Numbchux

Badass. Maybe not exactly as I would have built it, but I didn't. Props for getting it done, and doing it yourself! At first I thought it was a GF Outback Sport. The ride height makes the body look small. What size tires are on there?

Welcome! This has been covered hundreds if not thousands of times here. There are stickies, writeups, build threads, etc. There are probably a dozen specific ways to do it. Short version is, most of the front will work, almost none of the rear will without EXTREME fabrication. You will need 4WD XT6 rear hubs.

What are your goals with the Brat?! That's more important than your engine options. The EJ25D will not fit in the engine bay as-is, the DOHC heads make the engine too wide. What I'm saying, is I vote 1UZ

Yep, I saw that. I'm wondering how long it's been driven after you picked it up EA82s do not use taper roller bearings in the front like most automotive wheel bearings. You can have noise without play. Good news is they're cheap to buy, and not terribly difficult to replace. Low range thing is a problem, and I'm really not sure what exactly would cause that. Just brainstorming here....There's a rod coming straight from that shift lever to the back of the transmission. In the rear of the transmission it engages the rear driveline. Once moved through the 4WD position, it pushes on a second linkage that travels externally along the transmission to a lever near the bellhousing that shifts the low range. I actually have 2 D/Rs apart in my basement right now, and I just went and played with the mechanisms. The only place I see that it could bind is in the synchros for lo range. That said, I had a '94 Legacy that we could not get into 2nd gear when we first drove it (was a flood salvage...couldn't test drive initially). 3 Quarts of Castrol HypoyC 80w90 and one quart of Rislone Engine Treatment (yes, you read that right, engine treatment), and we got another 100k miles out of that car (280k total, death by rust). I would try that, and see if that helps. The low range gearset is in a place that it would be dry while sitting, so it might have some corrosion on it, and a good fluid change could help drastically.

Technically, they are not lifters.....they are hydraulic lash adjusters. And in my experience, they prefer thinner oil. Your oil pressure readings sound good, so I wouldn't mess with the pump, for now. I would throw some sea foam in the oil for a hundred miles or so, and then do an oil change back to 10w30. That should clean things out quite a bit. How long has it been driven since it was sitting? Those HLAs tend to stick after sitting. I've had a few EA82s, and an ER27 that sat for awhile and made a nasty racket. After a few oil changes, they quieted down considerably. Grinding noise from the wheel pretty much has to be either pads or wheel bearing. A caliper will cause issues, and may have killed one or both of the pads, but will not directly cause grinding. I couldn't believe how much better my first '88 drove once getting that bad wheel bearing out of it! That could be a major cause of your power/mileage issues. While on paper, loosing 50hp but also 500 lbs or so going from the Legacy to the GL sounds like it shouldn't be that bad, but the way the EA82 delivers it's 90 hp is pathetic compared to the EJs. They are VERY slow. But, you should definitely be able to get better than 20mpg. I second pulling the outer timing belt covers and making sure the cam timing is spot on, and checking the ignition timing. I'll second 175eya's question of whether you can get into 4WD Hi OK, and not Lo. Even though they are on the same control lever, the Hi/Lo and 4WD mechanisms are very different. I can see having an issue preventing shifting into 4WD. But if that works, I don't see a likely way that Hi/Lo wouldn't. There is an adjustment in the linkage between the 4WD part and the Lo range lever, but it shouldn't have to be adjusted except when initially assembling the transmission. It should shift just as smoothly and easily as any other gear.

I'm pretty sure that's exactly how the lower portion of the stock BE/BH legacy belt is held in. I don't think it would be any less safe. That said, I'm not sure how it would work in "legally". But I'm pretty sure if you got in a major accident, and the insurance company found out there were 5 people in a car rated for 4.....you'd probably be denied coverage, and/or dropped. I'm normally not opposed to modifying something to better suit a person's needs. But I don't think I would do that one....

Nice, that looks like it would be a close fit. I'd make a bracket using the other 2 bolt holes to support that heim double-shear.....those captive nuts are not terribly sturdy individually.

