Numbchux

with the poor tensioner design on the EA82s (not applicable on XT6s or EJs), the belts are bound to fail. regardless of whether you're on-road or off. The reason to run with the covers off is so you can change the belts in just a few minutes. So, if you trust them to get you where you're going (not me! I've been left on the side of the road too many dozens of times by my EA82s), make them last and run with covers. if not, bring spares (both belts, both tensioners, and the idler), and tools, and leave 'em off. someone who knows what they're doing, and has all the parts/tools at hand, can replace one in about 20 minutes. My record is 14, including putting on my coveralls.

yea...."replacement" isn't really the right word. as it won't be the toy. it's just the new daily driver. yea, it'll get a few mods (check the transmission thread in the retrofitting section). and if I get my hands on one new rota, I'll run those come summer time. and throw the air suspension away because it's junk, even when it works. you know. but no engine swaps. no crazy hybrid suspension stuff. I've been plotting something to be the new street toy, but lately I've been thinking about focusing my time/money on the 4runner.

"new" radiator (by new, I mean old, standard EA82, but not corroded to dust like this one) is in. new clutch cable is in. 4.111 clutch-type rear LSD is in. old clutch kit is out. tomorrow, it's the transmission. Oh yea....speedo gear was a different size. had to swap it. but was a direct fit onto the XT6s shaft. EDIT: pictures of the damage:

I highly doubt the kit actually effects the aero in a positive way. maybe would work well with a diffuser from the gas tank to the edge of the rear lip and splitter on the front. it looks goofy in person (at least I think so) without the front lip, as the side skirts and rear extend down below the body a bit, and the front doesn't match. I'll be getting a new lip for sure come spring. I think I might like it a bit better without....but the fiberglass doesn't rust. and it's probably been on there since the car was practically new (the rockers where the rear mount of the side skirts attach is COMPLETELY gone). I'm not anxious to see/show off what's underneath.

pitch stopper. XTs (6- and 4-cylinders) bolt to the trans like EJs.

I've done it to Ea82 3.9s many times without grinding. no problems. this one was definitely a different casting. couldn't even get the ring gear past the little nubs (could also be that the 4.111 ring gear is a bit larger than the 3.9 one).

^yea, the repro thing got delayed a bit, but it's changing hands this winter. so yea, I'll be getting a repro lip ASAP.

both pictures of the transmission are EJ internals in the XT6 case. reason is to replace the screwed up gears that were in it. I wanted to at the very least keep FT4WD (although I prefer the VLSD AWD center), and since genuine XT6 trannies are rare, and turbo Ea82 trannies are geared poorly, my best bet was to grab an EJ AWD trans and swap the internals. The adapter plates only work to mate an EJ engine to an EA/ER transmission.....I'm going the other way. not sure what torsion arm you're referring to. Just finished swapping the LSD into the 4.111 legacy donor diff (grabbed a legacy one with bolt in bearing retainers, as the impreza had thread-in ones....and I don't have the tool to remove them without breaking them). Also, had to grind the case on it. never had to swapping these into other EA82 cases....took a picture of the mod:

so, this '88 XT6 was making noise in 2nd gear. I suspected the synchros to be shot. So, I bought a trans from a '94 impreza. yesterday, I pulled the '6 trans out, carried it down to the workbench, and started tearing into it. I found 2 teeth missing on the driven 2nd gear. so I lifted all the gears out and laid the impreza internals into it. ran into an issue.....the 1-2 shift fork is a mm or 2 narrower on the XT6 trans than it is on the EJ one. I was able to drop the driven shaft in there, but could not spin it by hand, it was just to tight. So I pulled it apart, and swapped the shift forks between the two transmissions: EJ on the left, XT6 on the right. the EJ shift fork was a direct fit on the XT6 shifter rod (I bet the EJ shifter rods would have worked fine). EJ front diff dropped right in. after many hours of cussing, I finally got the alignment pins aligned in the needle bearings: then got the EJ center diff and tailhousing bolted on: tonight I'm swapping the LSD that was in my wagon to 4.111 to match this trans. and seeing if I can modify the XT6 center tranny xmember section to work with the EJ mount (bolt spacing is different....).

no, the clutch shouldn't cause any hangup (the disc needs to be able to slide on the input shaft to work properly....so they don't really get seized on there). just have to make sure everything is disconnected. the pitch stopper (bar from the engine to firewall), throttle cable, fuel lines, electrical, vacuum, etc. etc.

I measured it all again, and got closer to 2". Since that was right in between what suberdave and kingbobdole reported, I went with it. picked up the modded shaft today, hopefully will start putting things back in tomorrow....

I think machining splines would probably be more expensive than a quality weld....

and what "new rims" do you plan to put on there? only things that will fit are '80s peugeot wheels, or modified 6-lug truck stuff. both of which have plenty of clearance for the hub.

I would assume the pinion would work with the RX driven shaft. BUT, I know the newer cars used a different center diff (and possibly housing). so you'd need to get your hand on one of those. IIRC anything 2002 and newer would work there, so that'd be a bit easier than the R&P. keep your eyes open on nasioc and the like. might be able to find a trans with a blown 2nd gear for fairly cheap. also, baja turbos and outback XTs had them.

seriously. I will not spoon-feed you any more than that.

