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I am putting front EJ hubs into my RX. I layed out the EA82 hub and axle and the EJ hub and axle and it looks like the EJ axle is too long by an inch. Is that ok? Who else has done a EJ 5 lug swap into a EA82.? bw

I know that this would be a pita but what is you got plugs that matched the ECU connections and then re-wired from scratch. They might have to be from a 2000 Outback. It would be really tough with the plugs from the engine and getting the right wires to match the right pin. This sounds like te age old question.... Time vs. money. keep us posted BW

Glad to hear you made it ok. Give me a PM or something next time you are in town. RE: the handling issue, put the car on stands and take a look at the steering /control arm stuff on either side. You will probably see a difference in the left and right side. When you went mudding, did you hit anything hard that would cause the problem? BTW your PM is full Later BW

and what a nice write up it is.

sup.. long time man.. Not sure what you want help in. Diagnosis of problem or replacement of parts. NM is a bit far so next time you come in the area send me a PM and we can get rid of that crap slush box. I have a EA81 5spd FWD tranny that would fit nicely in your car. You just need to get a manual pedal box for the EA82. BW

look up mixthetoo's thread about his OBS swap into a BRAT. from what I remember he is having a bear to a time getting all of the suspension to work. He said that he had to redo his rear subframe b/c it was not centered or lined up or something like that. If you are looking for custom rear suspension, it might be easier to use the torsion bar to mount a trailing arm made out of tubing. Not sure if the benefits outweight the fabrication time. BW

x2. I took my 2k OBS w/120k on it on a road trip from LA to Denver and back over Thanksgiving weekend. Drive it 19 hours straight on the first leg. No problems, temps stayed right in the middle and it was rock solid. I changed the oil, and the gear oil and checked my tires, got fresh wipers and that was about it. You should do fine. BW

looks about right. I would also add coolant, motor oil, oil filter, gear oil if needed a bunch of fuses in case you get a short somewhere. might want to consider starting fluid to help is turn over and a fire extinguisher in case it gets en fuego.... associated exhaust gaskets. video camera pointed at the car on start up and with you in the frame so we can watch you do the happy dance. Thanks all I can think of for now. Have fun

so I am not in the area but I have been trying to get us Californians together for quite some time. How about a trip to Pismo Beach. That's pretty central? We can all go there and camp on the beach and romp in the dunes and have fun. anyone? anyone? bueller, bueller... Fry... fry..... BW

Having seen this baby in person, I think that it's really your call. The previous owner was getting ready to do a 5 spd swap and also put discs in the rear. If you have the means to fix the auto then it might be worth it for "classic" status to keep things the way they are. Since you have a fleet of soobs, you can afford to make this one bone stock. In my experience most part people are fascinated and impressed with the fact that I have a BRAT on the road. The lift and the EJ makes it that much cooler. A true Subaru connoisseur will appreciate that you have the automatic and kept everything true to how it came from the showroom floor. But then again, the same connoisseur would also understand that the auto trannys are craptastic and agree with the 5 speed swap. I think that the spirit of the turbo BRAT, which is it's distinct styling and lines and the unique engine is what is important. The EA81T should stay in there. The rest is what you want to do with it. BW

You could go to nasioc or rs25 or any other impreza oriented site to see if people have the ECU for sale. every once in a while they will be harnesses for sale, but those get snatched up pretty quick. Best bet is to go and grab one out of a PAP. You could also try calling east coast swappers or Garage tuning to see it they have harnesses or ECUs lying around.

Are you running a lift? If you are, you might have to make something custom. I took my old pitch stopper for the BRAT and I used a piece of square tubing I had lying around to extend it. I used some thick washers and bolted it to the mounting engine through the hole in the lifting tab. ohh and I take it you no longer need the diagrams right? BW

how much does he charge an hour i need someone midget sized to crawl underneath the SVX and tell me what this squeaking noise was. BTW good work in getting him started early.