GD STis have a wider track and therefore longer axles than most EJs. Nico. You should use or make adjustable/longer leading rods to improve your caster too. Maybe with some heim joints on the inside. Seems a shame to spend all the time and money on lightweight aluminum arms to still have to fight that bushing for suspension movement.

Yep, it certainly could be just the tire. In fact, I'm sure the tire is definitely lower-quality. But whether the wheel is as well, or not, is too difficult to prove either way.

The shape and thickness is not the whole story (although interesting). The quality of the steel used is also important. I have seen EJ subaru temporary steelies used for ice racing. 2 bent up at the first snowbank (was a pretty good hit, but I've seen regular steelies hold up to similar many times). Not really any way to document whether they are truly strong "enough" for use. They were not intended for long term use. There are hundreds of stories of people using them without trouble. But even still, not for me. 6-lug swap is too easy.

Well, if the pump is working, and the rack is working, and the lines are hooked up correctly, than it would work.... Which line is blowing out? Sounds like you've got pressure where there shouldn't be, so either the valving in the rack is screwed up, or the lines are backwards.

I don't think I ever posted this. I'm sure most of you will recognize the car, but about a year and a half ago, a couple very close friends of mine went to Iceland for a week......and look what they bumped into up in the mountains: That's actually my friends' rental Suzuki next to it. They got to talk to the guy for awhile. As we've all suspected, there's nothing Subaru underneath. It's all Land Rover Whole gallery, if you're interested: http://www.sieglerphoto.com/Travel/Iceland-2013/i-z2W2DSZ

The bolt patterns are very similar. So you're not drilling completely new holes, but just slotting them a bit. I shoot some paint through an EJ flexplate or flywheel onto the EA82 flywheel to get an idea, and then a high-speed cutting bit for a dremel, usually requires a couple test-fits.

I don't think I posted it, but the crash that got me the car so cheap also damaged the diff. Weirdly, the only symptom was an uncontrollable gear oil leak due to the excessive play in the output shaft. No vibrations or noises at all. But, it chewed up the seal there, and had gotten to the point where it would leak out all but about a quart of it's gear oil in a matter of minutes. I'd put a quart or so in it before driving home from work twice a week, just in hopes to keep the bearings happy until I could replace the transmission. 2 weeks ago, I got an S51 trans out of a '99 4-cyl Camry (virtually identical to the Celica's S53, mostly just different gearing). This week I bought a new clutch and output shaft seals from AutoZone, and this weekend....I got to work. Boy do I hate doing major work on transverse cars. But, I got it done, and when I did, I put the Rotas on there, washed it, and went for a drive

It should be mentioned that EJ stuff is very easy, and allows a ton of options. SVX is very different from EJ (almost as much as EA is from EJ). All the mounting points (strut, tie rod end, ball joint) are pretty different, the rotor hat offset is different, I think caliper bolt spacing is different, etc. etc. But, you can get SVX-sized stuff with standard EJ dimensions all day every day, usually cheap or less. That said, EJ is not hard, and completely worth it. They didn't change much for more than 20 years, so there are immense donor options. And when you're swapping them into an XT6 it's really quite easy. Just need the shorter EA81 outer tie rod end, and you'll have better camber, and a better akermann angle. I highly recommend it!!

For the record. The Torque bind in your '96 is likely the center diff, not the rear. But the center diff out of your '95 transmission will work. Also your '95 Legacy and '96 Outback might have different rear diff ratios (I think standard BD/BG 5MT Legacies had 3.9, and Outbacks had 4.111. But '95 and '96 are sort of bastard years in both regards....so it might be different). Only you can decide exactly what you want. I don't think any other transmission option is even worth discussing....those are the only ones I would consider. EA82 Pros The EA82 one will be a little easier to install. Someone on here (I'm spacing as to who....sorry) makes a bolt-in solution for putting an EA82 transmission in an EA81 chassis. The front axles will attach like they were meant to, IIRC an EA82 driveshaft is the right length, just need to make a mount for the carrier bearing. FWD seems to give better mileage. True low-range 4WD is pretty sweet off-road, even if that's just like in the yard... EA82 Cons: FWD sucks for aggressive driving (as you cannot use 4WD on dry pavement). True 4WD also kind of sucks for aggressive driving (especially when combined with stock EA alignment). Mediocre (at best) clutch options. Have to buy an adapter plate. Have to modify the flywheel (really not that bad). EJ AWD Pros: Better dry pavement manners. Better clutch and flywheel options. No adapter plate necessary. EJ AWD Cons: Will require modification for the axles (either hybrid, 25-spline inner EA81 axles, or open the transmission and put 23-spline stubs in it, which is what I would do). Custom driveshaft (no stock length will work). Custom crossmember. AWD will hurt your mileage a bit. If your Outback transmission isn't a 3.9, you'll have to swap the rear diff in the brat to 4.111. Not impossible, or even terribly difficult, but something that needs to be done. There's more...but I have to go to work now.....sorry

