Twitch de la Brat

Weeell, the O2 sensor didn't fix my problem, so I started mentally diagnosing my car tonight. And continue to worry about my rear wheel bearing... :-\ Twitch

Sounds like you need to replace the wheel bearing. When they go, its usually VERY BAD. One way to check is to grab onto the part of the axle shaft that sticks out past the hub, and see if it wiggles or moves at all, in any direction. If it does, then you need to replace the wheel bearing. And yes a bad wheel bearing will cause your tire to wear improperly. Twitch

Did you reconnect all the vacuum lines properly? There are quite a few so its easy to miss on or two. Did you make sure the O2 sensor is plugged in completely? I just did mine and it was a bugger to get in completely. Also, is everything electrical plugged in? As you probably noticed, there are a LOT of plugs on this engine. Chances are you missed a plug or the knock sensor you swapped out is bad. Twitch PS: Is it throwing any codes? Like a "check engine" light or anything?

What do you mean? The outback struts are actually a lot better than the stock lego struts. They have a higher strut top and have more travel. Just adding a lift your car and wider offset wheels would probably fix most of your clearance problems... And as for cutting and bashing fenders, its done on here all the time without any major detriments to the car. Twitch

And just so you can at least TRY seafoam first, before doing all this extra work, I just put half a can of seafoam into my oil, right before I'm going to change it. And I put the other half into my gas tank. After putting the seafoam into the oil I let my car idle until warm, then for another 5 minutes or so, revving occasionally. I then shut the car off, and change the oil as usual. But you have to be fast so as not to get burnt by the hot oil. Oh, and don't be surprised if your oil is excessively black and kinda thin. Twitch

Sorry for GD, you just need to read his title below his name. Anywho, I highly recommend you get the Maxima alt upgrade, as it is VERY difficult to fit a GM 100a into an EA82 alt spot, if you have a/c. To get a good alt with twice the power (almost) of the stock alt, with no mods other than the wire upgrade, for only $100? I say go for it. Its really easy to upgrade the wire, your local farm and feed store should have the wire you need to jump from the alt to the battery. As for the exhaust, you don't want to go too free flowing or you will lose your low end horribly. I say go for a muffler that sounds good and stick with that. Twitch

He could have been referring to a body lift, instead of a suspension lift... :-p When I get around to lifting mine, I'll just be doing the 2" in the front, jacked up torsion bar. But if you're going for a wheeler and not a "rally BRAT" then I say save your cash for the 6". Twitch PS: Bill makes INCREDIBLY tough lifts, at a good price too.

First of all, your BRAT should have the EA81 OHV engine, a 4 speed manual, or a 3 speed automatic. And if you look at the block, directly in front of where the carb sits, there should be a mark that says "EA81" directly on the block of the engine. Its possible that they rebuilt the carb improperly, as these little hitachi's are kinda picky. You may need to replace or reconnect some vacuum lines, because these little engines are VERY vacuum dependent. Check out your fuel filter and fuel lines as well. Its possible that they are clogged and just need replacement or servicing. Twitch

I have been very jealous of you guys being able to get "grey" imports from Japan. It is very difficult to import a car into America. So we have very few non-USDM cars here. As for the Impreza being a "run-n-gun" kinda car, we have them too. And there are usually people called "fanboys" in them, around here. They tend to act like hoons (idiots) and do needless burnouts, excessive acceleration between stoplights, and just act like morons in general. And I await with high hopes that we get diesels here in the US! If so, I will be buying one ASAP (aka in about 20 years, when they're old and not worth much :-p) Twitch

What? Like "Subaru Slap"? Or more like a friendly wave, flash of the lights, peace sign kinda idea? I make sure I wake to any subaru that is older than 1990. Because most people driving those are Sube nuts, unlike the 90-05'ers. Anything newer than an 05 is usually a nice "wealthy" Sube fan. But then again I live in the PNW, so I have a lot more cars to wave at... Twitch

Hold on, 4? flywheel bolts? Is it an auto or manual? Do you mean the flexplate? If so, then you can access it through the starter hole, or from the viewport on the top of the tranny, I believe... And if you're pulling a clutch, you don't need to unbolt anything other than the bellhousing bolts. Twitch

