el_freddo

Thanks for the complement. I’m not much more than a backyard mechanic as I like to do things myself. I might go a bit further than some though - and thus I share what I’ve learnt/found along the way All the best with that spark plug, it sounds nasty! Cheers Bennie

I’d think if there was a hole there it would push out coolant until the level in the radiator couldn’t get to the hole any more. This would do two things - first, the cooling system would never pressurise, leading to poor cooling performance. Second, reduced coolant volume will circulate the coolant quicker through a cooling system at or above normal operating temp. And if that’s your original radiator you’ll probably find it’s full of crud. If that hole isn’t your issue the partially blocked radiator could be. Last thing, do you still have the air dam/engine undertray piece still fitted? This is designed to develop a low pressure system in the engine bay at speed to draw air through the radiator. Without this you could find your engine running warmer than normal in hot weather but I doubt it will allow the cooling system to boil. Cheers Bennie

How does this work? Factory heat shield then the blanket over the top? Seems like that would be a super tight fit for the blanket. Cheers Bennie

How much different is the JDM unit to the USDM unit?? If you’ve got the factory engine management that matches the engine type and all sensors are working properly I don’t see why it wouldn’t pass a smog test - assuming the test isn’t a standardised test for all engines in a particular class. Will the XT6 “mature” and avoid smog testing at a certain age? The EZ has to be better in the emissions department compared to the factory EA82 or ER27! My 20c from across the big ditch. Cheers Bennie

Good to hear that these were replaced. When buying genuine cam cover seals I’ve always needed to order the spark plug tube grommets separately. Next question: how did you clean out all the oil that was in there from before the grommets were replaced? Not an easy task! I had my engine on the floor when I did this and I still found it difficult! I used some torn down rags made into strips, shoved these in and twisted them around the spark plug as much as possible using a long screw driver, then did it again with a fresh rag strip until I was confident the tube was pretty clean. Then I removed the spark plug and used a fatter rag strip to clean out any last bits. I could’ve used some Metho at this point to give it a thorough clean but I don’t recall doing that. The results? Well the project is still sitting there waiting to be finished off and used so I can’t report on it yet. Cheers Bennie

When you replaced the cam cover gaskets did you replace the spark plug tube gaskets at the same time? If not, your old ones in there are hard and leaking. Pretty common. Cheers Bennie

Your front and/or rear struts are the issue. Check for leaking oil if they’re original. If aftermarket they’re gas and die quickly from what I’m told. The oil units can leak but still work ok for some time then they result in the vehicle being really unsettled after hitting bumps. If only the tests are dead the giveaway is the vehicle will feel like it tries to crab when in a corner and you hit a bump/pothole/ripple in the road - quite unnerving! A shot ball joint or tie rod end would result in excessive tyre wear and the steering being floaty left and right - meaning very little feeling left and right that moves the car in the same direction. If this is the case you’ll find yourself always correcting the direction of the vehicle like they do when “driving” cars in movies when filmed in the studio… you may also experience a lack of confidence in your steering at speed. Cheers Bennie

So weird seeing this with a flat roof. All of our wagons over here in Oz have the “high roof” with the bump just above the front seats. That’s our standard roofline here! Some inspiration for you: The pic on the trailer isn’t its actual ride height, it’s strapped down nice and tight giving it that awesome lowered look. You can see the roof bump too Cheers Bennie

Just Subarino’s tricks Can’t go wrong there. Cheers Bennie

Get the family member to organise the deal Or the seller is on holiday/out of town for work, I’ve had this but not the lack of communication. Cheers Bennie

Enjoy the install. I’ve got one in a diff ready for Ruby Scoo when the time comes. Got a few bits to sort out before then. Hit me up if you have issues fitting the stub axles Cheers Bennie

Do some research but I believe the STi pink springs from the GD platform were a popular option, as were king springs but I don’t know what’s available through them anymore. Impreza struts could help too but I’m not certain on this. Cheers Bennie

