subaru : a good base ?

[Baloo]

hello boys

l have just come by one of these for peanuts



l bought it because it was cheap and being 4 wheel drive l could use it round the fields to get about, that was about as much thought as l put into it but now l have driven it my thoughts have turned buggy 

l have never really looked at them before but they have some features that might suit a buggy

a nice small 3 cylinder engine that puts out a very reasonable 70 to 80 hp depending on if its carb or fuel injection,  looking around the net l see a lot of people are turboing them to get around 120 hp with no apparent problems, 
they come as manual or auto transmission and the auto is cvt  ,  they also come as 2wd ( front) or 4 wheel drive ( rear brought in by pressing a switch on gear lever )
mines a 4 wheel drive auto and seems to go well, l dont know if the cvt drive helps but around the buggy track it feels faster than my pilot 
now it does have twice the hp but its 3 times as heavy,
hers some pics l found on the net of an engine and box out of the car





you can see the front outputs facing sideways and the rear output looks to be brought in by a vacume operated lever, perhaps for a buggy it would be best to use a 2 wd cvt version and mount it behind the seats,
but a 4 wheel drive woods buggy sounds intresting ?
 small, light, 80hp and a real reverse gear as well     l dont know if you have them over there but here they are virtually give away money

Andy

[trojan]

Go the 4WD!!

What do they call that creature over there?

[odypilots]

Go the 4WD!!

What do they call that creature over there?

I believe they were called the Justy in the US.

[SPEC]

Great find Baloo...
I often wondered about the subi's for woods buggy parts/use...

[Baloo]

it is indeed called a justy over here,  funny little car that no one notices,
heres one ebay that dident even attract a single bid and it even comes with a spare engine and box

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=290327218134

l can see me stripping mine and biulding a mini 4x4,  now how do we arrange the bits,  putting the engine behind the seats with the rear out put faceing the front sounds a good start but the drive would be reversed ?

wheel stud patten looks like  you could use quad wheels and tyres

[RC51 Rhino]

 Are the outputs centered? Can't really tell in the pics. Might be an easy deal in the back of a small car. Engine is about the same as the Joyner...good that it's a subi and not cherry! Not sure if you could run it back ward though, why not put it up front with 930s and some nice long axles? Do the same in the rear and you'll be good to go.

[Baloo]

hi
 l cant tell if the outputs are centred but they look close,
l have been driving the justy around the fields for the last couple of days and l am still thinking it would be a good powerplant for a buggy, dont quite know how l would arrange the layout quite yet though,

perhaps as a 2 wheel drive pilot type  buggy only a bit bigger say 10% bigger but with 80hp instead of 38   the pilot always amazes me where it will go with just 2 wheel drive,  wouldent want to go much bigger as the woods can be quite tight



or perhaps a 4wd buggy might be better, put the engine behind the seats reversed so as the rear out put faces forward and feed this into a suzuki sj transfer between the seats also reversed so as it faces the rear
2 props out of the transfer to sj or toyota axles,  that way you would have 3 gear reductions the one in the transfer being optional ?

l am looking for another justy engine/box to disect as l am having too much fun shooting about in this one for the moment

Andy

[trojan]

I reckon you should go with the 4wd. I can see your point about the 2wd but 4wd is cooler

Would it be all that undesirable to leave the engine in the front and use all the subi's running gear?

[artie on edge]

Baloo, that vid didnt start out in Sherwood Forest by any chance? Judging by the price of that thing..someones robbing the rich and paying the poor...... 

[Baloo]

Baloo, that vid didnt start out in Sherwood Forest by any chance? Judging by the price of that thing..someones robbing the rich and paying the poor...... 

lol  no not sherwood forest  more like chester forest  about 100 miles away,
nice little track though, because we were following the toyota landcruiser he had to stick the wide tracks but there were trails that were tight and twisty as well, the pilot always suprises me where it goes with 2wd only

these other vids were also from there

[Baloo]

I reckon you should go with the 4wd. I can see your point about the 2wd but 4wd is cooler

Would it be all that undesirable to leave the engine in the front and use all the subi's running gear?

hi  trojan

no not undesirable at all but l get carried away and want to reinvent the wheel  , doing something the easy way never enters my head 

but you are right a tube frame using all the justys mechanical bits in the same position would make for a quick and able woods buggy

l have a workshop manual on cd for it, if l can figue out how to l will post some pics of the suspension layout, the back end is independent with a centre diff that looks like it came out of a proper subaru

yout got me thinking now, just a tube frame and a week to swap the bits over, l better check the wheel base and see if it will do as is,


Andy

[Islander]

Take a cut off wheel (or saw) to the fenders, put on some bigger tires with some good tread and beat the hell out of it.  Nothing wheels better than a beater

[SPEC]

That's a good point Islander
Make sure it's got a stout cage and no glass to break and cut you or your buddies tyres :P

[fabr]

Take a cut off wheel (or saw) to the fenders, put on some bigger tires with some good tread and beat the hell out of it.  Nothing wheels better than a beater

And it'll have an air conditioner/heater!

[fabr]

Windshield,radio,dvd??............