idosubaru

first what engine? if it's an interference engine i always go with Subaru only. if it's a non-interference engine then i'm open to more options. if this is for your Baja, then go with Subaru for sure. i've used them with no problems, but don't know mileages i got out of them. i think regreasing or replacing your timing pulley bearings is more important than what brand belt you use. belts break all the time from failed bearings, new or old, soob or not. i'll go ahead and tell you that there are plenty of people on here that will swear you must use subaru belts or your engine will kill you. they're coming....

yep - that's the claimed axle that makes it possible to swap a non-turbo EA82 trans into an XT6. that was discussed and voiced with benebobs transmission swap thread. probably some good 5 lug and suspension information at xt6.net for the people doing swaps and stuff

do they have the same 5th gear ratio's and final drive ratio's? i'm going to convert my 4WD XT into a FWD. if loyale, XT's, GL's are all the same gear ratio's then it doesn't matter where the trans comes from. i have leads on a couple different FWD EA82 trans. one is 1990 Loyale FWD trans then other is a 1987 GL sedan FWD trans (that's EA82 i think right?). i know the stock 88 XT FWD manual trans get awesome gas mileage, so i want to get a trans close to that in gear ratio.

even if you got a less than 100k motor you'd still want new timing belts, water pump, oil pump seals etc. 145k vs. 100k on a 2.2 is really nothing, where as on a turbo motor or EJ25 you might think differently. the blocks are likely to be in identical physical condition. i'd keep looking too, but wouldn't rule that one out and would feel perfectly comfortable installing it in my vehicle (with new belts, pump, seals, etc) .

to remove the engine you have to unbolt it from the transmission. if it's an automatic you have to remove the flexplate bolts from the torque converter though the access hole in the bell housing (the little rubber plug under the intake/throttle body). if it's a manual, just separate them. gradually using a wedge, chisel, heavy duty screw driver, work your way around the bell housing and pry them apart. have the engine lift hooked up and take the pressure off the engine mounts as much as possible so the engine will come loose and float out ahead of the transmission. and remember the head gaskets are easily done in the car. it'll take a good 2 hours at least to remove and reinstall the engine if everything goes smoothly (good luck). that's enough time to get the timing belts and cams off. most gasket sets i don't think come with the cam carrier o-rings at the bottom corner. they are reinforced and have to be that way, a regular o-ring is not acceptable. the only place i know you can get them other than Subaru is http://www.thepartsbin.com. this is a must replace item when reassembling. pretty sure you're a member there, but you know about xt6.net right?

shop around for exhaust, they can vary wildly whether they want to rip you or be nice. the cheapest way to get exhaust done is to have what you want in the trunk - have the muffler and converter you want (which can be bought really cheap) and stop by a place whenever it's convenient and ask how much to install them. since you have the expensive stuff already it's only a few dollars in parts and doesn't take a shop long to install them. so get a nice guy with some down time and they should throw it on for not more than $50. i had mine installed for $35. small mom and pop shops are the best. look outside of town, away from big cities as well, they are usually busy enough that they can charge higher prices. what do you mean by "brakes". you want them all done for piece of mind or they're all bad? i'd do brakes first if they have issues. price will vary by whether or not they start telling you stuff like "you need new calipers and your rotors can't be turned"...$700. pad slap them and you'll get it under $100.

i have a contacts in the auto world that allows me to go to the dealer only auctions, those are the ticket if you know someone or get access. sometimes they have public auctions as well, PA is well known for it's auctions. otherwise keep your eye out on here, ebay, etc for wrecked vehicles. they're typically not available often enough to snag when you need it, but they come up sometimes and i buy them as parts car. took me a few months to get the wrecked EJ parts cars i wanted. junk yards will sell entire vehicles, just have to see what they want for it. it's definitely not as simple as saying an auto is a 4.44 and a manual is a 4.11. Subaru tried to confuse the entire world when they went with the EJ stuff and final drive ratios...and they succeeded. there's a good list out there for nailing down the manual trans gear ratios but EJ stuff is harder to figure out, no good charts or anything that i've seen. probably the biggest PITA in dealing with transmissions.

something to ask the machine shop next time i have anything done. i've never had any problem blowing head gaskets but i've only done one turbo motor...haven't heard back from him yet?!

your state Motor Vehicle Administration or Department of Transportation...whatever they call it in your state would elaborate. if it's for legal purposes, that's the "horses mouth" so to speak. enjoy the white stuff!

seeing that it's wrecked is a big plus, you know why it was taken off the road.

