idosubaru

what GD said. wrong part means nothing. i've gotten more wrong parts from Subaru dealers than the parts bin, but i wouldn't say "Subaru parts dealers suck", it happens. hopefully they take care of it for you.

you had noise prior to failure, so i wouldn't call this a defect or safety issue. let any noise on a major component go and it could potentially cause issues. CV boots, axle, driveshafts, ball joints, wheel bearings...all typically make noise prior to failure. continue to drive those and serious consequences are possible. in the northeast, rust is a big issue. i've seen rust cause major...unsafe suspension issues. tires rubbing against the inside of the vehicle and other bad things. most inspections are way overkill, but looking for rust and actual safety issues is one good thing about them. if this passed safety inspection then they missed it. unfortunately on the late 90's legacy GT's, the most common failure point of the exhaust is covered by heat shield...you can still see the exhaust, but might prompt an easy glance over of the joints that usually fail. it is highly, highly unlikely for the exhaust not to give notice...like at least have a hair line fracture or leak of some sort. it would have to rust so thin over such a large area that it reaches failure right before any holes developed...highly unlikely i would think. never heard of that before either, but i have wondered about the exhaust and drive shaft doing this, coming loose under the vehicle. i always assumed the weight of the car would just crush the pipe or push it in some way....particularly if it's rusted enough to come off. sounds to me like all the stars aligned in a very bad way. glad to hear it turned out okay...minus all the damage and insurance crap of course.

subex - all of this info is over at xt6.net, there's a recent thread about brakes. are you talking about front or rear? fronts can be done. like he said, the legacy stuff has a rear ebrake so if you install legacy brakes you'll have no ebrake. some EJ brakes require larger wheels to clear as well. i think all twin pot calipers require 16" wheels, though i think there's one that will work with 15", although no matter what your 14" XT6 wheels have to go for 2 piston calipers. legacy stuff is a no-go on the back, won't work, competely different set up.

this doesn't necessarily mean the Subaru reman's and any Cardone aftermarkets are identical. Subaru makes some attempt at keeping a certain level of quality...tolerances, parts used in the rebuild, etc. Cardone is on it's own though to supply the aftermarket world and those parts aren't required to meet those same standards. there's a good chance, but i'm also not one to put anything past a company. if they can save a buck, they may. wonder if there's a conclusive way to find out?

caboob, here's someone at xt6.net that did this....sort of, but you're probably not going to like what he has to say about it: http://www.xt6.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7781 why did you want EJ stuff over EA82/XT6 rear discs or the ebrake conversion? EJ hub conversion is all but impossible. of course anything is possible, but the time, money and fabricating involved would be intense as the set ups are completely different.

with the transmission out, it is a good time to replace the clutch. can't speak on the clutch issue, i'm not familiar with that one. torque bind is fixable without removing the transmission, have they already removed it? someone just had there's fixed to the tune of $500 and i believe that was at a dealership. i'd much rather have that than a used trans that's had an unknown owner and sat on a shelf somewhere...and i doubt they'll pull, buy and install another transmission for $500 either.

soak it really good with PB Blaster or Liquid wrench...WD40 doesn't count. that may help get parts to come off properly. i'm with him, high possibility it's all gunked together...but i am on the east coast so i see some real nice ones out here.

how much do you plan on using it. alot or emergencies? for emergency use i'd just have an extra tank to throw in the back whenever you go wheeling. fill the tank at home with your compressor and take it with you. then it's not always there and you have to worry about mounting, lines and the a/c deal. you can get a power inverter. check loads and demand and this might be all you need for emergencies. or install another alternator and maybe you can roll your home compressor right in the vehicle with you.

that's great info xrturbo, thanks for posting.

you mentioned "cheap". i wouldn't replace the rear rotors unless you had vibrations or something is wrong with them. subaru rear rotors rarely need replacement in my experience...actually never in my experience. i wouldn't be concerned with the dust shield...of course i can't see it, but i'd just leave it. at most i might hit it with some POR-15 type stuff..or the cheaper knock offs ,or just spray it with rust inhibiting enamel automotive paint. if it's that rusted back there i would suggest touching as few bolts as possible anywhere near that rear hub. they can really suck to work on if there's rust. at 12 years old and 216,000 miles there are probably other higher priority items than rust holes in the rear brake dust shields.

nippers last sentence. i would add to check the battery terminals while you're at it. it isn't all the uncommon for battery or alternator failure to follow a few months after having electrical issues. i've had multiple "come backs". in other words, a friend or family member has a vehicle that has horrible connections or terminal end links at the battery. replace those and all is good. then the battery dies 2 months later. or replace a bad battery. then a few months later the alternator dies....bad connections over work the alternator and don't sufficiently charge the battery, lessening it's life. i'm fairly picky about my own connections now. i install new alternator plugs as soon as i get an older vehicle, i have a bag of them. battery terminal end links, i replace those frequently as well.

like ive already mentioned in this thread: there's not much info out there because not many people do this. so you hear a few stories about people doing it and discussion from those that have never tried. there are people out there doing it right now, i just spoke yesterday with someone i know doing it and all is well, he's running in RWD.

