WRX2FFU

Wow, sorry to hear. That sounds like most 5.4's i have been around. I have owned some Fords but have always stayed away from the 5.4. I always tell anyone with a 5.4 that complains of trouble or has to have fixes like your done(it happens a lot) to get rid of the vehicle asap. My wife worked as a service writer and later as manager at 3 Ford dealers locally. There was always a 5.4 in the shop getting $$$ work done to it.

I am not sure but torque convertor lockup may be able to be done with a switch. I am not sure if the subie TC lockup solenoid needs voltage or ground? I know on chevy 200r4/700r4 you can wire a switch in for TC lockup for highway use. Lots do it for trans swaps.

I am in for progress. I think your a little light on your pricing. I was. I will have about 2.5k in the xfer case, diff's, and gears. This is using junk yard parts. With new gear sets for the diffs and lockers. Running a divorced t case will save some money for sure as well as staying mostly subie. What is taking me time is that I am not using any of theu subie as part of the structure. It will just bolt to the frame. Really when I am done it could be changed to a different body. The bike looks great and it seems as though you could do well with the project. My big cripple is time. I only have a few hours a week to work on it right now. I'll be watching.

I am gonna run the 8.8 diff in the front. The only big problem I forsee at this point is gear alignment with the ring and pinion. No body makes reverse cut gears for the "rear" diff. The 8.8 housings are different on the factory cars from front to rear. I am gonna use a subie trick and flip the diff on the front and see how it does. I am still running the chevy knuckles and i don't yet have the measurements for axel length. They are gonna be pretty long. The choice for the chevy outer gives me a lot beffier cup, and better turning and travel. The ford side is the limiting factor on travel. The think you need to think about is the width. I am gaining travel at the outer point by pushing it further away. I don't have the angle numbers on the ford axels in front of me but I will post them. It's a big project. I am trying to locate my second xfer case at this point and also another 8.8 diff(which there are tons around just need money). I also made a fubar and mounted the motor and trans too high and it placed the x fer front drop too high. I have fixed it but still nee to remake the trans mount. You could come look at it at anytime. I have a really weird schedule so it would have to be planned for sure. Maybe plan it when our local subie club has a meet too. I have some vacation in march. that may be a good time to look at it. I might have the front cradle built by then as well to0.

2.5 l sti or other 2.5 turbo motor can do that no problem. I had 349 whp on my 2.0 wrx....

Why would ir cost $1800 to do head gaskets? Shop price? Do it yourself your not looking at nearly that much. I would not spend 1800 more on it but realistically it can be done for much, much less.

I agree to just source a turbo baja and be done with it. OR find a wrecked wrx or sti and just swap everything.

I usually let mine warm up halfway before going. Most of my driving is 15min or less and if I just waited a minute or two i would vever warm the engine up which imho is worse than letting it warm up a little more under idle. In the summer I pretty much just turn the key and go.

Looks good! Makes me miss my 90' the way it was sometimes.

I have a harris combo torch and have had great luck with it. It's made by lincoln. Victor is a really realiable good brand as well. The thing about a used torch is to see if it works well. A lot of people sell them used and they need "work" which mostly ends up just being junk. Also, my regulators have two guages on them. Tank presue and valve pressure. IMHO the tank pressure is not really nessescary but I would not want to NOT have it. So yes you can see how much is left in the tank. Just make sure the regulators are in good shape. It is possible to blow the diaphrams in them as well. This will be obvious when trying to set valve pressure for initial use. Also if it looks like they just throw the torch on the ground when they are done, walk away. I would just make sure that whatever used set you buy, try it first. take a piece of scap with you to cut. If they won't let you test it, don't buy it. I am probably overly anal with my torches but with the amount of money I have in the setup I don't like to fix or replace stuff becuase of my own carelessness. Also no body uses my torches but me. Just my rule. Have you ever used torches? If not you need to do some reading technique and initial setup for pressures. Oxy/acetylene especially the acetylene can be evry dangerous if not setup properly.

^^^ pretty much what I would say. You can go cheaper with a smaller setup. I went with one most likley about the same size GD has by the prices he quoted. I did get some different size tips when I got mine as well. Also made my own cart out of a dolly. I went with a bigger setup because I did not want to be refilling that often. I just ran mine out of o2 the other day so off to the welding store for me to get more gas and prolly spend way too much on other goodies. I have used mine for brazing as well. It works great for that too with different tips. I went with new because I looked and looked for used rigs and there was nothing worth it at the time. Since then I could have saved some $ buying used but thats how it always goes. The key to getting good with a torch is to practice. You'll need to get used to the setup and how to cut. It's pretty eassy to just hack thru something but to do it efficiently can be a bit tricky - er.

^^^ this. The hardest part sometimes is that the rear strut bolts seem like they were torqued on by the incredible hulk. Usually a good impact or a decent breaker bar and some elbow grease get em'. The replacement struts are not even that expensive. Also, with that stated I would say this guy is not very honest and I would maybe even question the need for new struts. I would check it.

