TOsborn

More progress, and finally after putting 2k plus miles on the car, something broke! Recently I have been continuing fixing little things on the car, such as cleaning the fuel line connections (one was leaking due to age by the pump, cleaned the hose barb and no further leaks). Do these EA82's have a second fuel filter by the pump? I looked but didn't see anything. Also have been resealing parts of the engine, most recent project was valve cover gaskets, as the old ones were leaking. I also cleaned the valve covers while I was in there, and they came out nice. Over the past week it has been picking up the dreaded lifter tick. I decided to see if an oil change would do the trick, as it was due. And fortunately it did for now. I have new lifters for the side that was ticking, but if the oil change keeps it in check I'll just live with it, as the tick is a nice reminder to change the oil! Here's the obligatory engine shot, nothing special, but here it is (the MAF and such is missing as I was in the middle of puling the valve cover): And finally, the broken part was the hood release cable. Will be heading to the junkyard tomorrow to buy another one. Next week I will be starting a very long road trip with the car, as I am finally (mostly) confident it can make it. Starting in Washington, I'm driving to LA, California, to visit an old friend. From there I plan on going east. Colorado, Utah, and possibly further east depending on how the car is doing at the time. Should be a great adventure, and the car has been doing fine the last 2k miles, so hopefully it's ready to do a ton more! I have inspected just about every bit of the car back to front, and everything checks out for the journey. Any extra advice on prepping EA82T's for a long trip would be nice.

If your still looking for XT Turbo parts, this might be helpful: http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/ptd/3366357101.html

^Nice! I purchased a few vacuum switches/lines, and engine hardware for my car off that XT today.

300+ mile weekend and no issues again! Reached 31 MPG on the freeway which really surprised me, in town I've been getting low to mid 20's. Stopped by the Arlington Pick-a-Part, and as usual came out with a good haul of hardware/vacuum switches. And found a cherry spare drivers side headlight. Also, on the way out I decided to check the last row of the import section, and found a '83 Hatch, which then led to more spending on parts for Quattro San.

Rough idle came back after after a bit of driving unfortunately after a bit of driving, but have made a bit of progress in eradicating it. First removed and cleaned the EGR valve. It functioned well (when sucking on the vacuum line, the pintle actuated fine) and after soaking the bottom of the valve in carb cleaner, re-installed it with a new gasket. No discernible difference on idle smoothness, but at least it's clean now, and I know it works. Also noticed a fair amount of corrosion on the top part of my coolant temp sensor. Since they are only $15 at my local parts store, I bought a brand new one (the box it came in looked like it had been on the shelf for a long time), and installed it. Surprisingly this seems to have helped a fair amount. In the last five key cycles since I installed it, no random check engine light flashes, and a smooth idle at 800-1k rpms when warm. I thought this may be a problem area, as the car was seeming to have a hard time adjusting the idle speed as the engine warmed up. Driving the car up north to Bellingham this weekend as another road test, the back is loaded with rally tires and steelies from my old Legacy that I'm selling to a friend (for a boosted Corolla AllTrac project), so it'll be a heavy load for it! Also stopping at the Pick and Pull in Arlington, looking for a drivers side headlight (mine's fogged) and dash doo dads. Hopefully the drive goes well and uneventful. Also, did this car come with a front skidplate from the factory? I've been looking at a '89 Turbo Wagon at a local junkyard that has one, and wondering if it will fit on mine.

Currently Quattro San is waiting for it's head to come back from the welder. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=136422 I ended up selling the Legacy recently, and bought this: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=136734

Well, checked out a service manual, and found this flowchart (which I figured I'd post here in case it can also help anyone else). Where is the manifold pressure switch on located on a ea82 intake?

My '86 RX has picked up an idle issue after I swapped out the stock injectors with new ones. Initially I replaced the passenger side injectors, and the car ran it's best since I've had it. Smooth and consistent idle speed. Today I swapped the remaining two injectors, and have picked up a fluctuating idle. When cold the engine holds a steady idle, but once warm it bounces between 800-1k RPM consistently. The ECS light is also now coming on, but only when I am coasting. If I apply throttle (even just barely) it disappears. Also, it is harder to start now, and opening the throttle seems to help starting. Plugged the self-diagnostic plugs together a few hours ago, and the ECU flashed "22." "Pressure or Vacuum Switches: Fixed Value." What exactly does this code mean? I'm assuming a vacuum switch problem somewhere, but I don't know what the "fixed value" part means. Any help, and recommendations of what switches to check first, would be great! I've been checking over the vacuum lines a bunch to make sure I didn't accidentally unplug any of them, and every checks out ok. Thanks!

