75 replies to this topic

[Beckers]

Great job on the broken plug removal.

Smart idea to use grease, to stop any metal going in the cylinder.

Might need to have a wed night dock at your place to check out this beast.

[applegeek897]

Man, RWD H6 could make for an extremely fun car!

[U-Shell]

Great job on the broken plug removal.

Smart idea to use grease, to stop any metal going in the cylinder.

Might need to have a wed night dock at your place to check out this beast.

 

Dad brought home a small magnet on a spring wire to drop down into chamber to double check theres no left over scraps in there, but we should be good fingers crossed haha

 

Could have a dock on Saturday if I can find a clutch and flywheel to suit the N/A 5 speed box!

 

 

Man, RWD H6 could make for an extremely fun car!

 

Agreed! Keeping standard suspension though, so not sure how "fun" it will be with full OEM suspension haha

[AB501UT!0N]

Mate you're still here too! I thought you were long gong since we had Gen 3's haha. Still driving a Subaru?

 

She looks nice in photos but is in desperate need of a detail haha

 

Haha I sure am, but I have become more of a stalker since most of the nice guys left!

 

I still have my Gen 3 B4 that you took a nice photo of at Calder Park

 

BTW nice job with the H6 engine and your hard work is paying off! Let me know when you are free for a catch up / drive

[Adam]

Who the fork are you

[Barbbachello]

 

Haha I sure am, but I have become more of a stalker since most of the nice guys left!

Hey we havent left. Few of the OGs have become less active but we're still here and on the facey group. 

[Adam]

Hey we havent left. Few of the OGs have become less active but we're still here and on the facey group. 

Get your hand off it m8

[Beckers]

Who the fork are you

Its about time you changed that pic of the gen2, because its in heaven now.

[U-Shell]

 

Haha I sure am, but I have become more of a stalker since most of the nice guys left!

 

I still have my Gen 3 B4 that you took a nice photo of at Calder Park

 

BTW nice job with the H6 engine and your hard work is paying off! Let me know when you are free for a catch up / drive

 

Wow that was a long time ago! My missus still remembers driving out there to meet you to buy those dash trims haha!

 

Would love a catch up when the outback is running dude! I'm flat out with work until the end of september, but if not before then, I'm sure we can organise a big drive or something with all the VIC kids  

 

 

Who the fork are you

 

I'm your mothers fathers daughter. Hi.

[AB501UT!0N]

 
Wow that was a long time ago! My missus still remembers driving out there to meet you to buy those dash trims haha!
 
Would love a catch up when the outback is running dude! I'm flat out with work until the end of september, but if not before then, I'm sure we can organise a big drive or something with all the VIC kids  

Haha it sure was a long time ago! Sounds good buddy and there are about 5 suby guys in Bendigo who would love to go for a nice drive with the rest of the guys from down Melbourne way

[U-Shell]

Haha it sure was a long time ago! Sounds good buddy and there are about 5 suby guys in Bendigo who would love to go for a nice drive with the rest of the guys from down Melbourne way

 

Sounds awesome! Hopefully have the outback back together soon *crosses fingers*

[U-Shell]

Okay so H6 update plus more!

 

Nothing much has changed since last update...

 

Had my top radiator hose shit itself on the Eastlink and dump 9lt of coolant out of my BMW. Joss came to my rescue and managed to get a hose clamp and some water to get the car home, but instead of just fixing the problem hose, I decided to not tight ass it and fix the whole cooling system that needs replacing every 150,000 (BMW/ Euro life kek). So $520 later I had new water pump with improved metal impeller (OEM is plastic), new thermostat, upper/ lower hoses, expansion/ overflow tank, the correct coolant (previous mechanic used wrong stuff), two new idler pulleys and two new accessory belts. Not what I needed to happen but I was looking at replacing the cooling system soon anyway as preventative maintenance. 

 

 

Finished off the wiring except for the VSS, which I'll get to once the engine is in and I know its functional. 

