The Beast I Drive

I dont actually, I just sold it a few weeks ago... I have an EA81 that ran good when it was pulled, its a longblock right now, no manifold or disty... Its a hydraulic lifter motor too -Bill

Ive got a pair of 20 liter NATO jerry cans, and they will be full. I do need a new spare tire though... Will definitely be bringing some spare axles and the puller tool for them, and plenty of bailing wire and zip ties -Bill

Those rims will look excellent on that wagon! Here's a tip for doing the rear fender clearancing, dont cut anything! Just beat it with a sledge to start with, then go in with like a 12 oz ball-peen hammer to finish it, that way you wont cut into the double walled section, instead you just roll the eadge into itself on the inside of the fender arch. I learned the hard way when I cut the rear fenders on the Beast, but I tried out the hammer method on a different rig, and I got the same amount of clearance, but it looks cleaner and I didnt have to cut anything at all:banana: Also, if you want, some time when you get it finished and you still want the shifter back to stock, we can work on that, maybe bring it to me or I can work on it next time im in Spokane Wouldnt take long. What size tires are on those wheels right now? -Bill

At the moment, the rear wiper doesnt work, I took all the wires out of the hatch before I tacked it in... Im pretty sure the plan is to remove the wiper motor though, the rear window is so diabolically huge in comparison to what the bed will be when its done, we talked about blanking out the stock rear window with sheetmetal and making a new opening fitted to a stock Gen 1 Brat rear window that I have layin around, which will also allow for the installation of a slider in the future.... The remains of the hatch will get cut off just below the wiper arm, and Im going to graft in a section of backwall from a 70's F-250... I still need to build up the bed sides as well, Im planning on recreating them to fit Gen 2 bed trim on, as I have a good set that would definitlely complete the look of this rig and really make it into a Brat. Im using a Miller 35 wire feed machine (mig) for the welding, I would be using my dad's Miller 135 machine but its at work, and I dont want to go get it... Its nice not having it here cuz there is that much more room... From the pics you can see how cluttered the shop is, and that was after I cleaned it... Unless you are really good with a stick welder and have 1/16" rods, I would not attempt something like this with a stick machine. Robbie did on his first attempt, and anyone who seen it can tell you it was NOT pretty... Looked like someone threw a bunch of oatmeal over a piece of swiss cheese... We also talked about a 4" lift and bigger tires, I think 30" Big Horns would look damn straight on this rig, or maybe some TSL Super Swampers on black 6 lug Blazer rims, but thats a ways off yet... -Bill

Bad U joint at the 4wd output shaft is what it sounds like, replace that thing ASAP! -Bill

Oh forgot to add that all my off road lights are 4" farm implement utility lights 4" 100w bulbs are more focused and brighter than 6" 100w bulbs :banana: -Bill

Lookin good man, when I did the shifters in my wagon, I had to re-make the bar that connects the shifter bracket to the trans, like an s-shape, and I had to make some funky bends in the other linkages to make stuff clear, but it all worked... On Robbie's car I made the shifter bracket bolt to the trans tunnel instead of the trans, and that made enough clearance to make straight extensions... That all kept the shifters at the stock location in the tunnel, changed the shifting feel but it works great. I hope your setup works as good or better! -Bill

That D/R is definitely on my list for one of these bad boys, I have a 76 SR tranny that *should* have the factory 4.11 gears, so Im going to try to build a 4.11 D/R 4 speed Im thinkin, if you could bring it to Evans Creek I could bring some money for it.... -Bill

Unusual mods huh... Well I swapped an EA81 into the Beast for reliability (87 wagon, originally with an EA82 motor)... Ran with a Ford 2bbl carb for a year cuz it was layin around and I didnt have money for a Weber... Replaced my rear window with Lexan after I busted out the first one... Oh I made a sweet setup in the rear floor hatch so I could have my toolbox fit and still have a little trap door... I put lynch pins in the door hinges so I can take the front doors off at a moment's notice... Had a Craftsman screwdriver as a low range shifter lever, but it got in the way one day so i broke it off... Used 70's Ford F-series side marker lights for turn signals in my tube bumper... Found out the little side pockets in the floor in the back are just the PERFECT size to fit a gallon of oil where it wont spill... I attempted to make decent fender flares out of a plastic 55 gallon drum, but they ended up folding on me and look like crap now... Thats most of the more unusual mods ive done to the Beast.... -Bill

