22 replies to this topic

[rexhunta]

Hey. 
 
Probably been seen before so will keep it short and sweet. 
 
1991 Gen 1 Series 1 - EJ22E, 4 Speed FWD Auto. Bermuda Blue. 
 
I bought it a couple of years ago from a 1 owner who lost her licence from age. Drove it home, and stuffed it into the back of the shed.
 

 
Did a little bit of research, bought a 2004 GD 2.5RS with a blown motor. 
 

 
Gutted The driveline, pedal boxes, fuel tank, and heap of other bits and pieces i thought I could use. 
 

 
Pulled the BC apart, cleaned all the threads to the unused bolt holes, trial fitted all the driveline. Pulled the fuel tanks, swapped them over. Pulled the pump assembly apart, fitted a Walbro 255lph for future. Rewired the harness to accept both level senders so the gauge would work properly. 
 

 
Fitted all the GD driveline and GD cradles, temp fitted the tailshaft.
 

 
Fitted all the GD pedalboxes and hydraulic clutch setup. 
 

 
Next, started to add a small power adder. 
 

 
Pulled the motor out to give it a birthday. All gaskets, plugs, timing belt kit, idlers etc. Plugged and tapped the sump for the oil return, got Pirtek to make an oil feed line from the oil pressure switch. Fitted up dual catch can setup and cleaned the engine bay, and then got it back in and made some fmic piping. 
 

 

 
State of the motor after 250k kms. Pretty Happy. 
 

 
Got it all running, moveable. Next part, rust repairs. Both sides had rust in the bottom panel and the seal. 
 

 

 

 
Did some work to get the intercooler properly in and fitted up so it hidden. This is before I painted it black for more stealthy.
 

 
When it was on the ground noticed the track seemed odd. So put the front GD hubs, aluminium lower control arms, brakes, and front swaybar in.
 

 

 
Stripped and patched. 
 

 
Primed
 

 
Painted
 

 

 
Hated the paintwork I did so sent it off to the painters.
 

 
While it was at the painters, fumbled around with getting a proper tailshaft made. I had an RS tailshaft that I swapped the yoke on, but did not know that you can't swap stakeable Unis, bit of back and forth to local engineering shop, I grabbed a SF Forry tailshaft, and had it modified. They machined all 3 unis to accept external c clip types and extended the rear tube 60mm. 
 

 

 
And now. Together. Had the number plates remade in classic Black on grey, instead of the black on yellow, these plates are the same that the car was originally licenced with.
 

 

 
Roofliner all redone by local trimmers. 
 

 
Pretty Much stock interior apart from wheel, AEM Wideband and a boost gauge. Stock deck all works, no need to change ! 
 

 
Found some good nick tail lights so they went in. 
 

 
And My first coffee and cars with a couple of mates in their euros, hhad a great time and got a heap of good comments and a lot of questions, and the usual " My Aunty had one of these " sorts of comments. 
 

 
So quick Run down. 
 
Ej22E + TD04HL @ 5 psi. Walbro pump, Tomei RRFPR. Shitty stainless headers, 3" exhaust, Hooker Muffler and Resonator. 
 
GD Driveline, 5 speed manual, Clutch Industries HD single mass clutch, GD Cradles, GD Axles, GD fuel tank, modified SF Tailshaft, GD front control arms/hubs/swaybar, GC8 Coilovers, GD 17x7s, 215/45/17s.
 
90s momo wheel, aem wideband, boost gauge. 
 
repainted in Bermuda Blue. 
 
Current soonish future plans is injectors and a Haltech 750, get the tint stripped and redone, and get all the exterior trims rewrapped/painted/something. 
 
Enough. 
 
Pete.

[allpaw4]

Wow Pete, that looks like an insane transformation, colour looks tops as well! Bet it took a bit longer than the impression of that read gives!

How much was the roof liner worth to get done? I've got all the bits to do mine, but haven't had the time to do it yet...