Started chasing what I thought was an electrical gremlin where the dash stays on after I've removed the keys. With no engine in the car currently, I'm assuming it might have something to do with a ground thats missing through the engine ground to chassis or something. So once the engine is in I can hopefully start chasing that if need be.

 

Got the manual brake and clutch pedals in thanks to Beckers! 

 

 

Had a play around with the auto trim to see if I can come up with any ideas how to make the manual shift boot sit nicely as the manual gear surround I have doesn't match the H6 trim pieces.

 

 

 

Looks porridge but maybe I can hot glue the boot up under the trim or something so it looks neat.

 

Also, these trim clips suck so bad!!!!

 

 

 

I've out the original idler pulleys back on the engine for now (even though they need replacing ASAP) and original serpentine belt just until I know the engine is actually alive and not missing a bottom end bearing etc haha. The oil that I drained out was starting to go like a maple syrup consistency, which was of concern... I've thrown a small hose down the dipstick hole to see if I can capture and gunk from the sump, but after a few stabs the hose came out clean, so hopefully have dodged a bullet there. Still decided to throw some kerosene down the filler hole and let it sit for a week to loosen any possible build up down there. Washed it through a few times but will throw an engine cleaner in with some cheap oil and filter once it's in the car.

 

Here's how she's currently sitting, just waiting for a home in my outback.

 

 

Also changed the plugs, checked the gaps which were at .7mm then re gapped them to the suggested 1.1mm and torqued them down to spec using some copper coat grease to avoid a potential future snapped plug like the last ones..

 

 

 

Sussed out the cool "variable flow" rear muffler, which unfortunately has a hole in it, so need to find a replacement for Road Worthy. Going to see if I can cut the return side of the valve open and weld a 180 bend on to see if it will act kind of like a "varex", but I think it already runs through the baffles/ sound deadener inside the muffler before entering the valve portion of the muffler, so maybe no sound increase to be had there. Currently have my sisters outback with me whilst she's overseas in Europe so I can give it a once over, so will probably steal her muffler and wipers and a set of wheel nuts just to fast track my outback getting on the road.

 

 

 

Finally had a bit of a headache getting a clutch and flywheel sorted, but after a couple different part swaps, I managed to get a correct second hand set of parts. Got them installed and now the engine is ready to go in this weekend!!

 

 

 

 

One thats done the dash can go back together as its torn apart for wiring and chasing electrical issues haha

 

 

Unfortunately my electrical work has dried up and I basically need to find some more work as of next week. For those who don't know how it works for Electricians, basically to Sub contract you need to do a business management course, have $5million liability insurance and pay for a Registered Electrical Contractors License. Course is $600-700, REC license is $588 and I haven't priced up Liability insurance insurance, but basically it's a big smack of cash that means that registering the Outback is probably going to be pushed back *sad face*

 

Thanks for reading and hopefully have an engine in and running update for everyone this weekend !!

[Barbbachello]

Do a skid

[CodeBurn3r]

I had a cool build thread once.. 
now i just come here to make fun of Nick and poke the Trolls

but seriously, good to see you back here mate.

maybe you can keep my brain dumps catalogued on here for future reference. I'll pay you in beer once a week.

p.s. don't speak too much about our TyLand trip.. 
i wanna keep my passport!

[El_Freddo]

You'll get there with the outback. Get the other stuff sorted so you can still have fun later

Then let the good times roll

Cheers

Bennie

[applegeek897]

Love how this is coming along man

[U-Shell]

Do a skid

 

So close to doing them, so excite.

 

 

I had a cool build thread once.. 
now i just come here to make fun of Nick and poke the Trolls

but seriously, good to see you back here mate.

maybe you can keep my brain dumps catalogued on here for future reference. I'll pay you in beer once a week.

p.s. don't speak too much about our TyLand trip.. 
i wanna keep my passport!

