Numbchux

I would not daily drive an EA82 with oversized tires and drum brakes, regardless of the engine.

More tinkering. Shifter cable is attached to the trans and routed. gas tank and exhaust hangers are all cut off. While it's a cool gadget, I really don't have any use for the altimeter. Soo.....I pulled it out and installed the trans temp gauge in it's place before: after: This gauge assembly is fairly sought-after, so I didn't modify anything crucial to it. also....there's a land-cruiser at upull......

the 4MT is.....not ideal. Depends what you're doing with the car. If you plan to lift it and put big oversized tires on it, you're going to want to sacrifice the street traction for the 1.59:1 low range of an EA82 part-time 4WD 5MT. But for every other use, EA82 5MTs leave a bit to be desired as well. IMO the only upside is PT4WD is great for a DD, as you still have 4WD for when it gets nasty, but you have FWD for mpg. BUT, with the torque of even a non-turbo EJ in there, combined with EA front suspension geometry, means you will have wheelspin in FWD. Even if you're not really hammering on it. If you're going for a turbo motor, you're obviously ready to sacrifice some mileage for performance. Which IMO is a waste unless you can put it to the ground effectively. The EJ trans will be a bit harder to install in an EA81, but not much more than an EA82 5MT. But it'll all be worth it. You will need a custom crossmember to hold it up, modified shift linkage, modified driveshaft (just for length, the slip yoke splines are the same for all subaru transmissions). Look for a '96-'99 Legacy L (2.2l) transmission. It will be a 3.9:1 axle ratio, so you won't need to change your rear diff, and cable-operated clutch, so you won't have to worry about converting to hydraulic. (Imprezas of similar vintage might have that gearing as well, there's a serial number on the bellhousing near the starter. throw that into google to know for sure)

yep, only 6-cyl XTs were 5-lug. But either way, the calipers are the same. When I did the 5-lug swap on my wagon, I kept the GL-10 calipers from the 4-lug disc setup. The loaded calipers will bolt right up, and make the project quite a bit simpler. But reman'd calipers can be trouble. I bought one for the wagon (lifetime warranty), and I would have to replace it about once a year. IMO, youd be much better off rebuilding the caliper you have yourself, save yourself some money now, and some headache later.

Man, that sucks for Jimmy. AblePlanet pulled out of their rally sponsoring after last year, so he had to look for a new sponsor. He had his rear diff blow up at 100AW, and now this. Damn good driver having some crappy luck this year.

Yep, it's the correct use of the indicator lights. And I'm pretty sure, the law.

How's the project coming? I've been working on the shift linkage for my 700r4 into my toyota 4runner lately. And thought of you. I don't know if you have a plan, but my goal was to use the stock toyota shifter (my truck was an auto) to control the gm transmission. after some experimenting in trying to make my own linkage (could have worked.....but there would have been a lot of experimenting to get the lever arms the right length, and there isn't much room to work with for experimenting), I decided to go cable, and buy off-the-shelf. I picked up a B&M 80740 cable from summit racing, and a B&M 35498 "GM Bracket & Lever Kit". These are pre-formed brackets to mount that cable to the GM trans. the bracket mounts to 2 of the transmission oil pan bolts, and the lever arm doesn't protrude beyond the bottom of the pan. It's a pretty good way to simplify the fabrication, and only about $50 for both from summit racing.

I MUCH prefer this setup. As it allows the regular headlight/parking light switch to be automatically turned off with the ignition. I am in the process of modifying both my Toyotas to function the same way.

Agreed!

Now for it to start nickel-and-dime-ing me to death..... compression fitting to hose-barb adapters. I will use these for all the steel lines (left to right. 3/8 pair for Transmission cooler, 1/2 pair for oil cooler, and 3 5/16s for fuel lines. The return line on the tank is the right size, also, the 3/8 compression to 1/4 female NPT for the last one is backordered) Also, transmission temperature gauge. Also got a drain plug kit and installed it and the sender in the pan. And a B&M shifter cable. This should drastically simplify my linkage situation. And a 6-position fuse block and one of the neat little rocker switches for my electrical systems (Rad fan override, on-board air, and 3 sets of lights). Also, since the tank is out, I'm working on moving it to the other side. Since I was planning on re-doing the mounts to lift it to match the body lift, it won't be hard just put them on the other side. Only things in the way on the other side would be exhaust (custom anyway...), and the shock (getting relocated anyway). Only extra work for this will be lengthening the level sender wires, and extending the filler pipe and vent (leaving the filler where it is....). This will allow me to put a mid-'90s Land Cruiser rear axle in it, hopefully next winter. There are a few of these on car-part.com complete for around $500. Which would mean 9.5" ring gear (should go well with my 7.5" front :blackeye: ), full-floating hubs, disc brakes, drum-in-disc parking brakes, factory electronically selectable locker, and the same width as the long travel IFS. Challenge is the diff is 4" offset from center......but only problem there is the gas tank. Also, the FJ80s are linked and coil-sprung. So some bracketry would have to be cut off and spring perches welded on.....doable.