Don't I won't hijack this thread with a full discussion on that, but I will say this. The stock system is not very reliable, and performs really poorly, and it would be extremely difficult to retrofit into a new chassis. Aftermarket universal systems would work better, but would be very difficult to install....

No, they won't. Read my post above. Miata shocks only allow better damping options. Stock ones are probably worse than stock Subaru, as they are the same length, and have less travel. The spring perch will still require an adjustable sleeve.....which is what will allow the lower ride height. Just use that on the stock Subaru shock. Not all of them. FWD ones do not (possibly some non-turbo 4-cylinder 4WDs....but I'm not sure), and have the shortest overall length of any EA82 strut. EA82 is a decent chassis for performance, but requires significant modification. The front camber and castor are high on that list, but lowering until the roll center is on the ground is definitely not the answer. And with the design of the rear trailing arms, I do not recommend anything lower than stock FWD height (an inch or so lower than stock 4WD).

No. Miata shocks (they're coilover shocks, some would consider them struts), work on EA82s, and only allow better damping options, they require coilover sleeve type springs, which is what allows ride height adjustment. EA81s do not use a coil spring, they use a torsion bar, which is what determines ride height. AFAIK, they should all have an adjustment bolt in the center to adjust the preload on the bar. Be aware, that lowering an EA Subaru is a form over function modification. The suspension geometry is designed around the factory ride height. Anything lower than stock FWD height changes camber and roll center in a pretty negative way. If all you're looking for is looks, go for it, but you will sacrifice performance.

After a bath:

Holy 10-year old thread, batman!

Keep in mind, it's a part-time dual-range. To my knowledge, the only options for that would be the '85-'86 RX 3.7 (which would also have 25-spline stubs), or the ever-so-common 3.9. I think, if it's not a 3.9, it would have had to have been opened up and modified (at least axle stubs swapped).

I believe '85-'86 RXs had a part-time 4WD with a 3.7. However that would have 25 spline stubs. I'm not sure what you're getting at with the spline counts. That doesn't really have any direct effect on the gear ratios. The 23-spline stubs on the transmission indicates it's probably (it's possible to swap them, but they probably didn't) a non-turbo transmission, which means it's almost definitely a 3.9. Which means it's most likely that the rear diff cover doesn't match it's internals (3.7 w/3.9 sticker). It'll be difficult to see the difference between a 3.7 and 3.9 by counting driveshaft rotations. Probably easiest to double it. Mark the driveshaft. Raise one rear wheel, spin it all the way around 4 times (with other rear wheel on the ground, the spider gears will halve it for 2 rotations of the ring gear). The pinion/driveshaft should rotate either 7.4 or 7.8 rotations, should be easy to tell if it stops less than 180* from where it started, or more like 270*.

Have the stock one lightened. Having seen several in the 8 years since this was posted, I'd bet money it would be a massive pain to get it to work. I bet the EJ flywheel wouldn't even fit in the EA bellhousing.

Yep, driveshaft carrier bracket. I just had an EA81 one-piece shaft lengthened to match the EA82. Rear diff mount has 2 bolts on either side that bolt it to the framerails. These nuts are not present in the 2WD, but there are divots where they go. Just drill and tap. Don't overtorque, and use lock washers. The one I did is still being daily beaten, now 3 owners later. Everything else is bolt-on