Numbchux

That's an absolutely reasonable concern. I sold an EJ25D short block to a guy this summer. I pulled the block myself, the car drove into the shop before the motor was pulled, it made zero noise. He called me once be got it installed saying it was knocking. I went and had a listen, and sure enough, bottom end noise.... I asked him if he primed the oil system. "Huh?" Coincidence? Maybe... but I think he ruined that motor

Carl of Ziptie Rally is in the NASIOC Top Scoob competition right now with #171, and very close to winning it!! http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2272807 And Izzy is in the Dirty Impreza one with #858...(this one closes in about 9 hours....so you might miss it) http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24075

EJ oil pumps are driven directly from the crank. No way to spin them independent of each other. I always prime the oil system, even after just an oil change. Just un-plug the crank-angle sensor, and crank until the oil light goes out. There will be compression, but no fuel or spark....

By definition of the words, 4wd part of the time means that you have another option. which you will not. you will not be able to drive out on pavement at all. Also, Subaru offers a part time box, so when you say you are going to convert it to PT, it's reasonable to assume that you are expecting it to function like one. 1. incorrect, it can be used 2. yes 3. no 4. sort of. Subaru never brought them here, but you would not be the first to import one Start with an RX box (you HAVE to use the gearset from a FT4WD D/R). Add the 1.59 low range gearset from a non turbo part time box (RX box has 1.19). Add R&P of your choice (for 4.111 or 4.444, OD of the ring will have to be reduced to clear low range gearset). Use 5MT front diff of your choice. Use matched set of EJ center diff and housing (either phase 1 and 2 can be used as a set)

Sort of. It would be AWD. In order to swap the pinion shaft, you have to start with a full-time box, and then swap the center diff and housing from an EJ car. Also, the EA82 pinion shaft is longer, so you'd have to lengthen the EJ one to work with the EA82 center diff.

I could try to offer some advice, but I'd be making assumptions since you didn't tell us the details.

You are right, you cannot mix and match the pinion and center diff without major modification. But, I'm using an EJ pinion shaft and EJ center diff. Crisis averted I have tested it, Separately. a 4.111 pinion shaft and center diff (from a '93 legacy) will work with an XT6 ouput shaft (lower gearset). I have tested this outside the case. Also, I have swapped the case halves from an XT6 gearbox with a '94 impreza 4.111 AWD one (all internals, front diff, center diff, and center diff housing) and actually run it. I am 99.9% confident that it will work as I imagine. I know the 4.444 ring gear will have to be made a bit smaller to clear the low range gearset. I'm confident enough that I'm purchasing front LSD, center LSD, low range gearset, and R&P. I'll probably have close to a grand into the transmission, and about $500 into the rest of the car.

So, on a whim, we went up to the offroad park just north of here yesterday. Pretty posh being able to put the brat in a 25 foot enclosed trailer and haul it up with a F-350 with a 7.3 Power stroke and a 6-speed manual transmission. Made it a lot more fun to ride the subaru hard at the park, because all I have to do is limp it out to the parking lot and I'm good. Had some electrical issues (somehow the alternator is generating voltage, but it's not getting in the battery....started a thread about it in the old-gen section). Had some running issues. once the engine was good and warm, I had no partial throttle. I had idle, and WOT. anything between just bogged down. And the stock carb in it's current, neglected condition REALLY didn't like hills. Frequently bogging out on climbs. Even stalling and bogging after steep descents. Only picture of the brat from the day: checking battery connections while waiting for a jeep to turn around and come give me a jump so I could give that hill climb another try. Oh yea, and the EJ double-springpin I had installed in the shift linkage fell out. I went for a quick 1-2 shift at one point (on the core road, thank goodness), and the shifter came off in my hand (the pivot ball is pretty much shot too....so no resistance there). So, I got to drive back to the parking lot and load into the trailer with only 2nd Hi or Lo.

As I continue to consider using a front LSD in my brat. The issue of front axles keeps coming up. I can't find an axle stub that will work with the LSD that I want with 23 splines. So I have to try to make some hybrid axles. Would it be possible to use EA82 front axles? Obviously they're longer, but it seems to me, lengthen the control arms, and some EJ TREs, and done. On paper, EA81 and EA82 axle outers look the same. RockAuto says they're both 30 spline outers. Would an EA82 axle work with an EA81 knuckle and hub? Actually, while I'm on the subject. I have the front suspension from an '87 EA82 (leftovers from a 5-lug swap). What would it take to use the EA82 control arms?

