Loyale 2.7 Turbo

This is the Volcano Park's entrance, I shoot this Photo while Drivin' This is How the Volcano Looks, almost from the park's Entrance:

As mi Daughter asked, we went to visit an Active Volcano; the "Masaya" Volcano is located nearby the Masaya City, in Nicaragua. There is a very nice museum at the Base of the Volcano, which includes many artworks related to the volcano, and discoveries from the area. Let me share some photos:

Definitely, without a doubt, the Double Cab is the favorite car of Latin Americans, this kind of multipurpose vehicle is everywhere in Latin America.

A Cannon on a Street at the city of Granada, Nicaragua: The Center Plaza, Downtown the city of Granada, Nicaragua: Partial View of a Kiosk and the Huge Catholic Cathedral at Downtown of the city of Granada, Nicaragua: Nice Fountain with Sculptures at the city of Granada, Nicaragua:

Old Carriage in front of Lake Nicaragua, at Granada city, Nicaragua. Partial View of a Small Harbour in Lake Nicaragua, at Granada City, Nicaragua:

The People of Granada, Nicaragua, Loves carriages, there are many there, even this one, a painted Sculpture in a road at the entrance of that city. Nice group of Old Carriages parked around the Center Plaza at the city of Granada, Nicaragua. Of course my Li'l Daughter chose this one to take a Ride with us

Some Nicaraguan Roads: Artifical "Trees" (just like the Lorax movie) and Windy Weather at the City of Managua, Nicaragua. Windy Weather at the City of Managua, Nicaragua.

Pictures Time!!! Honduras is So Mountainous, that sometimes you can see the Clouds Below you, while driving on the Mountain Roads. Here I was Driving my Wife's car, the "KiaStein" Gotta Love that the RPM's stays very Low while Cruising!

We returned to Honduras the last sunday's night, very late and we all were exhausted, but the Trip was very Fun, especially if you think that we did not planned anything ... ... I decided to take the whole family to a Trip without planning it too much; improvisation is the word that best describes the whole story... we were in low budget, so we slept among backpackers in small hotels; but the truth is that we ended traveling around 2,000 Kilometers (1,200 Miles) in total, thanks God, the "KiaStein" uses very little Fuel on Highways. Seems like for People who work hard all year around, like us, the "Holy Week" summer vacations is the only space we got for doing such travels, but we did never forgot to attend to the Mass, in the Churches at Different Cities. The Idea for that travel came from my Li'l Daughter, because She dreamt to see a Volcano in "Person" since many time ago; Honduras in the Only one Country in the Caribbean Central America which does Not have a Single Volcano; we're in the "Volcano Free" Area. As the Trip wasn't "planned" we forgot to take some things with us, such like my Camera's Battery Charger... ...I don't know why the Sony Engineers did not make a Camera that recharges its battery inside; it does not do that; you need to take it Out from the Camera and put it onto a wall charger. It is the Sony DSC-H90, which I paid in monthly installments to a Huge electronics store here, some time ago. So we took few Photos while the Battery Lasted ... ... I'll upload some of them here, ASAP. Kind Regards.

Absolutely Accurate! Yes, we spent a Night on that city, which was somehow in the Middle of the Trip to Costa-Rica, then we noticed that Granada is so Peaceful and Retro, that you feel like you travelled in time to the 18th Century; so we decided to stay more days at Granada, and traveled to another Nicaraguan City named Masaya, so my Little Daugther could see an Active Volcano in Person; she likes volcanos and Honduras does Not have any. Finally we went to Costa-Rica but for shorter time (one day & Back).

Of Course... Awesome Picture with all four wheels Spinning! So, the EA82 Wagon that you have, doesn't came with the Subaru EA Dual Range Transmission? Kind Regards.

On the third gen Subaru Leone / EA82 \ Loyale, I posted a complete Writeup on the Subject; I know it is different than the XT, but I bet that many of the Disassembly Procedures, etc, may apply as well. The writeup is Here: ~► http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/131336-led-retrofitting-on-instrument-cluster-dashboard-removal-procedures/ If the Pictures are not viewable due to Photobucket's monthly bandwidth limit, you can either wait 'till they resets it back to zero, each month, or try this: ~► http://3.hidemyass.com/ip-11/encoded/Oi8vd3d3LnVsdGltYXRlc3ViYXJ1Lm9yZy9mb3J1bS90b3BpYy8xMzEzMzYtbGVkLXJldHJvZml0dGluZy1vbi1pbnN0cnVtZW50LWNsdXN0ZXItZGFzaGJvYXJkLXJlbW92YWwtcHJvY2VkdXJlcy8%3D&f=norefer Kind Regards.

