d moved house, then I noted the orientation of the image and your wagon

Good to hear the wagon handled it all well. Don’t go overloading it as you’ll bend the rear end of your wagon. Same for the brumby too. I’ll get a pic of what I’m talking about when I’m near one of our wrecks. I don’t know how those muppets tow cars on trailers or small excavators etc. Cool pic if dummied up but it seems many actually tow like that, it’s just not worth the risk or potential damage to your beloved MY!

Towing is a good bit of fun, I enjoy it. Like driving being a skill (that I think many don’t understand this), towing is the next level up and can be done really well, or really poorly.

How’d you go reversing the trailer for your first time in a while? This skill cuts the mustard from those that can and those that can’t/choose not to.

I towed yesterday in the Brumby. Just having a trailer on the back is like a dead weight that kills performance. I could feel my foot buried into the throttle just to keep up at the speed limit. With a load on it almost felt better, probably because my mindset was to drive with the weight of the round bale that I could see and “justify” the Brumby’s performance with - and I travelled under the speed limit for the most part due to hilly terrain.

Keep that jack dry and dirt/sand free. If they loose their lube they can become really hard to use. I had a few of the old Holden ones back in the day that were painful to use. Their lube was gone and they were full of that fine dust that made its way into the wheel well where it was stored. Not fun.

As for sideways mounting hydraulic jacks, Pajeros have a neat small unit that is stored in its side. They work fine every time I’ve needed to use them. They’re quite strong for a small unit and are telescopic too - can jack to about three times the height of its packed down height. Anyway, there are different options out there.

EJ still putting a smile on your dial?

Cheers

Bennie

[Bumpty]

This is fantastic. You must be loving getting out n about again!

[Silverbullet]

Put in another good weekend of work to get these wicking beds done. Had to rush out to get more scoria before the landscaping yard closed and the wagon got pressed into service yet again


It's just so much cheaper getting it this way and not in 20L bags. This lot was $30! at $13 a bag, this was probably 10 bags worth.

And the beds are done at last. They are a surprisingly large amount of work and quite fiddly to get set up at the start. Hopefully many years of produce ahead to pay off the hard graft.

This is fantastic. You must be loving getting out n about again!

Too right! Even though the Forester is technically more powerful and comfortable, the blue wagon has more soul
Haven't forgotten your power windows Bumpty, I will get them back to you.

How’d you go reversing the trailer for your first time in a while?

Took me 2 or 3 goes to work out which way to turn the wheel but after that, no issues Would never dream of hooking up a car trailer or anything bigger than a 7x4 single axle. Have been toying with the idea of building a little camper trailer, would have to be ultra-light sub 600kg fully loaded. I think Redback needs the EJ treatment for towing!

[El_Freddo]

Don’t you worry Silverbullet, Redback’s EJ planning started a long time ago, it’s on a low simmer. And trust me, you’ll read all about it once she’s done and working the way I want her to - or not. Either way the way I’m doing it will be written up for others to read/reference.

How good is the tarp trick in the back of the wagon for rocks and stuff? I did that a number of times with the Pajero. It really is a ute with a roof and 7 seats!

The wicking beds are looking good. You didn’t paint the tank bases to stop algae growing between the walls and the soil? That’s hold up no2 for my wicking beds…

Cheers

Bennie

[Bumpty]

Put in another good weekend of work to get these wicking beds done. Had to rush out to get more scoria before the landscaping yard closed and the wagon got pressed into service yet again


It's just so much cheaper getting it this way and not in 20L bags. This lot was $30! at $13 a bag, this was probably 10 bags worth.

And the beds are done at last. They are a surprisingly large amount of work and quite fiddly to get set up at the start. Hopefully many years of produce ahead to pay off the hard graft.

This is fantastic. You must be loving getting out n about again!

Too right! Even though the Forester is technically more powerful and comfortable, the blue wagon has more soul
Haven't forgotten your power windows Bumpty, I will get them back to you.

The tarp is a brilliant idea haha.
I'm assuming it would be loaded by shovel rather then bobcat though!?
No dramas on windows either!

How’d you go reversing the trailer for your first time in a while?

Took me 2 or 3 goes to work out which way to turn the wheel but after that, no issues Would never dream of hooking up a car trailer or anything bigger than a 7x4 single axle. Have been toying with the idea of building a little camper trailer, would have to be ultra-light sub 600kg fully loaded. I think Redback needs the EJ treatment for towing!

Actually, the larger the trailer the easier to reverse as they aren't as 'nimble'. So long as you have space, a car trailer is a boot load easier to reverse than say a 6x4 trailer.

[Silverbullet]

Went for a little cruise today with a handful of other Subie guys. Of course they were all turbo'd and STI but they still appreciated the older gen. Managed to keep up no problems. Got the footage off the dashcam thinking it would show the fun pretty well but can't say I'm impressed at all with the picture quality of this thing... and I stupidly left the music playing during the best part Interesting how the footage always looks slower than how it felt at the time

She got driven pretty hard at times and didn't miss a beat. Actually think the engine was glad for the Italian tune-up.

Beam me up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5yT2rMtuS4

[Subyroo]

What brand of dashcam do you have?

[El_Freddo]

Pretty good little video. I see what you mean about the picture quality though. And speed wise I think it shows the speed quite well. I think this has a lot to do with the type of lens used - wider angle make it look “less fast”, a normal lens can make it look faster than you’re actually going - and the point of view/perspective makes a huge difference there too.

I like that your dash cam seems to record in one file. We’ve got dash cams (can’t remember brand or model) that records in 1 minute loops. Quite annoying. Front and rear camera though. Image is crystal clear.

The EJ20 sounds good! Just remember with power - it’s all good to have it but it’s useless if the road doesn’t let you use it!

Looked like some great cruising weather and some good hill climbs! It was wet weather over here when we were cruising today. Still fun in the brumby!

Cheers

Bennie

[Bumpty]

Went for a little cruise today with a handful of other Subie guys. Of course they were all turbo'd and STI but they still appreciated the older gen. Managed to keep up no problems. Got the footage off the dashcam thinking it would show the fun pretty well but can't say I'm impressed at all with the picture quality of this thing... and I stupidly left the music playing during the best part Interesting how the footage always looks slower than how it felt at the time

She got driven pretty hard at times and didn't miss a beat. Actually think the engine was glad for the Italian tune-up.

Beam me up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5yT2rMtuS4

I think the music added to it haha

Also did you slyly slip on a supercharger... that whine