RenaissanceMan

Brian, I dont think you want to meet me at the AM/PM at 3AM

shouldent be a problem as long as it can fit into a 1986 honda civic 4 door. Figure out arrangements on how I can get it from Brian. I'll be heading up from san jose and probably take the 505 over to the 5 bypassing sacramento. Perhaps there is an address that brian can drop it off at the day before (behind some building somewhere, something easy to get to). Keep in mind I'll be driving through there pretty early in the morning. It'd be a miracle, but I want to try and make it to portland (beaverton actually) by christmas dinner LOL. -Mike

Hey guys, just thought I would throw it out there that I will be taking a drive from San Luis Obispo up to Portland between the 23rd and the 29th. Unfortunately it will be in my friends honda and not a subaru, but if anyone needs anything delivered one way or the other send me a PM. I'd be glad to help out fellow board members. -Mike

Ugh, christmas and stuff is keeping me backed up with things to do. I SWEAR I have a few good ideas to submit, and I'll see if I can get them going asap. -Mike

OK well yesterday I ordered all the hardware and Milling tools. I have the aluminum stock already, and cut to the necessary milling size. Unfortunately for you guys I will be making a trip over christmas week up to portland. so machining wont start till the new year. No worries tho. THere are still a couple sets that havent been officially claimed with a deposit. -Mike

You mean mine is worth more than the $300 I paid for it? Honestly I'd vote for an EJ22 Legacy wagon. That way I could drive something that was comfortable, fast enough, and I wouldent have to work on it on a regular basis.

only if you can find someone else to split the set with you for now. Perhaps later down the road if I sell enough of them to just keep so many in stock. -MIke

OK, I am in the process of ordering the materials. First run will be 5 sets (a set meaning 4 wheels) 3 sets will be 5x100 and 2 sets will be 5x4.5 All will have 12x1.25 studs in them Spacer thickness will be 0.625" thick Will be machined from 6061T6 aluminum If you want a lug nut (open or chrome) set with the spacers then send me a PM and I can get you a quote on that. If you purchase a 5x100 set, you will have to grind of the hubcentrics to make them fit. (sorry but there really is no way around that) Cost will end up being $160 per set (sorry, cost of parts tacked on that $10) If you would like me to reserve you a set, then I need a $60 depost. (send me a PM and I will send you a paypal address, or mailing address with a check) Figure around the 1st-2nd week of January that they will be ready. At which point you can send the rest of the $100 along with shipping costs. (sorry for the deposit but I have had board members back out on group deals before) I am going to label these as "Off highway use only" because I dont want anyone sueing me 10 years from now. (you guys know the deal) -Mike

there appears to be a little less than half an inch of clearance between where the caliper would be with brand new brake pads, and the back of the hub where the wheel stud seats. From what I could measure with my calipers, I have .475" to work with Zefy, unfortunately those bolts would not be rated to do that. Considering the threads are in the brake rotor, and if one were to purchase cheapo-baseline rotors I wouldent want to recommend using those threads to hold on the wheel. Also drums in the back dont have the same story. Basically the idea I am trying to accomplish is a "bolt on" product. Where one may purchase the product, follow the instructions, install them and drive away. Without having to disable the vehicle to ship parts, etc... waiting for the parts to come back...

Stock subaru is 12x1.25 Keep in mind everyone that rear drums are not hubcentric, however rear disc brakes are. (The ONLY benefit there is to rear drums, LOL) Gloyale, send me a PM if you are for sure interested in a set if you dont mind grinding your hubcentrics. I am pretty sure otherwise I can keep the depth down to 5/8" thick

OK, hears the deal. I took the needed measurements from the front 4x140 hubs your choices are: adaptors to 5x4.5 (5x114.3) or adaptors to 5x100 provided you grind off your hubcentrics. Unless I make these things 1.25" thick, lets just say there's no way around that (6x139.7 & other 4 lug patterns are not a problem). Let me know what you want me to make also... 12x1.25, 12x1.5, 1/2x20 which thread size is most wanted?

