The Beast I Drive

Hey Brian, both those diffs are open, but if the one acts like an LSD, i bet it has one of those Phantom Grip mods done to it, or something is seriously wrong with it. Vlsd units are not good for offroad, they only engage after traction is lost and at higher speeds than crawling. Your best bet is to convert a 3.7 LSD unit to your 4.444 gears. -Bill

Pretty sweet, but his LSD definition is wrong, RX LSD's had clutch pack LSD units, not VLSD units. Those came in later Impreza and Legacies. -Bill

Your mechanic is ripping you off at that price. the belts cost 45 bucks for the pair, the tensioner can be had for not much as well. Im sure you can find a timing belt kit for way less than 270 bones. As was stated, EA82 motors are non-interference, so there will be no internal damage at all. As far as swapping an EA81 in there, I say do it, I did it, and I love it. About the same power, never have to worry about timing belts goin out at the wrong time, and its pretty simple swap. I used the EA82 clutch/pp/flywheel, I tried a EA81 flywheel but it was 1/4 inch too thick and the pressure plate would not fully engage the clutch. I used the stock ignition coil and everything, just extended the wires to the passenger side of the car to reach the disty. You can also use the EA82 intake manifold and the pipe that comes off the water pump to go to the heater from your car too and then youll only have to change 1 radiator hose to hook up the radiator. For power steering youd need a EA81 power steering pump and bracket, unless you rig up a custom mount for the stock one. I was too lazy, so I bypassed the lines on the steering rack and have been driving it without power steering. Its a workout turning 31" tires, but It doesnt even phase me at all anymore -Bill

Subaru shouldve stuck with the U joint setup IMO, prolly woulda worked for the front on the DOJ side of the axles too. I cant imagine brakin one of those things unless you land on a pile of rebar and it goes through your ujoint. -Bill

God no, my friend is a Taxidermist, he uses the hides, he and I wouldnt eat one of those grubbers unless we absolutely had to. -Bill

After i lifted the Beast the first ticket i got was for no mudflaps, 2 days after i rolled out of the shop. I was pissed cuz i had the mudflaps in the car ready to be installed, but the guy was a prick. tried to nail me for the lift too, but he did a horable job writing that down on the ticket, judge couldnt read it. He wrote the part about the mudflap perfectly though . Since I put on the 31s and the mudflaps the only thing Ive been pulled over for is so they can check it out, they love to look -Bill

Hey jeff you ever catch any flack from the local yokals or the county mounties for not having any mudflaps or fender flares? They get me in everything I drive, they even pulled my RX over for no mudflaps -Bill

No harm no foul man, looks like you made out like a bandit with that Weber! We hunt Racoon down near Benton City alot... We'll have to go wheelin sometime after I have a capable rig back on the road -Bill

Yep. I had all the other parts I need but the car they are in had a single range tranny. Ill post pics of the rig when I finish it, it will be savage, but nothing really earth shattering. just a reliable, abuse taking go anywhere rig with some cool and useful features. PS sorry about the thread jack, i really want to see this wagon when its done! -Bill

I think it would look cool as s**t with half the motor stickin through the hood with the Turbo stickin out right next to it But Im kinda a Mad Max fan and that would fit the bill to a T :grin: -Bill

I could (and would ) eat off that, its TOOOOOO CLEANNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!! -Bill

Better now than later, you have to do a clutch, might as well be for a 5 speed, you'll love it -Bill Edit, you will need a clutch disk for an 85-86 EA82 4wd rig ONLY, 87 and up disks wont fit in the EA81 pressure plate.

Hey Brian, heres an idea for the axles, my 76 4wd wagon has double u joints with slip yokes, see here You could prolly have something like that made to work, I could sell you these so you could have them lengthend and just use regular Brat axles on my rig, if you want. lemme know eh? -Bill

Sounds like a solid plan ya got there, pretty much the same thing Im workin on on a small project of mine, except Ive got a few "durability upgrades" in the works, basically I want mine to be able to take a beating repeatedly, with no love. We shall see how it goes. Yours is a lot nicer than mine, and i had to start with a 3at (swapping to 5spd D/R). Looks like it will be fun when done! -Bill

Ahhh, I see now. So are you thinking about flipping it over, and putting the pinion shaft over the torsion tube? That would net you like a foot of centerline clerance! -Bill

Hey Brian, why not look for a Nissan pick up front diff? Cant you get some 4.444s to stuff into one of those? On a side note, I always thought you could just put the rear diff in the front, no need to do anything special, I swore Ive seen it that way on several rigs, so Im not quite sure why you are trying to flip it but I could be wrong, I never really looked into it. Good luck! -Bill

I can build you a set of 4" brakets to mount those coilovers, as long as you are using EA82 rear coilovers. PM me if interested. -Bill

Almost sounds like a bad accelerator pump, at least the stumbling part. I dunno about the idle, how long ago was the carb rebuilt, and who rebuilt it? -Bill

Man that thing really is going to be a monster!!!!! I love it! -Bill

for what its worth, the Subaru starters are the same on all EA and EJ cars all the way up through first gen Outbacks, I know the starter on my 97 OB is identical in sizee and shape to my other EA starters. Its good thing you got the turbo and other stuff with the other motor, I know that the turbo alone costs upwards of 2 Grand from VW Blew one up in my Mom's Jetta once :-\ -Bill

Damn, that is whack Im thinking a part of the carb let loose and caused that damage, did you check that? My buddy's Camaro suffered a similar fate when the stud for the air cleaner somehow made it into one of the pistons. -Bill

Well you know where my vote is -Bill

Should rename it, the "Bestest from the NorthWest-est" -Bill

For 200 bones its hard to go wrong! Is it by chance a 4wd? timing belt is a pretty easy fix. -Bill

I dont know, whenever Im in oregon I get passed like Im standing still while Im going 70, and the speed limit there is usually 60 but Im sure the low profile tires make a small difference. -Bill