Member Profile - Ginge_Mcninge

[Yowie]

Great progress there. Cheers for taking the time to post pictures and updates.

[ginge_mcninge]

Great progress there. Cheers for taking the time to post pictures and updates.

Cheers mate, It's always been a mix of documenting for myself and helping others out if they're thinking anything similar.

Well I finished the subframe swap tonight, I bought a subframe off a pre-face lib and slapped it into a post-face. They bolt straight up but I found more differences so I figured I'd update the list of differences:

- Handbrake cable is slightly longer on pre-face
- ABS sensor plug is different, you need to swap them over

aaaand thats it. If you built a donor subframe up with all post-face bits you should be fine. I've got my old subframe listed on marketplace but I'm tempted to strip it down, powdercoat it and build it up as a ready to go spare. The subframe I put on was setup for a mildly aggressive track car that also was road legal, I have problems with Poke but the camber, castor, and toe. I'm searching marketplace for a dirt cheap post-face? outback to steal guards from similar to what MCM did with the Outfap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nQZtou_c6k that or some widebody kit so I can run beefier tires and not have to stress about my HWP neighbour having a shit day and defecting me again.


Realised I never actually read the defect notice, The date they wrote in was 23/12/33 instead of 23/12/23 so go figure that they also got the vin wrong. They should try calling 1300-655-506 next time before they issue another one.

On the upside

Scored a Whiteline ball joint kit with new tie rod ends. Meant to reduce bump steer but Ill know once I finally get around to doing sway bars, end links, and finally get some decent wheels instead of the 4 miss-matched tyres I have now.


My work bestie signed the tie-rod ends with sharpie so I wonder how long that'll last, Everyone that has worked on the car has signed it somewhere, theres some vulgar shit written on the pressure plate so I'm praying I'm the next guy to work on it or Ill cop some interesting looks.


Had this gem sitting around for a while, It is a Cat not a high cell count cat but It is 85dB when measured according to https://www.ntc.gov.au/sites/default/files/assets/files/National%20Stationary%20Noise%20Test%20Procedures%20For%20In-Service%20Motor%20Vehicles%20.pdf at 4000Rpm so I'm hoping ill be Okay.


On the upside, It's off the stands, The brakes don't hit the wheels, handbrake works, and it looks pretty solid mechanically. I reused the front wheel bearings because they didn't look too bad however I'll probably get to replacing them at some stage. I did the majority of the while I'm in there kit so hopefully I have an easy blue slip.

Tomorrow I address the rattle on the steering wheel and the continued P0031 code, swapped the O2 sensor with one I know works and the error persists so I guess i'll be busting the multimeter back out again.
If anyone is scrapping a postface outback shoot me a DM I'd potentially be interested in taking the whole thing off your hands.

[subyroo]

My god!, is there any way I can tap into your financial pipeline?

[ginge_mcninge]

My god!, is there any way I can tap into your financial pipeline?

Unfortunately not I'm afraid, This has been over a year worth of oooh that looks nice on marketplace and quite a lot of lowballing. I need to find a replacement set of fuel rails + hardware, three port, and I'm owed a vf46 that were meant for the car but ended up on the s13.

[ginge_mcninge]

Well, Back from the blue slip today;

I knew it was going to fail, He was pretty relaxed and understood I just wanted a list of everything because at the end of the day hes the one signing off on it and I'm not a mechanic I'm a barista.

- Horn to be working
- All lights need to work
- 3x wiper blades
- Handbrake adjustment
- Wheels to sit inside guards and correct tyre size
- Coilovers to be replaced with OEM suspension
- Missing PCV hose
- Blow off valve to be removed and factory fitted
- Headlights too hazy
- Front exhaust mount Bolt loose
- Catalytic converter to be fitted
- Rear control arm to chassis bushes split
- Rear Door window tint too dark (2%)
- Steering rack loose

Not the end of the world, its all pretty doable. Horn, lights, and wiper blades are are an easy fix. Handbrake just needs to be adjusted properly also easy. The wheels on the car are 245/45/r18 with poke so ill pick up a set of TBSTI wheels and be fine. Coilovers were expected. Theres a missing PCV hose because I just couldn't get one but I'm sure it can't be hard to cobble one up, not mentioned but he wasn't happy with the turbo running on wastegate pressure because I blocked off the Boost solenoid and put in a T piece with two ends melted shut, he said just hide it so he cant see it as easily. The Blow off valve should be easy, Ive still got my old one from my auto. The catalytic converter is a bit iffy, there is a cat, its a low cell count cat but it is a cat none the less but fair enough. The split rear control arm bushing is annoying but I can easily replace them. The rear door tint is a bit eh, its factory glass however I cant see any tint to peel off. Steering rack loose is easy, he said he tightened the bolts but they were loose.

So yeah, lots of small things to do but its 90% of the way there so I'm calling that a success.

[Yowie]

I don't know if my car would pass every one of those points.