I'm sorry, I had thought about adding this to my previous post about my electrical issues with this rig (turned out to be the wire at the fusible link box). But decided the symptoms were different enough that I would start a new post.....so I forgot some of that crucial background information. Like, it's an '84 brat, stock EA81. AFAIK the entire electrical system is almost completely stock. If you've seen pics of my brat, don't be fooled, only the decals say turbo, it never was. Another piece of information from the other thread that I should have re-iterated. My brat is not stored at my home. It's at a friend's shop, about 25 miles from my house, and not in a direction that is on the way to anywhere....so diagnosing problems are a bit difficult. Closest auto parts store to the shop is about 18 miles one way. Also, as soon as I finish building the 5-speed, it's getting an EJ. So bandaid fixes are preferred for now. Alright, all that said. Let me simplify the symptoms a bit: All of the symptoms all day match up with a failed battery. Frozen, or just plain dead. Not accepting a charge. Basically, I'm running off the alternator. BUT, early in the day, I swapped batteries with a buddy's jeep. His battery had a great charge, which allowed my rig to restart when necessary. After about 4 hours in his Jeep, my old battery had been charged very well. It started the jeep again when we got back to the trailers, and when we swapped it back in the brat, it easily restarted. So, it's not the battery. Also, with the good battery in the brat, the volt gauge still jumped all over the place. In my experience, a car with a good alternator/regulator, but with a completely failed battery, will show some pretty crazy voltage variation related to the engine speed. With the engine running, it's the same symptoms that I noticed when that terminal at the fusible links corroded. Except, when that happened, and the engine was turned off, jumper cables to the battery terminals didn't help. It's like there's a diode in the system, allowing the battery to discharge, but not charge. Here's the only pic of the brat from the day...checking the connections while I wait for a jeep to turn around and come give me a jump start to get another run at that hill:

So, I had the failure of that wire from the battery terminal to the fuse box. took it off, cleaned it up, soldered it, etc. And those symptoms were fixed, (like....stuff works again). Put it in the rally trailer, and hauled it up to the offroad park just north of here for the day today.....had a couple problems. Battery was dead, ok, no surprise, the thing's been sitting for awhile. Jumped it, and headed out. Over the course of the few hours that we were out on the trails, I discovered that the volt gauge fluctuates quite a bit with the engine speed. In fact, it would peg all the way to 18v if I didn't have any accessories on (headlights and heat on kept it below 14v the whole time). So, the alternator is charging... But the battery wasn't being charged. Thought it might have been the battery, so we swapped batteries with one in a buddy's Jeep. It charged just fine in his rig.... The volt gauge is reading the voltage coming off the alternator. And it responds when jumper cables are hooked up directly to the battery terminals. Sooooo.....theoretically they are connected. Any ideas?

87+ should be 23 spline if it's part time 4wd. the turbos would have been full time. yes, EA82s Have a wider track. if your axles are not making noise, your time and money would be better spent rebuilding them. For less than $20 ea, you could put brand new boots and grease on them, and they'll be better than most "New" axles you might buy.

I'm no expert...but here's what I did. Taking the case apart is not too difficult. Just make sure you keep track of where the bolts and brackets came from. Only hard part is the shift linkage, you'll have to remove the access panel on the top of the center diff case, and there's a set bolt in the piece that activates the switches for neutral and reverse, this will allow more travel in the shift rod which will allow you to seperate it from the front case halves. I just pulled the internals out of one case, and dropped them in the other. I made no adjustments, to anything. I just made sure the shims followed the gearset. Just make sure you get it sealed up good, and keep an eye on it. Mine leaked dry.....which ruined it....

not necessary

Yes, full XT6 clutch kit will be fine. The pressure plate is the only different part (stronger clamping force). I have bought the Beck/Arnley one from Rock Auto 3 times for 3 different cars (2 behind EJ22s), I love them. You can get full timing belt kits on ebay for a decent price. Look for PCI brand belt kits. They also have them with a water pump, I've done it that way a few times. If you do, though, get an OEM pump gasket (which is metal, compared to the paper one you'll get with the aftermarket pump). You can also get OEM crank and cam seals from smallcar.com for much cheaper than most dealers. I don't get anything from the dealer. The "subaru" dealer up here is also a mopar dealer, and the parts guys don't have a clue or care about the subaru parts. If you want to do a full rebuild, I recommend getting a full gasket kit from 1stsubaruparts.com. It'll have every gasket for the whole motor....pretty sweet.

