TROGDOR!

I had an 88 XT DL and loved it. It was the lightest Subie I ever had, and felt like a rocket for only having 100hp. Handled like it was on rails even on bald 13's. And yes, it was missing the back seat. The shelf was pretty damn useful though, you could hold a lot of stuff back there and the lip on the edge kept it from sliding off. I liked the shelf better than a back seat, actually. FYI, the backseat was optional on the DL model- some actually did get it from the factory. Power steering and A/C were also optional, and mine had neither. If you really wanted to you could put a back seat in, the mounting points for the seat and the belts should all be there.

You posted the other thread at 5:22, and this one at 5:38. This is not instant messaging, give it time before reposting. Also, posting a new thread when you're trying to draw attention to your old one really doesn't help at all... if you go so long that your other thread drops off the main page, reply to IT, don't create a new one. FYI, you had two answers on the other one within an hour- as far as this message board goes, that's pretty fast.

The disty will not work. The XT takes the same one as the turbo models. The 2WD swap only applies to EA81 models, and all Loyales and XT's are EA82s.

Am I the only one that thinks that would make a great Mentos commercial? Complete with the song and everything. "Nothing gets to you, staying fresh staying cool."

Skip did it. I think the pod to use is a screw-on type from a first gen Honda CRX, perhaps? I know it's something for the Civic/CRX.

PB Blaster works just as well if not better. Spray a good long squirt into each spark plug hole and let sit for a couple days, then try it. We used to free up engines in the junkyard I worked at using that method all the time.

Ay, no es bueno!

XT alternator will not work. I have an XT engine in my RX, and tried to mount an L-series alt, and besides the different pulley, the shaft is a different length as well. That being said... the XT alt is no more powerful than the stock one from your car anyway.

Use 2WD sedan struts with your stock springs, should give you about an inch I believe. I think WJM has done it.

Around here, the bottoms of the fenders just rust out after a couple years like that. With that chunk of the fender gone, no more crud builds up. :-p

Yes, they're the same. I have a sedan fender on my project 3-door, and it fit perfectly.

Hmm, didn't know that. I just figured it wasn't supposed to be lined up like it is in the pics, as 2 of 3 that we worked on lately were set up differently and appeared to be original. Wonder if cars sold in different regions of the country were hooked up differently? Now I'm wondering if the other way I hooked it up was wrong. Guess you learn something new every day.

Hm, I didn't think they were supposed to be like that. My other RX was set up differently, as well as the parts car I was picking parts off of. Either way, gotta love that looped vacuum line. Totally useless!

So when I was taking apart the engine that came out of my project RX, aka the marvel of redneck engineering (car had more things half assedly-rigged than I've ever seen) I found something interesting. You EA82T guys will be familiar with how the wastegate has a vacuum line running to the passenger side strut tower, and there's another vacuum line on the outlet of the turbo going to the plenum that runs to that area as well. Here's those two lines as removed from the strut tower area: And here's how the hookups for those lines were attached on the turbocharger: Yes, they directly jumped the hookup from the wastegate to the hookup on the outlet to the plenum! And here's the final deathblow that killed the engine (besides several other potential causes of death that I found): So would this have totally inactivated the wastegate? I'm sure the car didn't last long if that was the case. Also seems that the ECM was never getting any signal that the engine was boosting, as the sensor for that reads from these lines, doesn't it? Many things convinced me that the car was last put together by an idiot, but this one really takes the cake. Could we be looking at the cause of the thrown rod?

Man, what a basket case this car was. Finally undid all the crazy stuff the previous owner did to it, only to find this tranny issue. Probably going to put the trans from my other RX in it, and stick a PB 4WD trans in it, since Tin Soldier has one sitting around. Already bastardized that one by sticking a nonturbo engine in it, might as well bastardize it some more...

So I finally got my project RX running today, it had sat 2 years with a bad engine. Now I think the trans may be dead. All the gears in high range work fine except 4th. The shifter will move into the 4th position, but when I let the clutch out it grinds, BAD. Exact same thing happens when I try to use low range. I pulled the transmission dipstick before running the car, and the fluid looked a bit dark but at the proper level. After running it, it's almost all the way up the dipstick, thin like water, and the color of rust. Looks like the trans may be full of water. When driving it I get a horrible howling noise. At idle and when running, there's a chirping noise coming from the bellhousing- not a constant chirp, but many short chirps in a row. Maybe some clutch issue as well? I used a stage 2 clutch from these guys in NC, it engages and releases just like it should, no funky feelings coming from the clutch. Is this trans salvageable? What kinds of things should I try to run through it to try and get some more life out of it? Any kind of additive or cleaning agent? Or is it just a lost cause? Really bothers me. All this work, and now I've got trans issues. Oh, and a busted brake line and cracked fuel hose. At least it runs though.

Clutch must be slipping. The way I got one cracked loose in that case is by using the breaker bar method- but to keep it from flinging/hitting anything, rest the handle of it against the side of the engine bay where the battery is, and only turn the key for maybe half a second. That's all it takes, and the bar will never move. May have to move the battery, maybe not- depending on the length of the handle.

The process is fairly straightforward, but yes, reaching inside the door is a pita. Especially if you have big hands.

Not recommended. How high or low do you want to go? Depending on your shock/spring combo, you can have up to 4 inches or more in height difference. I'm sure someone can tell you a combo that would hit the height you want.

At either end of the bottom of the glass are little plastic clips glued to the window, where bolts go through to hold it onto the window tracks. Having one of these clips loose would cause those problems. Could be unbolted or could have come unglued from the glass. If it came unglued, I'd recommend just replacing the window, as you'll never get it to stick properly again. The window isn't that hard to remove, just onbolt on each end, unbolt it from the regulator, and you can lift it out.

Yeah, they'll work. The important thing is the body type and drivetrain they came off of. I.E. 4WD wagon will all be the same whether it's DL, GL, or GL-10, same goes for 2WD sedan, etc. Even if they came off a different body type and drivetrain they will still work, but the height will be different.

Oh, forgot to mention that too. The tires are shot, and I have a set with under 10k miles on them that are known to be good that are going on it. Probably will inspect the inner fender area of each wheel while I have the wheel off as well.

So this is the big weekend... the engine is going into my project RX. The car has been sitting for 2 years, but the engine and all attached parts have been removed, and the engine and all accessories going into it have only been sitting for 6 weeks and are proven to be good. So, I have an engineless chassis that has been sitting. What should I check? Anything else to replace/watch out for? None of the brakes are frozen up, and the gas tank needs to be drained. That's all we can say for sure. Tips?

To clear things up- ALL nonturbo cars were 3.9, ALL turbo cars were 3.7. The ONLY dual ranges available in the EA82 were: -Nonturbo, 3.9 ratio part time 4WD dual range (85-89) -Turbo, 3.7 ratio part time 4WD dual range, same as above but with 3.7 final drive (85-86) -Turbo, 3.7 full time 4WD dual range, differen than the other two (87-89) That's all. All turbo 5 speeds take 25 spline axles, all nonturbos take 23 spline. If your nonturbo axle fits, it's a 3.9 dual range. That's it.

Not quite... 85-86 RX's (and some very rare non-RX turbo cars) had a 3.7 part time 4WD dual range. Popping an axle onto one of the stubs is the easiest and quickest way to tell.