Nachaluva's Foz

Two years ago I got a heartbreaking call my brother in law had suddenly died from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS). He was a strong, healthy, fit man. They found him slumped over the table at work...apparently he was dead before he even hit the table, so at least he didn’t suffer at all.

My sister offered me his car, so I bought it. It was their 3rd Subie but my 1st.

I soon got tired of the poor lights so set out on my 1st mod...a headlight wiring upgrade & upgraded H4 bulbs. I soon ran into problems which is how I came upon AuSubaru while researching the wiring.

After much work & lots of help, esp from Gannon, my 1st mod was finished:
Headlights Wiring Upgrade - ORS

My 1st trip offroad was soon after to picturesque & historic Walhalla:
thompsonrcrossing01.jpg



I discovered my suspension was completely shot, springs sagging & strut bouncing. With help from the forum I decided on raised King springs & new KYB struts. Very happy with the much improved handling & increased clearance, but I wish so much I had got the gen2 rear struts (SG)


I added Whiteline KCA414 Camber bolts which gave me neg camber on the rear but the best I could get the front was neutral.

A SubaXtreme sumpguard was next. I guess it did its job of protecting the sump but I found it very brittle & was soon falling apart
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A Crossbred guard soon replaced it!
 
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Replaced the front inner CV boots. The LHS had begun leaking 2yrs ago...I'd wrapped some tape around it (in the direction of rotation) to seal the small end, worked great until the boot started to split just recently.



 
Haha, there's a couple of small leaks towards the back. I keep clean it by hand washing with warm soapy water & drying with a microfibre towel. I do this every week.



:huh:

Lol. I do need to degrease the engine bay though where the CV was spraying grease. Plus the LHS cam seal is leaking so I gotta get going with the timing belt. Where did you get your kit from?
 
:rotfl::rotfl:Compared to mine with its grease and mud everywhere its spottless.....


I bought my kit from these blokes
https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/ultracheapauto
Great customer service, reasonably quick delivery and everything fitted perfectly. I went a kit with a gates timing belt as it was only a few bucks more.
 
Dedman said:
I bought my kit from these blokes
https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/ultracheapauto
Great customer service, reasonably quick delivery and everything fitted perfectly. I went a kit with a gates timing belt as it was only a few bucks more.
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I could only find this for $399:
https://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=181240837740

But its for Sept 98 to July 'o2. Mine is an EJ20J, built Nov '97 :shrug:

Sent them an email...

Genuine is $425 but I forgot to ask if that incl the water pump
 
Yeah I couldnt find mine either when I looked but I called them and they sorted it all out for me.

For that price I doubt the geunine one would have included a water pump or tensioner. I got a quote around to the $700 or $800 mark for a genuine kit with all that in it....
 
From Rising Sun Subaru, $425 for t belt kit incl idlers, tensioner etc + $105 for waterpump, all genuine, incl GST & postage. So $130 more than Gates. They can also check it against the VIN which I dont know if the ebay guys can
 
Update on work done...
The rear CV boots were leaking slightly so I put new bands on them.

My nice pLSD rear with its expensive Redline Shockproof oil got water in it when the diff breather plug came out
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So I did several flushes to thoroughly clean it out. Put in Penrite mineral oil, mineral is meant to make the plated LSDs work better, although the synthetic makes it smoother. So far havent noticed any difference, although I have felt the LSD really work a few times so I'm happy
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Also redid the diff breather, this time with a brass fitting. I used a 1/4" barbed hose tail on a 1/4" BSP fitting, available from just about anywhere. Had too remove the diff, remove the back plate, tap the existing hole then clean up the filings. Trick is to put the plate back on first then the fitting so you can do up the bolts lol. Also used a smidge of gasket goo to make 100% certain it was fully sealed. Also used a small clamp on the hose. Aint no water getting in there now!




Note the twin spline on the right axle, took a while to find these...

I also did a front breather for the gearbox/diff as I got some water in there too.



The idea is if I go REALLY deep, lol, & some water splashes up into that top corner behind the strut, and if it gets sucked in, then it has to fill up the filter before it gets sucked into the diff. Should be pretty safe now...
 
Had leaking front axle oil seals in the gearbox.
With exhaust removed:


Tricky getting the axle stub not to move while putting the diff retainer back on:


Despite being assured it wasnt too hard to do, I was worried about the diff backlash & preload, so I headed off to Rick for him to do it. Subaru, in their wisdom, had given me rear diff seals, not front diff, fortunately Rick had a spare set there, so all was good. He adjusted the diff for me & I was a happy chappy.