As to your strut problem, I have a pair of Legacy struts here with EA81 top hats on them, I didnt do the swap so I dont know what was done or how well it will work, but just throwing that out there cuz it might be easier than modifying the strut towers... -Bill

Well, Robbie brought his rig out to the shop tonight, and I made quite a bit of possitive progress on it. First off, it is going to end up being the 3rd gen Brat that Subaru never made, but should have, I was able to convince Rob that the Brat look was a lot smoother than the Ute idea he had... So far we got a Wagon hatch tacked in as the back wall, but the window is HUGE in comparison to where the bed sides are gonna end up, so the glass is gettin tossed and the back wall will be modified to fit a Gen 1 Brat window I had layin around.... The work to actually make it look like a Brat is about 30 percent done, but the actual fab work to make it nice is about 10 percent done... It wont be finished by the show, but it will be there Rob has some pics that Im sure he will post soon... -Bill

Im plannin on swapping in the LSD from my RX after i convert it to 3.9... But I do have a welded chunk layin around, and a few others I could weld up... I figured that would be a must. -Bill

I wish I could say I was wealthy... Unfortunately thats not the case.... What little I make typically goes right back into my hobbies within a few days of recieving my paycheck, after the bills are paid of course... If I were smarter, I would save up more and buy nicer rigs, but I just cant pass up deals like these! Ive got 21 Subarus if I count all the parts cars, 1 has been my baby sibce I got it and modified accordingly, several are in various 'project' states, and a few others are diamonds in the rough awaiting their turn in the shop... One of the biggest advantages of living on the Yakima Res, they do not care how many rigs you have as long as you are far enough away from the main highways Eventually I need to build my own shop, even if its just a small 1 bay building, so I dont have to clutter up my dad's shop anymore... -Bill

You guys think the Beast will make it up 311? Ive got about 7-8" lift, stock 3.9 gears, 31" tires and an EA81... Im thinkin Ill have torque issues :-\ -Bill

Dont make me bust out the all Subaru line-up pics -Bill

lol I ran out of parking spots in the Subaru section... I dont think there is a cure for what I have... Hopefully I dont find it for a while -Bill

Well, got a call from Jerry on friday night, turns out a farmer not too far from me had a pair of Gen 1 Brats for sale that were mostly complete... Obviously I couldnt refuse! the tan one has a title, although the vin number on the dash is not matching the vin on the firewall :-\ and the title has a brand code on it, so Im gonna have to see what thats all about. Other than that it just needs the radiator and the fuel pump installed to run The blue one is a bit rough, its been wrecked and re-built, and I dont know if Ill be able to get the title from the junkyard, but if I can, it is salvageable. The gas tank appears to be full of some kind of tar-like substance, which has clogged the whole fuel system, but once that is fixed, it will run. They were both driven to where I picked them up, been sitting for a year or so. I got 4 BRAND NEW studdles snow tires with a beefy tread, brand new in the box clutch kit, brake rotors, pads, and shocks, and both have minimal rust. I plan on making the yellow one a driver for sure, but the future of the blue one is still in the air atm. My red Brat is down for a while, after this happened. I can repair it, but damn it sucks. I had to drive it out of the woods like that. -Bill

Actually Im bringing Dereck with me, he is more into the offroad stuff than trevor. His uncles and whatnot all wheel Jeeps and stuff... Back on topic (kinda) I guess I was kinda implying that the EA81 is my favorite Subaru motor because of its reliability and durability... The EA82 is a good motor too, but not even in the same league as the EA81. I killed the first EA82 in the Beast by running it for a week with no oil, and the oil pump siezed... Yeah. Other than the timing belts and a few other weak points, the EA82 is a decent motor... The EA82T on the other hand I no longer have any respect for. I took pretty good care of mine and it left me high and dry and burnt my car to the ground to boot. But just to hammer home the main point of my first post, from my experience, the EA81, while not the most powerfull, is quite possibly Subaru's most fool-proof and reliable design, and you have to severely mistreat it for it to really let you down -Bill

Actually I read a thread somewhere (may have been another forum) where a guy did weld the new pinion gear to the EA shaft. It was all done properly, annealed (softened) before it was cut, then welded, machined, and re-tempered. If its all done right it would be like it was made that way... Of course if you don't do it right, its a recipe for disaster -Bill

you guys and your fancy winches... Come-along and a Hi-lift FTW... who am I kidding I wish I had a winch! -Bill