Cheers,
Ben

[rexhunta]

Wow Pete, that looks like an insane transformation, colour looks tops as well! Bet it took a bit longer than the impression of that read gives!

How much was the roof liner worth to get done? I've got all the bits to do mine, but haven't had the time to do it yet...

Cheers,
Ben

 

 

Thanks man, there's 2 years in the making there. I got the car in October 2021, and got to first properly drive it Nov last year. 

 

The headliner was about $150 at a local caravan reupholsterer. I had the interior completely stripped out while I was doing things so i could do other little projects in between like shampoo the seats, and all the wiring for the manual conversion more comfortably. I had the dash out to replace all the blown globes. Every week I made a small list of the little jobs to do, as most would know a 33 yo car would have a few problems here and there. 

 

Tomorrow I'm going through the central locking as i dont have the remote, but all the actuators work, so i've got a new kit, I just have to find the locking module and rewire it to the new one. Shouldn't be too bad. 

 

it's been a good thing to take my mind off a few personal/family things, I've definitely had a great time doing it. 

 

Ararat - I drove through there in 2019.. Little story, flew into Adelaide to catch 1 mate, we road tripped that way through SA/Vic in his beemer to get to Frankston, to join another mate in his 35 gtr when he entered the Optima Ultimate Street Challenge at Calder Park. Stayed 3 days and then drove all the back to Adelaide and flew home. Great trip to see all the older country towns of Vic. 

[El_Freddo]

G’day Pete,

I followed the build on the RS forum before it crapped out. It was good to read the condensed version but knowing how the build went it felt a bit rushed - only because the actual process and finding information was much longer and more involved!

I didn’t realise or note that you boosted the NA EJ22 - for some reason I thought you had dropped a WRX conversion in this to bring up to RS spec or better in the engine department. The NA/t setup would be fun!

It must be a good feeling getting out and enjoying it! And a series 1!! You don’t see many of them any more…

Cheers

Bennie

[Barbbachello]

Neato.

Those EJ22s can handle a decent amount of boost with a proper tune and fueling 

A set of DOHC WRX heads will go straight on allowing you to run the proper turbo feeds etc and drops the compression a bit

[rexhunta]

Neato.

Those EJ22s can handle a decent amount of boost with a proper tune and fueling 

A set of DOHC WRX heads will go straight on allowing you to run the proper turbo feeds etc and drops the compression a bit

 

I haven't looked too far into much of it, I've just been playing with wiring diagrams atm making sure i'm on the right track that i'm getting the correct ecu atm. 

 

 

G’day Pete,

I followed the build on the RS forum before it crapped out. It was good to read the condensed version but knowing how the build went it felt a bit rushed - only because the actual process and finding information was much longer and more involved!

I didn’t realise or note that you boosted the NA EJ22 - for some reason I thought you had dropped a WRX conversion in this to bring up to RS spec or better in the engine department. The NA/t setup would be fun!

It must be a good feeling getting out and enjoying it! And a series 1!! You don’t see many of them any more…

Cheers

Bennie

 

 

I had 6 months of research into the car before I had even purchased it, and then when i bought the gen 1 it sat in the shed for 4 months before I touched it, as I gathered parts, more info and making sure I had the correct knowledge to go forward without having to take too many steps backwards. I work 5 days on 5 days off which is probably why you saw a lot of work going on, i would order most my parts during the build on the last day of break so when I got to my last night shift everything would be at home waiting, also 1 of the benefits of working nights is the ability to research 1 more last bit of info of wiring or of a certain way to make something become handy, I would either email it home or print it out. I spent quite a few hours on rsliberty forums, club lib, legacy central just chasing that small part of info i had never seen before, be it the smallest detail of neutral position switches or chasing that 1 body clip. I'm not an idle person, its good in a way but also bad cause i'm thinking 6 steps ahead and get lost where I was at that point   

 

Last night threw in a set of plugs and a new fuel filter, sandblasted all the intercooler pipes and got a fresh coat of paint on, sandblasted a heap of brackets and got them all in too. Just trying to make the engine bay look a bit better then it was. 

