Snowman

Oh come on. It's more exciting that way! I do agree that the 1st generation legacy is overall the best car Subaru has produced (or just about anyone else for that matter). That's why I drive a 92 Legacy. Sure, the new ones are way faster, but they don't appear to be as trouble-free (besides the improved 4EAT, which has always been a great tranny anyway). If I had to trust my life to one car, I would pick a gen 1 legacy, hands down.

I have seen a Peugeot diesel sedan in person, but never a wagon. That's very cool. Tangential comment: The one I saw was running on biodiesel made from fish oil. You know how burning used frier oil makes the exhaust smell like french fries? Well, you can imagine the horrid odor that this thing made.

The only thing that may change is how much it is capable of producing at lower RPMs. By design, some alternators can't put out very much current at idle. Don't know how the GM alternators are about that, but it's something to keep in mind.

I seem to remember the spec for the weber carb being around 3.5-4 psi. I would also recommend using the higher pressure pump and bringing the pressure down with a regulator. That way, you can play around with different pressure settings and see where it's happiest.

Must be a JDM right hand drive model.:cool:

I would try advancing the timing a little bit, say 2-4 degrees, and see if you get any ping. Another thing to check if it seems low on power, is the MAF sensors on the EA82 engines like to get dirty and cause all sorts of drivability problems. Take a look at the MAF sensor wires, and if they're not shiny and new-looking, get some MAF cleaner and spray the heck out of it.

Since your car shares a bolt pattern with all the newer soobs, including the WRX and STI models, there are TONS of wheels available that will fit. Of course, finding them cheaply may be a challenge. However, you can usually get a good deal on some stock alloys from a WRX, forester, or outback that somebody took off when installing fancy wheels, and I think that some of those rims look really good on the early legacy.

If you don't have deep snow, it shouldn't be a problem. Narrower tires will give you better traction and make the car more stable.

I had assumed that was taken as a given.

Yes, definitely use ONLY subaru valves. I've had brand new aftermarket ones cause big time oil burning before. The subaru ones are only like $12 from the dealer. Unless I'm already ordering some parts from my subaru guy, I don't see it as being worth my time to order one and have it shipped.

Haven't done it myself, but I've looked into it, and it's very similar to doing the SPFI conversion on a carbed car. You're basically swapping the whole engine wiring harness. For the gauges, you should be able to hook up your oil pressure and coolant temp wires with no trouble. The engine crossmemeber apparently has a cutout for the turbo exhaust, or you can cut your existing crossmember. I would use a two-row radiator for the turbo engine.

There is a completely separate temperature sensor for the ECM.

Any heavy-duty truck/bus parts place should have low-water indicator senders. I've been meaning to put one on my car for a while, but haven't gotten around to it.

Here's a picture that sort of shows the "tuned by Home Depot" strut brace I made for my wagon years ago. It's just some angle iron with holes matching up to the inner-most strut mount studs. As far as WRX suspension, anything is POSSIBLE. Just remember that the track width is probably different enough that you will have to shorten virtually EVERY suspension component, and do it precisely enough to maintain alignment. The front struts MIGHT fit into the towers on your brat, but in the rear, you will have to make all new strut towers, because the rear suspension is totally different.

Did they use the update multi-layer-steel gaskets from Subaru? The original ones that the factory used in that engine are poorly designed, and the updated ones SUPPOSEDLY dealt with the problem. Also, did they check for head warpage or cracking and deal with any damage properly? A slightly warped head can cause new gaskets to fail early.

I would imagine some very careful and diligent observation would uncover the source of the leak. I've seen coolant leaks come and go, seemingly at random, with no clear origin. I hate to be too pessimistic, but the phase II EJ25s are notorious for external head gasket leakage, which causes a slow, often intermittant, but relatively steady leak that will eventually drain the reservoir.

I don't know that ANY aftermarket suspension is available for gen 1s. I suppose you could get custom springs made for the front struts. You should check and see if springs from an RX will fit. I ran those on my lifted 86 wagon, and they seemed to help a lot on the high speed bumps. For the rear, I know some people here have added the EA82 strut/spring combos to their EA81 cars, increasing suspension stiffness and damping, and it might be possible to do something similar on your brat. Making a strut brace would probably help the handling as well.

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, that would pretty much do this:Flame: to the swapability. It really is amazing how much stuff changed on these cars when they went to OBDII. I suppose I could swap harnesses and ECMs, but I'd rather not get into that:rolleyes: . Not to mention adding a second oxygen sensor, and...

Dude, this 'roo is WAY cooler! As far as looks vs. performance, what's "cool" is all in the eye of the beholder. Some people like to go fast. Others want to look good. In my case, reliability and weather-handling are top priorities, so I'm building my car accordingly, and it's neither good looking or fast.

I don't know about the subaru temp senders, but USUALLY, resistance decreases as temperature increases, so adding a resistor would be going the wrong way. I would just play around with an infrared thermometer and compare the temp readings to what the gauge says, in order to "translate" the readings of the gauge.

This is kind of an off-the-wall question, but I figure somebody here must know. I've got a 92 legacy with a 4EAT tranny, which I really like. However, I briefly owned an 02 Impreza, and its 4EAT has shifting characteristics that I liked a lot better. Primarily, it was much more eager to lock up the torque converter, which improves efficiency and reduces transmission temperatures. So, I got to wondering if would be possible to get a TCU computer from a newer subaru (sometime in the early 2000's) and swap it in to my 92 legacy with no other modifications to the tranny or the wiring harness (I suppose I could switch a few wires around, but I don't want to have to swap the whole wiring harness or anything of that nature). I know it's probably a long shot, but subaru has done some weird things, so I thought I should check.

If you loosen those bolts, it might pop right back into place.

I seem to remember the bolt holes for mounting that main rear bushing being slotted. Perhaps when the car was hit, it pushed that whole assembly backward. I would still suspect a faulty toe or camber adjustment.

IF it actually does ANYTHING, it probably alters the MAF sensor readings to trick the computer, which is a band-aid solution at best that usually causes more problems than it's worth.

I know you've done a lot more work on the EJ cars than I have, so I'd generally take your word for it, but I'm curious why it wouldn't work to just swap out the whole pedal box.