mtsfabman

Sounds great Turbone! You don't happen to have a nice hatcback for partial trade do you??? I'd love to find someone with a sweet little hatchback and $2000 bucks!!!! I'm talking about one as nice as Zap's little ozified hatch (with or without the lift). Thanks for all the input guys. I'll sit tight for a while, I'd like to see it go to someone on the board. Either that or I'll part out the body and use the running gear and engine/tranny to build a hardcore trail buggy. Mike

A week or so ago, I posted my XT6 on Toyota Axles for sale on the board. I got very few responses, I'm guessing because I was asking too much for it. The car was a huge hit at WCSS6. I really like this car, I just like building things even more so I want to start my next project (the long legged hatchback). So what do you people think it's worth?? Also, I'm looking for a nice hatchback for my next project..... Here is a link to the old post: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23022 Thanks, Mike

Rick, I'm pretty sure I have MudRat commited to comming to the meeting tonight. I'll try to get him there a little early so you can pick his brain before hand. My two cents: I recommend a Hatchback, still enough room for a family plus extra large stuff can go on the roof. I would love to shoehorn my XT6 motor into a Hatch but I think an EJ swap makes more sense. However, if you do the transfer case lift and use R180 differentials you can get lower gears. Then the stock motor should be fine. The Hatch simply has a better departcher angle than the other cars. I had an '84 wagon and was constantly droping my rear (low profile) bumper on obsitcles as I went over them because of how long the rear of the wagon was. Plus the shorter wheelbase of the hatch makes it like a jeep compared to your 4Runner when it comes to turning radius. Mike

Whooooo Hooooo Garners House Tonight!!!!!!

Is there a picture posted anywhere on the board that would depict the location to hook the mechanical guage? Which is the pressure side???? Mike

Yes, there was one other Subaru on the trip, The Super Pickle!!! Ryan had a lot of fun on the trip as well but he really needs to soften up his suspension and lock up his diffs. He ended up opting out of a few of the trails that we went on that weekend. I do have some more pictures of his car that I will dig up. Mike

Hello all! Just added some pictures from a fun wheelin trip a couple weeks ago. I just thought I would share the fun!!! http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=3017 Mike

Interesting findings; Last night I put the synthetic oil in and the lifter seemed to clack less and take longer to start clacking. This morning, the oil pressure still drops to zero at idle but after running errands all over town I let the beast sit at an idle for about 5min or so and the lifters never started ticking... Could the synthetic oil really be that much better??? It blows my mind that an engine can sit and run with zero oil pressure and not self destruct! Will re-sealing the oil pump improve my oil pressure or was that just going to fix the lifter noise. As it appears the synthetic oil has fixed the lifter noise I don't want to tear the front of the car off to re-seal the oil pump if it's not going to improve oil pressure. I just always figured my dash oil pressure guage was just screwed up until I hooked up the mechanical oil pressure guage and found I was actually at zero oil pressure. I wonder if I hooked the mechanical guage in the wrong place?? I hooked it up onto the oil pump in one of the holes filled with a plug next to the factory sending unit. I wonder if oil pressure is getting to the engine but not to that portion of the oil pump at idle???? Are there any places to test oil pressure on the engine block itself? RallyRuss here is a link to some pics: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=3017 Thanks for all the input! Mike

Garner, I like them! However, I'd bet that just the wind resistance over time will cause the mud flap portion to crack off. There is just too much material hanging too far away from any support. They would be much stronger if you could trim the mudflap portion up a few inches. They will look much more proper when you stuff the XT6 Suspenion under it!!! Excellent work as usual Garner! Mike

