110 replies to this topic

[El_Freddo]

RS's all 'round for the vic crew atm

I picked this up from the docks last week (one of the reasons why I wasn't at the meet this week fellas):



Gave her a wash with the poo change from in the ash tray:



I'm pretty happy how she scrubbed up:



Came with a dead engine - was hoping for an easy fix with something that may have been over looked but that was not the case:



Still no joy - lots of leprauchan jackhammer noises under the bonnet, loads of smoke out the back and from a dodgy crank case ventilation system once trying to move the vehicle at anything more than a snail's pace... I managed to line her up for a pic with her new family:



Then moved her to the shed while I try to work out the best option for the engine - would love an original block and heads to rebuild to keep it stock but finding a set hasn't come about yet.



^ note the smoke haze in the shed lights, that was from crawling her in there. This engine makes the nastiest engine noises I've ever heard...

I'm looking forward to two things:

1\ Getting it on the road to enjoy the driving experience of the RS (and first boosted ride) and

2\ Giving it a good clean inside and out, especially the undercarriage!

Future plans consist of a set of factory rims if I find a set that the minister of fun and finance allows me to purchase. For now the rims are ok and the tyres even better

That's it for now. Updates will come as they happen/are worth sharing

Cheers

Bennie

[Liberty]

These are popping up everywhere! Looks as good in white as it does in black. Nice buy mate.

[El_Freddo]

Yeah mate I've wanted one for some time as a daily, hunted around but didn't find much that suited my budget that wasn't on the other side of the continent... I changed some dear h parsmeters and there she was - I put in an offer and it was accepted. The. The fun of transport began!

Hunt around and be patient and you'll find one. This one is un-molested as I wanted

Cheers

Bennie

[Adictions]

Aside from the engine it looks like it's in good nick for its age. Nice find.

[motoboy76]

Top stuff Freddo.....

 

Will be good to follow the progress of another RS......

[ChrisLovell]

So apparently Snowball has a heap of RS engines at his workshop. Worth getting on to him. I'm gonna get seats and stuff from him if he has them

[Adam]

When's the lift go in?

[Bumpty]

When's the lift go in?

[applegeek897]

Awesome man, loving all the RS action happening here lately!

[Barbbachello]

Original RS engine is pretty poo. The heads sound mint but like to make dak dak noises cos of the HLA. Any V1-4 WRX engine will work if you use your manifold. 96-98 WRX engines seem to be fairly bullet proof if you leave them alone. Should be able to pick up a engine cheapish, cheaper than a rebuild at least. TD05H and a V2 STi puter and it should go like the clappers

New clutch and a major service when it goes in and itll be micky mouse for years, until you get the urge for more power and start throwing mods at it haha. Looking forward to this 

[El_Freddo]

Dak dak noises will keep the Roos away

I'll be right with what I want Barbachello There's a few tricks to sorting the HLAs. If you've ever owned an L series you'll know a trick or two too, so I'll be applying my knowledge from those experiences to the RS heads once I get a set

Lift is booked when Adam and Bumpty come to help fit it!

I'm hoping to get some time to clean her up this week. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for the heads up Chris

And cheers for the positive comments from all.

Bennie

[ChrisLovell]

Hows the progress going Bennie?

[El_Freddo]

Well I've managed to find some super dodgy brother's work on the intake pipe.  I'll have to dig up that pic.

 

Otherwise it's been zero action - I've had to focus on work over the last few weeks.  I also thought I'd found a score on a create engine - turned out they didn't have what I wanted so I'm back to the drawing board there.

 

I'm now thinking of building up a bottom end while I hunt for a set of RS heads (I'm waiting on some info of a block and heads in qld from an ausubi member as this looks like a goer at the moment) - in the mean time I might as well get something moving on this as xmas is fast approaching and I don't want to have rego due around that time!

 

This weekend between work/cleaning of other vehicles I'm hoping to bust her out of the shed, get her up on a set of stands and have a thorough look at the undercarriage before giving it a good squirting in prep for the RWC.  Hopefully I won't need to put her back up on stands after this.  That should leave the interior to be detailed and the only issue then is the engine itself.  I'm hoping there are no split boots etc - and thinking about it now, the exhaust might be too big/noisy, I don't really know at this stage.  Fun fun!

 

That's where it's at unfortunately.  The only good thing is that savings are being smashed back into the account rather than bleeding out on bits and pieces for this.

 

Oh, lastly, I picked up a STi 12mm rotor oil pump from fleabay US for about $110 Aussie including freight  That'll go on the rebuilt block and with some minor head work it should totally eliminated those noisy lifters that the RS heads are known for.

