X35 Performance

As someone who has tried a similar venture, but started with SVXes. I did it, trying to grow it into a full time and full pay operation, but never really quite made it due to outside circumstances, mostly involving $$$. I am about to start a new job doing much of the same thing, but for a major manufacturer. I used my product as a portfolio of sorts and it helped me land the job. Anyways...a few of my observations from my venture: 1. It's hard to sell parts that cost a significant percentage of the value of the vehicle, and for EA81/82 vehicles that's a tough proposition 2. Making molds always takes more time and money than you think, especially for custom stuff. 3. The price you can get for the part doesn't leave much margin for you if you are talking about hoods and sets of fenders selling for $200ish. Now...if you are looking at this as more of a hobby and bonus fun money instead of a full time job, then yeah, go for it! Have some fun, and you never know what could develop. That's how I started out, just as a hobbist. Soon I had a dozen orders and I was very happy. Then I lost my 'day' job, and had to try to make the parts business pay the bills. That was tough, esp. without any savings to work from and being at the startup phase. I'll be glad to return to hobby status, it was much more enjoyable that way. Good luck with it. I know I will have some XT/XT6 projects done someday, but I don't expect to make much money off them, but I will get my own personal enjoyment out of it, and that will make it worthwhile to me. PM me if you'd like to discuss further. Steve

Like it says..I'm driving down to my new job starting July 31 (saturday) via I-35 most of the way in my XT-turbo This is the same XT that just survived a trip from WA to MN, so I'm hoping that I haven't used up all my good luck with it. It'd be nice to have some phone #s for along the way just in case.... Please PM or email to steve@x35performance.com Thanks a bunch, I love this site for keeping my old-school Alcyone alive.

Until you can get a new relay, just try tapping with your fingers on top of the box the relay sits in, it should stop buzzing.

I'm moving to Brownsville TX in about a month. What kind of stuff do they do for the inspection, how often is it? Emissions testing required? Etc..? Also, how bad are plates $$wise? I've got 3 cars to re-register, so not too much hopefully... I'll be in the city of Brownsville, Cameron County if that makes a difference.

Yo, got 2 here, but will be down to just one soon. Found it through a link in the marketplace, flew to Seattle, replaced the head gaskets, drove it home 1700 miles woohoo. Body is near perfect, something you'll never find in MN. XT EA82T 5MT 4WD pushbutton with working R12 AC. Best deal ever for $500

Look for an XT (not an XT6, they have 5-lug hubs) in the junkyard. They have the spare in the trunk. I put my 18 year old spare on the other day and it looked as good as new.

I just pulled the heads off of an EA82T recently and snapped one head bolt on each bank. The other bolts came out very corroded, but the threads are ok/cleanable. I retapped the 2 offending holes in the block, as there was no way the remainder of the headbolts would come out. I'm wondering if this is a common problem? I'm heading out to near Seattle in about 2 weeks to pick up another XT turbo with a bad head gasket (thanks to whoever posted the link to it in the marketplace ) I'm planning to pull the head and put it back together so I can drive it home, but I'm a little worried about either snapping a bolt, or stripping out the thread in the block, as if that happens then I'm totally screwed and will have to pull the whole motor to repair the threads. So....just how likely is it that I'll be able to pull the head successfully. It's the RH head on a 86 XT turbo. Not sure if it has ever been pulled before. Also, is there any chance to repair the thread with the engine in the car? Doesn't look like too much room to work... Thanks for the continuing wisdom.

Anyone willing to check out a subie for me near Reno, NV? I just want someone to look the body condition over, and possibly drive it to get a general condition, as I'm a little far away to check for myself. Please PM if you can help. There'll be a little something in it for ya (yet to be determined)

It is a lockout mechanism so that you can't shift unless you have a foot on the brake. That's how the SVX works, and most other modern cars in general do too.

Wow..this is all good news. Anything else I need to know before I widen my search pattern for my perfect XT Turbo 5MT 4WD to include N/A XT 5MT 4wds? Maybe I'm paranoid, but I still find it hard to believe that it is this easy... but if it is....

Really! It is just that simple? I know it'll bolt up fine, the wiring issues were what concerned me. The n/a ECU is smart enough to adjust to the additional airflow, etc..? I am suspicious after working on the SVX for so long, where nothing is so simple

I've searched the messages, but not found the exact answer I'm seeking on this conversion. How much grief related to wiring and such are we talking about to convert a XT N/a to XT turbo. Assume that I have a donor EA82T car to work with. The plan would be to put the EA82T engine into the n/a XT, NOT to turbocharge the existing EA82 engine in the n/a XT. Let's assume that the n/a XT is a 4WD 5MT, and the donor car is a XT-turbo AT 4WD. 1. Do I have to swap out all of the n/a's wiring for the Turbo's wiring? 2. Fuel pump and fuel line related issues? 3. Other hidden nightmares? 4. ECU swap? If it's just a matter of plug and play with minimal grief, I'll probably do it. If not....then I'll just keep waiting for the perfect XT-turbo 5MT 4WD to come along.... Looking back through the messages, some have hinted that the wiring harnesses are the same, but use a different ECU. Thanks much

The fifth annual Reading meet for the SVX World Network is scheduled for April 16,17,18 2004. More details here: http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14798 All fans of the SVX welcome Note: I am not an organizer of this meet, I'm just spreading the word. People to contact can be found using the link above. Thanks!