Second Childhood for Justy

Those Justys use 3 cylinder engines don't they? Do you think something like, say an EJ22 would fit?

From what I've seen, those cars would fly with even an non turbo EJ22.

-Matt

Yes it has an 1189 CC 3 cylinder engine. I am not familiar with the EJ22 engine, but the car is so small, you can't even fit a fourth quart of oil in the engine!

The EJ22 was the engine used in many of the early Legacies, among other models. They are around 130 HP give or take a few ponies. It's what is in my Legacy, so it's more or less my main point of reference for all Subaru engines.

That's a tiny engine!

-Matt

I had a three cylinder Chevy Sprint for years. It was a

993cc, IIRC. I'm sure shoe horning a 2.2 under a Justy hood would require more than a little cutting. The steering wheel may need to be mounted in the back seat.

It would require more than a little cutting. If I am not mistaken, most Subaru engines are a "boxer" layout that mount longitudinally in the body. The Justy engine is transversely mounted. It would be easier to drop the body on a shortened Mustang chassis, and shoe horn a 428 Cobra Jet engine in there! Probably cheaper too... although I couldn't get more than 10 miles out of that tiny fuel tank... Homer ...{º¿º}... v

Ah, I was under the impression that the Justy's 3 cyl was still longitudinally mounted, not transverse. I've never looked under the hood of one, so I just went by the knowledge that all other north american Subarus are longitudinally mounted boxer engines.

-Matt

The ATK engine arrived and it looks nice and clean. I ordered new engine mounts and coolant hoses at the local dealer I hope that the annoying oil leak from the front of the engine doesn't come back. The car always smelled like my 1956 Chevy used to... I am looking forward to pulling out the engine/transmission this weekend.

Homer ...{º¿º}...

This past weekend I pulled the engine and trans out, separated the trans from the engine and transferred; the valve cover, oil pump pickup, oil pan, water pipe, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, catalyst, and cambelt cover to the ATK engine. I still need a few odds and ends from the dealer, but I plan to open the trans this week to look it over and replace the 2nd gear synchro and blocking ring at the very least. Little by little, it is coming together...

Homer ...{º¿º}...

It's tough saying goodbye to good-running little cars like that isn't it? Especially when fuel prices are rising. :^) I wish I'd've hung onto my Doge Colt (Mitsubishi Mirage) as a second car alongside my Sube.

Is that motor a clean pull, or a refurb?

Especially when fuel

Mirage) as a second car

Hello Danny,

Thank you for your interest in my Justy project. The engine that came out of the car was all original.

200,406 miles on the same head gasket. (Original Clutch too, BTW) The rebuilt engine that I am installing came from ATK. Over all, they (ATK) did a reasonably good job. The only thing, so far, that I found in error was that a small spacer fitting in between the inner Timing Belt cover and the cylinder head was missing, causing the front and rear halves of the cover to be miss-aligned. I had to remove the belt, tensioner, and cam drive gear to install the spacer from the original engine.

Is that the same engine used in the 3-cyl version of the smallest GEO Metro?

miss-aligned.

The Justy uses 1n 1189cc engine manufactured by FHI. (Fuji Heavy Industries) I know very little about the GEO Metro. It is possible that it used the same 993cc engine that was used in the Chevy Sprint. I think that they may have been Suzuki products, but do not know for certain.

I was a bit distracted this past weekend and did not get much done on the project. One point of frustration that I encountered was that the distributor from the original engine refuses to fit into the cylinder head of the ATK rebuild. ATK appears to have sprayed some sort of aluminized paint on the head to make it look pretty but this paint also found it's way onto the bore that the distributor fits into. The Distributor was a tight fit on the original engine and absolutely refuses to enter the rebuilt head. I used some acetone to remove the paint, but it still will not fit. At this point I am thinking about dressing down the distributor housing a bit with emery cloth or similar abrasive. Has anyone else run into this problem? is it possible that there is paint on the camshaft bosses as well? Please share your thoughts.

Homer ...{º¿º}...

Homer, before you move forward with altering the dimensions of anything, you might want to contact ATK about the problem to find out if there are subtle differences in distributors etc. Maybe they've seen this problem before. -Danny

you might want to contact

distributors etc. Maybe

Danny, Thank you for your comments. Before I call ATK, (it is hard to call from work, and they are hard to reach on the weekends), I am going to try an old trick of freezing the distributor overnight and heating the head with a heat gun. Wish me luck.

Homer ...{º¿º}...

Saturday I found and removed several burrs that were preventing the distributor from entering the cylinder head. I ran into another problem, however, the distributor is 3mm too long and will not mate up flush with the head. This was verified with a vernier so I phoned ATK and left a voice message. I also FAXed them with a brief description of the problem. This morning I received a call from "Dan" at ATK and he gave me the number to thier customer care center. (800) 421 3746 I called the CCC and gave the serial number and a detailed description to them and my case was assigned to a tech named "Richard Ingrahm" I was told that Richard will call me when he has reviewed the case. I will keep the NG posted.

Homer ...{º¿º}...

Thank you ATK and Thank you Danny Russel for suggesting that I give them a call. I was advised by the ATK technician, Richard Ingrahm that my problem may have been due to the possibility that the camshaft had shifted in transit towards the transmission mounting end of the block and was not properly mated with the thrust control surface of the head. He aslo stated that his "Engineer" informed him that the distributor controls one half of the total camshaft thrust. Richard suggested that I loosen all of the valve adjusters (I removed them to see better) and rotate the engine by hand while slowly drawing in the distributor with it's mounting bolts. To my amazement, the technique actually worked! Once the distributor was fitted, I removed it to install the "O-Ring" and discovered that it was missing from the gasket kit. I went ahead and tightened the distributor in place without the "O-Ring" so that I could adjust the valve clearence and was pleased with the results. I will find an "O-Ring" on my own and finish dressing-up the engine this week.

Homer ...{º¿º}...

Homer, were you able to start the engine, or are you waiting to install the o-ring?

NO, I did not start it yet but it turns over more easily now by hand. I still need to look the carb over and mount the Alternator, AC Compressor, Air diverter valve, a couple of engine mounts, and the transmission before I can set it into the car. I am planning to replace the 2nd gear synchro this weekend so I may not be able to start it for a while yet.