LandCruisers Follow me: Dedman’s 99 Subaru Forester

I have been a bit slack and haven’t got around to starting member journal until now but better late than never :cool:

I had been riding an 83 Honda CX500 motorcycle for a few years since getting my licence but the lack of practicality was starting to get somewhat annoying and maybe a tad dangerous…

9200114034_8c6b6b0e5b_b.jpg


After the motorcycle started to **** itself using oil at the same rate at petrol (not even exaggerating) and a large portion of the exhaust coming out of the radiator I decided it was time to upgrade to a car. I was going to really miss destroying people’s egos when they tried to drag you off at the lights in their sports cars and ended up getting covered in clouds of blue oil fueled exhaust smoke but the appeal of a car was just too much.

Initially I wanted something that used the same amount of fuel as a motorcycle but was big enough to sleep inside, a Honda Jazz was one of the only suitable candidates for that.

And then I bought a forester…… I have never looked back.

Here is the new car bought November 2012;

9229859496_56f1ab7448_b.jpg
 
Click to expand...
spacer.gif
Built some 40mm trailing arm spacers for the Foz. Was going to make 50mm ones then realised the bolts I have were only long enough for 40mm blocks. :shrug:


Welded in crush spaces and welded the ends closed. Drilled holes in each section to put some fish oil inside to prevent internal rusting and then used a rivet to seal them back up again


Only took about 40 mins to knock these up but im pretty happy with the result :ebiggrin:


9273409929_9f766dec14_c.jpg
 
So I have been doing a heap of work on my car over the last two weeks so its time for an update.

I have;

installed a snorkel, thread here;

https://offroadsubarus.com/showthread.php?p=62344#post62344

Built a custom offroad bar with 9000lbs winch, thread here;

https://offroadsubarus.com/showthread.php?p=62356#post62356


Installed kings so its nice and high


Rear camber bolts and a much needed wheel alignment


Built and installed a ridiculously solid sump guard which worked well with the new bulbar


Made and extended diff breather which lifted the breather up to the top of the rear gate

9283481060_fb923307cd_z.jpg



And finally sealed up the rear vents;

9280686391_d9a4d75d53_z.jpg


If you do any kind of water crossing in your forester this is a must. I hadn’t driven through any water for many months and still behind the vents there was 5cm of water. That can’t be good for the car at all.


And here is the finished product. So happy with how it looks
:bananapartyhat::bananapartyhat::bananapartyhat:

9271984723_50955dd9d8_c.jpg
 
Are they raised Kings by any chance?
Oh BTW my 2.5 swap cost me about $3k in the end but that included obtaining a EJ25 SOHC(From mate who did wrx swap into his 03 Outback), doing a full rebuilt, new clutch, labor on the whole lot(to build the engine, I swapped it), the piggy back computer, tune and dyno.
Really you could do it for around $1000 if you didn't rebuild the whole engine. I just wanted to do it for peace of mind.
 
taza said:
Are they raised Kings by any chance?
Click to expand...
Maybe.... :rolleyes:

taza said:
Oh BTW my 2.5 swap cost me about $3k in the end but that included obtaining a EJ25 SOHC(From mate who did wrx swap into his 03 Outback), doing a full rebuilt, new clutch, labor on the whole lot(to build the engine, I swapped it), the piggy back computer, tune and dyno.
Really you could do it for around $1000 if you didn't rebuild the whole engine. I just wanted to do it for peace of mind.
Click to expand...

Sweet, good to know. I dont know where my oil has gone but it is very disturbing how much has been used since I changed it..... and it doesn't seem to be leaking excessively anywhere.... doesnt smoke either though....

Did you get an engineers cert for the engine swap? Maybe one day ill have a go at putting a new engine in but for the minute ill just see how this one goes.
 
you can import a half cut for 1.5-2k (as in the body cut from just behind the stearing wheel) and have the ecu wiring etc to do the sawp.
 
idw said:
you can import a half cut for 1.5-2k (as in the body cut from just behind the stearing wheel) and have the ecu wiring etc to do the sawp.
Click to expand...