toyota tcase shifter pattern: you could use a twin stick setup, and then you'd only need movement in one dimension

Yea, depending on the condition and seller, even 1300 isn't really an awesome deal. The 2.2 is definitely an option. There are a ton of different combinations that are possible for that combo. You could use your 2.5 heads/intake, which would simplify the wiring (a slight drop in compression, so a bit less power than the stock 2.2, but not much). Or use most of the 2.2 like you mentioned. You can either drill and tap the engine block, tap threads in the transmission bellhousing so it's like the 4-bolt transmissions (with a stud in the transmission for that lower starter mount), or even just run one bolt on the starter. I don't think this is an issue. I know that a Legacy EJ25D ECU (like yours) will plug in, and run, a '96 EJ22 in an impreza with no mods. And I don't think the sensors are different between the '95 impreza 2.2 and the '96 (the pinout at the ECU was different for the '95, but as far as I know, that's the end of the difference).

History on the engine? Do you know you have a good alternator? What model/year did it all come out of, as the wiring of the alternator changed many times over the length of the EJ production. need more background info

a 2006 WRX would have an EJ255, only the STi had the 257. The only difference in the shortblock is the pistons though. Either way, these are turbo motors. Which means the compression ratio will be lowered substantially. So you'll loose a bunch of power and torque. Mechanically it would work, and it'll be drivable, but not ideal. Honestly, unless you plan to turbo it, I would look for something else. If the motor you're looking at (be it a 255 or 257) is a great deal, you could probably flip it for a decent profit, as they have more than a little value. And grab a non-turbo 2.5 shortblock (25D, 251, 253, would all work fine).

I've heard of that piece breaking before. I've also replaced it. Not for the same reason, for a 4WD conversion, but similar project. I'm assuming this is a FWD car? When you mention jacking from the crossmember, I assume there isn't a rear diff there. If that's the case, this won't be too bad of a project. One bolt on either side to disconnect the shock from the trailing arm. Disconnect the brake line. A bolt on the back side of the crossmember on the passenger side that clamps the fuel line down (don't forget this one!). And then 4 bolts per-side actually hold that crossmember to the body. Now, separating the trailing arms from the crossmember can be challenging. The bolts that the trailing arms pivot on tend to be very tight, very difficult to access on the car. The outer bolt has a captive nut, so it's a bit easier on the car. The inner one has a loose nut on the back side, so you'll have to use 2 wrenches, in which case, off the car works pretty well. Rust on these bolts can be a problem. I've disassembled a few of them, and had them fight me, even had 2 break (see the first 4 pictures below). If the bolt is seized into the bushing, you'll have a project on your hands. If the outer bolt gives you trouble, there are 3 bolts between that outer piece of the arm and the rest of the trailing arm, but beware, this is where the alignment is adjusted. You say you have parts to replace it. If you can leave the crossmember and trailing arms as an assembly, I wouldn't hesitate to swap things over. If you need to swap your trailing arms over, I would give it some thought, and give the car a major inspection before doing the work. If it's 4WD. You'll have to drop the rear diff too. At which point, you'll have some extra work to do. The axles are probably the only thing that'll give you trouble there. 4 bolts at the driveshaft, 1 bolt for the front hanger, and 2 to the rear hanger. Then pop a spring pin, and separate the axle from one end or the other (I'd pull them out with the diff). Here's some pictures of EA82 rear suspension assemblies that Ive taken over the years. These are all 4WD, and a few are turbo (sway bar mounts).