"There's a missing PCV hose...I'm sure it can't be hard to cobble one up,"

Correct - and a lot cheaper than the OEM "too complicated" multi-size rubber part. Fuel hoses of various sizes and brass adapters & T-pieces from repco (or plastic barbed irrigation fittings from Bunnings) will be your friend here.

[ginge_mcninge]

Yeah, It's just the hose that connects the rocker covers together. He wasn't too pleased about the crimped T piece that was blocking the solenoid from connecting to the turbo and waste-gate. I just cable tied it out of the way and out of sight so hopefully thats good enough. Fitted the OEM blow off valve back on and started cleaning up the garage because its a bit of a mess and theres shit everywhere. Any tips on storing a motor in a garage? Its my auto shortblock with the warped deck. I was thinking mount it on the engine stand and wrap in a garbage bag or something?

[ginge_mcninge]

Well, Liberty is registered. Had to replace the rear wheel bearings as well for rego but no harm no foul was an easy fix. The bearing bolts looked pretty sad and were pretty round so about $200 later I bought 8 new bearing bolts from Subaru. If anyones curious the alloy rear arms use a different bolt then the GTB arms for the rear wheel bearings.

The Liberty ran great, however after sitting in very slow stop start weekend traffic It got to the top end of the normal operating temp as indicated by the cluster, I’m not saying blown head gaskets… but I have a sneaking suspicion that the $500 EJ might have bad head gaskets. So it’s time to tear down my spare motors and ready for a rebuild.

The Case bolts that sit at the bottom of the coolant jacket appear to of rusted themselves to the washers. Good thing they’re torque to Yield so they will be replaced.


On the upside, all the bearings appear to be okay. Besides some serious staining from high intervals between servicing I would almost say it looks okay. Hoping the crank is also in good condition.


The Cylinder walls also appear to be in good condition. No visible scoring or rust.


The pistons aren’t the best though. While the two compression rings are perfect with a factory spec gap, the oil rings are seized in place and glued to the pistons. This motor was consuming about a litre of oil every 1000KM and for a high KM EJ I am really not upset. There is a pretty large amount of carbon deposits and that is throughout the entire engine.


So that’s the case halves seperate, crank removed, and packaged up ready to be sent off to a machine shop and inspected for reuse. left the crank slightly oily and wrapped in brand new microfibres. Also put one between the case halves and they’re sitting apart but braced from the crank by the old wheel bearings so nothing smacks during transport. Shoutout to Bunnings for dirt cheap containers that comfortably fit a 255 short block.


Now the ugly, the jumped timing EJ…
Disassembly was similar, however I had to do it different to how the manual suggests. The side of the piston (pictured below) was overlapping the wrist pins on both sides and I was unable to pull the pin out from the access cover. I removed pistons 1, and 3, and then split the case halves with 2, and 4 still attached to the crank.

As the photo suggests, I forgot that gravity exists and decided to undo the con rod, with the block facing down, with my foot under the cylinder. A few choice words later and a destroyed piston smacking into the ground later and I was blessed with this absolutely destroyed bearing.


This piston is rooted. I know it smacked into the head and cracked a head, bent 4 valves, and made shrapnel everywhere. I’m just impressed that the rod is still straight.


All of the con rod bearings are absolutely destroyed showing copper on both halves of the bearings. Cylinder 4 was the worst its bearing was chewed up.


Till I receive my tax return that’s all for now.

[ginge_mcninge]

Hi Club Lib, I've returned...

Got my tax return, Bought a Brumby and proceeded to parts cannon and dump my entire tax return into its EA81 and subsequent rebuild. I have also been busy with my Lib.

I bought a sandblaster and It has been working wonders filled with bicarb soda, pictured below is some 3S-GTE component that I cleaned up for a weird GT4 owning mate. If anyone else wants to build one it's quite simple; Supercheap Auto sandblaster, Ozito water air separator, and the cheapest air compressor you can buy. I've been cleaning up a heap of my parts and listing them up on marketplace and also doing a heap of my mates dirty while were in there parts.


I managed to pick up a cheap G3 Impreza COBB SF intake with the metal air box, popped it in and it fits wonders, only problem is it's for a later style MAF sensor. I believe the Liberty uses a 5 pin MAF + IAT sensor while a G3 has a seperate IAT sensor. The fitment is quite tight around the hood release cable however it will clearance pretty easily and adjust the box. The intake itself sits pretty high up with a short pipe and the factory air duct fits nicely into it with no complaints.


Still a work in progress however the internal diameter of the piping is the same as stock, the built up section of the factory air box raises the MAF sensor up slightly so I have space to make an adaptor and raise it up. Pictured below is my 3rd iteration of my adaptor but its still a WIP, just need some more threaded inserts.


Also managed to pickup a 3 port boost solenoid, aftermarket headers, silicon inlet hose, and I'm watching a process west intake manifold on eBay. Managed to call in my unpaid labour on the S13, S15, R33, R34, Turbo Territory, BF, GT4, GC8, GF8, Daihat, GSR, Civic, and City Turbo. Hopefully next post will be front mount with custom piping.

Till next time