Snowman

I've looked into rebuilding soob alternators before, and it's simply not cost effective. The pieces to do it cost too much, and a reman or good used one is too cheap.

About the crossmember thing: The turbo cars have a larger notch in them for the exhaust pipe to go through. You can either swap in a crossmember from a turbo car, or just cut a larger notch in your existing one.

Hey everybody, I got to thinking a while ago that it would be cool if we could have a "readers' rides" for the USMB, where members could post stuff about their cars, ongoing projects, etc. With this in mind, I went to blogger.com and started my own subaru blog (http://subaguru.blogspot.com/). It's free, it's easy, and you can post lots of pictures (they even host images). If enough people are interested, we could start up a page on the USMB with links to everyone's pages. What do you think? Good idea or crap?

Looks like a blast! I'm curious, which rig does better in the snow?

Nobody sells a complete kit for the EA82 engine. You have to buy everything individually, which generally includes an overhaul gasket set, rings, main bearings, rod bearings, an oil pump, a water pump, timing belts. I've gotten my stuff from 1stsubaruparts.com in the past. Whatever you do, don't go to NAPA. Their headgaskets suck, and most of their parts are more expensive than the OEM stuff is from discount places like I mentioned above.

You may want to try contacting these people. http://www.smallcar.com/convert.htmThey do EJ conversions in Vanagons, and offer California-legal setups, so they could probably tell you what's involved in making it pass CA inspection. Basically, you have to prove that it runs exactly like it did in the donor car, with all the IM stuff intact.

I try to stick with Purolator or OEM filters, which are the same thing with different packaging. You can get OEM filters from the dealer by the case of 12 for $60, which is $5 a filter. You'd be hard pressed to find a better price on a decent filter.

I've done it two ways in the past: 1. Go to the dealer and get some. They're not that expensive. 2. Make your own studs from bolts. Just cut the head off and use a file to round the end a bit. It's a very common bolt size on these cars...I've always been able to reach into my bolt bin and find one that's the right size.

Not many people have had their soob trannies apart because they usually last a really long time without failure. If they do die, you can get another one in trade for a case of beer, at least with the older part-time 4wd trannies.

I can't see any reason you'd need to take off the starter motor. As far as the crank pulley and stuff, you MAY have to take off the center portion of the timing belt cover, but I really am not sure. I wouldn't take any of that stuff off until it looks absolutely necessary. However, if your timing belts are not new, this would be a great time to change them. Good luck!

If you had oil starvation, I would shy away from using that engine. Like erik said, you may very well have to grind the crank and other expensive stuff. I've had good luck finding well-worn but still running motors and just putting new rings, bearings, seals, oil pump, and water pump on them, and getting the heads redone. You could most likely just slap your heads on a different shortblock after getting them resurfaced. There is no "kit" for the EA82. You have to get all the parts individually. I've gotten my stuff through 1stsubaruparts.com before, and was pleased with the prices and service. Definitely go with OEM parts, whatever you do.

Maybe your accelerator pump is worn out and not squirting in enough fuel. They also sometimes leak as they age, which would explain having to lean out the idle circuit in order to pass IM.

My understanding is that you'd have to remove the valve seat inserts, weld the cracks shut, grind it smooth, install new seat inserts, and grind them. Pretty much all of this would have to be done at a machine shop, and when you add this on top of getting the heads resurfaced like you should, it would probably cost more than buying a set of reman heads.

That's perfectly normal for that tranny. They're geared that way, and the EA82 engine in your car will run at those revs all day without complaining. Your fuel economy could be a little better...most people I've talked to are getting around 25mph in their 3AT cars. Maybe it's time for a tune up?

The temperature sending unit for the gauge is located on the intake manifold near the thermostat housing, and it has one wire going to it. Near this unit the the temp sensor for the EFI control unit, which has two wires going to it. When you say the auxilliary fan switch, I assume you mean the thermosensor which controls the electric cooling fan, which screws into the passenger side radiator tank near the bottom of the radiator. Hope this helps.

Ultra Gray is not an anaerobic sealant. It's basically a high-grade RTV from what I understand, and not something I would put on my cam towers.

When I put the EJ tranny in my EA car, i had to weld the EJ tranny mounts to the EA crossmembers. I would imagine you'd have to do the same for this conversion, but you may be able to just drill some new mounting holes. Either way, be prepared for some fab work.

These engines are known to develop piston slap when they get older, primarily due to their piston skirt design. It's not really something to worry about until it gets much worse. My mom's Outback started slapping a little at cold start last year, and switching to Mobil1 Synthetic helped a little bit.

What about doing it like Skip?

Use only OEM headgaskets. They are definitely the best available, and places like 1stsubaruparts.com have them for less than NAPA sells their crappy ones.

At worst: 3/4" into the port may be far enough to cause coolant loss. I'm not certain where the water jacket starts, but that might be getting close to it. At best: It will be more prone to problems in the future, such as if it gets overheated again it may crack far enough to start losing coolant through the crack. I wouldn't run a head like that on my car, but it's up to you. You can always try it and swap out for another head if it's problematic.

I painted my rocker panels with some rhino knockoff stuff, and I think it looks really cool.

Unless your clutch cable is incredibly tight, causing the clutch to always be partially disengaged, the clutch is worn out and needs replacement. Try adjusting the cable just to make sure that's not the culprit.

Put the hub/strut assembly on the floor, get a brass drift, and smack the bejeezus out of it. It sounds like you've got a bunch of rust and crap in there that's holding it up, so a larger hammer may be necessary. BTW, I think the manual just says that as a CYA (cover your...) measure so that if somebody messes up on the bearings and a wheel falls off it's not their fault. I don't know how somebody could mess it up that badly, but I guess anything's possible.

Wow, I thought we had some weird stuff in our OT forum.