Yo'J

I pulled the rear seats in my ea81 wagon and love it! I put in speaker boxes on the sides and storage in the middle with a fold down flap that makes the "bed" a full 6'+ long and I can still hit the torsion adjuster and reinstall the rear seats if necessary. I was thinking of a sub box in the middle and storage on the sides but its better with storage in the middle as I can stick a set of axles, tire iron, rope, maps, rags, tire blocks with a container of handy wipes and still have room. The best part is no one can really see it if you throw down a carpet. I used 3/8 ply in the rear and 3/4 for the box and flap and just skinned the bottom to clean it up and keep junk off the brake lines. With the flap down I can stick a full set of tools and a cooler behind the seats and not have to worry about anything being visible. I hated sleeping on the metal corrugated back, but now I have a full sheet of memory foam on the ply and its almost better than my bed! Doing this to an ea82 wagon must almost give you a full 6.5' or more of space if you make a long flap. The ea81 is just stupidly short to try to sleep in stock unless your 4'5" or shorter.

Yup, If I didn't overload mine all the time, I would think its ridiculous. I do so I want to keep them in, but, I desperately want sedan springs to try. They might be perfect. They are like 124 lbs to 174lbs or some thing like that. In a wagon its way different than a brat as well. The tailgate alone weighs a ton on a wagon! I set my struts way up too, bout' an 1 1/2" above the bolts on a plate. Its a lumber wagon. I like my tools dry. I had 600lbs in the rear yesterday and 500lbs on the roof thursday, it drove like a lincoln, little sluggish on an ea81, but, its always slow. I've put 10 sheets 5/8" d-wall w/ a dozen 2x4s and had to hit some of the worst hills in seattle on this thing with out problems so far. Thats over 800lbs. Keeps up with traffic though. Damn thing rattles empty but makes a great work truck!

Rear springs are softer.....

I saw you cruise up third ave nw yesterday. Nice looking rig, I want to check it out. You should stop by if you see my wagon just above market.

Its just "j"bolts to mount it.

I have them on my ea81 wagon with a 2" lift, and they are stiff. They bounce down the highway and make people car sick. They are a replacement for a broken torsion tube. You might want to disable the tube or you wont get any flex. With a 800lb cast iron stove in the back it would drive normal.

I'd expect the worst case scenario on the motor, but thats my luck it seems:rolleyes:. Just north a little, here, I could see buying it to sit on, till one got a lift, ej and kit, d/r trans,and whatever mods one deemed necessary for the end game plan, BUT, if you are gonna drive it stock, its gonna take some cash and there might be better options out there with less work. There are a lot of cars on the road right now and a lot of them are subies. What would your plan be for the car? Do you have a truck load of parts kicking around with a shop to work out of?

Do you think its feasible to put a spacer on the back of a thinner one? Milled to your spec of course. Can you get a thinner one? I suppose thats better than welding the fork right?

I've had that happen myself on my current motor. I replaced all the bolts after two broke before the recommended torque, with new, from the dealer, bolts. The left hand bits should be available from a machine shop supply company or a high end hardware store. Sears might even....maybe. Call Hardwicks, thats where I got my last one 12066321203. Aftermarket bolts will work but the lengths are wrong so you would want to shorten them. On mine, It had just a couple of mm of height, not enough to get a grip. I had to drill next to the bolt to eat the threads and fill it after, retap =not fun. A can of airless air upside down after soaking in kroil and it turned, it was a hot day, it took all day.

Yeah! Sweet pics! You even served up the action shot! FTW!

You can do it, but, I would see how easily you can find a good set of heads first. The gaskets are relatively cheap but heads can be a bit of cash. You might think of trying to find a low mile motor for the same or less than the heads. Almost all ea82 heads crack, but really its about how bad. Thats why they are expensive, who wants cracked heads to freshly install and how many motors do you have to JY out to find a good set? It should drive with bad HGs too. If it doesn't your motor most likely is shot and forget it. If it does you might be able to tell how bad the damage is by the compression, coolant or leakdown tests, oil or bubbles in the rad, white smoke in the exhaust, and by how fast it overheats. Lots of white smoke and the heads are toast most likely for example. They can be welded, but, inside is the waterjacket that was insufficient in the first place and will be worse after welding. This is the BIG weak spot in the motor.

