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In Topic: Redback Brumby
12 June 2026 - 10:31 PM
Not a great deal going on with Redback other than taking on daily duties this term.
She’s road tested Subarino’s metal 3D printed thermostat housings that will accommodate the power steering setup or non PS setups. Neat unit and no issues. Very interesting with the metal print!
Last week was a bit of a rough one - 700kms in three days (she did a stint of 1300kms in two days without any issues) that saw her cop a set of keys in a tyre and a ripped out exhaust hanger in the space of two days…
^ picked those up at low speed. Seems many cars ran them over, I was the “lucky one”. You might see this pic crop up somewhere else too, I won’t give it away.
I’m currently running on the produced in 2009 tyre :shock: All is well though. The tyre with the hole in it from the keys took well to a plug that I fitted, I just need the motivation to swap the wheels over again so I have my nice scorpions rather than a very crusty sunraiser wheel.
Then taking an intersection turn, nothing hard or harsh, the exhaust hanger parted company with the pipe it was holding. Took out a good section with it, about 50mm by 30mm in an oval like shape - zero warning prior to it letting go:
^ that was fixed and braced after work the next day. It didn’t sound very good. There’s something to be said about exhausts without leaks!
Then back to doing Brunby things, this time transporting some G size argon mix bottles for work:
^ perfect fit with room to spare :mrgreen:
I’m chasing an annoying rattle in the console/dashboard area just left of centre somewhere. It comes on strong at 80km/h and is engine rev dependent as it mainly does it in 4th gear. I probably need to pull the console out to find the issue.
In other news I’m trying to push my turbo conversion forward to have it done in time for Subinats ‘26 - but I feel there’s so much to do and little time to get it ALL done - and no facilities to do it in other than a carport that’s got a course rock surface. Work’s shed area and workshops would be sweet but a) I doubt they’d want my project lingering around for several weeks and
that would in some ways reduce my access to the project.
I’ll see how I go, I’d like to be turbo AWD converted before Subinats but I won’t be starting the conversion on Redback unless I know I can get it done with some time to iron out any bugs - I’ve only worked on it for the last 7 or so years, another year won’t hurt, just something I want to “present”. There are a couple of unknowns until it’s in the car and driving.
Wiring loom is 90% done and wrapped. I have the wiring that merges with the MY loom to go - this will most likely happen once in the brumby.
The airbox is an issue - it’s too big for the MY engine bay in the factory position. Battery will remain in the factory MY space so this makes it a bit tricky - I’ll use a half sized battery like many modern Subarus.
I’m still finalising my gearbox crossmember at this stage. It’s just time needed here.
This week I tweaked the modified gear selector linkages. I’ll know this weekend whether it’s what I want - even then could still need tweaking again.
Engine is still waiting for its heads to be fitted - and they need some modifications before they go on (easier off the engine). This will be covered in a future write up.
Slotting the engine mount plates allowed me to gain 15mm between the engine and the radiator. There are other benefits to this with the turbo too - MC bleeder nipple clearance with the TD turbos. VF isn’t an issue due to a vertical waste gate shaft. More on that later.
That’s it for now.
PS: the 1300km trip was a weekend mission to Bairnsdale and back to refit the front hubs on our family bus come off-roader at a mate’s place. We later returned to pick it up and head home “the long way” via Dargo and some choice tracks over the high country before ending up on the Murray for a night before we arrived back at home. So good - on both trips!
She’s road tested Subarino’s metal 3D printed thermostat housings that will accommodate the power steering setup or non PS setups. Neat unit and no issues. Very interesting with the metal print!
Last week was a bit of a rough one - 700kms in three days (she did a stint of 1300kms in two days without any issues) that saw her cop a set of keys in a tyre and a ripped out exhaust hanger in the space of two days…
^ picked those up at low speed. Seems many cars ran them over, I was the “lucky one”. You might see this pic crop up somewhere else too, I won’t give it away.
I’m currently running on the produced in 2009 tyre :shock: All is well though. The tyre with the hole in it from the keys took well to a plug that I fitted, I just need the motivation to swap the wheels over again so I have my nice scorpions rather than a very crusty sunraiser wheel.
Then taking an intersection turn, nothing hard or harsh, the exhaust hanger parted company with the pipe it was holding. Took out a good section with it, about 50mm by 30mm in an oval like shape - zero warning prior to it letting go:
^ that was fixed and braced after work the next day. It didn’t sound very good. There’s something to be said about exhausts without leaks!
Then back to doing Brunby things, this time transporting some G size argon mix bottles for work:
^ perfect fit with room to spare :mrgreen:
I’m chasing an annoying rattle in the console/dashboard area just left of centre somewhere. It comes on strong at 80km/h and is engine rev dependent as it mainly does it in 4th gear. I probably need to pull the console out to find the issue.
In other news I’m trying to push my turbo conversion forward to have it done in time for Subinats ‘26 - but I feel there’s so much to do and little time to get it ALL done - and no facilities to do it in other than a carport that’s got a course rock surface. Work’s shed area and workshops would be sweet but a) I doubt they’d want my project lingering around for several weeks and
that would in some ways reduce my access to the project. I’ll see how I go, I’d like to be turbo AWD converted before Subinats but I won’t be starting the conversion on Redback unless I know I can get it done with some time to iron out any bugs - I’ve only worked on it for the last 7 or so years, another year won’t hurt, just something I want to “present”. There are a couple of unknowns until it’s in the car and driving.
Wiring loom is 90% done and wrapped. I have the wiring that merges with the MY loom to go - this will most likely happen once in the brumby.
The airbox is an issue - it’s too big for the MY engine bay in the factory position. Battery will remain in the factory MY space so this makes it a bit tricky - I’ll use a half sized battery like many modern Subarus.
I’m still finalising my gearbox crossmember at this stage. It’s just time needed here.
This week I tweaked the modified gear selector linkages. I’ll know this weekend whether it’s what I want - even then could still need tweaking again.
Engine is still waiting for its heads to be fitted - and they need some modifications before they go on (easier off the engine). This will be covered in a future write up.
Slotting the engine mount plates allowed me to gain 15mm between the engine and the radiator. There are other benefits to this with the turbo too - MC bleeder nipple clearance with the TD turbos. VF isn’t an issue due to a vertical waste gate shaft. More on that later.
That’s it for now.
PS: the 1300km trip was a weekend mission to Bairnsdale and back to refit the front hubs on our family bus come off-roader at a mate’s place. We later returned to pick it up and head home “the long way” via Dargo and some choice tracks over the high country before ending up on the Murray for a night before we arrived back at home. So good - on both trips!
