noblesablepuma

Modified wiring Harness is in the mail. Thanks GeneralDisorder! Should be here in time for tinkering this weekend. We just got a bunch of snow here in Denver, so we'll have to see how ambitious I'm feeling.... hopefully it warms up. Next steps: - Radiator hoses/fans - Fuel pump and fuel return lines - Wiring harness - try to start it.... "try" After that: - CV-axles - Throttle cable - Clutch cable - Cover old shifter hole in trans tunnel - Change trans and diff gear oil Then it should be "good to go" Questions: - recommendations for leveling the suspension? the front is sagging a bunch with the new engine - Anyone know where I can get new carpet for the front? mine is shot - Recommendations for new seat covers/uphostery? I'd love to keep the classy 70s plaid...

The trans mount has been installed and the driveline is at a shop getting lengthened. The wiring harness is getting trimmed down by someone here on USMB and I have the radiator fans in the mail... Just need to get the fuel system figured out. I'm finally making more progress on putting this thing together!

I'm working on a similar swap and have some pictures of the trans mount I made in my build thread. It is a combination of the trans mount from the 5sp d/r and the trans cross member from the 78 wagon. Looks pretty shady, but i think it'll hold up. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=121323 I'm doing everything Free Range said in the post right above this. Seems to be working so far... Nice project! have fun

Saturday was very productive... finally... Here are some pictures of the trans mount mods. First here is the cross member from the 78 (black) and the trans mount from an 89 (brown) Here is the top view of the final mount Just needs some cosmetic work and a paint job... And the bottom view

Here are some pictures of the solution to the steering linkage issues. The next issues is mounting the transmission. Does anyone know if I can keep the stock sway bar? It looks like i'm going to have to cut the old trans bracket out so that the trans will clear the tunnel, but i'm not sure if I can leave the sway bar. Then also, I'm going to use the trans mount from an 89 loyale and weld it to the old crossmember after I cut it to fit. Any recommendations there?

I dont have an EJ trans to play with I thought the 5sp d/r would be cool so I just went that route. I think the taller engine mounts would give me issues fitting the trans into the tunnel. It's super snug as it is. (ie, I've used a hammer in places to make room for it...) I'll be working on modifying the linkage this week and I'll post some pictures of how is goes... I've got a few extra u-joints floating around, so i'm sure I can hack something together.

There are 4 bolts total holding the bellhousing to the engine. I think the u-joint option might be best. I had someone else mention grinding it down, but that seems like it would weaken things too much if you get rid of that mounting bolt. Has anyone on here done the grinding method? did it work? for u-joints, I'm just planning on cutting off the bracket for the rubber coupling and welding the u-joint right to the pinion assembly. hopefully the welds are strong enough...

Hi all, the project got sidelined for a while, but I'm back at it now. Here are some pictures of where I'm at. 5sp D/R trans from an '89 Loyale Modified bolt pattern for Flywheel Engine and Trans all hooked together Empty Engine Bay Frame Rail mods... these ugly holes will be fixed up with some welded plates to restore some structure to them... Going in.... It fits!.... sort of... This is the trans bell housing and the steering rag-joint... they are trying to occupy the same space... ideas? So now where i'm at: - I need to modify the cross member to accept the engine mount bolts. The EA71 holes are a bit narrow for the EJ22. So a little grinding on the slots should do the trick... - I need to figure out something for the trans mount. Ideas? - The steering and Trans bellhousing are trying to occupy the same place (see picture above). Is there a good way to modify the bellhousing or steering linkage to get this to work? some of the other threads on here mentioned grinding the bellhousing down, anyone know how much grinding is necessary? or if that will remove the bolt that holds the engine/trans together at that spot? is there another way? That's all for now. any ideas are appreciated. -Dirk

Hey all, I have a transmission question. I found a 5sp D/R tranny with 160K on it that is still in a car at the junk yard. According to them, it "worked well" before they parked it. They are asking $250 for it. Is this a good deal? Should I try to find one with lower miles? If I have them pull it, what else should I have them get? clutch stuff? front axles? rear driveline? Thanks.

Here are the pictures.

The wagon showed up yesterday. I'm trying to figure out how photobucket works so I can get some pictures up. Stay tuned for them soon. Also, anyone have a EJ22 with ECU or 5sp d/r trans that they want to get rid of? I'm in the market for some parts....

Free Range, Are there pictures of your '79 with the ej22 and d/r 5sp on here somewhere? I'd like to see some pictures of a couple things before I start cutting into stuff. mostly frame rails and engine mounting, radiator space and tranny tunnel. I'm getting the car shipped next week, so pics and progress will speed up after that

Those videos were great. That impreza is pretty impressive and the gen1 wagon tearing it up is both awesome and sad. It looks like it was taking a beating. I'm excited to get mine rocking and rolling. But i'll probably stick to more benign gravel roads. So it sounds like the phase 2 ej22 is the way to go. I had a gen 2 hatch with the ea81 and it couldnt handle the mountains here. It's just hard for a carb to go from 5200ft to 9000ft and not be all outta whack. I'm thinking the FI system will allay those issues. Because I wont be really rock crawling with it, I'll probably go with the d/r 5spd. Here's my current game plan: Buy a wrecked late 90s legacy for an engine donor and snag the engine, wiring and whatnot from that. Then I have found some salvage yards from the area (denver CO) that have the d/r tranny. And I will buy the adapter plate and drilled flywheel. Will the axles from the old s/r 4spd work or do I need something else for that? also, are there any other hiccups I should look out for? I just found out that I wont be able to get the car shipped for two weeks. So I wont be making any progress for a bit. But I'll be updating this as soon as I can with pictures.

