The Beast I Drive

Jeff, if I may make a suggestion, I noticed on those straps you use in the rear you have no bracing to keep them from bending in a hard drop, maybe weld a small plate brace in on the inside edge of the straps for the added strength, and maybe a brace between them to keep them from swinging front or rearward.... Of course this is just my thoughts, I build all my stuff way overkill Looks good though -Bill

Could be running lean, try adjusting the mixture. I run mine a bit rich, like 2 1/2 turns from fully closed, and it works for me (nice rolling black smoke from the stacks when I hit the gas ) If you dont have the tuning equipment like a carb shop (I assume you dont ) then play with the mixture screw, timing, and idle screw until you like it -Bill

I think its time to bump this up, the shop-talk forum is NOT THE PLACE FOR VEHICLE-SPECIFIC REPAIR QUESTIONS/PROBLEMS. Its for talking shop, tools, general mechanics, home made gadgetry, etc. If you have a problem with a Legacy/Impreza, post in in NEW GEN FORUM. If its a Loyal/GL/DL/Brat, etc. post it in OLD GEN FORUM. You get the picture. Thank you! -Bill

Im only bringing 1 or 2 buddies with me, no kids or ladies... -Bill

A new clutch will not fix a blown gear... Did he actually blow fifth gear or can he just not get it to go in? I dont know much about these trannies, but Im pretty sure the 5th gear is not in the AWD transfer case, so if the gear is blown, it would probably be cheaper just to get a junkyard trans and swap it in. -Bill

All in all it took me prolly 3-4 hours of looking at it, kinda-scraping some dirt, looking at it, taking some parts off, looking at it, spilling 6 quarts of used diff oil all over my power tools, looking at it, swapping the ring gears, squeezing the LSD chunk into the housing, putting it all back together, and torquing it down. My advice is do not put the bolts in the ring gear untill after you get the LSD into the housing, its too tight of a fit, I got it in, but I had to hammer it in with a rubber mallet because one of the bolt heads made it just a few thousandths too tight of a fit... Also use the bolts from the LSD, they are longer becasue the flange is thicker on the LSD... It could be done faster, but It was the first one I did, so I took some time... Oh and I used Red Loc-tite on all the ring gear bolts after I cleaned the threads of the old thread locker... Now its time to weld up the 3.9 chunk and put it in one of my Brats -Bill

Pull the engine and have the crack welded by a good TIG welder, then bead blast the repaired area on the outside and it will look like it never happened -Bill

Well if you don't want an oil leaker you might have picked the wrong car I would do the valve cover gaskets and any other seals you can do with the engine out, like oil pump seals, oil oan gasket (coat the cork with a micro-thin layer of RTV and let it dry, GD's proven method for leak-free oilpans ) and anything else that leaks. You can turn the crank with the 22mm bolt in the pulley and a breaker bar. To take off the cam sprockets, leave the belts on, then use the bar on the pulley bolt to hold everything from moving, the loosen the 3 bolts on the cam sprockets, but dont take them out yet. Then take off the belts, then the sprockets. To put them on just do the same thing backwards -Bill

Well, if the cat is plugged up that will kil your power, try gutting it or test drive it with it off and see if there is a change... With bigger tires, 3rd and 4th are not fun gears even with a Weber. The later 4 speeds (85+) had slightly higher gearing than the earlier ones... My 85 Brat with a Weber was more sluggish after I put 185/80 R13s on it so anything bigger than that could have an effect... For reference, my 1600 Brat with stock tires accelerates like a mofo! And I can pull Satus Pass at 60mph without downshifting from 4th... But the single ranges have lower final gears, and I made a custom dual exhaust with an x pipe and put a Weber on it jetted for a 1800. My 86 hatch was basically a rolling shell on stock wheels, and it hauled rump roast, it was stock with the same exhasut set up like yours, and a Weber... It was fun -Bill

You are way better prepared than I, Im still waiting on exhaust parts from Summit... But I did get my LSD converted to 3.9 tonight Still need to do axles, exhaust, and rear wheel bearings... and install the diff... Might just say screw the axles, and just bring spares to replace them when they break If I have time Ill do the 6 lug hubs too, so I dont have to pay Schwabs to fix my flat re-drilled spare... -Bill