Where and when? Try 4k plus. For a decent cut with under 150,000km anyway. I see no point putting in a used engine with 200,000km on it as it's all ready atleast half way through it's life.
All i did was replace the EJ20 block with an EJ25 block(rebuilt) then wire up a piggy back computer to the stock one. Used all the same sensors, manifold, etc...

It could be blowing smoke and you don't notice it... Mind did this in the beginning.
 
Japanese wrecker/importer in sunshine vic quoted 1800 dont know how many km's
 
^ Never buy a pig in a poke ... :cool: :iconwink:

Bad enough when the pig is out of the bag, and you can see it.
You still don't know how good the condition of the pig is ... :raspberry:
 
the parts i picked up for my toyotas didn't have any troubles, as long as it is from japan and less than ten years old it's unlikely to have even 100k on the motor. Probably a problem if it was from somewhere in south east asia.


Anyway we'll need to hit the wombat soon deadman! would of worked out tomorrow if i wasnt busy
 
So I finally got out and tested the car offroad today and......
Disaster.
I was casually cruising along a nice smooth gravel road at 30-40km/h when all of a sudden there was a massive hole in the road. Really massive.

The lay of the land was such that you couldnt see the hole until you were only a few meters away from it.

There was no option to go around it without hitting a rather solid pine tree and as it appeared so suddenly there wouldn't have been enough time to swerve anyway.

I hauled on the brakes but with the loose gravel there was no stopping. I didnt even manage to wipe off much speed before I hit.

Here is the hole;

9299770578_3ccf12de65_z.jpg

9296967405_8f098d4cbb_z.jpg


And here is what my front wheel looked like afterwards
The photos were taken where the car came to rest. That is how hard i hit.

9296945609_b5fb7f12dd_z.jpg


The impact had forced the front wheel back so that was hard against guard. I couldnt not even turn the wheel. I thought it would have damaged the the car beyond repair as I hit it so hard... Was so angry :madred::madred::madred:

After a heap of swearing and taking my anger out on a near by pine tree I decided to inspect the damage;

9299708692_345a4187b5_z.jpg


I was quite along way from anywhere, had no phone reception and no one to help me anyway. I was on my own.

I wrapped a snatch around the lower control arm and tied it to a tree and did some backing at some speed and managed to unbend things enough to be able to drive at limited speed with limited turning ability

Got home and pulled off the control arm. Here is what it looked like;

9299685698_377f435d18_z.jpg

9296860075_ddbec28f17_z.jpg


I also had bent a steering linkage and broken a sway bar link

I have checked over all of the mounting points and there doesn't seem to be any damage. looks identical to the other side so hopefully its all good.... Will go to the wrecker tomorrow.

My sump guard also took a massive hit and got quite a dent but thats what its for. I think it saved me a bit from falling in further..

Maybe there is a curse to the 9k winch install.... Scooby had some very bad luck after he started his and now I had this......

I guess this just highlights the importance of going slowly on a new track.
 
On another note I have found a flaw in the design of my offroad bumper;

9296815105_9f3eae3f1c_c.jpg


Water crossings not so good for the numberplate......
 
That's a real bugger, DmW ... :sad: :(.

I agree with your observation that one needs to take very great care when on strange roads, or "roads" like this that one hasn't travelled for a while.

It is exactly how we got into such trouble on the Phasmid Track at Bunyip SP ...
 
Ouch :eek: :puke:

One thing I did with me number plate was to put 4x bolts (2x top & 2x botton) in mine so as I wouldn't loose it :cool:

Hope you're able to fix it without too much pain in the back pocket.

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Thats very common thing to happen on Subies is bending control arms. I've seen a few people do it with SF Foresters and heaps on L-Series's.
I fortunately haven't done it... yet
Lucky you made it home though :iconwink: When s**t happens and your alone it's the worst feeling, believe me I know!

You'll need 4 tech screws to hold the number plate there, I lost mine once and now it's held there with 4 :raspberry:
Good luck fixing your car :iconwink: Lets hope nothing else happens. I know if it were me I'd be going flat out down that track and it would of ended in disaster. Do you have air bags by any chance?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top