TROGDOR!

I was browsing car-part.com and found something interesting.... It seems 2WD EA82's had 14x5" spare tires. Peugeot 505's take 14x5.5" steelies, only a mere half inch wider. And.... ta daa... Peugeot 504's, which many of us run the wheels from, use...... 14x5". So if you can run big tires on Peugeot 504 14x5's, why not run them on Subaru 14x5's? Sure would take care of that nasty offset problem...

The 15x5 is indeed the donut spare. I've never seen a full size 15" wheel narrower than 6".

Just did a little lookin' around... Seems the 4 person cabins are $28 a night plus a $7 advance registration fee. The minimum stay is TWO nights in a row. So those of us who are coming up on Friday and leaving Sunday... there we go.

Hey guys, every yard I keep calling swears that 85/86 EA82 fenders and 87-up fenders are different. I thought they were the same. So can I use an 85 fender on a 92?

So who all will be camping? I'm planning on camping out in the back of the wagon. How long is the office at the Atsion campsite open? And they *do* have shower stalls there, right?

I know Paul (moosens) has been looking high and low for the black plastic trim panels on either side of the back window on a touring wagon. You see any of those in there?

A while back my dad told me that it's gentler on an automatic trans to put it in neutral while at a stoplight. I have noticed that when I do this I don't have to hold the brake pedal as hard, and that the car idles smoother. So here's what I've been debating... Putting the trans in neutral saves wear by not forcing the transmission to run while the car is stopped. However, having to put the car back in gear whenever you want to get going again adds a lot of unneccessary shifting in and out of gear, which could cause extra wear. So which is better?

Speaking of rare... we've got one of the super-rare 1989 black RX's running around Morgantown. I thought it was an RS at first due to it's lack of ground effects, but on closer look it says "FULL TIME 4WD TURBO RX" on the door. Sometime I need to pester the owner to sell it to me...

That belongs to Samo, someone I've known for years dating back to when we were both Nissan guys. The page is kind of a tongue-in-cheek look at the EA82, but all the stuff he says about how cool the car is is true- Sam is one of the craziest-about-Subies guys I know.

Holy crap... those things weigh 125 pounds!? And I was able to carry one from the street all the way to my porch last month?

I did my second transmission job today, and I got to thinking, how do you guys do it? Maybe if we all put in our tactics, it can make the job easier for all of us. For this job, here's what I did: Drove the car up onto Rhino Ramps. Jacked up one wheel at a time and turned until each was in the right position. Then I pounded the axle pins out. Then I unbolted the exhaust at the heads and muffler, and pull the whole thing off the car. After that I unhooked the battery and pulled the starter off. Then I unbolted the carrier bearing and pulled the driveshaft out, and being the environmentally concerned guy that I am, I caught all the fluid in a drain pan. Then I pulled all the electrical connectors, speedometer cable, cooler lines, and shift linkage. Then I unbolted the rear crossmember. After that I got to work on the bellhousing bolts/studs. Once they were loose I cranked the engine around with a 7/8 wrench and pulled out all the torque converter bolts. Then I used a pry bar and popped the trans off the engine. Once it was sitting on the crossmember I popped the axles off. Then... THUD. With a little prying the trans landed on the soft cushy pile of gravel under the car. Putting the new trans in was a little harder... Here's where all the innovation comes in, where everyone's own tricks come into play. I have no engine hoist, and I work on a gravel driveway. Unfortunately gravity pulls things *toward* the ground. Makes it kinda hard to toss a transmission up onto the engine, doesn't it? Using a couple of tiny floor jacks I raised the trans up enough to throw a cinder block under it. Then I spent the next couple hours slowly raising it up enough to where I could put a cinder block and a 4x4 board under it, then a pair of 4x4's and a 1x3, then 2 cinder blocks, etc. Finally I got the trans up high enough to fit over the crossmember. The problem is, I'm working on a gravel driveway, and jacks won't exactly roll. We jacked it up high enough to hit the studs, but how to move it forward? So here's how we got the trans into place: You know that little piece of metal that runs from one bolt to another just under the pitching stopper? We hooked a tow strap onto it. Then... HEAVE. Had a friend pull the trans forward. After enough prying and pulling, we had the trans on the studs. To move it forward, we enlisted the help of another friend.... We had one guy pulling on the tow strap and one guy each pushing on the DOJ's with his foot, with axles connected of course. With a couple pops the trans went on. Then we ran the bellhousing bolts through and cranked the lump together. At that point it's time to go inside and drink some beers, then the next morning we go put everything else back together, which only takes about an hour. Whoomp, there it is.

Bringing an old post back to life... Here's a very unflattering pic of Conker when we were working on my tranny: Just for kicks here's a pic of me and our friend John working on the same trans job; I'm the one wearing "white": And here's one of me after my first tranny job:

Whoops! While pulling my transmission out of the Loyale this morning I let the trans drop too far and bent one of the studs on the bellhousing of the engine. What should I do about this? I know the new trans will fit on it, but what about getting the nut on there?