OK, I did some adjustments using different wheel studs, and using an unconventional pattern (removing 4x140 studs from hubs).. and having "steps" on the backside of the adaptor so it can fit into the holes on the hub properly and be centered, as well as have the inside center on the center of the hub. Kinda hard to explain without a picture or something. Lets just say I was able to tinker with the following bolt patterns: 5x100 4x100 4.4.25 5x5.5 6x139.7 (By far this is the easiest) Figure either 3/4" or 5/8" on the offset. Most importanly I should be able to keep the adaptor to only 1 piece rather than having a double-layer thing (not desirable if you ask me) all I need to do is check clearance on the back side of the wheel hubs on a couple of my subarus tomorrow. -Mike *edit* ok looking at pricing, to keep the price down on the material to make these out of, your choices are A36 Hot rolled steel (36,300psi yield) or 6061-T6 aluminum (40,000 psi yield), keep in mind that the mild steel would be more elastic (more forgiving to "crashing into things", but by far heavier). Due to raw materials cost & availability the "outside profile" on the aluminum version will be sort of squarish/round (making them out of a 6x6 piece) where as steel ones would be 100% circle (for 6x139.7 you can only use steel). On the otherhand thats a lot of unsprung rotating mass added which is probably going to be more of an issue. I NEED YOUR INPUT! IMHO I feel the aluminum would be a better choice and just not be able to do 6x139.7 (seeing as people drill out their hubs for that one anyway)

OK, so I think I am going to be scratching my head for a few minutes. I drew up a quick drawing of what the conventional style wheel adaptor would look like.. Grinding or machining the heads of wheel studs isnt a big deal. My concern is how thin the metal will be between the knurls on the 5x100 pattern to the hole needed to fit a 19mm socket on the 4x140 nuts.

I'll see what I can find for inversing the direction of the 4x140 studs. I too would love to have the adaptor be only .50-.75" thick. Its definately an engineering puzzle. I was able to find what cars used what wheel studs, and I am going to make the option when you order the adaptors, of having 12x1.25thread for those that want to keep subaru things, or also a 1/2 x 20 option for those that want standard lug nuts. Agreed about the bearing wear for sure, if there is any way around that bad offest I will try it. keep in mind we dont want to be digging into the caliper either

Like around $150 a set I'm going to do some research tomorrow at my weekend job to see if there is a shorter wheel stud available that will fit our hubs to reduce the offset.

OK, well honestly it seems like 5x100 is in the lead. Dont give up hope for other sizes if the first run gets enough demand. Like I said tho, SEND BE A PM if you are willing to straight up buy a set or two if I was to machine a spacer/adaptor to go to a 5x100 bolt pattern. -Mike

Is no one interested in this anymore? I still have this 250 foot roll sitting here minus the 20 feet I cut. Like I said this should work fine on anything stage 1 and earlier. (push-on style) -Mike send me a PM or email to rotordyne@wildblue.net

Hey guys, read the thread in the "old gen" forum for the scoop

OK, well I got a PM so I will throw a thread out there. I work for a company that has and uses a CNC for producing aircraft parts. Due to the rarity of peugot wheels everyone is looking for alternative means of getting larger wheels on their gen 1 and gen 2 subarus. If there is enough of a demand I can work with my boss to produce and sell these wheel adaptors. They would be made of 6061T6 aluminum and precision machined of course. To get the ball rolling I would need 4 or 5 people committed right off the bat to make it happen. After that we would probably just keep them in stock. Figure it will cost about $150 for a set and come with all hardware necessary. Send me a PM if you are 100% in wanting a set what I need to know also, is what bolt pattern would you guys want to convert to? 4x100mm? 5x?? 6x?? (personally I think 5 x 100 would be the most usefull) -Mike

OKOKOK... A dude with the most massive 3/4 ton dually diesel pickup I have ever seen with some ungodly 14-16 inch lift was trying out the ground clearance on some sideroads to the coast highway. Long story short he got himself high-centered badly. I was drivng by headin back to work and saw this truck with its back half out of sight. I stopped to see if it was some sort of accident. So guess who's got 2 thumbs up, a subaru brat, and pulled him out.. THIS GUY!! I didnt think I had the weight to do it, but we thought it was worth a try. (this part of the coast is far away from any civilization) Made the clutch stinky and spun the tires quite a bit, but we decided to give a good tug with a foot long running start. It jerked the truck back enough to get his 6 tires to finally do the job. Wish I took a picture of it, but I didnt want to mock the guy. All I have to say is that I have about $1800 into my brat, and this truck looked like a good 50K worth

well thanks everyone for your insight, I guess I might not have made my first post clear enough that currently it is an AUTO, and that I needed to grab the radius rod brackets in order to convert it to manual. I plan on sticking with the regular ea81 4sp D/R for now. I seriously want to avoid welding and fabricating stuff when I swap this. Its not a big deal for me, but it makes the project take longer. I've got other projects I want to be spending my time on -Mike (I guess the real reason is right now the car is worth its weight in scrap metal, and being a subaru fanatic I cant let it go, but if it was 4wd, and had an engine with decent compression on all the cylinders, THEN it might be worth keeping around)

