WoodsWagon

If you are looking at spending over $5k to have the EA82t built, you really need to look into doing an EJ swap. You can buy a complete JDM wrx front clip for that kind of money. You do not need to do a 5 lug swap to run an EJ transmission. You can keep the exterior of the car looking completely stock while having double the power under the hood. The EJ AWD will drive a lot better than the Full Time 4x4 transmission, especially with more power. If you get the EA82 up to 180hp, you will find the inside front wheel spinning a lot on hard turns. All the power goes to the wheel with the least traction with the FT4x4. With a WRX ecu and wiring harness that works with Open Source tuning, you have all the capabilities of Megasquirt with the diagnostic codes of a factory setup. An EJ engine will make much more power with better reliability. Plus the aftermarket is full of parts for EJ's, anything EA will be one off custom. I can understand running an EA with modest mods and a conservative power level. It's easy, it's cheap, and it's already bolted in the car. When you go spending big money like you're planning, it no longer makes sense on a driving enjoyment vs money spent scale. That out of the way, there's a few things about the EA82t setup I wanted to cover. If you're doing the RX rebuild because it's high mileage and ticky, but it isn't burning oil, I wouldn't bother. Fix the oil pump seals and replace any failed HLA's but leave the engine in. If you ditch the spare tire, get a cheapo 12v portable air compressor and a plug patch kit. All my years offroading my subaru I never carried a spare. That buys you space for an early subaru water/air intercooler with the xt spider manifold. The turbo oil drain has to be a straight shot back into the motor. Any restriction or hoses running all over the place will cause oil to back up inside the turbo. Turbo's don't have positive seals, it's a labyrinth setup, so any oil backpressure will cause oil to leak into the exhaust. The turbo's coolant is such a small heat source compared to the combustion chamber and exhaust port surface that it's inconsequential in the overall head temp. An oil cooler would be a good idea, I don't know if the oil/coolant sandwich off an EJ will work or not but it might be worth looking into. If you run megasquirt and eliminate the MAF you don't need a recirculating BOV, atmospheric dump is fine because it's now a speed density EFI system. Look into water/methanol injection. It cools the intake charge and adds knock resistance and extra fuel so you can get away with running more timing on the same fueling map without the engine blowing up.

Well that depends on if it's a 96 model year or a 96 build date. Cars built after 6/96 are 97 model years which are interference. The timing belt spec was upped to 105 a couple years later, so with it having the belt already replaced it should be good to 210k miles. The gamble is whether they replaced the tensioner, idlers and the water pump at 105k, or if they put just a belt on it. The idlers are what commonly fail, so asking them to go 200k is a risk.

Yes, but again an engine installed in a car and left to sit is very different than one left on a stand. When the intake tube/air filter and exhaust manifold/cat are still on and the radiator is hooked up, they do a pretty good job of keeping the internals of the engine dry. I've gotten cars that have sat for 30 years in a field running by just feeding them fuel. I have also had to hone and re-ring motors that sat for 6mo's on an engine stand in a damp garage

Exhaust is a distinct possibility. The tailpipe sticks out the bumper so it may have taken a hit. That usually bends the S-curve of the pipe were it goes around the rear crossmember to the muffler. Check for any contact points around there.

Did it have an exhaust manifold on it or were the ports open to air? You can tell if it has rust rings if you try and turn the crank by hand. If you can't turn it at least one full turn without it hitting a sticky spot, walk away. You should also be able to feel the compression as you turn it by hand. A low miles engine that's left to sit isn't worth more than a high miles engine that runs. So pay accordingly. These engines don't really wear out from running, 250k and still going great is normal for engines that got even the most basic maintenance. If it had sat installed in a car, there'd be no worry as they are sealed up pretty well at that point. Sitting on a stand is a different issue.

I would check the tightness of all the other plugs too.

In that case matching the master cylinder bore size to the bigger piston calipers makes sense because you're bringing the system back into range. If you take a stock braking system and throw a bigger master on as an "upgrade", which many people do, then you end up with less braking power. That was my point, and as a caution to those who would go out doing just that and thinking the high-hard pedal was an improvement.

I think ABC Used Auto parts in Co Springs had one, but the intake manifold was off for some reason so I don't know if it had water in. They also had an integra GSR b18c with a seized cam. http://abcusedpartsco.com/ Call them and check.

A bigger bore master cylinder will not improve braking power. It will make the pedal engage higher and feel firmer, but the braking force at the wheels is reduced for the same pounds of pressure applied to the pedal. So you'll actually have to stand harder on the pedal to get it to stop as quick after "upgrading". Master cylinder bore size is a balance. Go too small and the pedal will hit the floor before the brakes are at maximum clamping force. Go too big and you'll run out of leg strength before hitting maximum clamping force. Simple hydraulics, the piston ratio between the master and the wheel cylinders gives you the mechanical advantage. A bigger or double diaphragm booster will give you higher braking pressures for the same pedal pressure because you have more assist. That can be a real upgrade to stopping power.

95 2.2l auto is the only complete bolt in with EGR. 96-98 2.2l auto needs the Y pipe to Cat flange swapped with it, but otherwise bolt in. 90-94's have no EGR port and a 2.5l manifold won't bolt up to them anyway.