I'm partial to the manuals as well, so i'll probably stick with that. Tailgatewagon, what did you mean by a "grey wire mod"? Also, if I put an EJ22 in, will I need to beef up the suspension or rear diff? Also, also, what are your thoughts on an EJ22T? i know they are super hard to come by, but would it still fit? is it worth the trouble and expense to track one down?

Hi everyone. I've been lurking on here for a while and I'm going to be starting a build project soon. As such, I'm looking for some input and advice for the resident experts and generally anyone who has been down this road before. I hope to update this thread with pictures and progress notes as I move forward. Right now I'm in the planning stage, but I hope to start wrenching by mid to late April. Here's what I've got. I recently bought at 1978 4x4 wagon that is in great shape aside for a driver fender ding. Here is a link to one that looks just like it (same color, brush guard, dent and everything) http://www.oldparkedcars.com/2010/12/1978-subaru-1600-leone-4wd-wagon-first.html I bought the car in WA and am having it shipped home to CO later this month. So I'll get some more pictures up when that happens. I really just want to make this a fun car to take camping and mild off roading while keeping it on the daily driver side of things. I'm planning on an engine swap to replace the anemic EA71. I've found that at 6000ft+ elevation, hp ratings get de-rated quite a bit. I think I'd like somewhere north of 100hp so I can get up the mountain passes around here. I'm open to suggestions on what should go in this thing though. I'm willing/able to do minor body/frame mods, however the easier and cheaper the better. So, what do you think for the power plant? EA82, EJ18, EJ20, EJ22? turbo? For the tranny, I was looking at the 5sp d/r from a Loyale. Pros, cons or other recommendations? I've poked around enough on here to know generally what fits together and can fit in an gen1, so I'm looking on advice on the difficulty of the project, driveability of final product and cost, as well as general opinions, preferences and whims. Alright, that's it. Thanks in advance for the help.

Awesome! thanks. I'll probably be starting things in the next couple months. But I have one question. I've found a couple 5sp d/r trannys in "good" shape with 170k mi for $250. Is that a good price? I'm starting to collect parts and I'm trying to get a good deal if I can. Also, any recommendations for yards to get parts from around the Denver area?

Thanks Pete. I'll get some pictures of mine up in a few weeks. I live in CO and the car is in WA right now. So i'm trying to get it out here. it looks like your '77 could be a nice little DD. 20yrs in a field never helps, but it looks like a fun one.

Hello USMB peoples. I'm new to this board and will probably be asking a number of questions in the future. I used to own an '86 GL Hatch 4wd that was just a blast. But some icy roads and shady driving killed that one. i just recently bought a '78 DL 4x4 Wagon that is in pretty good shape. (safer driving is the game plan) I'll be posting pics and questions on here in the next few months. It's a little cold to work on it here now (i live in CO) but i'm planning on putting in a EJ22 with a 5sp d/r 4wd sometime this spring. Hoping to keep a stock look but make it a fun driver. Anyways, that's what I'm up to. I'll let y'all know when I get the project rolling. Any tips advice would be appreciated or if you have any parts I might need, let me know. I'll start a build thread when I get things ready to go and I start buying/collecting parts. Cheers, -Dirk

Pics please? I'm looking to start a similar project. I have a 78 4x4 wagon that i'm looking to put an EJ22 and a 5sp D/R into. any hints/pictures/advice is welcome. Cheers

thanks for the input guys. I didnt know you could run a turbo through a carb. That seems somewhat appealing because i hate trouble shooting electronics and it doesnt involve a whole new engine. I'm ok with some fabrication as well. what all needs to be custom made for the turbo? you mentioned exhaust manifold and inlet to the carb. anything else? The last concern is cost. what's the ballpark for both the weber/turbo option and then also for the EJ22 swap? I've also heard that the EJ22 doesnt quite fit into the engine bay so there are a "lot" of mods needed there. true? -NSP

what years/engines of SPFI would fit? i'm primarily a junkyard scavenger for these things... Also, if after i got an SPFI, i found a turbo set up from a EA81 (manifolds, turbo, etc) can i put it on without changing the heads/compression ratio? I guess i'm wondering if there is an "easy" turbo system i can toss on to my current setup to compensate for altitude and increase performance a bit. i'm new to the subie world and am not familiar with my options. I exagerated some about the 2nd gear... it's just really sluggish compared to OH where i lived before (now in CO). it runs fine with its stock config. thanks for the help.

so here's where i'm at. I have an EA81 with a hitachi carb and i live at 6000 ft. so if it had 73HP originally with about 15 less for the altitude and another 5-10 for the age i'm looking at around 50HP. so i cant get out of 2nd going up a hill. is there a way to put the SPFI or MPFI and turbo system from a EA81T or EA82T on my engine? I'm just looking to get the HP up to a functional level... any reccomendations?