The Beast I Drive

Not really important or helpfull post to the topic, but its a pet peeve of mine. THE LOYALE IS NOT AWD, its 4WD. 4WD. 4WD!!!!! There is no center diff, there are transfer gears. When you push the button, its not in AWD, its locked in 4wd (if the tranny is working properly). There is no slip between the front and rear when the 4wd is engaged, so there will be binding if its driven on dry pavement in 4wd, because its not designed for that. If you drive it like that too much it CAN destroy the transmission's 4wd output gears. If one of the previous owners did not know the difference between 4wd and AWD they probably drove it on the street, every day, in 4WD, and in the process destroyed the 4wd output gears while wondering why it was binding in turns . The 4wd system on these Loyales is more akin to the 4wd system on a fullsize Ford 4wd truck than a AWD Legacy, you don't use it on the street unless you are driving in adverse conditions (snow, heavy rain, ice, et.). On a side note, I had a transmission from a wrecked GL (5 speed D/R 4wd) that had rear ended a PT Cruiser at 60... The 4wd engaged and the gears were intact when I opened the rear cover, but the aluminum collar machined into the case that holds the gears in position had broken from the impact, and the gears could slide in/out of 4wd anytime they wanted to. Back to the topic, pull the tranny out of the car and pull off the plate on the tailsection to look inside. You will be able to inspect the transfer gears for damage or something blocking the 4wd from fully engaging. Pull the drain plug and imspect the fluid for metallic particals or chunks of the gears as well. If everything looks good, then go over the 4wd engagement system, which is 2 electric vacuum solenoids hooked up to a round vaccum diaphram mounted on the driver side of the tranny, connect to a cable that runs to the 4wd lever on the passenger side of the tranny. If there is a vaccum leak somewhere it may be pulling the diaphram enough to get it to begin to engage, but not enough to fully engage the 4wd, hence grinding and bad noises. 4wd. -Bill

If you don't like the Leagcy, selling it is the way to go. Personally I've never been a Legacy fan anyways, always thought they were too Blaeh. As for the Amigo, I've always kinda wanted one, I think they are cool as hell! 2 door, removable top, 4wd, solid rear axle, and the early 90's ones were pretty attractive to me... Plus with a lift, its perfect! There's a really nice metallic orange one in my area that I wish I could afford -Bill

If you want to put 5x100 bolt pattern wheels on your car the only option you have is to do the 5 lug swap. Or have custom adapters made to go from 4x140mm to 5x100mm, but then the wheels would probably stick out of the fenders, and you would not have done any kind of suspension upgrade. -Bill

SJR sells an adapter plate that will let you bolt the old-school 5-on-huge bolt pattern VW wheels. I say a set on a older wagon and they looked pretty cool. -Bill

How much is an EA71/EA81 cam grind when it's not on special? Looks like Im gonna be pulling some cams -Bill

Thats a 3.545 setup, but if I can find a 4.444 setup for that cheap, I'll bid on it. -Bill

Ok, so I've been lazy and haven't looked up a shop to do the custom cut/weld/machine work on my pinion shafts just yet. HOWEVER, Im also looking into another option. In the USA there was 1 model of Subaru that came with 4.444 gears in a 5 speed manual, and it was available for 2 years. That would be the 04-05 Forester Turbo. The Ring and pinion set is available from the dealership, at a mere $317 plus tax . Not cheap, but its brand new, OEM. SO, my question, is the pinion shaft in the Turbo Forester 5 speed transmission the same length, shape, and dimensions as the Early Legacy (90-94) 5 speed pinion shafts? Because if it is, then I will save up and pay up for the new pinion and ring gear from Subaru. If not, its back to the original plan. -Bill

That brown 3 door belongs to a member from Oregon, I dont remember his name or boardname, but I met him at WCSS10. -Bill

Oh, also, a REALLY rare option on the GL's of that body style, there was an optional passing lamp in the grille, similar to the Gen 2 passing lamp/third eye, but a different housing and cover, to fit the Gen 1 grill. The DL would not have had that, but thats where the switch would be. -Bill