 

Cheers

Bennie

[Barbbachello]

By built bottom end are you thinking forged goodies? Save the hassle and get a crate v7 crate 207. Will easily handle 250+ kW which I doubt you'll ever get near and will be built by the best builders, Subaru

[El_Freddo]

By built bottom end are you thinking forged goodies? Save the hassle and get a crate v7 crate 207. Will easily handle 250+ kW which I doubt you'll ever get near and will be built by the best builders, Subaru

 

No, I'll leave that to you.  By built I meant a rebuilt bottom end so that I know it's solid.

 

So after a complete change of direction for my weekend I still managed to get what I wanted done and a little bit more - at the expense of our family rock that needs its inlet gaskets replaced (VT commo).

 

For Adam and Bumpty - the lifted RS:

 

 

 

One of the rims with the centre cap on, it's only sitting on the studs as the nuts don't allow the caps to fit:

 

 

Clean pics - before first with the after pic next for each area:

 

Front Right wheel guard:

 

 

 

Rear Right wheel guard (not much to really see with this one):

 

 

 

Underside:

 

 

 

Rear spare wheel well:

 

 

 

^ that's after, I don't have a before shot of that area.  Came up tops, it looked pretty much the same as the underside of the cab.

 

Inside of the rims (same rim):

 

 

 

I found one shot boot on the rear left.  Thinking about it I didn't check bearings tie rods or ball joints for play - that'll be on the to do list.  Found out it's got an xforce down pipe if that means anything to anyone...

 

So now I'm pretty much waiting on an engine as the main thing needed other than a good detailing of the interior.

 

I'm also thinking of a set of new rotors front and rear - partly to give the RWC dude an idea that the vehicle has had the go over but also because the current ones don't look too flash.

 

That's it for now.  Next move is to tear down this block and find the best place in town to get it looked at.

 

Cheers

Bennie

[motoboy76]

Some nice progress there Bennie.....

 

Looking good........

[applegeek897]

Cleaning up nicely mate!

[El_Freddo]

Since the cleaning if the under carriage I'm now wondering if I should paint the wheel wells satin black... Thoughts?

I'm hoping to strip down the block this weekend and get it into the builders this week for a hone/bore, new rings, new bottom and big end bearings. Looks like I might have to get a new set of pistons if the block is bored out. Apparently Subarus run pretty tight tolerances. We'll see what happens there. Also the original RS setup uses a set of flat top pistons with the little half moon crescents for the valve clearances.

Further research suggests that the compression reduction is achieved in the design of the combustion chamber. There were a number of RS liberty club members back in 2007 slapping these heads onto NA EJ22 block for cheap boosted thrills...

Original RS engine is pretty poo.

I'm not convinced of this. The engine management system being the first generation probably isn't the best out there but it's a huge improvement over the L series RX management and engine design! Also to the block itself is the only factory closed deck unit that I know of. Internals can always be upgraded. It's just money in the end that I don't have nor do I have the intention to build a monster power house. I'm just after a sweet daily RS cruiser.

Fingers crossed I'll be putting the engine back together in the second week of the "holidays" - I doubt I'll be in for the meet on the 24th due to wanting to get this and other maintenance work completed in this time. Also hoping for a pick a part session to grab generic liberty bits to replace missing or damaged stuff, things like the air box, rear garnish, head unit etc.

Here's to a good weekend in the shed!

Cheers

Bennie

[Miguel]

Compression reduction is in the pistons not the heads, flat Top pistons are jdm 8.5:1 pistons, ausdel rs engines have a dished piston to drop the cr. Ausdel and jdm heads are exactly the same. If youre going oversized pistons you'll need to go later model heads it custom pistons as theres nothing off the shelf for rocker Arm heads. Unless your engine is heavily worn a light hone should be sufficient.

As well as the gen1 20G being closed deck so too are JDM v1 wrx and sti & v2 sti. The North American market ej22t and of course the 22b also have closed deck blocks.

Gen1 engine definately not poo. Tanky beasts that still hold the 100,000km petrol record.

[El_Freddo]

Interesting to know about the pistons. So what's the AUDM cr rating? And what does this mean in the grand scheme of things?

You've thrown me a curve ball on that but it's good to know. The engine builders reckon they'll be able to find a piston to fit the need. I'll talk to them about just a hone. All bores look a little glazed - more than my EJ22 did with ~200k km on it with it's HG replacement.

I'll be sure to update the progress on this I reckon I'll have to get some pics of what I'm working with

Also Miguel, I've not heard about the 100,000km petrol record - what's that about? I'm feeling like such a noob but am enjoying the learning curve with the move to a new model!
Cheers

Bennie