1982 BRAT DL (when bought) usually leaks. missing tailgate trim dent on driver side behind the door dented driver's side fender rear seats frame cut out cheapo aftermarket leaking sun roof non-op AC seats ripped up mismatched tires mickey mouse smog engine work 1) coke can plate blocking the EGR valve 2) vacuum lines hooked up wrong 3) anti-diesel plunger missing temp gauge non-op gas gauge non-op BW

looks like the hatch puked up it's wires

Trying to wrap my brain around this one. I think that you would have problems with the brace hitting your axles.

take a look at these wires and try to trace them back to their origin. Or look on the other side of that connector. If there is no wire there, then you can chop them. Also remember to post connector color and shape, wire location on the pin and the wire colors. This will help a great deal in the trouble shooting. yes yes One of the lines should go to the ECU. The other should be hooked up to a 10 amp fuse. I am referring to my EJ22T wiring diagrams so yours might be a bigger fuse, but the wire is the same. This power source also taps into the igniter. From the pics it looks like a lt green white or lt green yellow. It should come from pin #10. This could be the AT inhibitor switch or the neutral switch. If there other one is blue/orange, this is the other lead to the switches. Should be coming from pin #9. I didn't hook that up on my EJ BRAT. No problems starting. If you need a copy of the wiring for your car send me a PM I can print on at from the disk i left at work. BW

actually... my BRAT is Smurf blue...:-\

My BRAT didn't have a ECS light so I took the cluster apart and made my own CEL light. Remember to use a 1.5 watt bulb b/c otherwise you will the check engine circuit. For the VSS I took the signal from the reed sensor in the cluster. I don't remember which wire it was. I can take a look at my notes and tell you specifically which wire a tapped. bw

Easiest way to do this would be to get EJ fronts and Ren man's adapter when it comes out. The rear wheels would stick out a bit and it might chew up bearings, but it should be ok for road use. BW

You asked for opinions..... But I respect your desire to remain true to the original car. I think a lot of the problems with the EA82T builds I have seen is that people kept pushing for more and more power. I think Calebz, Subarutex, WJM are a few people that come to mind who have done some extensive work with the EA82Ts. Do a search of their old threads and glean what you can from all of those old posts and then do what they did right and avoid what they did wrong. I have never had a working EA82 so I am biased towards them. I like the old EA81's and since I have overcome the mental fear of doing wiring work on a EJ swap I am a big fan of that. I am not saying get the biggest baddest engine out there. I am saying that you can get a decent $200-$300 EJ and do wonders with it. My RX is gonna have a EJ22T. I want to get about 200 hp (about 150 bhp) out of it initially. That's WRX territorry in terms of hp to weight. Total build is going to be under $3000. So if I compare it to a 2002 WRX that can be bought for about $10,000. I am spending 30 cents to the dollar. The final build goal is going to be around 270-300 hp (i want 200 bhp) That should bring me into the 4k-5k range. But then I would be in STi territory. and spending 9-11 cents on the dollar. One thing that you might want to consider it modifying your hubs to work with 5X100 rims. If will open up a whole new world of rim options, once again my opinion. BW

You could do what I'm doing and put a EJ into it. With a EJ22 you will get about 150 bhp and make it a blast to drive. The way I see it you are working with a flawed engine. The EA82Ts were not the best design and when it's only a whopping 21 HP more than a SPFI one... that's pretty lame. There is more upfront work with an EJ swap, but in the long run you will have a more reliable more powerful vehicle. The EJ22 computer is very adaptive and can take some boost. Do some research on RS25 or NASIOC and see what they are doing there. Of course you could always do a EJ20 and call it a day. BW

So i was thinking about my RX build and the OBS and I came up with a new acronym... S.M.U.R.F S.pirited M.U.lti-terrain R.ecreational F.lyer So... How S.M.U.R.Fy is your car? I think that one a scale of 1-10 my OBS is about a 5-6 It's somewhat spirited, has some strut bars and a thicker rear sway bar and WRX seats. definately multi-terrain, has forester lift high marks for recreational, rally cross capable. never let me down. low marks for being a flyer with the stock EJ22 motor. the FrankenBRAT is yet to be determined. Haven't really taken it too may places to tell. BW

yep and from the PAP as well...

that or always keep your tank 1/2 full. Let me know what you end up doing for this b/c I have yet to set one up. BW