I think he's referring to searching with your eyes. right now, the 8th thread in this section answers most of your question already: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=106175 all subaru rear ends are r160s (except the new STis which use an r180). so they're interchangeable. GD mentioned recently that the rear hanger studs are slightly different, so you might want to use the EA82 rear cover. as for what gear ratios came in what: http://www.northursalia.com/techdocs/trannychart/trannychart.html

bumping up this old thread. sorry Can you confirm this? I'm putting an EJ center diff in my XT6 this week. need to have the driveshaft modified. you say 1 7/8" suberdave says 55mm (which is about 2 3/16") and my measurements (which I don't trust entirely, as they're being done out of the car) are pointing towards about 2.5". I want a quick turnaround, so I want to have a spare driveshaft modified before I take the car apart. For future reference, for use with an EJ 5MT in an EA82 car. EJ rear half is too long. EJ 5MT front half is too long (about the same as an EA82 5MT front half). EJ 4EAT front half is too short.

yea, only a few of the highest-performance jdm 5-speeds had a front LSD. so getting a used factory one would not be easy. All subaru 5-speed front diffs are interchangeable though. And there are many aftermarket front diff options. Ranging from the cheap (in every way. I have seen tell of them fail, with reasonable power/usage) OBX, all the way to Quaife helical ones (couple grand!). if my next subaru-powered project ever gets going, it will be using a FWD 5-speed. and I plan to run this STi front diff: http://japanparts.com/db/parts_detail.php?submit.x=41&submit.y=10&NUMBER=00002191&VOLUME=1005G-019-083&DEALER=1&CAR=&MIDDLE=1&SMALL=19&MAKER=4&VOLKEY=&SEARCH_DEALER=1&SEARCH_CAR=&SEARCH_MIDDLE=1&SEARCH_SMALL=19&SEARCH_MAKER=&SEARCH_VOLKEY=&SEARCH_page=

yep, any standard EA82 (be it 4-cyl XT or wagon/sedan/coupe) rear shock/spring assembly will work. keep in mind, the wagon will be a much stiffer rear spring than the XT. I like upping the rear spring rates more than the front, so it's not necessarily a bad thing, but be aware, it will change the way the car handles. EJ struts aren't too hard to adapt. but you'll want some sort of hydraulic tool to spread the flange. I used a hydraulic press and an impact socket that was about 2 mm wider than the XT6 knuckle. worked perfectly. then a few minutes with a dremel to modify the holes in the strut tower for the EJ strut tops (or, swap the '6 tops onto the EJ struts. they'll interchange. but if you've got a dremel, it'll be faster to modify the body). what gary meant is that it doesn't use a cable shift. it's external linkage. but yea, there are a few sets of bushings. I started looking to see if some EJ-style ones would work (so that some stiffer ones could be used), they look similar, but I never confirmed anything.

You do have to use some brain matter while operating them. yea, if you're not hanging onto them, they'll go pretty crazy. but I would not, for a second, call it any less safe than a floor/bottle jack on enough lumber to get a lifted subaru off the ground. ESPECIALLY offroad, where you don't have a stable place to put a jack.

nope, "wider" being front-to-back. so the sway bar is an inch or so further away from the control arms. I would assume, since leading rods are interchangeable between '6s and EA82s, and ditto with driveshafts. that the control arms are in the same place relative the rest of the car. but the sway bar is just a bit further forward. so when you put a '6 sway bar on an EA82, the sway bar link ends up angled back a bit, and then the bend in the bar touches the control arm. the setup on my wagon rubbed there, actually rubbing a noticeable notch in both control arm and sway bar.

check out Jibs's brat. Those look like stock EJ 14s. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=104738 I ran some 17x8 +48s on my EA82 without any major clearance issues (front tires would rub the frame rail at full lock....but only just).

really pretty self-explanatory. my old '85 wagon. torn outer CV boot. joint had been binding a bit for awhile. Went mudding in it one day, lots of nasty, swampy, dirty water splashing up the windshield. next day, I drove into town to the MNSubaru meet, and as I was leaving, the joint snapped. I dropped it in 4WD and continued on. That night I did a brake stand in front of a buddies house, and then we went off to do some donuts. steering wheel full-lock, floored it, horrible sounds and the ebrake on that corner locked up. got out the flashlight, and yea, the axle shaft had caught the cable. pulled the axle out, drove on for about 5k miles after that before I parted out the car.

me too. just taking up space.

they will go soooooooo long at stock height. they will dry out, click, bind, pull, make noise, and not break for thousands of miles. the outer joints have a bit more strain on them than the inners (and will hold less grease in them without the boot), so they will fail a bit quicker. but you've still got a long way to go. if you go through a swamp today, though. they'll probably break tomorrow (go ahead.....ask me how I know ). worst case scenario? it breaks. coast to a stop, pop it in 4WD, drive on in RWD. yawn. just know that if it's an outer joint, at full lock the shaft can pop out of the joint and get caught up in your brake lines and such (so....don't try to whip donuts in you're newly RWD wagon until you get the broken half out of there.......again, ask me how I know ). carry a punch and hammer. if it breaks, jack up the car, pop out the spring pin, pull out the shaft/inner joint (you'll have to turn the wheel to full lock to get it loose without disassembling the suspension), drive on. BUT! a new CV boot kit is about $10. 2 of them per axle. You're axle is still well worth saving (assuming it's still a subaru one). spend the $20 now to return your axle to new. or spend $50+ later to have a crappy remanufactured axle that will just fail again in 6 months (lifetime warranty = it will fail often until you get fed up and spend the money on a decent one).