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1988 Rx


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First post. YAY ME! Anyway....

 

I am the new owner of a 1988 RX. 186,000 yesterday. 1.8L Turbo (EA82T). Full-time AWD. Dual Range. Limited Slip. But you guys probably knew that stuff.

 

I need brakes. Pads and rotors. Front and rear. Auto-zone wants $30 for some craptacular special order pads. Local dealer wants 200 for pads and 300 for rotors. Very hard to find anything for this rare car. I want the best setup I can get without spending my life savings. Is there a good source online? Are there any big brake upgrade kits available?

 

Pipes rear of muffler are rusted away, exhaust melting bumper because it doesn't make it back far enough. Rest of the piping seems ok. Should I just get a new muffler at a local shop? Or are there gains to be made from upgrading everything?

 

I also need (well, reallly really really want) some strut tower braces - front and rear. My windshield is cracked and I like to corner hard. Where can I get em? Or does someone have specs to get them made?

 

Engine ticks some. Burns oil. Leaks oil. But that can wait.

For now this is my winter car (snow tires even) til I get my other ride fixed from some collision damage. Then I can get into major work on my RX.

 

Thanks!

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brake parts should be no problem to find. I have had decent luck with PBR pads(not the beer)

stut braces. well Im working on one right now but its not a real nice unit. if you just want to buy one. subspeed.com or one of or local fabricators from here on the board may be able to help you out.

 

redo the exhaust with larger piping and a high flow muffler. put a down pipe on if you want more power out of it. there are 2 ready made DPs avl. now.

 

and welcome:drunk:

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Thanks for the quick reply.

 

brake parts should be no problem to find.
Where? What about rotors?

 

one of or local fabricators from here on the board may be able to help you out.
Who?

 

redo the exhaust with larger piping and a high flow muffler.
What size pipe? Muffler recommendations?

 

there are 2 ready made DPs avl. now.
Where?

 

and welcome
Thanks! :banana:

 

Sorry bout the questions - I'm a Sube newb. 88 RX parts aren't quite as prolific as new WRX ones.... RX simply isn't listed in many references. Brakeworld.com returns an error when picking 80's listings.

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Check out this site, www.1stsubaruparts.com , I just check their prices, the brake pads come in a kit (both side in the kit), rears P/N 25191 GA532, price $51.56, the fronts P/N 25193 GA130, price $51.56. Front rotor P/N 25431 GA171, price $37.46 each, rear rotors P/N 25431 GA180, price $37.46 each. Ask for Jason, tell him Corky recommended them to you.

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Congratz and welcome to the board, Dr. RX already pointed you to a good place for parts for brakes etc..Some of the downpipes/header are made by Techworks, if you do a search on the board for it you'll come up with more info (I don't have much of it). Be sure to check out the ever growing USRM repair & mod link at the top of the board for some more good information. Lastly welcome to the land of RX owners :grin: (think most of us live here)

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Gary, thats just a side benefit along with the opportunity to upgrade shocks and struts.. The reason we do the 5 lug conversion on EA82 cars is so we can get a better wheel selection. The only wheels available in sizes larger than 13in are Puegeots, with the 4x140mm bolt pattern.

Oh, and welcome to the USMB :D

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there are two fabricators that come to mind. Im not sure if they are stil doing custom parts or not but mudrat and soobme have built some custom parts in the past.

 

DP sourses have been stated(techworks, subspeed) also a few custom units around here.

 

rotors should be easy to find. I dont buy online so sorry no help there.

 

exhaust sizing. 2.5 has worked well for many of us and the down pipes come that size I think. some have 3". it works but I dont see the benifit and its harder to install and still have good clearance.

 

muffler. your choice. I have a cheapo glass pack on mine right now and it works just fine. sounds good, flows good.

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I need brakes. Pads and rotors. Front and rear. Auto-zone wants $30 for some craptacular special order pads. Local dealer wants 200 for pads and 300 for rotors. Very hard to find anything for this rare car. I want the best setup I can get without spending my life savings. Is there a good source online? Are there any big brake upgrade kits available?

 

You can get EBC green stuff pads from boxwer4racing.com for about $70 or so. Those are WONDERFUL. Rear pads should be had from NAPA for around 20~30. Rotors are CHEAP for the front. I can get you some good ones for no more than $20 each. Rear i dont know pricing on. I can also get braided stainless steel brake lines for the cars as well.

 

Pipes rear of muffler are rusted away, exhaust melting bumper because it doesn't make it back far enough. Rest of the piping seems ok. Should I just get a new muffler at a local shop? Or are there gains to be made from upgrading everything?

 

Just go with a 2.5 inch turbo back with the Techworks downpipe. Its $199, Folger SUBARU should have them in soon. Subspeed is no longer building the items he has on his site. (if you read the fine print...you will see why/how)

 

I also need (well, reallly really really want) some strut tower braces - front and rear. My windshield is cracked and I like to corner hard. Where can I get em? Or does someone have specs to get them made?

 

An adjustable WRX bar will work. Just need to be able to adjust it enough to account for the 2 inches of chassis width difference. I race these cars and have not really seen the need for a strut bar yet. Many people that I race with who have bars...have taken them off. Makes the cars push out in cornering. :confused: have not figured that one out. Rear bar is NOT nessisary. All the suspension's lateral load is down on the trailing arms and such.

 

Engine ticks some. Burns oil. Leaks oil. But that can wait.

For now this is my winter car (snow tires even) til I get my other ride fixed from some collision damage. Then I can get into major work on my RX.

 

Ticking solution=change oil reguarly, and use QUALITY oil. I would recommend ONLY mobil 1 10w30 fully synthetic oil for the turbo cars. That and reseal the engine...clean the HLVA's (Hydrualic valve Lash Adjusters...those are what get dirty and tick) and voila! Silent...except for exhaust note...

 

Other than that...HAVE FUN!

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I submitted a parts request to boxer4racing and was told that they only have Brembo front rotors and Akebono front pads. I think I may get cheapies for now so I can put fancy stuff on a future XT suspension swap.

 

Where can I find these $20 rotors?

 

And I have another question... when I turn the car off, there is a gurgling/moaning sound coming from somewhere in front of dash. Part of the sound is distinctly from the fuel filter area. This is accompanied by a bubbly sound from the rear buy the gas tank fill tube. Is this normal?

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Tell Dale to get you the EBC green stuff for the 14" legacy brakes....tell him Will sent you. I got those from him. (boxer4racing.com)

 

Also...dont waste the $ on the brembo rotors...those are just OEM replacements...the $20 rotor from NAPA is pretty much the same thing.

 

Almost any noise is normal on a sube....lol....seriously, i would not worry about it. I think its the fuel tank pressure releif junk doing its job.

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  • 1 month later...
Tell Dale to get you the EBC green stuff for the 14" legacy brakes....tell him Will sent you. I got those from him. (boxer4racing.com)

Got my rotors from NAPA. Still need to check if they fit...

Will the EBC pads for Legacy work front and rear?

What year should I specify when ordering?

Can anyone recommend a place to get my rotors cadmium plated (or what does it cost)?

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napa would have the parts. try a different listing other than rx, say 88 4wd wagon for front brakes or something like gl-10 turbo for rear brakes. generally the parts i order from napa are coming from the columbus warehouse.

 

if you replace any exhaust go with 2 inch.

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