Snowman

I remember riding in Andrew's wagon to WCSS6. The OP gauge in there starts out about 30 degrees below zero and goes to about 20 when it's started up cold! Negative oil pressure!

The EA82 engine remained virtually unchanged from 85-94 aside from induction systems, piston height, and head design.

True dat! Mine gets nasty in the winter. I'm currently experimenting with an "oil separator" device and I'll report back after I drive it for a while. I'll also try to take a picture of it later today. Basically, it's a plastic cylinder about 4" long and 2" in diameter, with a hose fitting on either end to connect to the drivers side pcv hose. The top pipe on the valve side of the system extends down into the cylinder about 3/4", while the bottom pipe is flush inside the cylinder, allowing any oil to drain out. With the upper pipe like that, it should be impossible to suck any liquid oil through unless the cylinder fills up with oil, which is highly unlikely. Also, the larger diameter slows down the flow of air, which gives the oil less of a chance to get sucked in. In theory, this device should eliminate pcv-related oil consumption and be completely self-maintaining. Oh yeah, and the stuff to make it cost about $10 at Lowe's.

Yeah, I would be much more afraid of everybody else. The best advice I can give is STAY OFF THE BRAKES! When wheels lock up, they have no traction, which means that you cannot steer. I can't begin to imagine how many times I've seen people slide into things that they could have easily steered around if they hadn't locked up the wheels. Also, don't panic if things start to go wonky. It's all physics, and you can usually pull out of a slide or whatever if you just remain calm, steer into it, and gently throttle out. I can't stand seeing people get into a little slide, freak out, let go of the wheel, and hope that whatever deity they pray to is having a good day.

The legacy was voted the easiest car to work on by some mechanics' association in 1991. The loyale is also a piece of cake to work on, but it's more prone to oil leaks and such. For practicality, I'd go with the legacy because the EJ22 is bulletproof and its a bigger and more comfortable vehicle. However, older soobs tend to be more fun for some reason.

I like how the specialty tool for rear alignment is "a piece of wood". I guess Subaru anticipated what kind of people would be buying their cars.

SPFI has only one filter. Don't buy anything from Fram.

I've been running 75w90 synthetic for three years with tremendous success. It's still as clear as the day it went in.

Yeah, that part was certainly memorable.

In theory, the SPFI system could probably handle a little bit of boost, but performance would not be stellar. They've still got single port heads and no knock sensor. If you want turbo, it'd be less work and you'd get better results if you just swapped in a turbo engine. I'm not sure exactly what all the differences are between cars with and without tachometers. The speed sensor wire that you need to tap for the conversion is still in the same connector and is the same color, though it goes to a different pin.

Yes, there should be some oil in, and yes there is a gasket for it.

I remember somebody on the board saying they either had owned or had known the owner of a gen 1 brat that after rebuilding the original engine twice had over 700k on it. That's not abnormal for the engine, but for all the running gear, electrical, and whatnot to hold up for that long is quite impressive. For longest running engine without a rebuild, somebody also said that they had a gen 1 wagon with a confirmed 516k on it.

If you're worried about that, just gut the cat and leave the shell in place for them to see.

I've looked at Canadian Subaru brochures and paperwork, and there is no mention of an EJ d/r tranny.

Dude, that's awesome! Which engine is in the Forester? Phase II 2.5?

No more damage than was done by having coolant in the oil.

GLs, and RXs came from the factory with things like d/r trannies, turbo, adjustable suspension, etc. There is less work to be done on a GL to make it a good offroader than with a Loyale. Like Bushbasher said, I foresee a lot of people using Loyale bodies with GL trannies and such in the near future due to the fact that the newer bodies are more available and have less rust on them. So, in short, it's easier to start with a GL to make an offroader or an RX to make a rally car.

Idea #1: Definitely a good idea. Though I'm not sure I would use something like that, it would surely be a good read and could provide the inspiration and technical info for further projects. Idea #2: This sounds like something that would involve some costly electronic bits, no? If that's the case, I kind of doubt that it would really take off as far as popularity, but it is a great idea, and it certainly wouldn't hurt anything to look into.

Ditto on 1stsubarparts.com. Their HG's are actually the same price if not slightly cheaper than NAPA's. At least buy the HG's there if nothing else.

Awesome!

www.1stsubaruparts.com WAAAAY cheaper than dealers. Actually, their OEM stuff is usually cheaper than I can get NAPA, even with my massive student discount at NAPA. Great service too. Call them rather than ordering online though.

Some people do. Like the Factory Service Manual:cool: . (At least for the EA82).

If you have to drive the car, change the oil and get that crap out of there. It really is a dice roll whether or not the bottom end will be okay. I would be prepared to either do a rebuild or drop in another engine sometime soon just in case.

I think others will agree with me (WJM?) when I say that you should use OEM headgaskets. NAPA and others are often problematic. Definitely replace the T-belts. The service interval is only 20k away. This is another item that you should use OEM for. Also check the tensioners for any play or roughness. They should have been replaced with the belts last time, but that probably didn't happen. Reseal or replace the oil pump. Do front and rear main seals, cam seals, and all other gaskets. Definitely use OEM for the intake manifold gaskets. Make sure you use anaerobic sealer on the head-to-cam-tower mating surface and be really careful with the O-rings for the oil passages. Do not use RTV here. (I know I spout off on this every two weeks, but that's because I think it's really important.) Put some aviaton form-a-gasket on the oil pan gasket. If you've got the time, disassemble the hydro lifters and clean them. Reassemble them submerged in ATF. There is an oil pressure relief valve in each cam tower. Disassemble this and clean it out. If the spring looks/feels old and worn out, replace it. This can cause low oil pressure in the top end, leading to HVLA tick and other bad stuff. Check the heads for cracking too. They are a poor design and are prone to cracking problems. However, bridge cracks (which are really common) between the valves are not a problem unless they extend into the ports. I have the TSB describing this.

Cut 'em a little long. That way if you mess up you can just do it again.