[JDP]

Very cool. Nice work dude!

[rexhunta]

Well. 



Golebys had a decent Aus Day sale. I was just going to get a 750, but for $100 more I could jump to the next bracket. Also means.....


Drive By Wire time. Thanks to a close mate at Bosch, we've gone through their catalogue and found a heap of stuff, and yeah, I'm going to convert it to DBW. The 1500 gives me a heap of extra options compared to the 750, so I'm going to get the tone rings back on the front axles, put the sensors back in the GD hubs and use the traction control options. 

 

Got some spare stock fuel rails, ordering some 620s and will be swapping the side feed injectors to top feeds. Found a heap of information on how to, and it's not as bad as i thought. 

So expect some wiring updates soon, i've got most of it figured out, just got to order in a heap of cable and pins/plugs, and it only goes from here. Good times. 

[El_Freddo]

This should be interesting! How long until you think you’ll need a replacement/built bottom end?

And what’s the end goal you’re aiming for?

Cheers

Bennie

[rexhunta]

This should be interesting! How long until you think you’ll need a replacement/built bottom end?

And what’s the end goal you’re aiming for?

Cheers

Bennie

 

End goal is just to have something working, but all will tell time on that one. 

 

I have an ej205 with a spun bearing here, the cranks pretty fuckassed, but the case is still good. Once I get this together and " reliable " i'll start building a new bottom end. The 1500 will combat some of those problems when I go to a later model EJ with the extra inputs. Time will tell, I still don't plan on going more then 5 psi with this setup at this stage, but i can get the timing moved to a bit later, will be slightly laggier but will save that sudden push on the rods. 

[Barbbachello]

EJ22 rods are the exact same as the rods from the same era turbo engine. Same as even the STi from the late 90s

The EJ22 can and will handle 14+ PSI quite happily tuned accordingly.

[RX25SE]

Very nice indeed. I love the 'old on the outside, new underneath' type builds.

 

Well done!

[El_Freddo]

The EJ22 can and will handle 14+ PSI quite happily tuned accordingly.

Is this with the NA pistons or the US turbo spec slugs from the closed deck EJ22 in their “SS” Legacy - a similar but different setup to our RS models.

Cheers

Bennie

[Barbbachello]

NA Pistons

[rexhunta]

Very nice indeed. I love the 'old on the outside, new underneath' type builds.

 

Well done!

 

 

Thank you, slowly will get there. 

 

EJ22 rods are the exact same as the rods from the same era turbo engine. Same as even the STi from the late 90s

The EJ22 can and will handle 14+ PSI quite happily tuned accordingly.

 

Not going for anything massive at this stage on this motor, happy to be around 6 psi. After this is all in and sorted/tuned, i'll start getting the spare 205 machined I have, and put some parts away for that. Heading to Japan in August so may even get some goodies there. 

 

 

So in the end, after a decent Bosch order. 

 

60mm DBW Throttle Body

DBW Pedal

3 bar map and air temp sensor.

Air temp sensor

Water Temp sensor

Knock sensor

630cc injectors

all the connectors to suit everything. 

 

I have my top feed rail ready, think I may need to get the bottom o rings, once I start pulling everything apart I'll work it out then. Heading to Perth/Melbourne this weekend so if I get a chance I'll get a multitude of coloured wires, if not i'll sort it out as I go. Plenty of time, Have proved it runs well enough for the last 4 months, time to pull it apart again 

[rexhunta]

 

Done a bit so far. Pulled the Dash to get to the majority of wiring. All the Cruise control, leftover auto wiring, any sensors I didn't need and anything else I didn't want got properly ditched. If Subaru of the era made their harnesses like Suzuki did around the same era, would've been a hell of a lot less work  Made a bracket for the DBW Pedal and sorted out a heap of wiring going wire by wire and making sure I document the lot. 