I know this has been a common discussion and please bear with my ignorance. I have searched the threads and gather some information. Here is my issue: I have an '88 XT6. I was running Delo 400 15W-40 with no issues for a while. Then I started having lifter noises after the car was warm at an idle. My Oil pressure guage seemed to be funky so I hooked up a mechanical guage. When the engine was cold the oil pressure was 75psi at idle and up to 90psi at 3500rpm. Once warmed up the oil pressure was 20psi at idle and 50psi at 3500rpm. However the oil pressure drops to zero if I let the engine idle for about 2 minutes with out reving it up. First I took off the cam covers and cleaned out the pressure relief valves in each side and streched out the spring a little. This made no changes. I thought the oil might be tired as I had ran it pretty hard for about 1000 miles. Note: this is an offroad beast with 33" tires and toyota axles and I use it off road! So, as an experiment I tried some straight 50 weight racing oil. This proved to not be a good oil selection. Even when warmed up the lifters clacked liked mad even when revved up. The clacking with this oil was much worse than the old oil. Soooo, I drained that oil, put on a new filter and added some Castrol Syntec 5W-50 oil. After warmed up the oil pressure still drops to zero after idling for a couple minutes but it takes another couple minutes for the lifters to start clacking again. If I rev up the engine a little the lifters stop clacking until it has been let to idle for a couple minutes at zero oil pressure again. This oil did not affect the oil pressure readings but it did cause the lifters to clack much less. In all above statements lifters clacking = Drivers side/Front set of lifters. They seem to be the only ones clacking. Questions: Zero oil pressure does not seem normal to me after idleing for a couple minutes. Is this normal???? Is there a pressure relief valve inside the oil pump that could be sticking?? A new oil pump from Subaru is $170, ouch!!! Is there an after market high volume oil pump for less money???? Thanks in advance for the help. Mike

Here's my two cents! Do what you want, do what makes sense to you, do what excites you. Create with what you have access to. Being righteous only corners you! I get the biggest kick out of the creations people come up with. We all have different backgrounds and different resources. Most of us are drawn to Subaru's because they are inexpensive not because they are superior to everthing else. I put an XT6 on Toyota Axles because I had a rusted out old Toyota 4x4 Truck. It turned out great and I love to drive it. It is not the most amazing vehicle in the world, but it is a one of a kind and I get a great sense of pride driving it around. Sticking to any kind of rules only limits what you can do. There is only so far you can go and keep it all Subaru. The only ones who benefit from us keeping it all Subaru, are the manufacturers that mass produce parts for the "Bolt on Queens" out there. Have fun, in the end it only matters whether or not you like it! Mike

Thanks for all the good info guys! Despite the weakpoints of the R180, I'll still probably use them at first. Only because I happen to have six of them laying around!!!!! I'll just make sure to carry a few extra stub axles with me. Jared, it's good to hear from you! I know that whenever any of us here in Eugene hears anything about Iraq, we think of you! When are you going to be home??? I hope I can help you and John build your new beast. I had a blast building my XT6, it kicks booty! I can't wait to see what you have planned. Thanks, Mike

Hello all fellow OFF ROAD lovers! I have had plans for a while to build an ALL FUJI OFF ROAD BEAST. I wanted to build it for WCSS6 but I went with the Toyota Axled XT6 instead because it was faster to build. I am having a blast with the XT6 and don't want to part with it so I am having trouble justifing building another beast for myself. So, I would like to share the idea with everyone else to see if anyone else likes it. It would be really cool if someone out there would like me to build it for them. But in any case I'd just like to see this thing built. Here is the plan: Car: Hatchback w/Dual Range Tranny and Nissan Transfer Case Frame: Custom Tube Frame Suspension: Custom Dual A-Arms Front and Rear, R-180 Differentials F&R (4.375:1 or more), Datsun Truck Axles (all the long side), Datsun Truck Spindles/Hubs/Brakes at all four corners. Tires: ~31" This design would have excellent wheel travel due to the long axles, however the car would need serious fender flares to be street legal. It would have welded diffs front and rear and would still be streetable due to the manual locking hubs on all four wheels. It would also be able to have four wheel steering due to the Datsun Spindles at all four corners. One weakness of this design is the R-180 differentials. They use the same size stub axles as the R-160 so this would still be the weak link. However, I think given the long travel independent suspension set-up, 31" tires would allow plenty of rock crawling ability and not overstress the stub axles too much. So what do you all think????? Mike BTW: I have all the Datsun parts besides the car if anyone is interested in building this themselves.