That hole is usually just plugged, unless someone installed an aftermarket switch there or if the car had dealer installed Subaru Foglights. -Bill

Yeah, I'll have to look into some good boots like those. The problem I had with my old Steel Toes was the synthetic upper materials liked to burn through when slag and sparks would land on them and the laces were a joke. They were quite comfy though, and at $20 a pair, lasted me about 6 months till they split at the seams... But I want something better this time. -Bill

You have to use a front LSD, no rear LSD units will fit. There are a lot of aftermarket units made for the WRX front diffs, which are the sane as the regular Legacy and even the EA82 front diffs. There was a huge thread about this not long ago, I forget what it was called exactly but it went something like: Front Diff interchangeability: The true answer. Searche it -Bill

Well, the kicker is I did get steel toe boots. I must have been dead on my feet tired when I bought them, cuz when I put them on the next morning, they were like 3 sizes too big, and had absolutely zero flex in the sole. They were THE most uncomfortable thing I have ever put on my feet, aside from a rear diff and a ripper shank . SO I was not able to wear them that day..... Im going to make a run to Big R and invest in some GOOD steel toe boots ASAP though. -Bill

Nice Shots! I just got home, Snoqualmie pass was nice and clean coming back No major breakdowns, had a pretty good time at the meet, although a good portion of mine and a couple of others' time was spent at the local Fire station, we ran into a call for help on my CB from the other side of the mountains (gotta love my 10' whip ) and we were obligated to help. Turned out a couple of 'wheelers got stranded up in the mountains on the 5th, and had been stuck out there with no food. We got a call back about 7 pm and they had been found, thanks to our help so that was rewarding. Overall it was a good day, the Beast didnt give me any problems, I got to see Briggs do an awesome spin-out on the way off the mountain, and I got to meet some cool people and had a good time. -Bill

I planned on about 4 hours from here to Enumclaw over Snoqualmie. Also have chains for all 4 wheels, sounds like I might need them :-\ -Bill

Dude, for real? F'ing Lame. That sucks dude, hopefully I'll see ya some other time. -Bill

Thanks for the pics guys Pretty gross stuff. Well, no infection, I removed the nail myself (mostly, about 1/4 of it was still FIRMLY attached, so I let it be) that was fun. I then proceeded to drop a ripper shank from a 7- shank John Deere Ripper on the same toe just a week after the initial inceident. It hurt like no other, even worse than before, but all it did this time was bleed a little, no more damage done. It was only dropped from about 8" this time, instead of 3 feet -Bill

I have the perfect car for you Wanna make a deal? Stripped down '86 Hatchback, in decent shape. PM me if you are interested, I think this would be a rockin' Snow-wheeler. -Bill

EJ22T is a closed-deck block and quite desirable, that block alone could fetch a pretty penny. Sell the engine, trans, and rear LSD if it has one as a whole and you could probably get 1000+ for it from the right buyer. -Bill

What kind of Subaru do you have? I do lifts for Gen 2's and Gen 3's, and soon to have Gen 1 lifts as well -Bill

Well, looks like I'm Still In I'll be there, unless the Beast leaves me stranded on the pass (which I hope doesnt happen) -Bill

I carry a Hi-Lift jack on my Off-road car, and it has made my life easier many many times. Its perfectly safe if you know what you are doing and have good bumpers. Ive found the stock rear bumper is strong enough to jack from on the EA82 wagons, but its best to have a steel bumper on the front. What I want to get is a full-size quick lift Aluminum racing floor jack from Harbor Frieght, I have a flyer here to get one for less than $60, but they are never in stock Whatever jack you use, some good chunks of wood are a must-have. Not only do they work under/on the jack, but you can use them to block he wheels as well. -Bill

EA81 Hitachi wont bolt onto a EA82 manifold unless you swap the baseplate, if thats even possible. And if you did that you would still need a EA82 Hitachi baseplate. Easier just to use the entire EA82 carb and manifold setup than try to mix and match. -Bill

Just set it so its the same on both sides. Thats all you can do -Bill

Thats the VW Blower I was refering to -Bill