Nice find! If you end up parting this out, I'd be interested in a ton of bits for my hatch.

New injectors made a huge difference! Idle is smoothed out a ton. After removing the old injectors, it became very apparent that they were leaking between the plastic/metal parts of the body. Also, the old o-rings were rock hard. The fuel filter also appeared to be OEM '86 Subaru, so good to change that as well.

Spent the weekend driving the crap out of it waiting for something to break, and nothing did! Haven't done much repair to it, as I was kind of busy all weekend, but did find time to remove a couple pounds of mud from my inner fenders. Luckily it hadn't been there long enough to rust them out, but would of eventually. Also have kept up with removing exterior engine bits, cleaning and inspecting them, and re-installing them correctly. Tonight new injectors and fuel filter are going in. And decided to go for a quick hike up above Lake Cushman, on Mt Ellinor, this sunday morning. Found snow!

$58.60 a pop for brand new injectors. I'm pretty content with the price, as it's less than the reman's for my old '96 Legacy cost.

^He's asking $450-500 for the whole engine, "supposedly" it runs, and it has 150,xxx miles. What are they worth? Seemed a little steep to me, are these heads available new anywhere, or is hoarding the old ones the way to go? I think he ran it for at least awhile after he fixed it, or else I don't see why he'd go through the time to install his "sweet" stereo, then uninstall it for the sale. I'd bet he found cracks too, as they seem inevitable! I did find out how much he paid for the car earlier this year though, the first owner donated it to one of those charities that takes non running vehicles (this one was not running), he bought it from them for...$600! And I ordered new injectors today since the old ones are leaking, Dr. Injector (has a shop in Tacoma, and a few other in the PNW) ordered them for significantly less than I found them at any auto parts store. Will be replacing fuel filter when I swap the new injectors in.

Man how has nobody bought these? I'd be all over these for 100 bones if I had a gen 1. Now if you have any composite fenders that will fit a '86 RX or '82 GL...

Score today at the junkyard. -working dash clock + non broken clock trim piece -the rest of the battery holdown I found prior -front mudflaps -some original radio wiring harness to help fix the hack job aftermarket stereo someone put in it -spare tire + mounting hardware -and found a '89 ea82 turbo wagon, with a complete engine! Got even more fasteners to replace on mine, and considering buying the injectors off it to use as cores for rebuilds, as mine need replacing. Also a great resource for comparing my vacuum lines too.

Car is coming along slowly, no new photos thanks the recent deluge of rain. -new axle/CV -new tstat (old gasket was leaking, replaced the tstat while in there) -tons of interior/exterior trim fixes -more new vacuum lines to replace old rock hard and cracked ones -many new hardware bits off a junkyard wagon -engine bay cleaning/organizing And the bad news -plug threads are chewed up, going to need a heli coil job or if possible squeaking by with a quick cleaning/running a tap through them -injectors are leaking, planning on taking them to an injector shop to see if they can be cleaned, or rebuilt, or if they should be replaced. -still needs exhaust work, as it is pinched almost shut where it bends over the rear axle. This would explain the holes drilled in the exhaust right after the cat. -might need a new efan, as the shroud on the old one was dented so that it interfered with the fan blades. Bent the shroud back into shape, but haven't seen the fan turn on yet. Does anyone know at what temp it's supposed to activate? After digging into it more, the last owner really did a sloppy job of re-assembling the engine bay after he 'supposedly' replaced the head gaskets. Many important bits of hardware missing/loose. It's been a bit of a learning experience running through everything. Going to keep plugging away at it as low budget as possible. The EA82 turbo seems to be a finnicky engine from what I've heard, should be an interesting project/driver. Going to try and keep it all stock and maintained perfectly to hopefully ebb as much life out of it as possible!

Gotta give him credit for doing it in one long piece! That must have taken a bit of planning.

I think the 4wd light switch is located under the console plastic. It's a small switch with a little metal arm that is moved when the lever is pushed into 4wd hi/lo. It could be hung up/stuck/or bent, and is probably worth looking at. Hope that helps. Clean Brat!

Nice, that thing is in stellar condition!

