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The weather was finally somwhat bearable (if humid as hell for my tastes), my leg is 99% healed, and I had a day off to play with, so I started poking at the rear suspension again. Pulled the subframe apart and separated the sheet metal piece from the diff, and removed the knuckle assemblies including the CV's and lateral arms. Also I think i made my first obnoxious mistake. Nothing too unrecoverable but still... annoying. Made a couple of test fits and chalk marks with the whole assembly to get an idea of what I thought I'd be wanting to chop. Actually chopping was the mistake (sort of) - but I'll detail that shortly. The diagonal marks indicate roughly where the frame ends on the brat where I need the subframe to sit. Did another test fit with just the diff and subframe, determined it would be easier to fit where I needed it to if I just cut it straight where the stock bushings ended. The intent here was (and I guess still is) to re-fabricate mounting points to the frame with new bushing locations to fit in the smaller chassis. Got everything tucked up in and sort of leaned in place where I think It will go. The diff is bolted to the subframe, and then also mounted to the original Brat front diff crossmember. Fits pretty close to where it needs to be - only thing now is that it looks as if there's about 1.5 - 2 inches of height I'll need to make up to keep everything sitting level. It was at this point where looking back I think I maybe made a bit of a mistake cutting off the bushings. Funny thing is - mere minutes after completing all the test fitting and cutting today, a friend sent me a youtube video from a guy doing a similar subframe swap in on a later gen brat where he just...*widened the frame and used the stock bushings.* Shocker, this would have been a much simpler approach and I think there would still be enough clearance for me to narrow the links and CVs to tuck everything back in under the stock wheel wells. Granted, the gentleman in question had to refabricate his whole rear frame, and appeared to be planning on adding a widebody kit setup though so maybe he didn't need to be so concerned about the wheelbase width in the back. Lack of access to the "frame" from a different perspective was also a reason for me not thinking of this - I'm still using the bed as a demi-storage locker and haven't cut the bed floor or wheel wells out yet. Might change that and get the ol' death wheel out for the bed soon to, but that metal is in pretty good shape and I'd rather not cut into it if I don't have to. I'm deciding to look at the silver linings here - It's probably for the best I'm still going my own way of it - I'm definitely maximizing the room i have available to move the wheels inboard for a more stock look. I'm thinking I might be able to get clever and integrate the original moustache bar mounts or something... We'll see - I have to sleep on it. Absolute worst case I go to the junkyard and try to source another rear subframe and then widen the frame rails similarly to the other builder. A quick Google looks like one can be had for about $150 used. Maybe less if I find a pick and pull with one nearby or get lucky on marketplace. Mounting problems aside - having put everything roughly where I want it and looking at the bare underside of the subframe itself I think I'm going to have to take a slightly different track and shorten both the CV as well as the lateral links - chopping up the subframe more than I already have is going to prove much more complex than I initially assumed. I'd wanted to try to save on parts money and maintain stock impreza parts wherever possible, but in this case I think it will end up becoming much more expensive in terms of my time to relocate the pivot points instead of just changing to an adjustable link setup (It looks like I can get some of those for my GC model year for about $200.) Hopefully adjustable links will be adjustable enough to where I don't need to modify those to shorten them sufficiently. Anyways, looks a lot like it did when I started today but now I have more information to play with. Ever onward!

Made a tube to brace the radiator support longitudinally and to protect the exhaust. Bracket bolts to the body right in front of the subframe where the bumper brace was bolted in stock. Added a tube to brace that and protect the oil filter and cooler. Tubes welded back in to connect the radiator support to the bumper and to mount a piece of sheetmetal. B cut a piece of 1/8" 4130 plate for the front of the skid and I welded that in. Old airbox guard was mostly destroyed so I made a new one. Welded as much as I could on the car, then we unbolted it. B cut a piece of 4130 sheetmetal to protect the condenser and radiator. Radiator and condenser mounts welded on new radiator support. Basically ready for paint. I would like to get this thing back on the road ASAP but I'm going to see if the paint shop can get this all painted up fairly soon. Have new lines/hoses for the oil cooler, new radiator, etc. B took a pair of good engine mounts off my spare EZ30. So we have to swap some of that out.

I was just looking at this old rally photo of the Subaru WRC team (I assume in the mid 90s?) and I just noticed that the cars in the back of the photo are Leones/Loyales and not Legacys! I thought it was surprising since all the photos i see from this time are the early Legacys. Does anyone have any or know of any other photos of these 555 Leones. I honestly think it wouldn't look too bad, although I prefer the white blue and gold on the rally Leones.