Sadly I bet wreckers hear these commitments all the time only to be put out by ppl that are a no-show, stuffing the way they manage their business. Cheers Bennie

Use the ignition wire that powers up the relays and ecu off the EA ignition wire via a fuse. Never missed a beat for me in my conversion and I was driving that daily for the best part of ten years until recently. Numbchux’s write up gives detail on this I believe. Cheers Bennie

Using the same cone washer? That’ll do it. Replace the cone washer and the concave/convex washer with the replacement hub. Also check the spline on the driveshaft is still good. Cheers Bennie

Take the console and matching shifter etc if you can. As Steptoe said, grab the rear diff to be sure about having the correct ratio. The ‘87 could be a 3.9 ratio depending on whether it’s a series 1 or series 2 (“facelift”). The ‘89 will be 3.7 ratio. Cheers Bennie

You don’t need luck to get married! Just someone else that agrees to and that you want to marry All the best when the time comes! Cheers Bennie

Partsouq has the first part number 001 as unavailable but were $US25ish (plus postage) and the 020 at just under $US17 plus postage - which usually starts at $US17 to Oz. It’s worth adding other bits you need to the order. Warning: it’s dangerous I’d say many of the Subaru EJ setups use this relay design across the range up to some mid to late naughties model IF they changed how they do things. They rarely fail and there’s plenty of them out there. At the end of the day, you could probably open the relay up to clean the contact points and go again Cheers Bennie

Get cracking!! Make sure the centre diff is good in the AWD box before installing it. Make sure it can differentiate smoothly and that the spider gears are the same colour all the way through. If it’s been rallied with the centre diff open I’d say the centre diff will be worn out or cooked. You'll need to remove the rear housing and remove the centre diff to get a good look at it. Very easy to do with the gearbox out of the car and VERY VERY easy compared to removing the rear housing on the PT4wd box! I hope it’s good. AWD is awesome compare to front wheel drive Cheers Bennie

Sounds like a good goer. These were everywhere over here and now they’re hard to spot on the road these days, even seeing a Gen 2 is hard going, sedans even rarer. Good save in my book. Bust open the original TCU and see what’s up. It’s bin good as it stands so you’ve got nothing to loose I reckon. A set of rims and some lowered springs set these off Cheers Bennie

Odd thing to do. The Queens Arms and the Mt Edgecomb (now closed) pubs are about a block away from each other. Easy walking distance. Dunno what part the cat played, it was tough reading the small article. Interesting that someone tried for a workers compo claim, seems not much has changed since then! As for the immobiliser, I don’t know how it works or if they can be tricked as such. I always thought you needed a matching ECU, key transponder and immobiliser magic box to make it all work and that it’s rare for them to have issues. But from what I can see from adverts for immobiliser sets the ECU isn’t married to the immobiliser unit in the vehicle. Anyway, it seems you’ve re-sparked the old relay that may be the cause of your previous running issue. I hope it’s still all going well/strong without a hint of an issue lurking! Cheers Bennie

From my hazy understanding the Subarus have their alternator (battery) light wired in to the positive side of the instrument cluster. I believe the alternator wire for the light is negative when the alternator isn’t spinning. Once the alternator is spinning and putting out positive voltage both sides of the alternator light are positive and thus the light goes out. That’s what I believe happens but I could be wrong. Someone explained it to me years ago… Cheers Bennie

I used an EJ22 gen1/2 solid flywheel in my sister’s Gen3 EJ251 without issues. The issue with the dual mass flywheel was that it made that little squeaking noise at idle, it didn’t sound right. From memory the second hand flywheel at the pick a part year was about $50. Winning. Cheers Bennie

Neat looking Leone. Careful with that plan, it can get out of hand quickly (in a good way)!! Cheers Bennie

And a screw driver to steal it too… I’d say his daughter wants a better riding/handling car with more comforts than any 80’s based EA powered Subaru could offer! I doubt she will get much more involved mechanically than paying a mechanic or buying parts for her dad to maintain the vehicle. Get that forester issue sorted Steptoe and enjoy it for what it is Cheers Bennie