And dont get the 390mm because you will only get "1"one tire from like firestone and it might have to get ordered.

I made a tensioner out of a tube with bolts in it for adjusting the tensioners in the shape of the letter "F". Tape up the threads so nothing gets marred and you are on your way to do t-belts with your own special subaru tool.

Ha! I would so put a plow on my wagon! It snows like every other year here.....for like a day. Maybe a week of white stuff max. Too cool!

Hey, how do you disable the rear torsion bar? I've installed the ea82 coilovers and I have quite the stiff rear end. I love my lumber wagon but it doesnt need to be so stiff when empty. I had to pull a tight u-turn in traffic yesterday and the stiffness pulled a tire right up off the ground and set it down right in the intended lane. It suprised me but I think it scared the oncoming traffic more. If it had some roll to it, I think it would have stayed on the ground.

It is from Bluff City, what do you expect?

I had an ea82 for years and it took me to work in the worst weather and was always the last car on the road (carbed 87'loyale 5spd dr) I've done the timing belts twice on that thing and have always loved it the most (till I got an ea81, 82'wagon with the passing lamp) If you want to get rid of it, do it running. They are so simple, the little things you have to fix, its like a no brainer. You always have to get something fixed on every used car but it seems on subarus you only have to fix it once. (Except my valve adjustment on my 82', oil and radiators, blowing t-belts from overworking my 87 wagon, probably not doing something right on the original install and having my t-belts snap on 20,000, with 3 people and a car full of concrete tools compressor and framing tools to the brim going up a huge hill, but other than that.... Heck the last time I did a t-belt (that t-belt) it took me 4 hours on the road next to a park. (It was the closest safe spot for the tow truck to drop me.) I think thats why we are here, being an on-line, ever changing testimonial to the longevity of the older subaru.

Aren't the splines the same for the axles too?

Show us what we are missing.....Pics! I would so love a subi van! We only got the 360.

I would say check the hydrocarbons in the coolant for exhaust leaks and the water pipe over the top for leaks as air could be getting in and , seriously, lift the front end up and make sure there is no air bubble sitting in that waterpipe. If you hear water in the heater lines, its a bubble. Some people have posted that they fill from the top rad hose first then the rest of the rad. I really don't know if your engine has a coolant pipe under the intake manifold that is separate with o-rings, like on my 22 that just had a bad HG, and not part of the block casting. I hear that can pull in air there, mimicking the signs of HG failure. I could smell the exhaust in mine. Good luck!

Funny only to those who have had a hitachi apart, and only later on!

What For? Welcome to the Board! This place is quite something! I got an 87 brat w/ an ej22 w/5spd trans I'm sorting out, but, I love my 82' lifted wagon and I was going to ej that, but, its my dd and the timing wasn't working out, maybe I have plans when the brat is done..... The wagons got 4wheel discs, 5spd trans, 2"lift on 27s, weber carb, and ea82 rear coils, home made roof rack w/ no rear seats. (drives like a lincoln overloaded (monday)and bounces down the highway empty (saturday). Love it!) Why would you sell that, Mugs? Thats like my dream carpentry wagon.

It needs a gallon can of carb cleaner but sure. I've been in one a few times. might be able to pull my narrowband f/a meter and stick it on there for a basic idea.

Now you know how I feel after getting all that swap work... sort of done, I suppose, and I find a blown head. Its fixed now (as of today) but still has the same problems. But now it throws codes like a ************************** on crack!

Nice work so far! Glad to see some progress! You'll be passing in no time I'll bet! That red 81 hatch on 15th is cool and drives. Its got some rust on it though. I don't know if its a board member, I haven't ever seen it on the road or an owner, just seen it move a lot over the years as I'm just down the block. There is a nice looking blue wagon up by judy foos on 15"aa rims, on the board too, but I don't know his board name.