The old “how do you eat an elephant?” dilemma. One bite at a time.

Thanks for the check-in and the compliments, all. In addition to the busted leg, the absurd heat of where I live and some other personal life stuff has held me up more than anticipated. Other paying work also got delayed as a result of the bum leg, so this took a backseat for a bit out of necessity. That being said I'm out of the boot now and I am the proud new owner of a higher-clearance jack I got on sale recently - so I'm hoping to get a couple early-morning sessions in on the rear subframe here in the next week or so. Progress will also likely speed up again around October when temperatures generally start to come down a little and I can do driveway fabrication without cooking myself. Anyways, long story short, I'm dipping back into it - updates of more significance soon.

I'm the one who suggested that the cylinders were washed. lol. The piston rings seal with a very thin coat of oil on the cylinder wall. If you ever get fuel without starting, like trying to get a bunch of old gas and a dirty carb to run, the fuel washes this thin oil coat off the cylinder walls, and you lose compression. Fixing the problem that caused it not to start (i.e. flushing bad fuel, and dismantling and cleaning a gummed up carb), and starting it, will get oil slung back onto the cylinder walls, restoring the ring seal, and restoring compression. Sticky valves or such aren't going to happen simultaneously to all four cylinders from a running engine... Mechanical things that could affect all cylinders at once are a broken crank, broken cam (I saw this once! ... but there was a lot more broken too), broken timing gears, slipping ring gear (so you're not actually cranking the engine), etc... But if the accessories and dist are turning, those are all going to be fine. Broken cam or timing gears also cause a distinctly different sound, since some cylinders will be stuck with both valves closed, and compress each revolution - the sound of an EJ ready for a timing belt and half the valves replaced.... Am I positive I'm right? Of course not. They could have blown both headgaskets at once, or some other simultaneous multiple failure. Or the engine is total crap and never actually had any approximation of full compression but was limping along. But, based on my experience, I think it's the most likely diagnosis, which is why I said "probably".

FOLKS! We have liftoff!!! Cleaned the injector with some carb cleaner and reinstalled. Still had some intermittent issues with misfires but I was able to play around with the distributor timing and took the beast for a rip around town last night. Engine is running great! Next up, suspension and brakes.

It'd be interesting to see the temp gauge at 65 MPH versus the last time you drove it. That radiator looks kinda bad, but I took one out of my car that was worse, albeit it was one of the later plastic tank ones. The cooling fins were literally falling out of it. I had a brass radiator welded/repaired like yours is after a wreck in a different vehicle, and that thing lasted nearly 40 years! Some of those guys do great work.

The California Hitachi actually flows pretty well. It gets you several horsepower over the 49-state Carter version. There's also a 49-state Hitachi, but I've never seen one here in California. Unless you pair it with other upgrades, I don't think a carb swap will give noticeable power gains. It is, however, more complicated to work on.

It should run best with the solenoids plugged in. Make sure the green test connector under the dash is not plugged together, then get your 'scope on the o2 sensor line. Keep in mind it's an unheated sensor, and you may need to rev it a little to get it to come to life. It should be switching between around ..2v and .7v every couple seconds. Check at idle, at a constant no-load slight rev, and during gentle driving. It'll always be rich at full throttle, by design. If the o2 sensor is switching at idle, but you have more power with them unplugged, check to make sure the power valve isn't stuck closed. On the topic of power valves, make sure not to damage the gasket around the tiny passage in the middle of the carb when taking the top half off. It's easy to tear, and will smoke and run like total spoob if you do tear it. Also check secondary is opening correctly - it's semi-vacuum-operated and can be sticky. And, of course, clean every single passage and jet in the carb... Also check timing. Rich mixture can hide overly advanced timing. Check timing with vacuum advance unplugged and idle set correctly.

OK thanks. Yes, Fred, you nailed it suggesting the pedal box cracking. The metal tab holding the clutch cable to the pedal assembly definitely sheared. I already sourced another pedal assembly with a stronger design (upgraded from 1983 with this flimsy tab to a 1984 style), I'll get the pedal assembly fixed and the cable rerouted and it sounds like everything should be good. I was real worried that these springs didn't make any sense. Thanks for giving me more confidence the springs are not an issue. I will continue with repair.