It now has Penrite synthetic 75W90 plus a litre of Redline Lightweight Shockproof. Still the same when the box is cold, but once its warmed up the changes are heaps smoother. The Smurf blood will also help protect the LR when it gets starved of oil on long steep ascents
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^ A very good thing to have fixed!

My buggered struts were unlikely to wreck my car, but a leaking diff/gearbox is another matter altogether!
 
Thanks guys. No performance upgrades, just maintenance/preventative maintenance. The gearbox leak was very slow & apart from stinking when the oil dripped onto the exhaust, wasnt going to cause any major probs. The breathers just allow me to safely cross deep water without worrying about anything

Another thing I havent put in here yet is my fuel filler cap upgrade. I decided it was too tiring to put the cap on the filler flap, and turning around to put it on the bowser behind me was just way too much work, so I needed an upgrade! :rolleyessarcastic:

Before:


After:


The ultimate lazy way to fill up. The only thing better would be to get Tony Abbott to pay for me!
 
i didn't even know you could put the cap on the filler door :lol: i just put it upside down on the roof.
 
idw said:
i didn't even know you could put the cap on the filler door :lol: i just put it upside down on the roof.
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haha...I used to lol. I might have to add a little hook on the filler door for my keys, they always seem to get in the way lol
 
Gidday NL

NachaLuva said:
haha...I used to lol. I might have to add a little hook on the filler door for my keys, they always seem to get in the way lol
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If I were I you, I wouldn't ...
A metal to metal contact next to an open fuel tank probably isn't a good idea ... ;) :(.

BTW, love your diff breathers. Beautifully done :biggrin:.

From my Batphone
 
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Thats a good point but...

The nozzle is made of metal lol :rotfl:

Forget about using a mobile phone while filling, there has never been a recorded instance of a fire caused by mobile phones. Cigarettes & static discharge are the issue. As I dont smoke & wouldnt be dumb enough to smoke while filling up anyway, that leaves static discharge. I used to have an anti-static strap but it stopped working.

The best thing to do is touch the bodywork while standing on the ground, then remove the filler cap. The downside is getting zapped...not recommended for those with a pacemaker lol
 
^ A seemingly simple matter, but far more complex than at first sight ... :iconwink:.

Firstly, modern tyres are not made of rubber, and conduct electricity very well. Not so with clothing and upholstery materials however. Our shoes have rubber, vinyl, plastic or leather soles that are all insulators. Some will actually generate static electricity when rubbed on the car carpets, and some of my clothes do this after being in contact with our wool seat covers. So we can have a static charge on our bodies that cannot escape to ground; but it does so as soon as we touch an earthed object (e.g. the metal parts of a car ... earthed through its tyres). Usually, one earths oneself to the pump by picking up the filler nozzle, or opening the locking flap before opening the fuel tank cap.

The reason for only filling petrol containers on the ground is that the boot is lined with rubber, vinyl, plastic or carpet, none of which conduct electricity ... Therefore there can be a static charge between the container and the filler nozzle. All petrol containers are made of conducting materials, so are immediately earthed as soon as they are placed on the ground.

The filler nozzles on petrol pumps are a special alloy, and so are the filler necks on cars. I'll bet that they are specifically designed not to create sparks (I don't know this for a fact, but I would bet it is the case, even though I'm not a betting man ... ).

Key rings are quite a different kettle of fish, and may have all sorts of dangly bits that may spark in contact with either themselves or other metal objects.

The most dangerous thing about using a mobile phone when filling up with petrol is that one should be concentrating on what one is doing (and not on a phone call ... ), and alert to the fact that some bloody idiot is just about to light a cigarette while filling his car next to you - I'm not kidding, had to give someone a bollocking about this around 2 years ago!!. I explained that he really didn't want to put the suburb into orbit, along with himself and me ... :rotfl:
 
NachaLuva said:
I might have to add a little hook on the filler door for my keys, they always seem to get in the way lol
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I also wouldnt recommend as if it was me I would lock the car for some reason, hang the keys on the hook, finish filling and then close them in the filler cap and be locked out of my car :rotfl: But then I do seem to have an ability to do things like that when no one else would :rotfl::rotfl:
 
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