samo

As they say: Cheap, Fast, Reliable, choose any two. Unless you are a master at fabrication, stuffing any non-Subaru engine in there is going to be just as spendy as putting a Subaru engine in, and a lot more work. You'll have to deal with a lot of welding, accomidating the extra weight, fitting the transmission in, a custom driveshaft, figuring out the rear diff, and custom rear axles, or a solid rear axle. Not to mention, you'll have to do a 5-lug conversion so you have decent brake options, plus a lot of spendy suspension work to be able to keep up with all the added power and not be dangerous. You're looking at A LOT of work. I would think that finding yourself a decent EJ block and building it could be done for the same money and you'd wind up with just as fast with far less work. I'm not saying it can't be done, but unless you're building a dragracer, there's no great reason to put a V8 in there.

Yep, EA81 wagon.

In the US, yes. Definately get a D/R. The S/R is very limited in its mobility in comparison. EDIT: Whoa, hey, you're in Seattle? I live in Northgate. You should let me come check out your car sometime.

Yep! As long as the LSD has been converted to 3.90, it'll work just fine. Get a GL, though... Loyales aren't as sweet - trust me, I've owned two of them. They ain't bad, but the D/R is awesome.

Yup. If you want injectors out of a turbocharged 2.0 Nissan engine, you'll have to go for an SR20DET (Bluebird, Pulsar, European/Australian 200SX, Silvia), the uber-rare SR20VET, or the RB20DET, but that's a six. Another option would be the CA18DET (180SX and a couple other models). Injector sizes should be similar to the SR20DET, maybe a touch less flow. Other high-flowing Nissan injectors will be the aforementioned 300ZX (VG30DE and DET), any RB, particularly the DET models, any VQ, and the big nasty injectors found on the KM45DE. QR25DE injectors should flow well too - and they'll probably be the only good part on that engine. Even the regular old SR20DE injectors have decent flow, and they're dead-easy to come by. Other variations of the SR like the VE may have bigger injectors, and the Pulsar GTi-R version of the SR20DET has larger injectors than the Bluebird model, due to it having a T28 instead of a T25.

Pugs are the only cheap way to go if you don't want to convert or redrill. Allied Armament and a few Australian companies make oversized wheels though, but they're a lot more pricey than the $70 I paid for my Pugs.

Jesus Christ, are those stock stereos really that deep? I don't remember them being that big, and I've ripped out a few of them... but I also wasn't really paying attention.

haha.. paint it STi pink! Or, excuse me, "cherry blossom red."

This is making me kinda glad I didn't opt for the LSD on my D/R. Not that I think Phantom Grip makes a bad product - the FWD Nissan crowd swears by them - but I'd guess that they're mostly made for street use and not heavy trail running. Oh, and AMAZING FORESTER! I'm so jealous.

Me too. I think that's the route I'm going to go. ...and don't worry, it's going to be done right. I just got an offer from Matt (superrallyroo) to use some of the sunshine yellow he has laying around, so I may wind up renting a compressor and a gun and going at it that way. But, it would kind of kill the fun of having a spraypainted car .

hahaha... here we go! Mud is fun. It thoroughly trashed the carpet that used to be in my wagon, but boy is it fun

Thought about Maaco, but frankly, I can do nearly as nice a job with rattle cans, and for a lot cheaper. I also want to pick a shade where if I get some body damage and need to replace a door or a fender, or just touch up some scrapes, I can do so relatively easily. Semi-gloss sounds like it's going to be what I want. I think flat yellow might look too pale - almost like that awful yellow that comes on WRXs. I want a bright bright sunshine yellow. I like the black on the lower half just because it makes the car look a bit more pissed, and well, I like cars that look pissed. Here's what it looks like with yellow graphics: I'll definately get in touch with you about graphics. I've got part of a roll of metallic red 18" 4mil - maybe I can pay you to cut some stuff on that for use until it's painted? Man, I miss having a plotter... As for showing the old girl, maybe next season. This season, it's not going to be anywhere near ready to be shown. I want to have it lifted and with a D/R before I show it. Right now, it's just a muddy old Loyale with Pugs and lights - not really worth showing, I'm afraid. I will be at GICS, though, probably with a friend's white Nissan. I'll be sure to stop on by and say hi - I remember seeing you and Dan last year. My friends didn't quite understand when I got all excited, but hey, they drive Nissans.

Glad you were able to get ahold of him. Makes me feel a whole lot better. Not that my transmission is due any time in the near future, nor am I doubting him, but when you've got that much money tied up... Oh, and don't put me on the list. My tranny isn't due yet, so I don't feel like I'm "owed" anything. Just waiting until it's done !

Pretty clean-looking little fella! I wonder what the reserve is.

Yeah, I know the yellow is glossy - I was trying to make it flat, but my car as it is is dark red and quite shiny, so making it flat was more effort that I wanted to put into it. I can see how one might think flat against gloss would look cheap and ghetto. What I have now is flat, but it has a slightly grainy texture it. You're right, it does get chalky - I've found that spray-on tire shine brings it right back to life, though. I may wind up getting some high-gloss clearcoat to spray on, so that I wind up with a semi-gloss finish. Flat yellow might look a little... funky... although it looked cool on Austin's/Noah's EA81.

You think so? I dunno, because everything else that's black on the car is flat black - the bumpers, the roof rack, and I want the wheels flat black. The yellow isn't going to be very glossy either. I've got a love affair with flat paint lately .

Awesome, guys! It's great that you were both raising money AND having a blast! Good work !

Doesn't have anything to do with paint - the whole thing is a photoshop. I like how black hoods look, whether it be painted black or carbon fiber. Just my opinion . I'm actually thinking of painting everything below the body line flat black as well. Kind of an EA82 Outback thing. Here's a photoshop: I like it even better! Oh, and thanks for all the comments everybody!

Snorkel is on the list of things to do to this poor old car. I'm not terribly worries about the police. I don't generally drive terribly fast, and the cops in my neighborhood are too busy chasing down the dealers and prostitutes. Ahh, I love Lake City... How are you liking the awesomeness of Austin's old beast, anyway?

Clutch has to be in all the way, and I have to press pretty hard on the brakes to activate it. There's an adjustment for it... but I'm blanking out on how to adjust it.

A really dead battery or a huge electrical drain can kill an alt in a hurry too. As long as those aren't issues, old age is mostly what gets them.

haha... lugnuts weren't the first thing that popped into my mind when I first read the title of this thread. Those lugs look mighty nice!

My fogs are about the same size as 550s, and they're mounted in front of the grille. No issues at all.

Here's what'cha need: That's a Metra dash kit. Best Kits makes the same thing (actually, it's repackaged Metra). You can get it for about $12 at most stereo stores. It sticks out about 1" from the dash, making room for all but the longest stereos. You see that knockout plate under the stereo? Underneath there is a 1"x7" hole, spaced 1" from the stereo hole. If you were to cut the plate from the bottom cutout to the top, you'd have a 4"x7" hole - a double-DIN size. Then, just mount that sucker in there with some brackets and call it a day.

ECU codes is a term for the information that the ECU stores in its memory bank when the check engine light comes on. By plugging in a pair of connectors under the hood, an LED on the ECU will flash a number of times, indicating what is causing the check engine light. If you haven't got a check engine light turned on right now, the ECU will flash a "safe" code, simply identifying itself. The codes are a great tool for diagnosing what sensor is causing the check engine light, and how to fix it. For example, right now on my rig, I've got a code 34 - that means the EGR solenoid isn't functioning correctly... but I don't really care, because EGRs are for the birds . Somewhere around here is a list of the codes and what they mean, but I'm drawing a blank as to where it's at.