bushbasher

Yep, best bet is to find an 87+ gl-10 turbo with a manual tranny. Then do a swap for a 5spd DR tranny from a nonturbo ea82. You will also have to swap in front axles and the rear diff from a nonturbo ea82. Thats about as good as you can get for gearing without going through some serious fabrication. Then find some Peugeot 14" or 15" rims or redrill some toyota 6 bolt rims and put some gnarly 26-28" tires on them. Oh ya, you'll probably want to buy a lift kit too, unless you want to cut up the fenders to fit the meats. Also, if you're into seriously 'wheelin this thing weld up the rear diff or find an lsd.

1st of all, none of the transmissions you are talking about are AWD or AWD capable. The sticker by the 4wd selector or the logos on the cars will say 4WD if you look carefully. Of all the manual transmissions in the '80s subarus, you can split them up into 2 groups: Selectable 4wd transmissions, and Full-time 4wd transmissions. Turbo 4wd cars are usually full-time 4wd transmissions, which allow you to run 4wd on pavement. Selectable 4wd transmissions run in FWD until you put them into 4wd, and cant be run in 4wd on pavement. The type of transmission you want for your car depends on your use for it. If it's primarily a street car then the full-time 4wd transmissions would be the best choices. If it's an off-road rig then the selectable 4wd transmissions are ideal. So you have access to 3 transmissions: The FWD 5 spd from an XT turbo. This can be made to fit, but the transmission uses different spline counts on the axle stubs, so you will have to put together some axles with the ea81 (hatch) outer components and the inner joints from the XT axles. Not sure what gear ratio this transmission is, but probably 3.7:1 which will give you less low end power and better highway gearing. If you use this tranny you are stuck with FWD. No 4wd or Awd for you. A 4spd selectable 4wd Dual Range tranny. This one is the best choice for off-road use. The low range and 3.9:1 diff ratios give you the best gearing for off-road and low end power. Plus you've got 4wd . Of course this would also require the swapping in of 4wd rear suspension and differential if your car is originally FWD. This 4wd conversion has been covered before so do a search. The 4spd FWD tranny is just generally lame. No 4wd, no 5th gear for the highway. But it's the easiest to put in your hatch because that's what came with it.

well more hp is usually better My first off-road wagon was a turbowagon and it was alot of fun when the turbo was spooling. But, with no low range and an auto tranny the problem isn't a lack of low end torque, it's the auto tranny being murdered when the tires aren't moving but the motor is running at 4grand Reasons for and against it would be that with lower compression pistons and the stock transmissions having 3.7 gears and no or a weak low range, low end grunt (like below 2000) is not good. Also, theres more to go wrong on the trail with a turbo motor. However, a turbo car with a 5spd DR 3.9 ratio would work well in the mud or on loose hillclimbs were speed is important.

well, how high do you want to go?

blocks in the back are fine, but if you've got a problem with axle wrap it won't make it any better. However, blocks in the front would be different story

Funny, I read the name of this thread and guessed exactly what I'd find inside. Will, I think you have made enough posts and threads, all nearly identical, all making the same claims. If you're going to go ahead with this project then go, but you don't have to talk our ears off until that time. We know what hp you think an ea82 can make, but our opinions aren't going to change until we are proved wrong. Simple as that.

They were right the first time 'round

unless you plan on jumping your car or carrying v8s in the back, chuck em.

Well theres no question that maching would be involved

Portal hubs are found on the old old volkswagon vans (and bugs too?? I'm no vw expert) Basically the idea is that you rotate the whole subaru drivetrain around so that the motor is in the back like a vw. Then you have the rear diff of the subaru up front. Problem is that the vehicle would then drive in the wrong direction. The portal boxes flip the direction of the wheels at the hub to get you moving the right direction again. I have a neat homebuilt dune buggy frame, and I plan on running a motorcycle engine longitudinally to front and rear subaru diffs and axles/hubs. But realistically I won't have the time for quite awhile.

Awesome rig Ken! Rear diff clearance doesnt look too bad even with the solid axle! Are those 31s or larger? Cool, can't wait to get out in the rig and show you guys some island wheelin!

be sure to check for cracks going into the ports, cause you overheated it.

if you put vw portal hubs on all ends of the suspension you could put the engine in the back with the motor facing rearward, and put the rear diff up front. The portal hubs are only 2 gears and would reverse the direction

yes but, uhh... at least subaru thought to steal it when nobody else did

Canadians? We're big subaru tuners?

Finished mounting the crossmember forward, tested out my steering setup... with the crossmember relocation, and rod welded between the 2 ujoints of the ea82 coupling, my angles are as good as stock. That was one thing that was worrying me, now its a load off my shoulders. Woohoo, real progress today!

Okay, yes, the control arm and reaction rod are being replaced by an a-arm with the original control arm mount used plus a new one fabbed in the front of the crossmember. I too wanted to do a double a-arm setup but the amount of work and the suspension geometry headaches are too much for me. I just want to get this thing moving, its been down for months. The 2 a-arm mounts are on the same plane. After I've driven the car around and worked out other bugs that may come up I'll make some 9" travel struts for the front and some 10" travel coilovers in the back. That should help keep the wheels on the ground.

The best way to learn car setup is to ignore what nascar drivers say Whats best for doing a left turn fast, in a vehicle with a solid rear axle is not going to be the same as for the typical car that has independant all around and has to turn both ways My guess is "wedge" would be about the angle of the track bar on the rear axle, which would control the amount of lateral movement in the rear axle when the suspension moves up and down. My guess for "tight"/"loose" would have to do with toe in and steering geometry, affecting how abruptly the car wants to turn/return to center. Push would be understeer

well slipping high might mean less drag as well, and would give more sensitive feedback I imagine. Hmmm.

Yeah, subaru needs to make their 6 speed "tiptronic" style, with paddles on the steering column

OKay I added 2 more pics to my gallery. I dunno if youve seen the pics I already had on there. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=129 Okay, so in the front, you can see the lift blocks moved forward by drilling new holes through the frame rails 3" forward. Also, you can see the beginnings of a front a-arm mount. Also the diff is jacked up in there but far from straight. Not much to see really as far as progress, theres ALOT more to do. I hope I can get it rolling by the end of the month.

Sure, be back in a sec or 2...

I can't think of a better way to spend it

So heres what I'm working on for the front end of my car: Crossmember moved 3" forward, with suspension arms angled back 2". Why? So that the axles from the front diff can clear the stupid ea82 suspension design, and my steering shaft angles will be nice, while extending my wheelbase about 1" so my tires won't rub, and for a better front overhang. Control arms eliminated: Instead of running control arms (the rods) back, I am turning the suspension arm into an a-arm with the other mount point on the front of the crossmember. This is to eliminate the mess of all those spacers in the back for the control arm mount. Also, with my messing with the crossmember placement, the control arm mounts wouldnt line up. No more bent control arms or travel limitations for me!

on ea82s the shaft coming out of the firewall has an inch or so of extra splines. You can cut an inch off the end, and groove the shaft for the clamping bolt. Dunno if its the same on ea81s, maybe your talking about the same thing anyways Just an idea. On my ea82 with power steering I am lengthening the double u-joint, cutting that inch off the column, and moving the crossmember forward, with suspension arms angled back to keep the wheelbase. That should give me good steering angles.