This week in Honduras, and many Central American / Latin American countries, is the "Holy Week" and my Wife & I don't have to go to our Jobs, nor my Daughter to her Kindergarden; I was planning to do the Rear Disc Brakes' Swap onto the "KiaStein" during this Summer Vacation Week, but the Kia Dealer will give me the Backing Plates 'till next month. So, we decided to make a "Tour" across Central America, while testing the New Master Cylinder which is working Awesome. In fact, I'm posting from Nicaragua right now; we're heading to Costa Rica. The Moderators can confirm it, since they view the I.P. address of the computer I'm using @ a local Cybercafé. I'm glad to report that after more than 160K miles on the Trasmission, 80K Miles on Engine, The "KiaStein" is working Flawlessly, shifting smoothly and braking nice, thanks to God. Kind Regards.

Thank you for your Kind Words, which are really Appreciated. Yes, I will do. I hope that somehow, someway, someday, this info will be helpful for others. Kind Regards.

For the average "daily driver" use, the Brakes behaviour and the brake Pedal Movement is Perfect; it is only a very little amount of increased leg force you need, comparing to the average car on same size / segment; No more spongy, weak brake pedal feeling for sure. The stiffness on the pedal is felt more during high speeds braking / panic braking only. Kind Regards.

I went to the Same Paved Road, which is not much used, while I was going there, I tested the Brakes at Low and Medium speeds. Immediately I noticed that the Brake Pedal was raised up a little more; and has much Better sensitivity; I only needed to "Touch" it softly and the car started to stop... the Total amount of free movement on the pedal, were reduced around the Half it was. Once I was on that solitary road and after being completely Sure that no car nor motorbike was following me, being sure that I was travelling on the Sephia completely alone on said road; I applied the Brakes like Mad, while the Sephia was doing 80 M.P.H. Very Surprised and Happily, let me Tell you that the Braking Force in the Sephia, increased a Lot, the car took much less travel to stop in a Straight line, with the Brake Pedal Pushed in a "Panic Braking" mode, you know: At Full Braking: The four wheels did not locked immediately, the car stopped super fast, while inclined the nose to the ground; and the wheels locked at the end of the stopping travel; leaving marks on the pavement. I did many more tests at different Speeds; I noticed that the car now does Not need extremely force on the Pedal to Stop the Car, now it needs a little Less force and brake pedal travel to stop the Car safely and the car needs less travel to do so; but the Brake Pedal keeps being stiffer than the Average. Somehow, I'm starting to Like very Much the "Brand New Car Brakes" feeling I'm having with this increased bore Master Cylinder.

I decided to Repeat the Braking Tests, after I finished the Rear Shoes' adjustment job, in order to see How the increased bore Master Cylinder, affects the overall braking handling of the Sephia, when all the Wheels has the proper balance.

Today's early morning, I went to the Local Kia Dealer to ask about the delivery date, of my new Backing Plates (Dust Shields) for the Rear Disc Brakes, and the salesman, after checking on his computer, told me that they are programmed to arrive to Honduras in April 27, so I must wait 'till the first days of May (Around my Birthday) in order to receive them and start the Rear Disc Brakes' Swap. About this: Since I will have to wait many days, I decided to adjust the Rear Shoes; so after I came home from the Kia Dealer, I grabbed my Tools and did what should be -hopefully- the Last adjustment to the Rear Drum Brakes... Before I adjusted the Rear Drums' Shoes, the Handle for the Parkin' Brake needed to be almost all the way up in order to let the Rear Drums to hold The car stop; now after the adjustment, the Handle only needs two teeth for the same job.

You're Welcome! ~► http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/106807-improved-shock-absorbers-and-spring-coils-on-loyales/ Kind Regards.