Tonight I got the LSD from my old RX converted to 3.9 and ready to install in the Beast However, I have a few after-the-fact questions: 1. I overtorqued the bolts that hold the ring gear to the LSD carrier unit. Factory spec is like 58lb ft i was told, but that was after I torqued them to 90lb ft ... Is this going to be a problem? 2. I am not a rearend/tranny specialist, and have no clue how to check backlash. When I swapped the LSD into the 3.9 housing, I used the shims that were installed on the housing when I took it apart and I put it back on exactly like I found it. Should I be worried about grenading my pinion gear? Everything feels good, no slop, nice and smooth motion... 3. I used RTV silicone to make the rear cover gasket... Because Im lazy and impatient and did not want to wait another week for a gasket from the dealer... No problems there right? 4. I used Genuine Subaru LSD oil in it (all the writing was in Jappanese so I couldnt read it :-\), I just filled the diff with it untill it was level with the fill plug. I wasnt supposed to mix it like 50/50 was I?... I got really lazy about this whole piece of the project, I did not clean and paint the housing or polish the cover or put on a custom 3.9 LSD sticker... Its ugly, dirty, and no one would tell by looking that its LSD, But I now have an LSD that will see lots and lots of mud and trails I hope... Cant wait to try it out! Ill test it out this week and then put it to the real test at Evan's Creek -Bill

He has to swap the motors, the one in his car is bad... So it would be easier to do the T-belts and seals at the same time... -Bill

Do it with the engine out, or in the car before you put the radiator back in. -Bill

The distributor on the EA82 motors in on the driver side head back by the brake master cylinder. You should definitely be able to swap the manifolds and disty with no problems, many folks have done it... Just dont break any bolts, it makes everything really difficult if you do... -Bill

Ill build you a custom 3" kit for a great price if you can wait about a month, my schedule is packed right now. PM me for more details if you like -Bill

Edit: Disregard the tranny part, I didnt read that the 87 has an auto, not a D/R 5 speed, but if you find a D/R it will be a direct bolt-in, no adaptors, in your Loyal: Ok, first off, the motor in your 94 Loyal is not an EJ18, its an EA82. The motor in the 87 is the same motor, an EA82. The blocks are the same, you can swap in the motor from the 87 into the 94, it bolts right in exactly the same, no adaptors of any kind needed, all you have to do is unbolt the intake manifold from the 94 engine and swap it onto the 87 engine. When you pull the motor you could also swap in the D/R trans from the 87 and put it into the 94. OR If the 87 is in better shape than the 94 altogether, just swap the intake manifold and ECU and all the wiring and sensors and distributor into the 87, its really straight forward and there are a lot of writeups on the subject if you search. OR swap a Weber onto the 87 motor and call it good (my method of choice) My main point is you got your motors and engine codes all mixed up, and the 2 motors you want to swap are the same. -Bill

Very good lookin on that white wagon! -Bill

Pics... If you want to sell it let me know... They can be difficult to mod, and they arent as easy to get parts for, but they are awesome little cars -Bill

Oh quick question, did that camber settle out after you drove it a little? Im curious because when I built those strut blocks I didnt have an engine in my Hatch so I never got to see if they would settle right, but theoretically they should... -Bill

If you were on my side of the mountains Id come over and help ya out, but yeah... -Bill

I think it needs a lift -Bill

I just use whatever chain I have laying around... Usually nothing smaller than 5/16" diameter links, but I have used smaller... Ive pulled Big Block Ford and Chevy motors with the same chains. On a Subaru engine that I can pick up myself, I really dont see the risk being that high... When I buy new chain I get it at Ace becasue its closer, but If I wanted like Grade 8 strength I could go to my local farm fabrication shop, they can get anything... But like I said, what I used works... -Bill

I usually have all kinds of parts like that, engines, trannies, etc... But nothing thats ready to drop in and go... And shipping would be kinda spendy...

I think you should press forth with the restoration, even if it has to sit on the backburner for a while, these cars aren't very common... However, IF you do decide to sell it, I have a particular interest in this car and with the shape it is in it would be PERFECT for what I want to do to it (think G-Machine/Pro-touring but on a smaller, less-powerful scale) If it comes to that -Bill

For being the prototype/test mule I could do you a 4" lift for $200, a 6" for $300, just because I need someone to try them out and say "wow, this is great stuff!" The most difficult part is really just figuring the angles in the rear, Ive done enough fronts that they aren't a problem. The rears are different because of the angle the outer torsion bar mounts sit at. On a side note, you will need some kind of spacers for the rear wheels or they will rub on the control arms, Gen 1's have the least amount of backspace from the hub surface of any of the EA series cars, about a 1" spacer should do the trick with Toyota offset wheels... -Bill