Numbchux

the problem with cranking up the suspension. is you loose travel. ALOT of travel. especially if you go 1.5" or more. if you're just mudding, and you don't really need any suspension flex, go for it. but if you're on trails that require flex, a lift would be much better (and you'll get better approach and departure angles too!)

my buddy in his hatch. just cranked up the suspension, hacked the crap out of the rear fenders, removed the fronts, and slapped on some 29" super swampers. he's lifted it since then....but it still performed very well!

not if it was an automatic. and that still doesn't solve the problem of the offset mount on the EA81 firewall.

no hurry. the exhaust probably won't get built until xmas break anyway....

the more I think about it. the more I think the oil near the exhaust is just a coincidence....

correct. the easiest way would probably be to just swap the trailing arms. 2 bolts on either side at the pivot point. one at the bottom of the strut, take off the axle and the sway bar (if applicable...if so...you might as well put it back on when you get it into your car!). brake lines, I beleive there's a clamp that holds one of the fuel lines to the trailing arm somewhere....or maybe it was the crossmember....either way, watch for that. and then swap 'em. as per the driveshaft removal. you can remove the rear half of the driveshaft without pulling it out of the tranny (and therefore loosing the gear oil). 4 little bolts on either end, and it should come right out. and no, XT6s all had rear discs. the pic above is actually out of a GL wagon....but it's the same setup.

nope. RX tranny's don't. and I haven't found an XT in the local junkyards yet, so I don't have a pitch stopper either... the problem they're talking about, is the EA81 pitch stopper is mounted off-center. and the XT bracket is centered. and there's no way to put the EA81 bracket onto the EJ22....

I would recommend doing this: notice the bottom tube is not as long as the top one. to match the shape of the car. the top one is also set a bit further out away from the car than the bottom one....it's very slick! I've never had any brush get into my rad. just get some C-channel, drill a couple holes, bolt it up in the stock bumper mount locations. then hold the tubes where you want the, and weld them on.

I've been amazed the last couple months driving my EJ-swapped wagon around in FWD. the thing refuses to hook up! I've got decent tires too, not track tires or anything, they're just basic all-seasons, but they've got lots of tread left. and I can pretty easily do a rolling burnout anywhere in 1st gear. carefully idle it up to ~8-10mph....floor it. and there's smoke! now there's snow....so I've been driving my lifted wagon for the last few days.... I'm going to make it my personal goal to finish the text portion of my EA-EJ writeup by the end of this week. hopefully get it to pdf file by the end of next week. especially since it looks like my wiring harness has to come back out

yep. you don't need to stick the outer axles through the hubs though....the axles disconnect from the spindles just like they do from the tranny or diff. a roll pin, and slide them off. don't even need to take the wheel off.

if the plugs look fine, than it sounds to me like the oil is not entering the combustion chamber. but beyond the block itself, I can only take a blind stab at what might be the problem in your application....

tube bumpers....no bender required. they look great, and are VERY functional:

fair enough. I listed all the parts you'll need from a FWD '6 in my previous post. if you swap the rear trailing arms, then the mounts at the hubs will be the same as a 4WD, but you won't have any axles or a diff. to swap to 4WD, you'll need the tranny, and this: gas tanks should be the same. the tank on my 2WD loyale had the indent for the diff when I converted to 4WD like I said, the rear suspension isn't anything even remotely similar to what a legacy's got. crawl under the back of an EA car, and then go look at the rear end of an EJ car.....they're like different planets. the AWD is only controlled by a computer (seperate from the ECU..) on the automatics. if they're both 5-speeds, you should be able to bolt up the tranny and wire up the diff lock switch, and you're set.

awesome! thanks a ton!!

I have a pile of timing belt covers in my shed (most of them are broken because they didn't come off like they should). The only time I've been left on the side of the road since, is when that idler pulley imploded, and I didn't have a spare. but I always carry a few basic tools (don't need much, a 22mm for the crank pulley, a 12mm and a short extension for the tensioners/rad fan, and a 10mm to turn the cam pulleys.), and a spare set, and if a timing belt breaks, I'm a little (not even alot) late for wherever I'm going....with the covers on...call AAA here's what an old idler pulley can do:

not sure what you're asking. you want to do a 5-lug swap on your XT, and want to use this XT6 as the donor? the rear end stuff has to come off an XT6 (well...except the caliper..). newer stuff is completely different. the backing plate, and rotor should work. but at the very least you'll need a FWD XT6 hub. and the backing plate will need to be modified....and the rotor may not even work... pretty much the only piece that will 100% work, is the front end stuff. and the only thing from the front that has to be from an XT6 are the control arms

if you're in there to replace the timing belts. make sure you replace the tensioner AND IDLER pulleys. I bought an EA82 wagon last spring, the previous owner assured me that he had just replaced the belts and pulleys. on the way home, the idler seized, and took the drivers side timing belt with it.....slap on the towing charge to get it home, and suddenly it wasn't such a good deal I would also highly recommend replacing the seals in the oil pump. aswell as the ones behind the cam pulleys. maybe even the main seal, and water pump too. depending on how ambitious you are.

I guess not....it'll look a little different, but it's the same idea....why? you got one? if you've got a high res version, you can just email it to me: numbchux (at) gmail.com

I don't understand how it could matter. if you're not dropping the carrier bearing down that far anyway, you're going to toast those u-joints backing out of the driveway. I'd go one-peice or junkyard. wouldn't even consider a new bearing.

no, if you leave all the accessories on the engine with the swap, everything will work fine.. otherwise, you'll need to change the waterpump pulley (maybe the whole pump too...I'm not sure) and crank pulley

nice. then the SPFI conversion is for you!

oh...sorry! if your car has a 1.8l, it would be an EA81 (although in '81 I beleive it could be an EA71, which was a 1.6l). they didn't start making EA82s until '85, and never in the hatchbacks or brats. the EJ22 is a MPFI 2.2l motor out of an early legacy. and is ideal for a swap. at least as reliable as an EA motor, but far more power.

I'm going to photoshop together a pic of what I'm thinking of doing for an exhaust system. but need a pic of the underside of an EA82. could be on it's side, but prefferably on a hoist. and it would be really sweet if it was EJ22 swapped!! but I think that might be asking too much...

yes. mostly on EA82s. but you certainly won't be a pioneer on the EA81. the growing trend seems to be going to an EJ22....but if that's not your cup of tea....SPFI is awesome.