 

 

Pulled intake manifold, replaced all the sensors I needed with the Bosch replacements and plugs, removed throttle body coolant lines, general clean up, removed other sensors didn't need. 

 

 

Pulled the intake mani apart, deleted the IAC, removed the side feeds, had a look at the 3 sets of fuel rails I had on the shelf, and worked out to do a top feed conversion, I used the EJ253 rails, cut the FPR off and moved it right back towards the 3rd injector otherwise it would've been in the way of the intake of the turbo. Made a few more brackets to properly mount the rail solidly, replaced the injectors with Bosch 620s with new plugs to suit. Cleaned all the harness up, drileld and tapped new holes for the dbw throttle.

 

 

Started putting it together, made a few sensor adaptors and things, adjusted the fuel lines to fit in, using the Haltech internal map sensor with the Bosch air temp sensor. 

 

 

and got everything together, laid in the harness in, started cleaning it up, need to modify the brackets for the coilpack cover so I can hide most of it again. 

 

 

Unfortunately couldn't flip the throttle around upside down as it hits on the hydraulic slave for the clutch, so have to have it sitting up, unless I can work out a way to get a smaller slave clynder or being able to move it.

 

I've got the Bosch 3 bar map/air temp sensor that I haven't used, I figured for such a low hp number I'm better off using the internal map, but If I do, I'll move where I have made a bracket for the boost control solenoid and mount it inside the IAC blanking plate on the back of the manifold. 

 

I've started to slowly change to the Haltech pins and plugs inside the car, i've made a massive excel spreadsheet of the haltech to subaru harness, which has helped, and i've gone through each factory subaru wire at the haltech plug and put the haltech colours under clear heatshrink with the pin numbers. Makes it more time consuming, but imho will make it so much better for investigating problems later if there is any. 

 

Thanks Pete.

[El_Freddo]

Top effort Pete!

The details/pics involving the EJ253 top feed injector mod would be interesting to see. I haven’t heard of this being a common mod.

How much to go now before you get it fired up again and off to a dyno?

Cheers

Bennie

[rexhunta]

Top effort Pete!

The details/pics involving the EJ253 top feed injector mod would be interesting to see. I haven’t heard of this being a common mod.

How much to go now before you get it fired up again and off to a dyno?

Cheers

Bennie

 

I haven't personally seen it been done before, I just grabbed what I had, measured and had a play, which is where I get most of mods from the last 20+ years.

 

Stole this photo off the net, but this is what the stock injector rail looks like on a 251, notice how the fpr swoops in, that generally sits in behind the 3rd runner in front of where my inlet to the turbo would be. I cut the fpr flange off, bored the internal so it would fit tight and deep back onto the fuel rail about 20mm, then tigged it all back up. I did have to cut the rail on the other side, and put a hose clamp lip back around it as the 251 manifold is wider then the ej22 manifold, other wise i would of just swapped the entire lot in and saved time. The Injectors are the same distance apart, and sit at the same height, and all the other brackets went back into the same place on the 22 manifold in the end. 

 

[allpaw4]

This may be something that won't work (I don't know much on anything other than gen3 stuff), but on the gen3, the FPR's are sitting in the lines next to the strut tower (where your canister filter sits). Would it be possible to do something similar, so if this one fails its a simple swap rather than having to pull manifolds etc?

Looking like there's been some serious progression though, sweet!

Cheers,
Ben

[rexhunta]

This may be something that won't work (I don't know much on anything other than gen3 stuff), but on the gen3, the FPR's are sitting in the lines next to the strut tower (where your canister filter sits). Would it be possible to do something similar, so if this one fails its a simple swap rather than having to pull manifolds etc?

Looking like there's been some serious progression though, sweet!

Cheers,
Ben

 

I do have the aeroflow adaptor for this fuel rail but i wanted to keep the stock fpr for now, i had a tomei rrfpr but i was trying to steer away from it. I think it looks pretty stock and you wouldn't tell unless you knew ej22s.