Wrapped up the cooling system project this weekend. I ended up going with this radiator: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DK323PVN. The fitment of it was good, not excellent, but good. I had to enlarge some holes at the bottom of the fan just slightly so I could get the bolts to line up with it. While I was in there, I replaced both hoses and installed an OEM thermostat and gasket. The real snafu was after I had pulled a vacuum on the system and got fluid in it to install the cap, only to find out the cap that I had ordered for my 84 was way smaller than this radiator could use. I did some research on here and found a GD post here that stated I needed the 82's radiator cap. Found an 82 cap locally and drove it up the road during a rain storm yesterday. I did notice the windshield seal is leaking so gotta get a plan on that, not that I'm going to be driving it much on rainy days anyway but we get quite a bit of rain here in the fall months. After the drive, I noticed my brand new Continental belt had some fraying on the sides of it. I did notice my alternator was quite loud and had planned on eventually replacing it. I threw on a spare that I had that came with the wagon and it was totally dead with nothing on the volt meter. Ordered one from Rockauto this morning.

That's normal operation. The duty solenoids allow extra air to mix into the fuel in the emulsion tubes, leaning the mixture. Off all the time, mixture is too rich and you get black smoke from the exhaust. On all the time, mixture is too lean, you knock and can't go up hills. The ECU varies the on/off duty cycle (hence the name) to adjust the fuel mixture in the middle of this range, until the oxygen sensor is happy, cycling just above and below stoichiometric.

I’ve never seen those devices before. Californian unit? We certainly didn’t get them in Australia! They almost sound like air pumps. Cheers Bennie

Have you checked the timing belt to make sure it’s not broken?

I heard a sizzling and the engine slowly stopped? Like wires shorting out? Slowly stopped? RPM dropped but it was still going? Have you checked for Spark? Put an extra plug in, ground it and turn it over. Nice strong blue spark? If so, add a small amount of fuel into the intake throttle body. Does it start and run for a bit? Is it cranking over normally? What prompted the engine change? Did you do the timing belt or any other maintenance on the engine before the installation?

The hose is the vapor line for the fuel system. Go here for fsm for car: Index of /Auto/Japan/Subaru O.

That mounts to the steering column mount bolt. You can see the marks from the flat aluminium/metal plate “washers” that fit in the same area. Cheers Bennie

That radiator looks due for replacement. P.S. The little powerstack battery works really well in that ratchet.

Drain Pull the trans coolant line and put on temp lines into a drain jug. 1- Fill Trans 2- Start it up and let the trans pump all the old fluid out the line you put on the trans coolant into a gallon jug. 3- When the drain jug is 3/4 full - Turn car off. Repeat 1-3 until the fluid is nice and clean. Put the trans radiator coolant lines back on and start it up. Fill to full COLD. Test drive, check fluid Full to HOT.

Huge thanks to @2brat82 for shipping me a set of rear hatch struts so that I could use the brackets off of them to complete the hatch replacements.

Well, it's more complicated than I implied. The current part number, 11044AA610, is steel as far as I can tell. There are 3 older part numbers that were replaced by the 610, I am much less clear what the material of those were, either from my memory or service manuals. So the factory installed ones might have been a different material.

I definitely considered buying a different H6 Outback and swapping the suspension over. Overall this seemed like less work and definitely less cost. Exactly. Yes, my brother bought this one for me in California, and while it's no longer completely rust free it's still pretty solid. Figure at least $3000 including transportation to replace it. Which makes these things a bargain really. And this car is relatively stock aside from the suspension and bumper/skidplate. But it's still cheaper to fix this one. Plus either way we'd wind up refabbing the skidplate and radiator/bumper support or whatever you want to call it. And I've been thinking for years about fabricating a better lower radiator support for these cars from scratch rather than just adding a piece of tubing underneath. On that topic. We started by getting the radiator support back into place so the hood would latch and line up. Then remounted the bumper so it sat level and square with the lights and fenders. 2" square tube going back at least a foot into the stock "frame rail" with a mounting flange for the bumper welded on the end. This is the only part that will be permanently welded on the car. Below you can see the square tube is only tack welded to one side of the frame rail. When we get things more solidly mounted the plan is to hammer at least two more sides of the frame rail flush with that tube and weld them also. Then B cut and fit a piece of 3" square 1/8" wall tube where the stock lower radiator support was. Since this is about 3x as thick as the stock radiator support and significantly larger section, plus an actual piece of tubing rather than a couple of stampings folded/spot welded together, I think it's easily 10x as strong as stock. Not that what it's attached to will be very strong. We will pick up about 1" of ground clearance/approach angle. Also by chance the stock radiator mounts we unbolted should line up great by just welding them to the backside of that tube. Got the main part of the engine skidpan straightened back out, bolted back up, and replaced some tubes. Have tubes almost fit from the big square tube radiator support to the bumper beam. Need to figure out exactly how I'm going to make the tabs and piece of sheet metal there. I know what I want just need to figure out the most efficient order of fitting/assembly. Then we still need to add a few more tubes but it's coming together. Ordered some new hoses and tubes for the oil cooler.