I think he's full of sh!t too. FYI, I'm also running a nonturbo tranny in my turbo XT. Maybe he meant that if you just put in the trans and nothing else you'd burn it up? Meaning if you change the trans and not the rear diff you'll burn it up the second you engage 4WD. Long as your transmission and rear diff have the same final drive I doubt there will be any problems.

A couple guys hinted on coming down this way in November and maybe grabbing some parts, so I thought I'd go ahead and get opinions on this. What do you guys think about a weekend of hitting the mothers of all junkyards here in southwestern PA? We could make it an all-weekend thing or just a one-day thing. Or I could do both and whoever wants to come either day can come. The yards are open from 9-3 both days on the weekends. There's 2 monsters that I usually hit. Here's what I was thinking we could do... Friday night, everyone could come into the area. I have a tiny apartment so I can't really house anyone. But, hotels are cheap here at $30-$40 a night. There also is camping available at Cooper's Rock State Park 15 miles up the road. Saturday morning at 8 we could hit the road, to be at the yard at 9 when they open the gates. At 3 they'll kick us out, and we could be back here by 4. At that point anyone who wants to go can make their way back home, and for anyone who wants to hang out, we could probably cook out and have a few brews. We could also run the same schedule on Sunday and hit the other yard. I'd be up for hosting both days, I love doing weekend-long junkyard trips. Or, we could figure out what's best for everyone and settle on one single day. I can provide directions to the yards themselves if anyone would like to meet there. We have several local guys who would come along. Of course there's Conker and myself who live in town here, and our friend James will be a Soob owner by that point and will probably come along too. Skip lives 60 miles away, and Tin Soldier lives about 2 hours from the yards. This area is about 5 1/2 hours from Philly/south Jersey, 3 1/2 hours from Baltimore/DC, 2 hours from central Ohio, 4 hours from central Indiana, and 9 hours from Milford, CT. (sorry Paul) These yards are absolutely huge. Combined they have about 50 EA82's, probably 20 EA81's, about a half dozen mostly complete XT's (including an XT6 with intact engine, and an 87.5 full time 4WD turbo!!), and probably about 10 first gen Legacies. Admission is $1 and believe me it's worth it for the show alone! Price list for both yards is located here: http://www.sechristautoparts.com/images/Cossells%20Price%20List.JPG

FYI, in '85 they actually made a few GL-10 sedans and wagons with MPFI.

Yeah, we all know I'm a stud. As for who's getting a car... you're looking at the wrong guy. What it is and who it's for hasn't been released to the public yet. Let's just say it will have to be transported several hundred miles to reach its new home.

The rear gate locks with the doors on my 92 Loyale. You could have a bad lock solenoid.

Whoomp there it is! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33573&item=2436755670 This one is only rated at 65 amps though? 1986-1988 Nissan Maxima shows a 90 amp Hitachi/Mitsubishi alternator. While I'm at Advance today I think I'm going to take a look at one. Here's another worth looking at, from an 86-88 Mazda RX-7. Mitsubishi model, 70 amps. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33573&item=2435679596 1990 Nissan 300ZX Turbo looks promising as well, it's a 90 amp Mitsubushi as well. But it's SO expensive and even rarer than an XT6!

Looks like I'll be able to make this one. I'm going to spend the next 2 weekends prepping my new Loyale for the trip. Not sure if I'm going to run or not. Skip will probably be riding with me. I might bring a "lady friend" along too, she's already been nagging me to take her to the junkyard, so I'm sure she'd really be into this. We'll all most likely be camping. Probably will come up Friday night and leave Saturday evening or Sunday morning. We'll bring one car, and leave in two.

Check some late 80's Mitsubishi's. Since Mitsu made the XT6 alternator, it's a good bet one of their cars would have it.

Finished off my first tank of gas in the Loyale today and got 19mpg. All but about 50 miles of it were in the city. What kind of mileage should I usually expect from a 3AT SPFI?

OK... since I have both a Loyale and a GL sitting in my driveway right now, I'll take a stab at this... The differences I've noticed between the late model GL's and the Loyale are: -Dual Range trans not offered -Full Time 4WD not offered -Black bumpers -No hatch trim on wagons -Automatic seatbelts -Cheaper seat fabric -Smaller front door armrests -Taller center console -No front map lights -No rear cargo light -Shift lock on A/T models -No rear speakers -No coupes or touring wagons after 1990 Some of the changes you guys listed took place mid-way through the run of GL's. Here's some of those: -1986: center brake light added -1987: bumper/turn signal design, interior fabric, marker lights changed, struts no longer adjustable; FT4WD and 4-speed automatic becomes available -1988: steering wheel and headliner design changed, washer nozzles moved from under hood to on hood, carbs not made anymore, manual windows and locks not available on GL? -1989: touring wagon added to lineup Hope that clears a few things up.

4 door RX's are incredibly rare. All years are very hard to find. The ones with the body kits are exeptionally hard to find. Good score!!

No, I do. http://usmb.net/albums/albuo43/100_1164.jpg :-p Red EA82's do seem to be almost as common as the white ones around here. Come to think of it, of 5 EA82's I've owned, 2 were red and 2 where white. Both of my XT's were white as well. Hmmmmmm....