Whats the difference between the RX and GL three door? The title paperwork reads GL, but I really should check the door plate. Rough idle has been intermittent, as for 90% of today it was fine (much better than yesterday). Which leads me to think it may be a leaky/loose vacuum hose bouncing open and closed or a loose connection in the ignition somewhere. Spent time deep cleaning on it today, and driving the wheels off of it. No complaints so far!

Since winter is rapidly approaching in the PNW, my truck ('65 Ford F-100) wasn't going to cut it as a daily commuter, neither was QS (ongoing turbo GL hatch project). I originally wanted another GL hatch that I could drive, then eventually use as a parts car. After driving everywhere between Portland and Seattle, multiple times, looking at rusted out GL's, I settled on this. It's not the same body style, but will make an excellent fun commuter. '86 GL three door, 1.8 Turbo, LSD in rear, 5sp with hi/lo tcase, power everything (and it all works!), 85k stock miles, and a mediocre respray paint job. Story is it blew a head gasket a long time ago and sat. Earlier this year the guy I bought it from fixed the head gasket issue, drove it for a bit, then I bought it for a reasonable price. It's quick, handles well for a stock old car, and very minimal rust! Plans for now: fix little issues (trim/exhaust leak/interior/etc), then tackle the engine as it's idling rough. Already began the process of replacing broken/cracked vacuum lines which seems to be helping. Photos: ^Pile after first couple hours of owning car. Removing old alarm system/previous owners sub/amp harness. Unfortunately he removed/unwired the stock speakers in the rear so those will have to be replaced.

Nice filling the rack holes. On my last Legacy wagon I removed my roof rack as well, but opted to just plug the holes with rubber hole plugs. It looks much better filled in.

^Thanks for the info, and for presenting it in a very impolite manner. The old threads were quite jumbled, and I don't do much research on forums, as why would I believe anything I read on the internet when its put up as "AFAIK." And I didn't just go blindly out and purchase this car. In fact I've been poring over it for the past four years, asking the right people the right questions, and followed it throughout the surplus process. Apparently nobody else thought it was worth $250, so I purchased it. From the brief driving I have done with the car, the turbo was not dumping oil anywhere, or smoking (except from leaky fittings, which have been repaired already). More driving will tell. Curiously, why did you swap heads with student project heads from stoopid? Especially if your concerned about the quality of the work? Also, since the modifications were made to the water jacket I am not to concerned about their structural integrity, but only driving and proper tuning will prove that. And if they explode, it won't be too hard to put different heads on. If the last people to work on the car had prepared it for outside storage properly, I wouldn't be dealing with a block/heads cracked in multiple places from freezing... If people were concerned about passing on the history of the car, it would have been written down in an organized manner. That's not the case for most VRI cars, so there is a ton of speculation for any of them. I'm learning about the car as I dig into it, as that's pretty much the only way you can tell for sure what has been done to it. Either way, you can't argue that the attention it is finally receiving will be beneficial for the car.

Photos, as promised. Beginning, removing AC compressor and all that. Compressor seems to be in good shape, plan on keeping it. Surprise Crane, SBC roller rockers. Valve cover spacer, so rockers will fit. Custom rocker mount plate, sits behind spacer on top of head And here's where it got really interesting: Two welds, one of which is cracked. It appears they cut out the water jacket, welded a large amount of material around the exhasut port, ported it, and then welded the water jacket back on. Lots of work, seems like with a turbo that might not be as helpful as it would be with NA. More detail And, definately not stock valve springs. My dad seemed to think that they might be SBC as well. And knowing how Doc Seal seems to have a particular like of SBC parts in projects, I wouldn't doubt it. And more of the head. The intake has been ported as well. I'll try and get better photos of the in head porting next time, as these didn't show that well. Once the water jacket is welded up and everything is put back together, next step is the carb! Everything went very smoothly in the tear down, and most everything shows very minimal wear, leading me to believe this was a NOS engine they put these parts on, and then never really ran it. Also, looking for a drivers side mirror for QS, and a passenger side front turn signal lens if anybody has one laying around. There are a ton more bits it's missing, but going to start with these two!

More exciting discoveries tonight! I pulled the drivers side cylinder head, as it had a crack in the water jacket (I am dropping it off at a professional welder for the repair). I found SBC roller rockers! And possibly SBC valve springs. Also, many various hand machined spacers and such. And finally, the head has some crazy porting going on, the welds on which are what failed, I'm guessing when the coolant froze. I have photos of all and I'll try and get them up tomorrow.