It would take some serious machining to make the bearing surfaces. The early cases have the shape to clear the gearset....but it'd still be a project.... Very cool project, and well-made video. Although, I have to admit, with bordering on the ultimate combination of torque and gearing (only thing missing is 4.444s), he sure does use momentum and wheelspeed a LOT. Might just be the tires letting it down....

maybe

don't blame the lift. 5-10k is all I've ever gotten out of remanned axles on any of my subarus, with or without a lift. Hell, I've "re-manufactured" stock axles myself (taken dry, sandy, even fallen-apart axles, cleaned them, and put new boots and grease in there) and had great luck.

5 speed front diffs are all the same. so any diff designed for a 5 speed will work. many companies make them. Quaife, OBX, Carbonetic, and more. They were available in some jdm STis as well as aftermarket from Subaru.

Unless you are doing some REALLY stupid stuff, you will not damage an alloy wheel. I saw a guy RUIN TWO forester steelies Rallycrossing in one day. Wrapped around the brake caliper, there was no bending them back. He was not being any harder on the car than the dozens of other subarus there on stock alloys. Steelies are stronger than alloys.....yea, and carbs will always be more reliable the fuel injection The only downside to alloy wheels, is price. Now, with all that said. The size difference is something to consider. The offset is nothing to worry about, as the width is different, which means the offset has to change to keep the backspacing the same. IMO, the deciding factor will be what you want to do with it. For pretty much any offroad use, more sidewall is better. But for street use, 16s all the way. Although, if you want to run brakes bigger than 276s, you'll either need aftermarket 15s, or 16s.

I'm not entirely how changing speedometer gears works in other cars.... But, I don't see how it could work with the subaru one. Any change in size will effect how it meshes with the output shaft. Also, you have to completely tear open the transmission to get to it. If you've got a reason to be in there, it's easy, but a ton of labor just to swap your speedo gear. I'm not saying it wouldn't be worth looking into, or that you might not be on the right track. BUT, AFAIK it has not been done or documented at all, and IMO not worth it.

yea, WD-40 isn't ideal.....but it's usually what I have (I've even used SeaFoam Deep Creep....), and it's better than nothing. and yea, those nissan studs use the same knurl diameter as EJ and EA82 lug studs.....although the knurl on XT6 studs is smaller. I did a quick search online for the drill bit, and ended up getting it on amazon.com. I just bought the cheapest one of the correct size that I could find :-p

yes, toyota uses a 12x1.5 thread pitch. Something you have to look into, is since the rotors bolt to the back of the hubs, the studs need to be pretty short. My brat was 6-lugged when I bought it, but the PO used standard EJ studs, and the nuts bottomed out on the threads before they even touched the wheels, which promptly stripped out the studs in the hub, so I had to completely start over. I found a stud (dorman 610378) designed for a nissan that's still 12x1.25 like the subaru but shorter knurl, which means the threads go down further, which makes it work even with the toyota steelies (the thicker alloy wheels will not have this problem as badly). Also, I used a 35/64 bit. Had to order it online....but it was perfect. Did them all with a center punch, but no pilot hole.

that's the fronts Yea, first try he failed to sufficiently clarify that they had to be for a 6-cyl XT....so he got 4-lug rotors. Then he tried a couple different local stores with no luck. Then another friend of ours who works at a repair shop was able to find a pair, but had to do some serious searching. I just looked on RockAuto, they do still have them, but many of them are on closeout....

I'm not a big fan of the frankenmotor....personally I'd start with a 2.2 donor, and if more power was desired, I'd throw a 2.5 shortblock in there. That said, if you want to jump right into the frankenmotor, that's not a terrible way to do it. Having the OBDII 2.5 ECU is absolutely a good idea. Dual-port 2.2s are '90-'95. You'll need the matching intake manifold for the heads, and IIRC the fuel rails are unique to the manifold. But you can use all the 2.5 sensors and wiring on the 2.2.