Turbone, Do you need some custom brackets?????? I came away from the weekend with only 2 or 3 pictures. I would love to see what you got. Eric, What are the chances of getting a CD from you??? Thanks, Mike

Eric, I want to see the footage!!!!!!! How can I get ahold of it?????? Mike

I'll try to get some pictures that are actually easy to see. But, for now here are the basics: I removed the subaru front and rear suspension parts, including the belly pan with rack&pinion. Then I fabbed up a crossmember to hold the engine up that bolted into the same holes as the belly pan. At this point I had a complete unibody car that held it's own engine & tranny. Then I fabbed up a rear sub-frame that held the rear leaf springs and bolted it into the holes that the old rear suspension mounted to. Then I fabbed up a front sub-frame that held the front leaf springs and bolted it to the new crossmember that I made and to the rear most mount of the old front suspension. All the "bolting" that I mentioned is to brackets that have rubber body mount washers (from a Jeep). So, The XT6 body rests on eight rubber mounts with bolts through them. Then I attached the front and rear sub-frames to each other and hung the transfer case to that. I ended up having to modify my front crossmember in the end to clear the steering u-joints & shaft as it was in the way. The most expensive components proved to be the drive-lines as all three where custom. I'd be happy to answer any other questions and even more happy to help someone else build themselves a monster (for a little cash of course, I'm a nice guy but no saint!). Mike

It's Done! OK, projects like this are never done..... However, it drove up to WCSS6 (170 miles), tore up the mud in the mud pit, and drove home (another 170) miles. Granted I was a little late to the show, I didn't make it up there until about 8pm on Saturday night. But I had a wonderful weekend and am still on a high from the whole experience. Check out some pictures: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=1597&sort=1&size=medium&cat=500 I pulled this off without modifying the XT6 body in any way. I could unbolt the frame I built under it and re-install the original running gear. Not that I would ever want to do this...... I know some of the folks at the show did not like that I used toyota axles. But, I really feel I have a vehicle that out performs most other cars. I see it this way, the attractive thing about a Subaru to me is it's performance per dollar factor. I could not have built a dual transfer case toyota for the low price of $1600, which is about all I have into this car (not including the value of a months worth of evenings and weekends and a wife who feels very neglected about now!!!!) I have a vehicle that hauls four people just about anywhere you would want to go. I also doubt that I'll be the only one with solid axles next year! Mike

Big old thanks to Ken, Eric, John, and everyone else who helped put on this show. It was the first that I have attended and I was very impressed. I only hope that next year I'll have my car ready at least the day BEFORE the show... We can all dream right!!! The MUD PIT ROCKED!!!!! Mike

Yes, I am going to build a frame that the leaf springs will attach to and then will make mounts to attach the frame to the body. Got the axles out from under the Toyota today. That was a project in itself, lots of rusty bolts that did not want to come undone..... Mike

OK, I'm a little nuts! Here is the goal: Tear apart a great old XT6 and put Toyota Axles under it with a 5spd Dual Range Tranny, Nissan transfer case, and 33" tires. The Clincher: Start today and get it done by WCSS6!!!!!! Not sure if I can pull it off but I'm going to give a good shot. I wanted to do a custom independent suspension set-up using datsun 4x4 parts to keep it all Fuji but I surely don't have the time for that, maybe next year. I jacked the car up and put it on jackstands, pulled of the little 14" wheels and rolled the 33" meats into place and was instantly motivated!!! That ugly little wedge looks absolutely awesome up in the air!!!! So I plan to spend as much of my evenings and weekends as possible on this project, SO WISH ME LUCK!!! Mike P.S. the XT6 drivetrain is for sale in the market place if you know anyone who wants it!!

Garner, Your hard work shows! Give me a call soon. I'd love to take a ride in it and I want to show you the new shop. Kudos to you! Mike

NICK!!!! When I sold you the car you said you would take good care of it!!!! Looks like you took the same "3 hour tour" that Gilligan took!!! Glad your safe and sound. Mike

If someone does have more info please post it. I would like to do that to my XT6, as the piss poor room in the back is the only thing I don't like about my car. Thanks, Mike

Be sure to contact MudRat79 (John Bloom) on this board. He has been involved in many of the HUGE subarus here on the west coast. He loves to talk Subaru, give him a call at 541-729-8490. Or check out his website at www.oregonoffroadsubaru.org . Mike

Those are different designations for the motor that is in the car. EA81 is a 1800cc engine that used an under head cam with lifters. The EA82T is the same engine with a Turbo. The EA82 is an 1800cc engine with an overhead cam set-up and timing belts. The EA82T is a turbo version of the same engine. EJ22 is a newer engine with a displacement of 2200cc. Many people on the board have strong feelings about which engine the prefer but from what I have seen they all work pretty well. The larger/newer ones with fuel injection definetly have more power than the older ones, but the older ones can be had for much less money. Mike