Loveday 4×4 Dirt Wars #3 (October 2013)
We had done a lot of work to the car this year, building up stronger front suspension, placing the radiator in the rear on a roll bar. Race seats, and more. We were told the track would be mostly dry, in hindsight probably shouldn’t of taken advice from competition or the event coordinator! It got very wet and we just had no traction at all out there by heat 3. On the Sunday heats 5 and 6 were almost impossible.
We ended up with a 6th placing out of something like 13 entries in Bushmans class. The 5 above us all had tractor tread on, so it looks like we’ll need to spend some money next year for some decent tread!
The new suspension held up very well, at the end of Saturday we decided to replace a bending radius rod. It took some effort (more than it should, but salty mud does that!). On the Sunday we replaced the front Kumho’s of mine with some newish Maxxis MT’s, but MT’s weren’t even cutting it!
Here are some onboard video and photos from the event
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.