The Beast I Drive

Pretty sure you shorted out the alternator, you didnt let it dry out before you put electric current through it by starting the car... -Bill

From what I have seen and read, if you put Outback struts on a Legacy, you gain about an inch of suspension height. The Outbacks have longer struts because they also have little 1" spacers on all the crossmembers and longer rear control arms. I know this because I have one sittin in my yard upside down. Actually lifting one with a kit wouldnt be too hard, there's just a lot of parts, but I know thats not what your'e looking for. Ive seen Legacys with OB struts and 31" tires, of course there was some gracious fender trimming/bashing -Bill

So then, was that the only gear that had a different cut to the teeth? Or are all the gears showing abnormal wear? Also, Red loc-Tite FTW on the carrier bolts next time, aint nothing gonna make those back out with that stuff on there.... This is getting interesting... -Bill

I like the febder mirrors... Thats how you know its real JDM Personally Ive always thought EA81 sedans look kinda funky when they sit low, but its a proven fact they look bad rump roast with big tires on them -Bill

Its JDM, they always got all the cool stuff... -Bill

Im hoping a solution to this can be figured out, Im quite interested in building a setup similar to this for my Brat, but i may just resort to cutting the pinion gear off the EJ shaft and having it precision welded onto the EA shaft. I still want to keep selectable FWD/4WD Is it possible there was a loose piece of metal or something in the case when you closed it? This just seems really weird :-\ -Bill

Did anyone count the teeth on the 2nd gear for both shafts? is it possible there is like 1 tooth difference between the two that could have caused the failure? -Bill

If the EA gears have a smaller shaft than the EJ, can you have the eA gears machined to fit the EJ shaft? -Bill

Right on! :banana: -Bill

To ammend Northwet's comment, being Non-interference, there will NOT be any internal damage to the engine if the belt(s) break or slip. If the problem is the timing belt, slap a new one on and it should run like new -Bill

Some of the manual Impreza/Legacy ones came with 4.111 gears, others had 3.9s... But there should be a tag on the rear diff that shows what the ratio is. -Bill

It should fit SPFI, that is what the first one was ordered for. Unfortunately, I couldnt get an SPFI manifold, all I had was a Weber setup. I am assuming it will fit, Bratman will be able to tell me if it fits or not very shortly, he is getting the prototype, if it does not fit I will immediately redesign it to work. -Bill

GD, you are very seldom wrong, but this is an erronious statement ^ Not all Gen 1 brats had 4.111, most I encountered had 3.9 diffs. -Bill

It might, if its a 79-81 it is probable that it has 3.9 diffs, but still possible it could have 4.111s. If it is a 78, there is a good chance it may have the 4.111 diffs, which is why you have to check, or just grab the diff from whatever car you pull a trans from. -Bill

Some Gen 1's had 4.111 gears, but that was only the 76-early 78 models IIRC, might have been a DL thing... Although my 1980 Brat DL had 3.9s... Most of the Gen 1 brats I have run into had 3.9 diff ratios. The best way I can think of is to make a ring and divide it into 36 degree increments (which should give you 10 marks) that fits over the input shaft, then make one mark on the input shaft and mark a place on one of the diff stubs, then rotate the input shaft until the diff stub has made 1 full rotation. Then use the marks on the ring to see what ratio you have. If it takes a little over 4.1 turns of the input to rotate the stub 1 rotation, then you have 4.111 gears. If it takes 3.9 turns of the input then you have 3.9 gears. -Bill

I believe in WA you have to have something resembling a door, or like 6" of rise on the rocker panel or some bulls*** like that. I could care less, I ran without doors all last summer and never got pulled over, and I passed plenty of cops. I had mirrors on the fenders just to be a little bit legal Tube doors are legal -Bill

I would say use the 27" tires aired down, seems to work pretty well for the dunes people. Welded rear end probly wouldnt be a bad idea either -Bill

well, thats kinda how they come, the mounting bar for the alt is actually sold as part of an alternator mount for a small block Chevy. I use the top hole to fit the belt that comes in the kit, and there is only one threaded hole on the front of the head, but you could use the other hole if you had to for some reason.

Yeah Ive heard that sand paddles are only good if you can make them spin really fast, otherwise you are better off with some good A/Ts or mud tires. -Bill

I did a mod to the Beast where I can pull the hinge pins out and pull off the doors in seconds with just my pliers, but I also took out the speakers and disconnected the power mirrors, I have manual windows though... Wouldnt be too hard to wire in a waterproof plug for all your wiring, and the doors arent too heavy. Im also planning on making some jeep-style hinges, where you just lift up the door to take it off -Bill

Right on! Also, I was looking at a EA81 manual rack and an EA82 PS rack, and I noticed the mounting points are in the same dimensions, so I will also look into how feasible it is/what needs to be done to use a EA82 PS rack in an EA81 car, as this is what I plan to do to my Brat as well when I lift it this summer. -Bill

I would say as long as the wobbly pully isnt tearing up belts, run it as is. Heck I have a bad crank/main bearings (read 1/4" of shaft play in any direction) and no front main seal and my EA81 in the Beast still runs (I know, recipe for disaster, but I dont drive it much ) -Bill

Twitch, I am certain it will work with the 100 amp upgrade, but it will require a slightly offset adjuster arm, I will be working on that soon, as I am going to fit one of these kits in the Beast so I can get my PS back, and I already have a 100 amp GM early-style alternator in there. For the record, the modified arm on my 100 amp conversion started out as the exact same arms I now use in this kit... I had to put like 1/2" offset or something in it when i did the 100 amp alt conversion... -Bill

If you ever decide to go with a 4" or bigger lift, let me know... But I am diggin the way it sits right now -Bill

I just fixed the same problem you have, and McBrat is dead on the money. Also, if you did bend that little linkage rod at all, you must bend it back to the stock shape or it wont work right (makes it a royal pain in the a$$ to get it in and then it dont work right... I found out the hard way) Also, make sure you lube up the latches and linkage with some Liquid wrench or WD40 or something with graphite in it. It will make it open like new I did that to all my doors on my brat and adjusted all the linkages and now they open and close better than new, a baby could open my doors with its pinky, even on the side that got T-boned in the past! Wow I get carried away... -Bill