All_talk

Prepare yourself… they’re gonna total it. You might be able to negotiate an “owner repair” and avoid a branded title. Or fight for a good price and let them total it, then buy it back and use the extra cash to buy a new shell with a clean title and make one from the two. In any case it’s a big bummer, glad your ok though. Gary

I get 23-27mpg, on the low side boosting at will, on the high side driving like an old lady. '87 RX all stock 288,000 miles on the clock, mostly freeway driving at 70-80mph. BTW, I dont know the factory rating for the RX, but I have the window sticker from my '87 4WD wagon, carb, 3AT... says 22mpg hi-way. And it gets just about that, even with 230,000 on it. Gary

Like Skip said, sounds like a classic case of the governor sticking. The 3AT in my '87 wagon did the same thing, after the "fix" its been fine for years. If you haven't all ready, look here for the info: http://www.usmb.net/repair/?CurrentDirectory=FOLDER_3f29b58f50d9b8.15492800/&FileType=Article&File=ARTICLE_3f57fdb83de231.34713659.art Good Luck Gary

F-in Sweet. Lately the mad scientist in me has been scheming a very adventurous plan for a Subie powered chassis to go under my ’57 oval window Beetle. Gary

A cold intake tract is fine with dry flow (i.e. MPFI), but with the SPFI’s wet intake, a cooled tract will cause big problems at lower velocities and in cooler weather, fuel will condense on the walls and cause mixture issues. Best to make sure your “cold air intake” truly is one, like the OEM, drawing air from outside the engine compartment. I don’t like to be a naysayer and I’m all for testing new ideas, but the time, effort and money spent on most gimmicks and tricks would be better spent on real performance enhancements, like over all air/fuel through put. Just my thoughts Gary

Kroil is the best I've ever used, works great in conjunction with heating/cooling cycles, but the smell of it smoking off hot parts is NASTY. Web site: http://www.kanolabs.com/ Gary

Here's the link to the repair page on the old site: http://www.usmb.net/repair/?CurrentDirectory=FOLDER_3f29b58f50d9b8.15492800/&FileType=Article&File=ARTICLE_3f57fdb83de231.34713659.art Hope that helps Gary

The early shift out may be a problem with the vacuum modulator (on vac line to it). The 3AT is also know for problems with the governor, try a search to see if any of your symptoms are similar to what other have seen. Gary

If you cant find any I might be able make you some, dont know if I can do it for $5 a wheel tho. Gary

I believe the general rule for Subie engines is single cam = non-interferenace, twin cam = interference. BTW, there is also valve to valve interference. Gary

Sorry guys, I got that backward... TT's only come in the RHD markets. Something to do with steering and brake parts clearance. Stupid dyslexia yraG

You best (cheapest) bet is probably to run it tell it blows and replace the tranny with a good used one (5 speed?), if you plan on rebuilding the tranny you already have sooner may be better than later, as it may save you some worn or broken parts. Generally, a whine is bearings and a growl is gears. My '87 wagon with the 3AT growls like angry bear in sharp corners (bad spider gears), and is pretty noisy overall. It too has bad output seals and has been run low on oil (before it was mine). But its been running like that for years now. Gary

The trick with the Twin Turbos is they only fit in left hand drive cars, to fit them in a RHD takes fairly major mods. Gary

I had good luck with it in a '86 Plymouth K-car that needed a Looooong warm up to drop into gear, and they have the worst auto trans ever made (that may be true of the whole car). The filter change at the same time may have been a big help too. It also seemed to help the (sometimes) power steering pump in my '87 Subie wagon, not a 100% fix, but better. Gary

Just a late note to this thread, watch the surface finish, you don’t want a polished surface on a cylinder head (or any other surface that holds a gasket), you need a little roughness to hold the gasket. Emulating OEM should work fine. BTW, this idea isn’t really “backyard”, lapping parts for fit or finish is standard procedure in any machine shop. I personally have been using the “glass plate” surface plate as long as I’ve been working on stuff, I learned it from my daddy. And to take it a step further, I regularly use a hard rubber sanding block or long board (bodyshop type) to clean, prep and flatten surfaces that I can’t take to the surface plate. Gary

Little rocker switch on top of the steering column... "parking lights".

Yeah, the stock IHI RHB5 VF7 is very well matched to the EA82T in stock trim, if you dont plan to do any mods or raise boost pressure I'd stick with it. For mild mods and a bit more boost the WRX Mitsu TD04-16G is a good match. Others? Compressor maps and flow calculations will tell the tail. Gary

Hey David Welcome home and great thanks for your service, and welcome back to the USMB. Your Subaru reputation precedes you somewhat… I recently saw one of your hoods for sale, looks like a very nice piece. Like others have said, I think your best bet for RWD is a part time 4WD tranny (your ’86 should have one) with the front axles pulled, then its just a matter of how long it will hold together. Gary

I was out of town this weekend snowmobiling, but next time you are passing through Thorp (Ellensburg) feel free to stop by my place, I'm just 2 miles off I-90. Gary

Mount the speaker to the door (like OEM), not the panel, you'll get a lot more clearance that way. I just put larger (5 1/4") co-axe speakers in the front of my RX, screwed them right in the pocket in the door, left the mosture shield and all. I really should replace the stock grills with larger ones but for now they sound fine. Good luck Gary

I believe the factory A/C has the compressor mounted inboard of the alternator (closer to center) and the dealer installed is just the opposite with the A/C compressor outboard nearest the battery. I do know that one water pump is taller than the other, I think factor A/C is the taller one, and dealer A/C and non-A/C are the shorter, but I’m not positive on that. I replaced the one on my non-A/C ’87 wagon awhile back and still have the old one. I think the catalogs list the height, I’ll try and remember to measure when I get home. Gary

A Subie drivetrain (2WD) would work if you went with a mid engine layout. The Subaru engine will spin the wrong way for thr stock Corvair transaxle, but if you wanted to stick with rear engine you could mate it up to a 4-speed VW box (or BERG 5-speed). If you are looking for 250HP or less I'd go with the EJ series 4 not the H-6, a EJ22T or EJ20G would make plenty of power and save quite a bit of weight. Could be a very cool project. Just some thought Gary

(1) What is the rotation direction of the front drive shaft? Lets say looking from the back of the rig toward input flange on the front diff, CW or CCW? (2) If you use a Subaru rear diff up front, do you have to mount it upside down, or right side up and drive the gear set backward? (3) Can you use the front diff from the truck? I know it will be a R180 or R200, but if you get one from a newer truck with independent front suspension and a matching ratio will it work? Will the output stubs match? Thanks Gary

Hey Patrick Not many injectors fit the EA cars, whats the source of the ones your looking at? The Datsun/Nissan 280Z/ZX and 300ZX ones should fit, I have some 280Z ones on my bench and they sure look the part, the coil resistance is the same but I havent test fit them in a Subie manifold yet. More info about Datsun/Nissan injectors in this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=26375&highlight=300zx Gary

From the Ebay add... "Vacuum/Boost Reference on a 1:1 ratio." This is the same ratio as the stock regulator, this one will let you adjust the base pressure, but I dont see how this type of regulator will allow you to add fuel to the top end without adding it at cruse and idle as well. What you need is one that lets you adjust the rate as well as the base pressure (read that BIG $$). Gary