Today, something interesting happened... Using the very few spare time I has, I've been Helping a Good Local Friend to fix his Enormous Touring Wagon, which is a Hyundai Galloper II, a nine seater, Turbo Diesel, Dual Range 4X4 tank... by the way, here is a Photo I took of it in front of the Honduran Bar Association's country club, some time ago: So I went to his place, and we ended talking about the Master Cylinder adaptation I did, on the "KiaStein", after we finished, he asked kind permission to do a test drive on it, in order to assure that the Brakes are OK or not. After an almost silent five minutes together on the "KiaStein" while he drove it and tested the Brakes at different speeds; finally he told me that the overal Brakes' Behaviour is pretty Good, and that maybe the Weak Braking / Hard Pedal I feel during Panic Braking Only, should be -in part- Caused for the Misadjusted Shoes at the Rear Drum Brakes... Yes, it does make sense, because I installed the Master Cylinder, Without doing the "Montly" Adjustment to the Rear Brake Shoes, which were misadjusted for sure... So I might either adjust the Rear Shoes this Weekend and re-do the Brake Tests, or wait for the Local Kia Dealer to give me the Dust Shield Plates I need, to do the Rear Disc Brakes' Swap... Somehow I hesitated to do the Rear Shoes' adjustment, because the Rear Drums are Oval and tend to Lock Easy, and I was afraid that the Rear wheels could lock even Easier with this New, Bigger Master Cylinder. Kind Regards.

Thank you for your Kind Words! Instead, I believe that you're Teaching us good lessons, not only of great craftsmanship and inventive, but also perseverance. What you're doing, turns mechanic jobs into a work of art. Kind Regards.

Welcome! ...and we really Love Photos here, so Don't forget to post some of your Subie(s). Kind Regards.

You have many Fans here in Honduras: I showed this page to some friends who are Local Mechanics, one of them is founder of one of the many Local 4X4 clubs, and they Bookmarked it, they are not members of the USMB, but they're quietly following your progress, so am I. I thought it was worth to mention here... Amazing build! We almost can't wait to see this Beast crawling on the Mountains! Kind Regards.

About the letter B ... "Increase the Master Cylinder a little Bit" ... I wanted to change the 7/8" master cylinder, but I had to use a 1" Master Cylinder, because I never found the ideal 15/16" one in Honduras where I live. The 1" master cylinder raises the pedal gets rid from the Spongy Brake pedal feeling and gives an awesome stronger braking feeling; but it makes the pedal stiff and you must do more leg effort, especially during panic braking ... the ideal change is to 15/16" I am NOT suggesting nor telling you to do this change. Disclaimer: Use all the information / photos \ videos I post, at your own risk. You can watch this very short video I did, with footage taken fifteen minutes before I started the Master Cylinder swap job, and footage taken fifteen minutes after that job was done, so you can notice the different Brake Pedal Behaviour on both Master Cylinders, see: ► Edit: I forgot to say that since youtube has been blocking some of my Videos, due to the Background Music I used, and copyright blah, blah, blah... Now I'm using Weird small parts of different songs, sorted around my Videos, so their system might not detect any particular song... AND THE RESULTS ARE FUNNY!

About the Legendary Weak Brakes on the Second Gen Kia Sephia, the conclusion is that the Faulty Parts are three: 1) Completely Useless self adjusters for the Shoes, at the Rear Drum Brakes: - they lend the Rear brakes to almost do Nothing, So the Front Brakes alone have to bear with the vehicle's braking, with the consequent premature wear to front Rotors & Pads. 2) Bad Designed "Leaky" Proportioning Valves: - they let brake fluid to Leak from their vertical grooves, while let Air to get inside the pipes: Lends to "Spongy" feeling Brake Pedal 3) Small Bore Master Cylinder: - Lends to "Deep Traveling" Brake Pedal. ________________________________________________ The Solutions are: A) Change the Leaky proportioning Valves, with the Newer Design "Grooveless" improved by Kia. I did that already B) Increase the Master Cylinder a little Bit, to get rid from the "Deep Traveling" brake Pedal: The original 7/8" Master Cylinder will be ideally changed with a 15/16" Master cylinder, as Kia did for their Luxury Sephias which featured Rear Disc Brakes. C) Install Rear Disc Brakes: - Coming Soon! See this Thread for Further information: ~► http://www.kia-forums.com/2g-1998-2001-sephia/81255-kia-sephia-weak-brakes-solved-mystery.html Kind Regards.