Camber plates: Replaces the strut top. EJ tops will work in an EA82 car by slightly opening up the 3 holes in the strut towers. Stock EJ strut on my '89 XT6. You can see how close the bolt pattern is. 5-lug swap will allow camber adjustment at the knuckle, plenty to solve that dreadful EA82 handling. Camber plates AND a 5-lug swap really only necessary for dedicated track use.

Quite a bit of weight, especially over the 4-cyl. I don't have a number, but correcting the ride height after the swap is a common discussion. I plan to get some Sway-a-way heavy duty torsion bars for the front before too long.

Cut the hole in the tunnel for the tcase shifter and got it bolted on. Also bolted the blockoff plate down in the adapter for the tcase shifter (the AA adapter has provision for forward-shift linkage). Got the remote oil filter assembly bolted to the inner fender, and the lines clamped back down on the motor side. Have to order the adapters so I can have decent hose barbs for a universal oil cooler. The Toyota shifter had PRND21, and a button for 3rd (O/D lockout). But the 700R4 has PRND321, so I needed to add another notch, as I'll probably want to select 1st for wheeling. A few minutes with the dremel (didn't have a small enough grinding bit, so I did it with a cutoff wheel.....it'll do) and I added another notch, and clearanced the base so the shifter can travel a bit further: I'll have to modify the plastic surround a bit to match, and I might cut off the bracketry for the old tcase linkage. I'm also going to cut a piece of plastic to block off where the old tcase shifter was, and mount some switches there. Next is lengthening the shifter on the other end (the pivot is closer to the passenger side of the truck, so when modified to reach to the other side of the trans, it'll have to be lengthened). And then taking a bunch of measurements to see just how long it should stick down so it travels just the right distance for each gear.

3rd wire on the old ones is a shield wire. You'll find only 2 wires go to the sensor, even on OBD 1 cars

I've done the Jeep SYE mod with it in gear. that's with just the output shaft spinning. You're talking about the entire drivetrain spinning (actually, you'll probably have to leave one rear wheel on the ground, otherwise the rear diff wouldn't let the one you're working on spin). It could be done, but it is quite ghetto, and still a fairly bad idea. Also, drilling 4 holes and putting lug studs in them is not even slightly comparable in ghetto-ness than what you're proposing. Drilling 4 holes, somehow putting studs/bolts in them without having anything protrude into the WMS, and cutting the whole thing down. All of this could properly be done with a good machine shop, but you're not talking about doing it right.

Yep. Mudrat did it years ago with his hatch for the Rubicon trip. Nissan tcase behind an EJ 4EAT. Transfer clutches had to be welded up, simply cutting power to the DutyC was not enough to make the car driveable. This would be true of any EJ trans, the VLSD center diff in the MTs would not be strong enough. They'd have to be welded, or replaced with a RWD conversion sleeve. But that would pretty much be the only challenge unique to an EJ.

It would be a project, but it might be possible. The bolt heads would have to be countersunk into the hub surface so they wouldn't interfere with the wheel. I have to be honest, though. the idea of cutting the drum while on the car sounds like an excellent way to break something (either on the car, or you). I wouldn't do it unless properly machined, and honestly, 4-lug rear disc setups are not NEARLY rare enough to justify either method.

If the cooling system is in good repair, just pull it off. Only Ea82s with A/C came with a clutch fan, so it's only necessary in the hardest situations. The A/C never worked in my Ea82s, so I pulled it all off, and the fan, and almost never had problems. you won't notice any power unless the clutch was failed, but you might gain a bit of mileage depending on your driving style. And you'll make your car a lot easier to work on.

Yea...."need"? maybe not. but it's a good idea. New rings really need a fresh hone to break in properly. I've gotten away with used rings and no hone (a friend of mine is currently running used pistons/rings in an EJ205, has been for a year and a half, without issues). Our rally car build is using a brand-new OEM EJ257, so we didn't re-hone it for the new pistons. I've never done a hone on an assembled shortblock though. I'd be worried about metal shavings in the bearings. I suppose a good wash would be alright.

As a matter of fact, the pistons pretty much have to come out before the case is split, so yea, they can be swapped. That's what we've done for both motors in our rally car. stock EJ257 bottom end, drop in aftermarket pistons to raise the compression, done. Doesn't even take very long. And yea....legos......awesome. It's pretty amazing how interchangeable these parts really are.