Numbchux

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.

absolutely!! I drilled all 4 hubs for my brat with the same drill bit. The key was a drill press (I was using the el-cheapo Northern Tool benchtop model) and lots of WD-40. Even with lots of lubrication, I broke 3 drill bits before I even got halfway through the first hole trying to do it by hand.

A friend of mine just did a 5-lug swap on his loyale, he had a HELL of a time finding new rotors for the rear! As I just posted a week or so ago....

It's a project to be sure. The old paint and seam sealer has to be stripped off. Which is a major PITA in some places.

+100000 I'm watching, so keep the updates coming. As for using an automatic trans, a bellhousing like Bill is making would be sweet, but with an automatic, you don't have to worry about piecing together and perfectly aligning a clutch/flywheel. Flexplates are WAY eaiser to modify!! That said, I think an adapter plate is the way to go. I know you posted in the thread, but maybe you'd forgotten.... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=962594&postcount=53 I think this is the way to go. Relatively simple. And should work with a TH350 or 700R4 if you want Overdrive.

nope, leave the rotor and caliper there. In fact, leave the ebrake on while it's apart, that way the rotor won't move while the hub is out.

diagrams and pinouts will be the same, but wire colors will be different. But, here's a site with more FSMs than you know what to do with....including '98 Legacies... http://www.dunebuggyarchives.com/subbug/manuals.html

AW4 and A340 are the same transmissions, sans bellhousing, and transfer case. They are mechanically, and electrically interchangeable. (AW stands for Aisin-Warner, which if you do much with toyotas is a familiar name...) The bolt pattern between the AW4/A340 and bellhousing is very different from the W series bellhousing pattern. So, no, Bill's housing will not get a RWD or true 4WD auto trans behind a subaru motor as-is He has done the work of making a divorced bellhousing with an EJ pattern at the engine. That's a HUGE start. For the record, assuming my brat reaches the point of a divorced tcase setup, I would MUCH prefer an automatic. I'm not going to say that I will be buying one, as that would be a lie, but there's a good chance. The AW4/A340 would be the perfect option too, as there is a cheap and simple rail shifter available that would allow full manual control and no need for a computer to control it. http://radesignsproducts.com/14Shiftcontrollers.aspx

That's a very well-formatted write-up, but mediocre on the information. There are SOOOO many different ways to do it, so it's hard to put together one comprehensive "how-to". But, by far the best one I've seen is this one: (this link has the discussion, but the image links are dead) http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=87403 (and with the new pictures) http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=97074 In order to use 5-lug outers, and EA81 track width, your only good option for front axles is cut-and-weld, so use what you have, measure carefully, and make it what you need. There might be an EA81 axle shaft that would work with a 5-lug CV joint, but they rarely come apart in usable shape. Also, if it's an EJ knuckle, it's shaped differently to improve dynamic toe and ackerman. But that means the CV is a bit further out (the hub offset is a bit less to keep the track width and scrub radius the same). also, just a thought: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?p=1057378

If your brake pads are rubbing on your rotor hats....you got a bigger problem than rust!

Gas tank hung, mounts need to be beefed up, but it's hanging from the truck. Test-fitted the shock too now that the tank is there. started installing this '82 supra LSD in the front diff: and in the housing. With a little modification, the 4runner stubs clipped right into the supra carrier. And while I had it apart, I knocked the studs out of the axle flanges, still have to grind out the splines so I can re-install the studs as bolts. And, soldered a tee fitting with a reducer so I can attach one of the heater hoses to the upper radiator hose.

^a bit more than 4" of lift :-p

Looking through my collection for some clear pics of my wagons that would be good for size comparison (on flat, hard ground). This ones only 3" lift, but with 29" tires: And this one's a 4" lift with slightly smaller tires and less trimming: (not the greatest pic, but the loyale was at stock FWD height.) stock tires in the front, 28s in the back: a few minutes later: Next to a stock-height 4WD EA81: next to a stock-height 4WD EA82: Next to a lowered Loyale: And next to a YJ on 31s:

little work with a sawzall and drill, and a piece of angle-steel, and I made a holder to use the toyota throttle cable:

got the rear disc swap finished and the front hubs re-redrilled pretty soon after my last post. Then I didn't get out there for months. But, I got out there today. I re-installed the wire from the battery to the fusible link box, along with new battery terminals. I was planning on doing some POR15 work on the rust spots......but instead I went out and screwed around in the back 40. Then the guy who owns the shop came home, and decided to get out his rally car (the rally car hasn't been home for some time since it went off for paint, and then was at another guy's place for trailer modifications) and he came out to join me:

Long time without a major update. Lots of tinkering, lots of frustration. But, with winter coming, I needed an upgrade for the shelter over the truck. So...I got a nice roundtop shelter on sale at Menards. It's got a much beefier frame, thicker tarp, and the tarp is only 3 pieces instead of the 5 of the last one. Earlier this week, I started cutting the stock 4-link bracketry off the FJ axle: I was pretty sure that the distributor was not set right. So when I couldn't sleep last night, I started searching for good information on how to get it set. Suddenly I realized that every diagram I found online showing the firing order and spark plug wires was a mirror image of the one in my Chevy FSM, which I used when I installed the plug wires long ago. So, this morning, I went out and pulled the plug wires off, and re-did them. Turned the key, and the fuel pump didn't kick on. After some messing around with it, I realized that the fuel in the tank had definitely gone bad. Just a reminder of how long I've been working on this, I've already put fresh gas in the tank once since I started this swap...... So, while it was draining out, I got out the cutting tools, and went to town on the hood: Then I got a temporary fuel system setup so I could get some fresh gas to the motor: And...... Just open headers, no radiator hoses, ignition coil power wire just wedged in the positive battery terminal, etc. etc. But, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Yep. 100% direct swap.

raw footage from one of the runs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh1s0gJ6uhI