Yeah, you do plugs with a timing belt change if you're using platinum's. 30k maybe for plain coppers but I've seen them pushed way farther than that. I crush the snot out of spark plug gaskets and I've never had one strip or pull the threads out later. 15 ft lbs is the spec on a plug in aluminum head, and yes the threads are plain aluminum. I usually take them past crush to the point they feel tight. Not Really F'n Tight, but a bit more than snug. If it was a DOHC 2.5l, I'd say give up on it. With the 2.2l though it's so easy to get in to fix that it would be foolish and wasteful not to. You can buy a helicoil kit but I prefer time-serts. It's a sleeve with threads on inside and out. http://www.timesert.com/html/sparkplug.html

Is he offering to take it off your hands for scrap value? If it runs good and you can keep up with topping off the fluids, there's no reason to junk it. As for the code I'd check to make sure both fans are running when you turn the A/C on. I'd also use a scan tool to read the live data from the computer and see what it's getting for a reading from the coolant temp sensor. If the temp reading with the engine cold isn't near the same as the ambient temp and it doesn't go up to 200 with it running warmed up the sensor is suspect. The cts is a $30 screw in sensor under the intake manifold on the rear passenger side of the engine. It has two wires, the one wire sensor is for the gauge on the dash.

I still had to bend the plate stock to get it to follow the bends in my support runners. I didn't have a break, so I cut a dotted line in the plate with the torch where I wanted the bends. I bent it, then welded the cuts back in.

I've done a couple bottom ends, they're not bad to do when you're just freshening them up with new bearings and rings. Your issue is going to be the crank and the pounding rod will both be junk. You can buy a brand new shortblock from subaru for $1000, so it doesn't make much sense to pour money into rebuilding one. Edit: just looked at your link, they want $800 + $230 shipping for a used shortblock? Edit again: Prices have gone up, it's 1,800 for a new shortblock, 1k for block only. So there you are again.

I have never seen an EJ belt break. What I have seen is the idlers fail, and also one water pump seize. The most common failure is the cogged tooth idler, it has the tightest belt wrap around it and sees more stress. My opinion is that it's more important to replace the idlers and water pump than it is to do the belt. The belt is obviously worth doing while you're in there replacing all the idlers, but it isn't the point of the job.

To answer your next question, no you won't get better MPG if you put the FWD fuse in. Instead of being spun by the transmission, the rear drivetrain will be spun by the rear wheels, which are being pulled along by the front wheels, which are spun by the transmission, so you end up with the exact same amount of power being used.

Loyales are the same as GL's. There were running small changes through the years of the EA82 body style from 85-94, but they are the same car. It was renamed the Loyale when they came out with the Legacy. Since it was the low cost alternative to the Legacy it's often found in a more stripped form than the earlier GL10's. When the Impreza came out in 93, it took over the entry level price point so the Loyale was discontinued the next year. There are no "good" or "bad" years for them, all options were available pretty much from the start so its about finding the car with the right options to make it work for you. My Loyale had power windows, locks, a/c, rear wiper, fuel injected and a fully equipped dash. My dads GL had crank windows, no a/c, and a carb. So much for luxury compared to the loyale. I took the dual range 4x4 transmission out of his and bolted it in where my pushbutton 4x4 was to make the best of both cars. The Loyales are also wired for any of the deleted options. The plug for the maplights is there under the left side of the dash. The bracket for it is under the headliner, you just have to cut the hole. The wiring for the rear door speakers is there.

I built a subframe that bolted on to the engine crossmember and the lower radiator support. I had a piece of angle iron cupping the radiator support to add strength and two 1" square tubing runners that I bent and welded connecting the radiator support to the engine crossmember. My skidplate then bolted to the runners. You can see the runners with the plate off in this pic: I hit stuff hard enough to bend the 1/8" steel skid plate but never hit the oilpan again. I would go with a wider skid plate if I did it again, my lower radiator hose and oil filter were a bit vulnerable. The hose never had any trouble but I nearly peeled the oil filter off breaking through 3" thick ice in a pond crossing. The winch bumper had two pieces of box tubing going down to the angle iron on the lower radiator support that the skidplate frame bolted to. That braced it for the twisting force of the winch pull and protected the radiator opening.

The WRX pistons are 2.8mm bigger diameter than the 3.0l ones.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPERTECH-SUBARU-H6-EZ30-PISTONS-P6-SU8920-N18-/330455563045 That's the first result I pulled up. Wouldn't hurt to call wiseco or any of the other big piston manufacturers and ask what they have. A 2.8mm bore is big. The stock steel sleeves would probably be weakened enough by that to split under boost. So you're looking at re-sleeving the engine with these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Darton-300-028-Performance-Flanged-Sleeves-Subaru-EZ30-Outback-Legacy-Tribeca-/180882450033 You'd want to use forged WRX pistons too, so add that cost on top of the sleeves and the machine work. That still leaves you with the stock rods. I found a few references to forged ones made by Pauter, but that's another $1400. http://www.pauter.com/subaru.htm

They have cracked land issues because the tune is run on the bleeding edge of detonation to meet EPA specs and fuel economy targets. It's likely they're also moving the top ring groove up closer to the crown to reduce the quenched area around the side of the piston where unburned HC's can lurk. I would spend the money on the right size forged pistons before boring it out. You are talking a big jump in bore size which will probably require a re-sleeve. That money and effort is better spent on real pistons. Get the tune right and keep dumping water/meth in there and the stock pistons should last a while.

On manuals I put it in 5th with the parking brake on and reef on the bolt with my 16" breaker bar. I'd put it in the really f'n tight category. With auto's I use my craftsman 1/2" ratchet and the 5lb hand sledge to do some poor man's impact gun action on it. Bring it up against a compression stroke by hand, then smack it hard with the hammer. Haven't had one of mine come loose yet, and I've fixed a couple others that did.

If you turn the boost up above 13psi you will need to build and install a fuel cut defender: http://www.surrealmirage.com/vrg3/fcd/ The biggest hurdle will be making a 90 degree inlet to the turbo. This is the best forum for info on EJ22t's: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/

Glad you didn't replace the engine or junk it? Good to hear you got it sorted out. There's hope for Murphy yet.

You think the next version of this will be with a toyota trans and transfer using the bellhousing adapter?