Geez, that front end took a fair hit! It’s worse than I thought it was going to be. I love how you look at the issue and go “we got this” and get stuck into it. Over here that would be a write off for a regular vehicle unless it was something special to its owner and they either know how to fix it or know someone that does and is willing to do the work. Looking forward to the detailed pics of the work done! Cheers Bennie

Welcome. I was just in Portland and saw a beautiful Datsun pickup with a camper top etc. Was that you?

Yeah that pump should work. Really so long as the pressure, voltage, and current draw are correct (the pump you showed looks to meet those specs) then these cars really don't care. I don't know if it'll last as long as an OEM or equivalent pump but it'll do the job. You may have to do some electrical work and figure out a mounting solution since this isn't an OEM equivalent pump but that's not a big deal and it's nothing too complicated. Sadly OEM/equivalent SPFI pumps are NLA but if you do ever want to keep a lookout for one, the part number is 42021GA242. Good luck, let us know how it goes. :]

B straightened out the upper radiator support on the Outback. We cut out the lower radiator support. Hung a straight radiator and the condenser from upper support, hood closed, and started mocking up a new lower support. Got a piece of 3" square tubing to use for that. Put the main bumper beam back into place, squared it up, and cut a new mount for the passenger side. Will post pictures of all that later, planning on doing some fab tomorrow. The main damage to the engine seemed to be where the oil cooler/filter threads on to the block. I tapped it deeper and used one of the longer pipes we'd made when I did the same thing to the black Outback. Also like that time though the block has a hairline crack which was spraying oil everywhere. I cleaned this one out and then poured some super glue in the crack from the inside and outside. Then applied three layers of JB weld. Not real pretty but I ran the engine for a bit and I didn't see it leak a drop. So fingers crossed that will be a semi permanent fix.

Using your heads and intake manifold any 2000 to 2012 will work. Better options would be 06 up. In 05 Subaru went to Drive by Wire . The Radiator and water pump housing leads are in slightly different places, so don't cut those hoses you may need them. Depending on block year, you may need the radiator. You can use an Impreza block, but the oil pan is different. I believe those are the differences. If I think of anything else, I'll chime in. O.

Changed the axle seal yesterday on the driver side. Now that I know how to do it, I could definitely do it again. I think having a shop press would making it easier in the future. I do have a Harbor Freight gift card burning a hole in my pocket. You can see the damage on the seal here. Fixed a flashing issue on the turn signals too. Someone stuck too small of a bulb in it. Took it for the longest drive it's had since I got it. Tried to give her some beans to get any junk ran through the carb. 806970020 Adding this for anyone else: CV axle seals/LHD Left/driver side is 806727180 Right/Passenger side is: 806727170 2 o-rings are 806970020

Well he hand a 2+ volt drop in the +battery cable going to the starter. He changed it today and said it made a world of difference. Was hard starting, CEL was on for knock sensor... Computers like good stable power! Hope it takes care of all issues.

This is a pretty impressive project and it seems to be going very well for you! That transmission mount practically looks oem!

I completely replaced all of the grounds (wire and ends) for all of the grounds I could find in the engine bay. So far, so good. The windows seem to be moving a little quicker as well.

Monthly update? Sweet Build!

Wow - 2019. So many cars since then. Nice that I indicated which it was, otherwise I'd just be guessing. The '01 Forester must have been my daughters' car at the time, since sold, they briefly had a Jeep, then unloaded it in favour of one or both of the Subarus (one '03 Forester, one not-sure Legacy) they have now. I'm perfectly happy with all of the Mahles I've used. In fact, I think that one set I bought was actually of Subaru manufacture, according to the logo on the gaskets. So yeah, I think they're fine.

Leone’s 1979 Subaru Leone wagon discussion - Project Discussion - oldschool.co.nz Here is a thread of where im at, it's pretty slow going right now, so much rust to cutout and replace, and as i haven't done a build quite like it I'm taking my time, Have a professional panel beater on hand for the tricky stuff so no I'm mainly drilling spot welds and attempting some fabrication of patches and panels (that wont be seen)

I know that feeling. I have an EJ turbo conversion on the go for the last four years. I’ve barely touched it in the last year. It’ll get there. Cheers Bennie

Pics are tricky these days here and I’m admittedly lazy about using one of those post it pic sites. But meanwhile the clip you have is p/n 6920 05430 and a quantity of 10 are required per vehicle. Try the west coast dealers. I can’t recall when they ended the wire clips but early through mid 70’s will have them.

