Snowman

You're pretty safe giving the head a good whack with a rubber or soft-plastic hammer to dislodge it. Anything bigger/harder could cause problems, and the rubber hammer is all I've needed in the past.

It's likely that the ABS light is triggered by snow getting into the wheel speed sensors and making them inoperable. Something to consider is that ABS often is undesirable in snow and gravel because of the way the loose material piles up in front of the wheels under hard braking. In many cases, you CAN stop better without ABS in those situations. As far as how deep is too deep, that depends on an infinite number of variables. However, just to give you some idea, I drove my mom's Outback which had summer tires on at the time through snow that was obstructing my vision and it didn't have any trouble going through it.

Here's McBrat's Brat with some pretty big lights on top. I think it looks pretty good.

50% wear could theoretically cause enough of a difference to create problems.

I THINK (just hearing what others have said) that the engine bolts right up to the subframe. No, it isn't possible to do the conversion without the kit and keep your old-gen tranny. The spacing on the flywheel bolts is different, and you have to use an old-gen flywheel to mate up to the old-gen tranny. However, it has been done using a new-gen drivetrain. Two little issues though, a custom tranny crossmember must be made, and you can't get a D/R new gen tranny in the US.

I have yet to see a vehicle that can TOUCH a studded-tired Subaru in the snow. Most of the time, I'm doing 10-20 over the speed limit unless it gets deep enough that it slows me down. (No flaming please. I DO slow down and drive very carefully whenever there are people around, especially little ones. There just aren't that many people around where I live, so speeding isn't really a safety issue.)

My thoughts exactly. Rally is the only TRUE motorsport!! Okay, formula 1, offroad racing, moto/snowcross, etc are cool too. Just not nascar.

My car used to have that carb on it before converting to SPFI. I think you'd like the conversion.

Hmmm.... thinking about what your objectives are for this project, I would look at Richie's T-coupe. Other than that, I would seriously consider finding an EA82 Turbowagon or Turbosedan. I would go with the wagon because not too many people race wagons and it would get lots of attention. They are also most clearly identifiable as an old-school Subaru. They are plentiful and can generally be had cheaply in decent shape. With the assistance of the members of this board, surely you could find either a complete car or all the pieces to make one for less than your budget. Then you could spend that exta money on making sure it's in tip-top shape (like has been said, cooling system is priority #1 if you want to finish a rally), or putting a few mods on (decent rally tires, rear LSD, RX tranny, intercooler + more boost....). This approach would be the most "accessable" of all the routes you could go. Not to diss the XT6 crowd, but $500 T-wagons are more "accessable" than XT6's. Just my .02. I know it's pretty similar to my earlier post, but I stand by my opinion.

Yup, just take the intake manifold off. It's not that hard. And yes, there are little studs/dowels between the cam towers and the head, as well as between the head and the block.

I may go back and edit the manual if I get a chance. Thanks to Calebz, it has come to my attention that the manual and auto trans ECMs are identical. You shouldn't have any trouble with your conversion Phil. I had also considered putting it in a box under the hood, but decided against it mainly because of the very limited time I had to do the conversion (I did it over thansgiving and had to drive 750 miles back home at the end of the break).

If the fuel pump relay doesn't click and turn on the pump, check to see if the ECM if providing ground. The small blue/black wire that connects to the fuel pump goes to the ECM. Hook up a digital ohm-meter to this wire and to a good ground and turn the key on. If you have continuity, the problem is either the relay, it's power supply, or its ground.

www.1stsubaruparts.com Screw NAPA.

Run whatever fuel you want to. Throw in a bottle of Chevron fuel system cleaner for two tankfuls to clean everything out, then advance the timing 2 degrees at a time until you hear pinging, and back it off until it stops. You can also run plugs that are one heat-range colder if detonation is a problem. Often, that will help.

That's gonna be SICK! I can't wait to see the car at WCSS7!

Hmmm... I've reused the washer on mine quite a few times and I haven't noticed any leakage. I probably should get a new one pretty soon, but I think you should be able to use them two or three times before discarding.

Get an RX. That's what Subaru's factory team used, and that car would require the least modification to make a good rally car. You could also consider finding a turbowagon and installing the RX suspension and drivetrain bits.

If you can send it to me via email, I'll try to get it posted in the USRM. That would be helpful for this conversion and for others. Please send it to my non-personal email account: subaruklubofalaska@hotmail.com Thanks.

When was your last tune-up? If stuff is worn out, it'll make starting harder. Also, you might run a bottle or two of fuel system deicer.

I run nothing besides Mobil 1 and genuine Subaru filters. You can buy the Subaru filters by the case cheaper than most premium oil filters at the store. Especially in your climate, synthetic is a good idea. Much better protection at start-up in the cold (and better protection when it's hot, and at high rpms, and...well, ANY TIME.)

Whoah, that thing is street legal?!

I wouldn't be surprised if elevation made a difference for you. Mine would really start to crap out over the passes.

Any explaination of the rattling noise yet?

You basically have to guess at the RPM if you don't have a tach. Just set the idle speed to whatever it likes the most. For setting the idle mixture. Get your idle speed about where you want it, then adjust the idle mixture screw to the setting where the engine idles fastest. Then adjust the speed screw until it's back down where you started. Now adjust the idle mixture screw again. Repeat this process a few times, then turn the idle mixture screw in until the RPM drops just a tiny bit. This is apparently what you want for passing IM. Afterward, feel free to adjust back to where it idles best.

When I did the conversion, I had a complete SPFI parts car that I got for $100. I had to buy a fuel pump since the parts car didn't have one, which cost me $40 including shipping. I can't imagine that a junkyard would charge more than $200 for all of the used parts that you need. New parts will also run between $150 and $200. The most expensive bit being the oxygen sensor ($92 from 1stsubaruparts.com). I would guesstimate that my total cost was less than $300. That's cheaper than installing a new Weber carburetor.