 

Mate if you just put your headliner in all would be right in your build thread hahaha

 

Tyland between me and u bby  

 

 

You'll get there with the outback. Get the other stuff sorted so you can still have fun later

Then let the good times roll

Cheers

Bennie

 

Work is picking up again which means back into the outback project hopefully! 

 

Love how this is coming along man

 

Thanks mate! I've been stalking every single one of your updates recently. Love the effort you put in, especially documenting everything with photos, makes for an interesting read!

[U-Shell]

UPDAATEEE TOOIIMMMMEEEEE 

 

So. I've been busy. Big updates to which the car is ssooo close to being ready to register, many excites. So put the kettle on because its going to be a lengthy read with plenty of photos haha

 

 

 

FINALLY! The engine is in, and can confirm it seems to be a good one. Had my best mate pop around along with Joss a couple weekends ago to help make some spacers for Joss's speakers, that quickly turned into getting my engine in and without 45 minutes we had the beast hung in place with only a few gearbox bolts and some wires to plug in. 

 

 

 

It took most of the arvo to get all the smaller details  done, but by about 5pm, the engine and everything was in, ready for a test fire up! 

 

 

Quick side note for Gen 3 owners, upgrading the chassis to battery ground cable really helped the electronics in my car. Dash was brighter, headlights were brighter, didn't get flickering lights on bassy songs etc. Worth the upgrade.

 

 

Anyway, my internet is  'd out slow, so whilst I have exhaust videos, it takes to long to upload to youtube so you'll have to use your imagination.... 

 

Took the fuel pump fuse out, cranked the car over a couple times to make sure everything was hunky dory, fuse back in, half a crank and she fired straight up! Idled a little high but I couldn't see anything leaking so fun times ahead.

 

Next day I went down to Repco to get a new serpentine belt, as the old one ripped when I was putting it back on, two new idler pulleys, some coolant and brake fluid.

 

Bolted the pulleys and belt on, fired the car up and everything seemed to be working fine. I do need to replace the suction hose from reservoir to power steering pump as its gone hard and brittle which I think is leading to an air leak which can be seem by bubbles in the fluid. The O-ring seems soft and subtle so I don't think air is getting in there, but I'll get a replacement to be safe.

 

 

 

It also helps if you plug this in... 

 

 

 

Now that the belts etc are on, I could put the radiator in, fill it with coolant and take it for its maiden voyage.

 

 

Took an hour or so including bleeding. Let it get to operating temperature, fans came on, so I jumped in and went for a drive up and down my street.

 

All I can say is WOW, car pulled like a freight train! H6 pews sound amazing and besides the power steering being very temperamental and the dual range gear box popping out of "HIGH" on decel, the car felt really really nice! Apparently theres some adjustment on the gearbox for the dual range which I havn't looked at yet, but there was a decent amount of backlash in the drivetrain that could also be a cause to the gear selector coming out of place. I'll get that sorted once everything else is done.

 

Not much happened for the following week. I didn't have any work, which enabled me to get down to the wreckers and source a few bits and pieces I needed. Clutch pedal rubber, dead pedal, some trim clips, exhaust studs and gaskets (Gen 3 EZ30 is single port exhaust and a but tricky to get replacment header gaskets), and a set of wheel nuts because my car came with 5 different ones compared to normal Subaru ones. Ty also managed to save me a drivers side monsoon/ weather shield with clips that he hid in another car so I could grab. Whilst I was there Ty persuaded me to grab front and rear heated leather seats for his daily/ hack forester in exchange for me taking his engine. He couldn't have found a worst car to get it from... Besides the fact it was half parked in a lake, someone had smashed the drivers side window EVERYWHERE inside the car, which made removal of said seats fairly difficult...

 

 

 

Gen 3 Subaru plant

 

 

First time I've seen a 'modern' Subaru rust!

 

 

Got home, installed the exhaust studs, gaskets (with exhaust goop to help seal) and replaced the front swaybar end links with Whiteline units I got from Joss and Nick as my OEM plastic ones were looking a little sad.