Sorry rambo, It looks as if your ECU (22644 AA020) has a different connector to mine in the photo below (22644 AA360) Hope you find what you're looking for. I'm still struggling a bit to find all the info I need

Well, I finally took the plunge after limping my 13" maypop baldies with belts showing along as long as I could, till one did pop. Just didn't want to buy any more 13s. So after many hours of reading about 6-lug swaps here, I decided that would be the cheapest, easiest route. The problem with most of the threads here is they are all about off-roading with lifted cars. There was very, very, little I could find about doing this swap on a stock height car with low-profile tires. What little there was had no pictures anymore because of photosucket. So I took a trip to the only pick-n-pull in the area. Really, a terrible yard, with absolutely no organization whatsoever. You have to go over the whole yard usually, just to start and see what's available. And many of the cars are so packed together, you can't even walk between them. I found one set of 15" steel Isusu 6-lugs in the offset I figured I would need. 60 bucks for the set... pretty happy about that. And they were actually going to charge me extra for the mixmatched, flat, half-bald tires that were on there (??) but they removed them for free. Now, these wheels are well made, but HEAVY!! The center flange that I had to drill was 3/8" steel and the rest of the center was a healthy 1/4". I was gonna weigh them before I got them on the car, but I was too excited to stop and do so. Really, part of me just didn't want to know. I was gonna hit up someone here to send me a front hub, maybe one with stripped splines, to use as a template, but I ended up just taking one of mine off, and bopping two of the studs out. I then made a drill bushing with a nut by first drilling out the threads with my pilot drill bit, and then, with the nut spinning on the pilot bit, I dressed down the OD with a right-angle grinder (shadetree lathe), till it just pushed inside the stud holes. Bolted the hub to the wheels, drilled the pilot through the bushing, then drilled to 1/2", Bob's your uncle. After hours of brooding over tire size, I finally settled on 205/50R15s, which are ever so slightly taller than stock, and filled out beautifully on the 7 inch rims. Wallyworld got me Hankooks for 50 bucks each, and they really look like great tires. Took hardly any weight to balance, which is a good sign for the rims and tires. Fit without issue on the front, but it gets close in a couple of spots. The rear... was going to rub the inner fender lip under compression. I've never rolled any fenders, but I remember an old hot rodder telling me about using a baseball bat to do so. I couldn't find a full-size wooden bat anywhere locally, but I did have a piece of 2" PVC electrical conduit. Started out driving the car forward with the conduit rolling between the tire and body. With a stick and a string on the loose end of the conduit, so I could guide it (would work better with 2 people). Then finished by letting the car roll back down the driveway while levering the conduit down to push the flange up. Worked great. Then, after some cleaning and Krylon, I can't stop looking at it!! Now, I have yet to try and drill a chamfer on the new holes so it will accept a traditional lug nut. For now, I just have regular nuts and lockwashers on the drilled holes, and center the wheels on the car with the factory holes. It's smooth as glass at 80 mph, so I think I can go back now and chamfer the drilled holes, as long as they are perfectly centered around the stud. Or, I could just get some flat-bottom chrome acorn nuts, and leave well enough alone.

This thread is dedicated to all of those who are still running stock 13 inch wheels on their EA. I personally find that the white wagon style wheels are hard to beat for our old cars, and are something that scream 80's subaru. The problem, as we all know, is the decreasing list of brands and sizes available in 13". I have found that the only viable option in my area is the Douglas Xtra Trac in 175/70/13. These are not the best quality, and a size too small for a 4wd ea. I am currently running Cooper Cobra 185/70/13 raised white letters. These are far past their life expectancy, and getting thin. I was very happy when I found them used two summers back but they're getting worn. I did like the 195/70 and the 205/60 for larger options, but those also seem to be out of style. 205/60s can still be had via eBay but are expensive and low quality. Raised white letters seem to be a thing of the past. So, I ask the community, where are you buying your tires, and what size?

I also like running the stock 13". I was able to get a junker brat with 3 sets of tires and rims. About 8 of the tires were still good like brand new, 185x70x13 Some of the last tires I bought were from Les... and was able to get 185x80x13, but didn't notice any real difference, My BRAT handles real well on 185x70. I don't like that these tires are passenger car and also only 1 ply sidewall.