Subaru Brumby – EJ22, FT4WD D/R, 27″ Kumho MT’s
The first Subaru I owned, also the first car I owned, was an 89 Brumby. It came with a 2 inch lift, 14″ Speedy Desert Rats rims and an EA81dc (dual carb).
The first photo is of the day I brought it home. The next is about a week later after I cleaned up the rims and painted them white.
The first mods I did to it were fitting the Kumho tyres. That required cutting the front fenders to fit the large tyres. I also bought an aluminium bullbar and 3″ stainless steel sports bar.
I setup the console/audio to suit my then currant needs
After a while I wanted more power so opted for the EJ22 conversion, I bought a 90 Subaru Liberty for parts. I wanted to do something a bit different so I bought a FT4WD EA82 box with a centre locking diff, found another PT4WD 5 speed. Using the PT4WD low range (1.59 to 1 ratio) on the FT4WD gearset clamped between the EJ D/R 5 speed casing. I called it the Tri-hybrid gearbox. This combo gave me a 5 speed gearbox, with no EJ adapter plate needed, using the EJ clutch and a centre locking diff along with the best low range available.
I modified the control arms and radius rods. Cutting the control arms and extending them by about 20mm gave me about 0 degree camber, and the radius rods pushed the wheels forward giving better caster.
I also found a set of 6×139.7 Performance Superlites. They are 15×6 with offset of 25mm. These wheels are also available as 4×140, but at $170 to my door for 4 of them I couldn’t pass it up.
With the new EJ conversion and battery that I put in there with it I had a bit of an issue with the starter cable running across the top of the battery. It eventually wore through and started a fire.
I fixed up the burnt wiring, replaced the battery and painted the hood black.
Eventually I ended up selling it.
I bought my first Subaru back in 2005, it was a 89 Brumby, flair red. I lifted it, fitted Kumho 27″ MT’s. After a while I swapped the dual carb EA81 it had with an EJ22 bolted on a custom gearbox which used EJ D/R casing, EA82 5sp low range and an RX centre locking diff. Once I sold the Brumby I got a 83 Leone. Converted it to 4WD, put the Kumho’s on it, added a 5sp and drove it like I stole it. I then upgraded to a 99 Outback. It was hail damaged so I repaired it myself. I fitted it out with some storage and a mattress. I now have a 87 Brumby that I’ve resprayed with two pack urethane in Waratah Red. I am planning to fit an EJ with PT gearbox and a little bit of lift. It’s another project in progress.
Phizinza – who has written 50 posts on Offroading Subarus.