1.9-2.9% Financing? I would jump at that, I haven't heard of anything lower than that coming out of the Subaru dealerships. And you may be able to see what all has been done on the Subaru website... Otherwise, dig through your local dealership's trash. That's about all I can tell you on how to find that sort of information. Twitch

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/group.php?groupid=3 The link, to the group, that the members should be POSTING IN!!! Its only a few clicks away... And you know, people DO look at the group. Unfortunately not enough people do, so it get really slow and stale. So please, check on the groups occasionally... Even if you don't belong to this one... Twitch PS: This PSA was provided by Twitch de la Brat, because he wants

Ummm, not likely that your engine mounts are causing the problem. Chances are your hub has become warped and is distorted enough destroy wheel bearings. And hubs are usually cheap if you get them from a junkyard. Its easy to check to see if the existing bearings are good, just wiggle the end of the axle shaft. If they are still good then you should be ok to buy it. Oh, and more than likely if it were mounts causing your issue, I would think they would be the tranny mounts... And as for an EJ swap, it is worthy swap, but it requires an adapter plate, a redrilled flywheel, a merged engine harness, and a lot of other miscellaneous stuff that is better explained in the retrofitting section. As for cost of an EJ swap, it all depends on how much work you want to put into it. If you do all the wiring yourself, already have the engine, do all the necessary mods yourself, and only buy the stuff the average mechanic can't make (the adapter plate, clutch kit etc) you'll probably be around $500 into it. Twitch PS: Another hint, search for the info you need

Welcome back! That's a nice looking suby! And I'm guessing "Estate" means wagon, right? Like "Saloon" means sedan? Sorry, I'm an American, forgive me for not knowing the Queens English :-p Feel free to ask questions! But, please for the your sake and ours, search for answers first. It makes things flow around here so much more smoothly. Twitch PS: Curse you Olnick! You beat me to the first reply :-p

You're gonna need either King Springs, or Scorpion springs with those outback struts you've got. But unfortunately one of the aforementioned companies is no longer in business... I just don't remember which And you'll need some negative offset wheels so that you don't hit the strut tops. I'm not sure how far you need to go outward, but its a pretty good amount. Twitch

The Sambar is a Mini Truck. It has I believe, either a 2cyl 4 stroke, or a 3cyl engine. They aren't very common, but are extremely handy for farms, industrial complexes, etc. It has a 4x100 bolt pattern, so UTV parts fit it. Justy and Honda wheels fit too :-p Twitch

Aww, c'mon, that's almost cheating! (I said almost :-p) Looks like you're gonna have fun with that, may the best car win (I said CAR) Twitch

Sahweet. Where exactly did you cut and bash? My BRAT's by far rustier than yours, so I'm not too worried about a little cutting and bashing. Twitch PS: Do you want me to post up the "Official Thread"?

Rust has been very unkind to this generation of Subaru. So in addition to low production numbers, rust has eaten many of them. Not to mention many people considered them to be throw away cars, so as soon as something broke, they chucked them. No respect I tell ya... Twitch

Sweet man. I like how those 27" tires tuck up into the wheel wells. Makes me hopeful to get mine! So are you gonna be showing this bad boy off at the Bi-Drive Recreational All-Terrain Transporter Meet? Twitch

Yeah, you'll be pleasantly surprised about how most people act on here. Everybody is good tempered (unless you ask a lot of stupid questions) and as long as you search first, ask questions later, you'll be good to go Twitch

I replaced my O2 sensor, and now Xandra runs well again! Hopefully my gas mileage will go back up now And I started sanding the rust out of the bed of my BRAT. Its gonna take a while, a looooooong while. Esp. if my drill battery only lasts 10 minutes at a time. I think I'm gonna need to use the corded drill and grinder. Twitch

I was wrong about it being a smooth Idler pulley. It was the toothed pulley right next to the water pump. It had failed and the bearings went away fairly quickly. But there was still enough tension for the car to keep running, soooooo the outer race just rode against the inner until it shaved off enough metal to make the belt lose all tension. I have the thread right here. It shows all the carnage. So the new bearings fixed some of the stumbling, but I finally swapped out my O2 sensor with a used one I had sitting around. It took a couple miles to get readjusted, but it did. Then I went and had fun. Lets just say Xandra got a little dirty Twitch

I say go for it, and it does seem that those with the front air dam have an LSD. If it doesn't well, you got a rare 5sp d/r with the 3.7 diff. Twitch