133 replies to this topic

[El_Freddo]

You folks will love it Barbs. I haven’t done the circuit specifically but have seen a few in my travels. Definitely a true work of art and how they do it on a curved surface is bloody amazing!

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

So after many attempts to resolve a performance issue the brumby is back in action. Turned out it was a blocked exhaust, lucky I had some spare parts available to swap out. Runs really well again, just need to seal a leak to get rid of the lawnmower spec exhaust putter. The leak is right at the exhaust port, sounds awesome.

Time to help out with the big move:



Im looking forward to moving more stuff now. Not looking forward to paying for fuel with the current price spike - $1.579 at BP for regular. Dunno what 98ron is worth but I wouldnt be surprised if its about $2 a litre.

Cheers

Bennie

[RX25SE]

Awesome to see Redback Brumby back on the road Bennie!

[El_Freddo]

Yeah I’m loving the drive again. Not the fastest thing on the road though.

And I’m already back to lawn mower spec... yesterday the new “seal” (high temp silicone) blew out. Probably time to look into new gaskets...

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

Don't leave it too long Bennie! Exhaust leaks in that area can chew gouges into the heads meaning it'll never seal, even with new gaskets.

[El_Freddo]

Thats very true for a typical subaru - but were talking about the brumby here! These have a metal spacer flange for emissions stuff that was added when required. So I have ally head, cast spacer plate then the metal flange on the Y-pipe. Between the spacer and the Y pipe flange is where I have the leak.

Im still driving it. Noisy around town but nothing to really complain about on the open road.

Running temp starts to climb though, quite slowly. Thought it could be because of the mid 20s temp and the full load in the ute and the trailer but it did the same thing on the way home unladen. Hoping theres nothing sinister lurking there... It could be the carb leaning the mixture at cruise, and rich at idle or low revs (only say this as my exhaust pipe is always coated in thick black carbon - could be the short across town driving I used to do to get to work, thatll change next week!).

EJ plans are on the back burner until a later date atm ;(

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

While I was crook a week or two back (not covid! I got tested), I thought a day out in the fresh air would help out so I took the brumby for a drive out to Kooyoora Conservation Park, this is on the seasonally closed East tk:



At the thong tree. I learnt of this place on a uni bike ride back in 2006 but took me ages to find it again! It’s “near” Kingower, a few kms down the Kingower Arnold rd if anyone is interested. It’s a well kept dirt road for anyone that’s game. The brumby held well in 4wd at 90km/h no worries!



Subarino (auto electrical - check them out if you’re in Perth and need some Subi love) sorted me with some new exhaust gaskets. Soooo good that it’s one of those simple fixes I should’ve done ages ago! No longer does my beloved brumby scare ppl eating outside food venues as I cruise past in town! So good.

She also smashed out a 400+ km round trip the other day to see the new bond film with a mate. Didn’t miss a beat and was a great sesh. Loved it. Dunno what they’ll do in the next bond film, I’m still a bit shell shocked!

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

Took a detour on my way home the other day to get this pic:



It was a nice drive using the old parts of the Calder before cutting west for an extended detour. I pushed the fuel envelope lower than I’d ever done before - got just off the bottom of the E mark but managed to make it home.

Fuelled up today and managed to squeeze 47L in. Can’t remember if the brumby has a 50 or 55L tank...

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

She's looking good there Bennie! I think you need to talk to the council and buy one of those signs for the shed.

[RX25SE]

Such a cool pic.

[El_Freddo]

Thanks guys! The sun makes the paint look pretty mint in this pic. I wish it looked like this all over all the time!

I hadn’t thought about asking the council about that, not that I’ve got any funds for this sort of thing yet.

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

Another big trip, home -> south west Geelong suburbs -> home again via the scenic route (forgot about all the bloody 80km/h zones from Greendale up the hills. Dis it with the roof glass out, got a bit cool going up the hills through the Wombat State forest area, then it heated up again as I headed further north towards home. This was near Mt Franklin, storms in the distance where I was headed.



I did a trip to Melbs and back a week ago, the brumby managed to pull 8.5L/100km! I couldnt believe it, and I always fill it to the brim even though they say you shouldnt, Ive always got to drive some distance home spit doesnt stress me out, plus I know my economy figures are consistent in terms of filling up to the same level.

Next up is finding time to fix a split boot on a front shaft, and do an oil change, currently Im only adding oil :s

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

Sounds like it's all going well man! What's the go with the not filling it to the brim thing? I usually continue to put fuel in after I get the click of the pump stopping. Haven't had any ill effects yet.

Pic looks great!

Cheers,
Ben

[RX25SE]

Nice one Bennie, glad to see your enjoying Redback!

Same. I usually stop when the fuel puddles just inside the filler neck!
Never had an issue.

[Barbbachello]

Yup always done extra clicks. Otherwise the gauge doesnt even read full

[El_Freddo]

What's the go with the not filling it to the brim thing? I usually continue to put fuel in after I get the click of the pump stopping. Haven't had any ill effects yet.

One of my vehicles used to have a sticker saying not to continue filling after the first click to avoid overfilling and spilling fuel. I’m sure there are signs at the servo about the same thing, I don’t see them anymore (as usual with those things). I’ve never had an issue and I do it with all of our cars without any issues.

If I did the first click and stopped filling, I’d have one vehicle that would never get filled as it takes a few goes each time to find the right angle to get things flowing smoothly at full squeeze. That’s taking it to the extreme though. I can usually hear the filler neckbottling up before the pump clicks off.

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

8.7L/100km on this morning’s fill. Pretty happy with that and also quite surprised.

I got 566.7km to 49.4L in the old girl. I’m thinking the carb is tired and leaning out the mixture… I’m not going to do anything about it except EJ it. Slow process but it’ll get there.

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

If you need any parts for EJ stuff let me know man. Got a few spare cars in the back yard still, including an EJ20 with about 394 thousand km. But they're bulletproof motors.

Cheers,
Ben

[El_Freddo]

Thanks Ben, I should have it covered! Ive got several engines in the shed, an EJ box ready to go (4.111:1 diff ratio though, was going to swap it to 3.7:1 to keep the factory gearing but my 3.7 ring and pinion set have surface rust :cry: so Im looking at just running the 4.111:1 once Im ready to do the swap. Then go from there with the box mods).

Got 8.7L/100km again with the last fill. Im certainly not complaining about that side of things.

I am spewing about some muppet that put their door into my drivers door so hard on the plastic moulding strip that they bent the strip, dented the door and left an indent for their doors bottom corner in the plastic. My drivers door is bent up but thats not the point. I have a straight replacement door to go on but only one plastic strip - and it WAS perfect enough before this incident. Not happy Jan!

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

Got a dual range box and matching diff here should you want it man. Only issue is its 4.44 ratio. Was doing something like 3300 at 100k. Was good for the 2l NA, as you needed revs to do anything, but for a 2.5 it'd be overkill. I thought about throwing it into the track car for some entertainment value, but I think it'd last one big shove of boost and then tell me pretty aggressively to go and get stuffed...

Cheers,
Ben