Snowman

Generally, I think the Chilton's schematics are easier to use than the Haynes.

Welcome! Got pics of your cars? They sound really sweet.

Try sending Austin (Ratty2Austin) a private message. He knows a lot about the swap. I did it in a car that's virtually identical to yours. If you want, I can PM you my phone number and I can talk you through the conversion process as well as probably answer any questions you may have.

Two other logistical things to mention about Canada: They won't let you in if you've been caught drunk driving or been accused of a felony within a certain time period (I think it's like 5 or 10 years). Most misdemeanors are okay, but if you've got a couple, contact Canada Customs beforehand just to make sure. In order to bring guns into Canada, you must go through a complicated and expensive registration and inspection process. Handguns are completely banned. It's really not worth the bother to bring a gun. If we go anywhere where there are bears and stuff, one of the locals can bring along a gun just in case. Like has been said, just make sure you're faster than somebody you're traveling with:rolleyes: . Also, we have a joke up here that the mosquito is Alaska's real state bird. Just something else to be prepared for if you come in the summer. They're usually worse later in the season, but they're here the whole time.

You should be able to keep the EA's cable-activated clutch, but I would definitely get a kevlar or ceramic clutch disk, as I imagine the EJ22T used a higher-pressure pressure plate which required the hydraulic actuation to release.

The light on my 81 wagon only worked with the high beams. Yeah, "passing lamp" is a good one on a car with 83 horsepower!

My hypothesis is that the wire from the alternator to the battery is bad, or the fusible link is bad. Even if the alternator itself is putting out 28 volts, a very small amount if any is getting to the rest of the electrical system (I tested a 66 Ford van that was putting out up to 72 volts at the alternator but measured 10 at the battery). The bad wiring may have caused the alternator to crank up the voltage to try to continue charging the battery, which could have fried the regulator. Hope this helps.

Hey Matt, do you know much about the pipeline road up to Prudhoe bay? I hear that it's pretty knarly, but don't know anything about it other than that. Something else to think about: There are two routes through British Columbia, the Alcan and the Casiar (maybe it has two s's). The Alcan is slightly longer with more services and cities along the way. The Casiar is shorter by a couple hundred miles, but not all of it is paved yet (there's a FUN 80 mile section by Dease Lake that is still gravel....all the mud on my car at WCSS7 was from that, not from offroading). For a summer trip, I'd definitely try to go at least one way on the Casiar, but in the winter the Alcan is probably safer...I'll have to check on that though, as I think most of the truck traffic goes down the Casiar, and trucks will be pretty much all you'll see during the winter.

Has anybody done this yet? That's a great idea.

Like was mentioned, the EA81 aviation engine springs might be a possibility. Have you looked into that at all?

That looks pretty nice. I've been trying to think of ways to make my soobie into a more camping-friendly rig. What I think would be cool is to have a tent-like structure that comes off the back of the car (with the liftgate open) and down to the ground with a waterproof roof and mosquito netting around the sides (they're nasty little buggers here.)

That would be sweet, but we could have a WRC-style rally on the Denali highway between Cantwell and Paxson. 150 miles of unmaintained gravel.....

WTF!? How the heck can that happen!?

Will the EA82 flywheel mate up with the starter correctly? (I think it should, I'm just trying to eliminate all possibilities of hang-ups.)

4wdfrenzy has a good point about the EA82T, but I should mention that I have done the conversion from a carbed EA82 to an SPFI EA82, which is pretty much the same as far as wiring is concerned, and I have also done the EJ22 conversion, and I found that the wiring for the EJ22 conversion took less work. There's more to be done as far as fabricating stuff, but the wiring seems to be the biggest hurdle for most people. The stock EJ22 also has more horsepower and torque than a somewhat-modified EA82T and is not nearly as prone to blowing headgaskets.

No, you're in the right place. Like Vegablade was saying, did you just remove the turbo, or was a completely different engine installed?

What exactly is the car doing? Does the battery not stay charged while the car runs? 28 volts? It should regulate itself to 13.5-14.5.

I would be deathly afraid of spacing your rims out with washers, especially with the way you drive:lol: . The best choice would probably be redrilling early-nineties Toyota rims, which came with a variety of different backspacing specs and are pretty common.

Check in the "Retrofitting" forum, and do a search on "EJ22 swap". Putting the 2.2L engine from 90-94 Legacies has become very popular recently, so there is a lot of discussion of how it's done on the board right now. That should answer most of your questions, but if you have any more, feel free to ask. The short answer to your tranny question is that it can be done and you can keep your stock transmission, or upgrade to either a dual-range 4wd tranny or the Legacy AWD tranny at the same time.

Use a grinder to make your own pin puller from a long bolt. It just needs to reach around and grab the pin. I've torn down several motors using this tool to remove the pins and it works fabulously.

"Anybody have any thoughts on using really aggressive tires in the snow? Like a bogger? Or would normal snow tires be better?" For driving in the snow, get the tallest, NARROWEST studded tires you can fit under your rig. I can't count how many trucks with big wide tires I've seen slide off into the ditch while I cruised right on by in my narrow-tired soob. Generally up here, the winter "offroading" is on unplowed snow-covered roads because it's entirely too deep everywhere else for any car or truck to handle. I also carry cable-chains with me at all times in the winter, but have yet to need them.

It's definitely doable, but preparation is the key. Getting parts is HARD in rural areas along the way, and it can take weeks to get stuff there. I always carry at least one spare axle, bearings, timing belts, alternator/fan/etc belts even for my regular trips around the state. For something like this, you'd want to think about stuff like fuel pumps, drive shafts, distributors, gasket sets, etc. One thing I would mention is gas is expensive in Canada. When I drove to WCSS7, it was around $1.20 a liter in the more remote places on the Casiar compared to just under a dollar in the more populated places. Well, now it's $1.20 a liter in the more populated places, so it won't be a cheap trip. Have plenty of extra cash. Like Matt said, definitely get contact information for the SKA people as well as the Canadians on the board. Depending on when you make the trip, I can and will drive down and help repair/tow vehicles if the need arises. As far as when to go, it depends on what you want to do. It's safer to drive in the summer because it's not deathly cold and there's more traffic. Probably also a better time to come as far as touring the state and seeing stuff. I think it would be cool if you guys came up here the week before WCSS8, spent a week driving around the state (that's the minimum it would take to see much of it), then we could caravan back down with you and go to the show.

I'd check the rotors out REALLY carefully. Was there metal on metal contact?

You should pull off one of the pieces of the timing belt cover and have a look. If the belt was replaced that recently, it should still look pretty darn new. It would be absolutely stupid of them to not replace the belt, seeing how they had to take it off to do the rest of the work and the extra money for the belt is a pittance compared to the total cost for the repairs, but maybe they didn't replace it. Check the belt so you know what's going on.

I drove a 2001? Outback sport and it was governed around 115. I thought I killed the thing when it started bucking and slowing down...scared the crap out of me! If it's a 90-94 model, you could disconnect the vehicle speed sensor if it's the governor you are wishing to get around. After 95, if you disconnect the speed sensor, the ECM doesn't like it though.