WoodsWagon

Can heavier springs be installed in the pressure plate? Mabe I should wait until I take my tranny off the engine to figure out how it all works. My clutch knowledge is fuzzy at best. I know that there are fingers that the throwout bearing pushes in that compress the pressure plate springs, but I don't know what they pivot on.

On an engine where you're pushing the limits, I'd go with the OEM ones. The OEM ones have to fit, and aren't supposed to be just close enough. I've had mixed experiences with felpro gaskets in the past. Had a ford 361 misteriously self destruct after running perfect for 2 days after a reseal. How much more do the OEM ones cost?

If you machine the surface the pressure plate bolts to more than the friction surface, will you get better grip? I'm having problems visualizing the "step" that the PP bolts to. Is it higher that the friction surface, or lower? Which way would you machine it to increase clamping force? And yes, I tried search.

If you like driving fast, and like reliability, the Legacy with a 2.2 and a manual tranny is the way to go. they don't do half bad in the woods either, but for serious 4x4, I'd go with an EA82 wagon with dual range 4wd. They're reliable, simple, very abusable, and cheap. The only drawback is they top out at 90, floored in 5th. Timing belts also have to be checked on both of my suggestions.

I like the older bumpers better, the car looks like it has less of a fat lip. Your car is nice, I wish mine had a sunroof. 5 speed conversion definiately.

I think it will affect camber, the tire's lean in or out from the body. If you have seen pictures of prerunner trucks comming off of jumps, thet is an extreem version of what happens when you extend the struts. Extending the struts by raising the lower spring perch will increase CV joint wear, because it is spending more time at a greater angle. Lowering cars often produces better handling, bucause the top of the tire leans inward, giving more tread contact when cornering, so raising would make the top of the tire lean outward, so the outside of the tread would wear faster. I'm sure others will chime in with more helpful information.

You can do a lot without ground clearance if you have lockers or LSD's. The 4 runner has open diffs front and rear, but a transfer case in the middle, basically a spool instead of the viscious coupling that the newer subi's have. The older ones, like the 88 wagon mentioned have the same style transfer case as the 4-runner, its just built into the transaxle. Thus the 2 drive trains are fairly close, and the only difference between them is ground clearance. If the subi had a LSD in the rear, I'm willing to bet it would have made it through. I've been high centered plenty of times with good traction on 2 wheels, just not the others. If I had a LSD, I would have much better chances at making it off. Instead I have to jack up one corner and give traction to the other 2 wheels. Anyone doubting me, send me a LSD, and I'll install it in my wagon and show you the difference. I might not give it back afterward though.

My legacy needs to have gas dumped on the air filter before it will start on cold days because of this problem. When the ECU gets a bad reading or no reading from the coolant temp sensor (CTS), it goes safe and turns on the fans. Better overcooled than overheated. Unfortunately, this seems to override the cold start-rich mix setup.

Yes. the LSD's can get overpowered. Easily. They are better than open diff's because you can get out of situations where 2 wheels are slipping. How many have had one front wheel and one back wheel, on opposite corners, spinning? A LSD would help to get a bit of torque to the stationary wheel. It will not come near a 50/50 power split, only lockers or spools can do that. Since nobody makes lockers for us, and spools ruin streatability, the LSD is a second best solution thet lets us drive the cars on the pavement. Yeah, you get some torque steer when it gets slippery, but I'd rather that than being stuck. I've been in plenty of situations where a "light right foot" wouldn't get me out. A LSD in the rear would have.

I have the same problem. They discontinued the mastercraft otd radials, the cheap version of the cooper sst's. I have 2 30x9.5's, but I can't find matching tires.

Dr RX, I thought you had a 2.2l twin turbo longblock for sale a while ago. I was musing about TT's and saw your ad on you page. I'm probably wrong again though.

Its a fairly easy job, the hardest part was getting the new pipe in the old rubber connector hose. I coated the new pipe with por-15 paint just to make sure it never happens again. My dad bought the part (it was his car), but I thought it was only $120.