 

 

 

Going to try and limit the amount of aftermarket bushes etc. that I put on the car as I want it to be as quiet as possible (besides maybe an exhaust) and comfortable as I can get it.

 

Another week went by and nothing much had been done as I was trying not to spend all my money seeing as I was a couple weeks away from having work again. Ended up at the snow with a few of the Subyclub Mexico boys, misso and some other friends which left me really broke and with tonsilitis when I arrived back in Melbourne. Had a day or so of dying in bed and then got frustrated that I hadn't left the house in a while so I figured whilst I'm home I'll do something easy and give the interior a BIG clean up. 

 

Previous owner I'm guessing was a mum as there was makeup aaallll over the drivers and passenger door, indicator stalks, A/C controls etc, plus a fork load of kids shit in the back. I set to work cleaning everything up and it rapidly got out of hand. I'll let the photos do the talking..

 

 

 

 

 

Paint brush does wonders for getting dirt and crud out of hard to get into trim pieces!

 

 

 

This needs going over again with a slightly stiffer brush as the makeup was really caked into the little slits!

 

 

Thats a before photo, can't find the after :/

 

 

 

 

 

I stupidly didn't vacuum before hand but oh well

 

 

 

 

 

 

T shirt rag was pristine white before I did the interior trims, fair to say the car was preeety dirty haha

 

 

I then grabbed a bottle of citrus cleaner and took to cleaning out all the door jams extra from years and years of dirt build up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I continued all around the car including the tailgate etc. Not sure if anyone else would notice how clean it is if they jumped in the car, but I certainly notice from the before to now. Once the weather warms up, I'll give the carpet a decent steam clean as it's seen better days.

 

Finished off the day with a mate coming around to flash his H6 ECU to delete auto codes so his Gen 2 H6 swapped car would run and drive happily.

 

 

 

 

 

Now up to this weekend! 

 

I picked up a manual ABS unit from OMR to replace my auto one with hopes that it would fix the ABS light on my dash and the ABS not working at all.. (4 wheel lock up confirmed that on my test drive lol)

 

Pulled the old one out and put the manual one in, turned car on and thankfully it worked! ABS light off, but yet to test if it works. 

 

 

 

 

Auto unit:

 

 

Manual unit:

 

 

Both are identicle with the expetion of "Bosch" written on the auto unit and "ABS" written on the manual one. Hopefully that doesn't interfere with the ECU and running of the ABS unit.

 

 

If you're doing brake work, do yourself a favour and invest in a set of these, made removal and install so much easier than just a normal open end spanner

 

 

Dad had a vacuum bleed kit stashed in our tool cupboard, so I pulled that out and began to bleed the brakes as the old fluid was pretty nasty and spongy. It took forever but eventually I managed to get new fluid in. Just need to do the clutch and we're good!

 

Old fluid was naassttyyyy

 

 

New fluid looks better

 

 

 

Got one wheel done at a time in between hail/ thunderstorm downpours. Super frustrating...

 

 

The wheels have seen better days, so gave them a scrub and they came up heaps better. It's a shame previous owner has gutter rashed them so badly. I don't even know how thats possible with so much tyre over hang haha....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Started to bleed the clutch with assistance from the missus but clutch wasn't having a bar of it and basically managed to get one squeeze of the clutch pedal and then it wouldn't come back up, tried vacuum bleeding it, wouldn't work. So I'll re asses that next weekend before I head up to Albury for the week to work!

 

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far, hopefully weekend after next there should be skid videos!

[Barbbachello]

Yeah mad

 

Pull or push clutch? If its pull take the slave off the box and g clamp the rod into the cubt then bleed it. Only way ive ever been able to get them to bleed

[Miguel]

You could've just swapped the module off the side of the abs pump without having to rebleed anything just FYI. Saves heaps of effort. Auto would've only been cracking the shits cus it couldn't see the TCU anymore.