My ugly rusted pile has power windows and cruise control

Phase 1 is 96-97 DOHC hydro lifter Phase 2 is 98-99 DOHC solid lifter (Phase one heads have a square spark plug tunnel, and phase 2 have sort of a diamond shape) *edit* Sorry, I should mention this is for the EJ25D model engine

I've been trying to stay clear of this topic JUST BECAUSE of how much I think about it. Right now the current challenge for my associate and myself is to try and modify an AMC eagle enough to make it in the great race. Heres some of my thoughts, which I am sure some of you might disagree with. A WRX is not designed for this race, infact any EJ or Later car is not designed for this race. Our biggest enemy is the weight of the car compared to the size of the suspension components. I'm sorry but any Legacy, outback, or forester is just TOO heavy to take that kind of offroad punishment. Power is the last of your worries in this race. What you want is an engine that you can throw a hand grenade in, and then keep driving. Fingers point to an EJ22 (or EJ18) for this, or if you wanted to eliminate the timing belt, good old fashoned EA81 power. (though even the ea81 I have my doubts, problems with pistons and coolant going to non-coolant places). For a drivetrain the greatest advantage is probably something that will "give" to abuse, persay a pushbutton 5sp 4wd(clutch actuated 4wd), OR an Auto 4wd. (I really hate driving an auto, but I think a M41A or a 4EAT, built with some shift kit parts will probably do nicely) The EJ series auto is pretty indestructable, but a notable bit heavier Keep it real, you aint fittin any tire bigger than 25 inches on a subaru provided you dont have replacement axles every 5 miles or so. Something needs to be done about the strut mounts that wont handle that kind of torture. going over a just a few jumps can destroy a brand new set of macpherson strut mounts. Probably should have some non-subaru suspension added in as stated earlier The rear suspension is pretty bulletproof, probably the best bet is an ea82 suspension OR an ea81 torsion bar with the ea82 struts added. Actually adding a boxed-in 4inch lift to the ea81 torsion bar allows for some great travel without compromising any strength. Glass doesnt last in a baja car, and I am pretty sure all glass has to be eliminated minus the windshield (which breaks pretty early in the race anyway). All windows are required to have nets instead. Here comes the big question... what bodystyle? ea81 Wagon -excellent long wheelbase and interior room, however I can see removing the glass making the car somewhat flexible in an undesirable way. Not to heavy ea81 Hatch - wheelbase is too short, your going to hurt yourself ea81 or ea82 Sedan - less 4wd versions, and I dont thing they are all that rigid of a chassis to begin with, not that much usable interior room. Brat - NO CABIN ROOM, and they can be nostalgic and expensive these days. I'd feel bad if I really totaled a brat (again). If you dont mind being in physical therapy the rest of your life this is the perfect race vehicle for you! ea82 wagon - great chassis, honestly I feel this vehicle is too heavy though. your throwing on 300 lbs somehow between a wider track and more interior comfort. Excellent long wheelbase though. once again, what happends to rigidity when there is no more glass? ea82 coupe/RX 2 door - not too much usable interior space, plenty of cabin room however. giant glass rear window that will not be there in the race, which will probably be replaced with some kind of "roll bar thing" These cars tend to be desirable still, and finding one to cut up might be difficult. Justy - NO XT/XT6 - Not really an offroad car, and NO room. Just not a good idea. What is our end result? Probably the best candidate is an ea81 or an ea82 wagon MAYBE a small lift in the rear for travel as long as the blocks are tied together. Front end will probably need a lot of help no matter what route you go Weight is the biggest enemy in the car, so the more that can be removed, the better. Weld up some plates over the rear windows or something. A spec roll bar is required anyway, so to keep body rigidity add a couple of upper interior mounts to the roof/pillar area. I am not an offroad race car driver. I am not a offroad design engineer. Criticism is understood and welcome. -Mike

SO I have a 1982 GLF coupe that is ugly and rusted and a pile. Its titled in my name and insured and driveable, but its not really "fun like a subaru" mainly because it is FWD. If I was to persay stumble across an 82 Brat parts car to retrieve all the "stuff". (but the brat is missing the paperwork and will be missing a lot of the other "needs to have to be on the road stuff") Would it be the end of the world to swap over? I was thinking it would be cool cause I could keep the 2wd gastank for my lifted brat since I would have to swap that out anyway. These are the parts I know I will need (or want): Complete drivetrain Engine for the heck of it Shifter/clutch stuff front struts Radius rod brackets (for the manual trans) rear torsion bar assy. Moustache bar 4wd brakes stuff Rear brakes stuff Gas tank I know I will have to "adjust" the shifter hole a little bit. Does anyone know if the FWD came with the accomidations for a moustache bar to be bolted in? Is there any major issues that are known that I should be aware of? -Mike