The redline is overrated. my legacy's 2.2l motor sounds sweet up there. I've taken mine up to 8K, just to see if it would, then dumped the clutch. Mmmm... nice smells. The engine still runs fine. I'wouldn't do that on a daily basis though. My dad has the opposite driving style, he always shifts befor 3k. His engine has been going fine for years. They are surprisingly flexible motors.

The 4runner should have gotten stuck too, it was probably the clearance that got you. If the car dosn't have a LSD in the rear, it can get stuck with only 2 wheels in the snow. They really should have lsd's front and rear, but they dont. The AWD cars can get stuck if you drop 1 wheel in a hole. I tested this, and had to recind my statments to the contrary.

How accurate are the torque sticks? They work by flexing just far enough to let the impact gun vent and snap back right? I use them in shop all the time, but I still wonder.

If you rest your foot on the clutch you can smoke the throwout bearing. If you sit at stoplights and hold the clutch in instead of shifting to nuetral, it will accelerate throwout bearing wear. It's not a constant duty bearing. I have to say that all the Japanese makes have been cheapening to meet the lows in quality that the american companies get away with. Hondas have gotten a lot crappier. the 93-98 body style was the last good one for civics. The new ones rattle and the struts are crap. Subaru is unfortunately following the trend. The 2.2l engines are proven to be resiliant and beatable; Most cars with the 2.2 in them are up to the old standards. The new ones, that can't be always said for. Just look where subaru wants to go with the B9 Tribeca. They made the wagon popular again and now abandon it for the crossover crowd. Sigh. I don't mind the sun sometimes; the images it shows. I can taste you on my lips and smell you in my clothes. Cinniamon and sugary softly spoken lies, you never know how you look through other peoples' eyes.

Reversed intake manifold... 2.2 Stroker conversion... Intercooler.. Huge turbo.... Damn thats nasty. I'd put a filter on that turbo, might get your hand sucked in if you weren't careful.

I believe that the RX had anti-roll stabilizer torsion bars (shooting for the right term there) in the back standard, but thy could be got on GL-10s. If you're looking for an old school rally car, go for a turbo sedan. they're said to have the stiffist body and the least weight.

what if you only have one green test connector, but 2 white connectors there? Spfi 1992

If you strip it down to the last bolt, these things are light. I'd say that 4 guys could carry the car out of your garadge. I stripped a 3-door, and I could lift up either end so that it was pivioting on the other by myself. I realize lifting the car takes a bit more, but I'm not all that strong, so 4 guys could do it easy.

Talk to P. K. Davis. He is on this board as Ozified. He makes good lifts and is in your area.

I had an 86 3-door that rusted out. The floorpan had dissapeareed on the front flor pans, the rocker panels had dissapeared, you could reach up in the body behind the doors all the way to the window. The heavy frame members that support the floor pans fell off, the jack fell out of its holder in the back, through the floor. The floor rusted out under the back seat. Car looked great untill you looked underneath. Even so, the doors shut fine and the frame didn't flex under hard cornering noticably. Should the car have been drivin on the street? hell no. was it unsafe to drive? not neccecarily. I think the cars were overbuilt to start with, and therefore can lose a lot before showing dangerousness. Check the rocker panels all the way down. esp. behind the front wheels and infront of the rear wheels. Check the frame member that supports the floor pans. If there is crunchyness or holes in these, pass the car up.

Do you really want a pic of leveled dirt? I can go to the site with the kid and take a picture of the ground.

I was talking to a kid (like 17) about the seat I had installed in the back of an S15, and he said, yeah I had a subaru once that had seats in the bed. So I said "Oh, yeah, what happened to it?" He gave a story of one of the most extreem beatings I've heard of a car taking. He and a friend rolled it. Multiple times. The front end got crushed, popping the radiator. They still drove it. They were driving it in a construction side that his dad worked at, and every time it flipped or got stuck, they would use the loader to pull it out. They finnished it off by jumping it "Dukes of hazard style" into a pond. They climed out the windows as it sank. I asked if it was still in the pond, and he said that the pond had gotten filled in a couple of years later. Does a buried brat count as a wrecked subaru?

I'd say the hardest part is running the power wire through the firewall, and that isn't too hard.