i think it's about the right price considering it has a cracked windshield, dings and crinked hood. you can always use KBB to value a vehicle, gives you good general place to start. you don't see many RS around, so if that's what she wants then it's a great deal and the timing appears right. as far as a late model subaru it's not a great deal, but the RS is hard to come by. particularly one with some issues that drive the price down where you want it. i would guess it would be a long time before you see another running, driving RS in this price range. i'd test drive it for a very long time, the headgasket issues don't always show easily. make sure you drive it at operating temperature for awhile. make sure the temp gauge stays pegged right around the middle where it's supposed to (not too low and make sure the heat works well)..basically signs that the thermostat has been removed. if the radiator, water pump or thermostat was recently replaced then that's a flag of sorts.

i think it's about the right price considering it has a cracked windshield, dings and crinked hood. you don't see many RS around, so if that's what she wants then it's a great deal and the timing appears right. as far as a late model subaru it's not a great deal, but the RS is hard to come by. particularly one with some issues that drive the price down where you want it. i would guess it would be a long time before you see another running, driving RS in this price range. i'd test drive it for a very long time, the headgasket issues don't always show easily. make sure you drive it at operating temperature for awhile. make sure the temp gauge stays pegged right around the middle where it's supposed to (not too low and make sure the heat works well)..basically signs that the thermostat has been removed. if the radiator, water pump or thermostat was recently replaced then that's a flag of sorts.

not every one has headgasket issues, so they may be originals. hyrdocarbon test is pointless on this car. i guess you can and if it's really bad it may show up, but these headgaskets typically pass the hydrocarbon and compression tests when they start to fail. that's why so many mechanics screw them up...replacing water pumps, radiators, thermostats multiple times, etc. that being said, you should be able to look and see visually if it has the newer updated headgaskets on it. down below/behind the steering pump a part of the headgasket protrudes out of the engine. i believe....that you can tell if it's the new style or original just by looking, not even removing any parts. the old style will just be flat headgasket material, the new style will be the multilayer style. if it's that old, it's probably obvoiusly peeling and layered. we should get some pic's of that up...i keep meaning to take some in my garage.

good point, since most EA82 and ER27 heads in use today are running with cracks, i would bet most do, it is cost effective to not worry about them for sure. i always have them repaired so "those that tried had problems" isn't true, but i'd agree it may be overkill. every one that i've worked on that i know of, is still running with no issues, some with quite a few miles. there's probably few shops experienced with this, so it probably is wise to skip this step.

the anaerobic sealant i got from NAPA is a set of squeeze tube sealant and a can of applicator spray. not sure if they're all like that or not?

very common. non turbo heads are rarely deep enough to cause issue. i've taken many to the shop and they have never come back not usable. turbo heads i would expect a higher failure rate on, but i haven't come across enough to really know much about those. in any event, they are common and definitely fix them. i use an aluminum head specialist that has extensive experience with aluminum heads and subaru heads. they were very familiar with fixing those cracks and they use stitch pins to fix them, they claim that's the best and proper way to fix those cracks. i've actually posted info on those before, part and size numbers...but it's a kit of sorts and probably only used by the machine shop world. welding is another option.

easy. do it. that alternator should have lasted longer, did you have a battery fail? i've seen quite often batteries and alternators failing together...within 6 months to a year of each other on friends/family vehicles. i'd check your battery, consider replacing it, or check/replace the terminals, the jokers that bolt to the battery. with good, clean connections and terminals, batteries will last a very long time and alternators will as well.

anaerobic sealant is the proper sealant to use. it doesn't run the risk of coagulating in your oil supply if any happens to get in there. regular Permatex products and RTV that most people use will work, but it's more risky. i don't think this is true, permatex ultra grey is typically used, but it is NOT anaerobic. the anaerobic stuff is expensive and requires the applicator spray as well, but you don't need much of it, i'd stick to it. there's a picture on one of the XT6 groups of a guy who used permatex stuff and it got caught in his oil supply lines...i believe at the cams. he had severe ticking and found the glob of sealant wedged at the cam oil supply between the cam and the head, blocking oil supply to that cam. properly used it'll work, i'm not trying to sound like it's the end of the world, but don't be liberal with it if you're using the other stuff.

know anyone in the states? have them source/collect the parts for you? then either cross the border or have them shipped or something?

to all the "open" and what not discussion and other comments, there are people driving around in 2WD right now due to a locked/failed torque bind equipped trans. i don't think that's characteristic of an open diff. i don't know the technicalities but i know it works. that may help those with real world problems and would certainly reduce stress on other components once it's "completely failed", whatever that means!

Frams suck, period. it's not that every single filter will ruin your engine or cause problems...so yes you can run them without experiencing issues, that's not how it works. of course if every one ruined your motor, they wouldn't be in business. it's about poor design and quality. you want filters with 99.9% reliability or 95% reliability..making those numbers up of course. i'll shoot for anything but fram or an aftermarket, repainted fram. actually i use exactly what nipper mentioned...puralators and wix.

right on, piecing together will be expensive. the yards around here all sell the complete strut, so for cost, that's the way to go. $40 for the entire assembly.

awesome, look forward to it will!