GD, I love the bumper on that wagon, I think Ive only ever seen 1 picture of it, but its pretty sweet! Im not gonna EJ this one just yet, I have a JDM EA81 that Im dropping in, it had a little more power than the stock USDM motors. Also, I need to fix the rear wheel bearings (shot) and replace 3 axles (possibly 4) and redo the entire exhaust, with a crossover pipe. Last time I took it out wheelin I did it at night out on the ranch, and I missed the road and crash landed in a rock pile (not small rocks either) and really tore some stuff up. This motor was probably one of the more abused ones I had in it, the first EA82 gave up the ghost on prom day (go figure ) and I concluded it was because I didnt keep up on the maintainence (siezed TB idler) and ran it out of oil multiple times. Second EA82 ran fine, ran great when I pulled it to trade for the first EA81, which blew the headgaskets pretty severely on my way home from last year's WCSS after the fans quit working in the 105 degree heat, going uphill, with a 50mph headwind, and no oil . This motor was abused even before I got it, it came out of a hatch that looked like it saw more air time than Tony Hawk. This next motor should hold up for a good long while. Next motor that Im thinkin bout doin in it though is an H6, either a 3.0, 3.3, or 3.6, depending on what I can find for the right price And it will have a six-pack induction setup But thats all just dreams right now... I just want to get it running good for Evans, has to be able to carry me and my big friend over the mountains and back, and get wheeled like there's no tomorrow! -Bill

PM me, I got a few orders ahead of you, but I think you will like my prices when you compare to whats available... -Bill

Ok, so I was workin on the Beast a little tonight, just to get it running so I can drive it up to the shop to swap out the engine, and otherwise prep it for Evan's Creek... The car is my 87 GL wagon that I swapped an EA81 into a while back. This is the 4th motor in the car, going on 5th when I replace it. I parked it because it started slinging oil all over the engine bay and I could watch the crank move 1/4" in any direction while I was playing around under the hood one day... Anyway, I let it sit for a while, then when I got my new Brat, I pulled the disty off the Beast (it was an EA71 disty that I built to work in the Beast) Stupid me, forgot to note where the rotor was pointing Even better, I cant just set it to TDC using the timing marks, as I am running the EA82 flywheel and I didnt transfer the timing marks While I was putting in another disty, I noticed the front main bearing was laying under the cam drive gear ! Well I decided the motor is toast anyway, so Im gonna run it. I get a disty in and guess where TDC might be, and I try to start it. It acts like its siezed . Well I check it out, and I can turn it with enough force on my breaker bar, so I grab my Black Brat and jumpstart the Beast. Now it cranks over fine, but wont start... 3 distys later I find a good one. I hook up my remote starter button so I can adjust the timing till it runs and it fires up! Man I missed that sound. ... But a new anomolly. The radiator was empty. I didnt think much of it, but after I shut the car off, went in the house for a drink, and came back out, I noticed my rear tires were wet... And dripping green Apparently, the motor wouldnt turn over the first time because it was hydrolocked with coolant Both sides of the engine were filled with antifreeze, I know this because I have separated dual exhaust, so I can see whats going on in each side of the engine.... Im still wondering why the coolant leaked into the cylinders, it only sat for a couple months, but there are so many things wrong with the motor anyways, it could be a number of things.... And yet, despite having no oil, no coolant, shot main bearings, torn up main seals, and being drenched in oil, it still runs like a champ!!!!! I cant wait to open up this motor and see just how bad the damage really is! Seems like the EA81 will press on through anything short of a thrown rod, and Ive seen rigs running and driving with a rod sticking out of the block..... So even that might not stop the little monsters! Conclusion, though they may not make much for HP, the EA81 has got to be the most mechanically sound, simple, rugged, durable, reliable, get-you-where-you're-going-bar-nothing motor Subaru, or any car company, ever made! Gotta love it.... -Bill

I have a couple vids of the Beast offroad one night, and in the snow one day I don't have anything from my Black Brat yet, I dont have a digital camera, all the footage was taken by my buddy -Bill

Drop an EA81 block in there... you will be much happier and its a bolt-in swap -Bill