So me and the whole fam have been sick so not much has been done. I did get the trans mount finished and some more sheetmetal out of the way. Also started fitting the xfer case. This case is the same length as the final doubler that will be in here when i'm done. Also got a local line on an np205 xfer case, just need to order the doubler kit and i can start putting that together too. Trans mount: Gonna try to save the baller rump roast red sparkle shifter on the transfer case and use it for something.

I don't blame NAPA. I still buy almost all of my parts there even though my wife doesn't work there anymore. It started years ago with starters and alternators from AZ, advance, ?,. I used to buy parts form these other places and almost always eneded up having to do the job twice because of failed parts. So i decided to spend more money with NAPA parts(the discount was awesome too!). It went well for a while and then My wife told me lots of stories about how napa was changing who they bought from to save money. Now NAPA still offers their high line parts but most of them are way more expensive than people want to pay. I almost always got the highline parts becuase with my discount it was cheap anyway. What I have witnessed is that whn people come in or call and ask for a price, the parts person just tells them the cheapest price on the cheapest part. They don't even ask them if they want highline parts or not. Sorry for the rant.

Mine was a napa too. I got it replaced because it was under warranty. I still like napa, my wife worked there for 13 years so I got lotsa parts really cheap. Mostly they were good and I still recomend them. It is sad though but to compete they have had to start using chineese,and mexican parts...

When my 88' front diff went, it went. Broke a gear on it and it would actually get wedged and make the car buck. Sometimes I would have to do a clutch dump to get out of the broken chunk. It was pretty violent but it got me home. If fact I drove it that way for 2 days. I also had a weird clunking on a recently replaced axel. The in borad side has a little metal disk that seals off the grease in the cup. The disc was loose and bouncing around in the cv cup. It made a horrible clunking on the one side. Sounds like you have isolated to ds issues but just thought i'd share.

Yes and no. If you left the 4x4 stock and ran the toy/whatever motor and trans then yes. If you have custom 4 links, custom steering, subie motor/whatever trans/xfer case then I disagree. It's an off road rig at that point. Built with the best parts you can come up with and still stay sorta subaru. By using a prebuilt frame from another vehicle that you can modify to fit a gl your saving a lot of work. Bet on that.

^ If you can use a pre built frame and modify it to fit your saving yourself tons and tons of work. If it's a home made frame or a cut up ? frame it's still not subaru anyway not to mention the non sub axels. Ask me how I know... I would skip the subie purist issue, build it the way you want, using any part that will work good, and not break.

I figured that pic would shed some light.... They are running what looks like a modified high pinion ford 9". I have tried to get some specs on the diffs but no one wants to give up secrets. I am assuming they are running the diff with reverse cut gears so they can run it in the correct configuration. I would have loved to stay with subie parts but I just think I would have been breaking too much too often. Most of my parts are junk yard/craigslist parts. I am on a local Jeep/truck/offroad forum as well which helps finding cheaper stuff.

Used jeep axels can be found cheap. More than strong enough for a subie. Dana 30/35 is what they are. There are also tons of aftermarket parts avaliable for them as well. As for xfer case, anything divorced if your still running a subaru trans...

If I was running 44 inch tires maybe. LOL! I just had to have it up to work on it. Me too. It's gonna take a while because of limited budget and as with any project ,the changes that are made mid project due to more research and changes add time. The tires I want will cost more than the suspension. craziness. Thanks for the comments all. I really appreciate all of the feedback and positive statements.

Yes, both. 4w steering as well. All kinds around here. I've seen way bigger rigs at most of the OR sites around here. I'll have rear steering and also be able to do front digs so manuverablility should be pretty good. So from my calculations what your seeing above will be almost the bottom travel of the wheel. I will have 31" of wheel travel if I max my cv joints. I am gonna back that down to about 24" for some longevity and less stress on the cv's. So each tire will be able to travel in a total 2 foot. I am thinking of setting my ride height with about 6-8" of up travel and the rest in droop. I still have some calculations and drawings to finish but It' starting to look the way I want it to on paper. Now just to build it all. Here is a good example of what my front end will sorta look like when it's done, and what it can do.

I think it will be easier to see once it's all setup. The top of the tires will go up over a foot when fully cycled. Those tires are also about 3" shorter due to the wear. It is more at full droop the way it is setting. I might go to 37" tires anyway but... Yet to be determined. The body will be hacked up too. Remember all 4 tires will turn. Once I locate the diffs and cradles It will look better. Also most of my weight will be in and below the frame rails. I have a lot of weight in cradeles, diffs, and xfer case... The width will be about 80" to the outside of the tire so stabilty should be ok...

Ok so the motor mounts are solid now. I still need to build the trans mount. Waiting on parts. I also need to add some gussts to the motor mounts which I will later... Ordered som qa1 heims, should be here next week. Decided to get her up so I can work eaiser. I need to have it up to get the lower front cradle area setup. The pics are really close to how high it will set when it's finished(just keep in mind, I am 6'2" ). Since I seem to never be able to use my "lift" money for a lift, I went with the poor mans approach for now. $20 in cinder blocks. So I am also thinking of stepping up the tire size a bit too. Depends on a few things to be determined later. 37's now maybe.... Just a thought Enjoy.

He's a beaut!