yes and yes. i don't know why you would think an AWD subaru isn't considered 4wd. if it's just for the semantics of the local regulations then okay, you're fine. if it's for maximum traction you're falling far short of your vehicles capabilities by only concerning yourself with those regulations.

plenty of older soobs have both manual and automatic FWD transmissions. and some had AWD - or FT4WD. there is a BUTT LOAD of information on the subaru all wheel drive, from subaru and their Endwrench website. i'd read up on this and also search this forum. this topic has been gone over many times. the newer EJ manual trans don't have center differential locks like the old school EA manual subaru's. for automatic trans you can add a duty C switch to lock your rear transfer clutches on an automatic (i've done it to mine). an excellent modification for offroad and snow/ice conditions. but you need to understand how it works and when NOT to use it to reduce the risks to your transmission. AWD is good for 4WD conditions. the manuals will have a center diff that isn't locked and the auto's will have a TCU that controls slip. slippage starts to occur and then it locks up. i don't like that for snow/ice/mud...gets the ruts started too quickly. i like being able to control it myself which is why i use the switch, makes for awesome AWD control in offroad, snow, mud, etc. i'd rather not wait until slip starts to gain traction, so screw the TCU in bad weather and offroad.

if you need exact numbers, then ignore me. if you're looking for ballpark then 135 pounds.

i have a security clearance, so at least PM or email me!

bump: anyone willing to let us know what year and model 200SX rear calipers to use? 4 cyl, 6 cyl, turbo, and year? i want to order these and for some reason people aren't willing to talk about this?

agree, no big deal. it would certainly take a long time for oil/coolant to degrade a belt, well beyond 6 months. i'd submerge a belt 6 months in the stuff and still feel confident driving it for another 6 months!

that's the trick, get good and be set up right and they can be done real quick. your 2.5 is an interference engine, you are definitely wise on the OEM there. i've only installed Subaru stuff on inteference soob stuff.

as far as fitting on the wheel goes, i know FWD XT6's come with 195's, AWD comes with 205's and i've had 215's. might affect handling a bit, like rolling or understeer having the wheels that much wider than the rims. i've been told that you shouldn't go over one size larger or smaller on that first number over stock. in other words if stock was 195, then 185 should be the lower limit and 205 the upper. but i've broke it before, like in the example above. that miata sites is nice for comparing actual tire widths and dimaters.

that's the one nipper, good score! i've seen at least one other filter comparison as well that came up with similar results to that study.

that doesn't really mean anything towards the quality of the parts. feedback is typically left immediately, not proving anything long term. but...i would still use an aftermarket timing belt on a non-interference engine. i've used Gates, Dayco and probably others on older non-interference subaru's with no issues to date. i keep an old timing belt and tools in the trunk and could slap on a new belt very quickly in any weather. everything is new, belt, water pump, pulley bearing grease, seals, oil pump...so failure is highly unlikely but i'm prepared just in case. every inteference motor i've done has gotten all Subaru stuff.

it's not so much that i don't like them as they are crap. yes there are plenty of people that use them without the motor blowing up, but that doesn't mean they are "good". search on the internet (or even this forum), there have been more than one report of them sucking real bad. most other oil filters are relatively comparable. i don't recall the details but they are inferior in design and materials and are much more likely to recirculate oil without filtering it due to a bad or lack of drain back mechanism. again..it's been awhile, but there's info to read about them, they are by far the worst oil filter in circulation. if i ever want advice on advertising and marketing a product i would go to them, but for quality oil filters go elsewhere.

RAM engines (ramperformance i think is the website?) builds EA81's for aircraft use and they have aftermarket pistons. higher compression NA forged or cast pistons. the forged i believe are a good bit lighter than stock. and a variety of turbo piston options as well. pic's and details of the forged pistons are over at http://www.xt6.net where mr. radon built an XT6 engine with a set.

be careful with the rear main seal. there are a number of cases where freshly installed rear main seals have leaked. Mr. Radon at xt6.net after rebuilding his ER27 (same rear main as the EA82) and also steve's EA82T i think it was, and others. these were both this year. I'm not sure why that happens, but be very careful as it would suck to have to drop trans/pull engine just for a $7 seal. timing belts are way too easy to even bother figuring in the equation. EA82 timing belts can be done in 30 minutes. usually takes longer, but just for refernce they aren't hard at all to do in the car. here's where the confusion comes in on the trans/engine removal. the transmission can definitely come out quicker than the engine. so from that perspective the job *could* be quicker by removing the trans. but handling a trans from under the engine is more awkward than an engine with an engine lift. if you're set up well with a lift and have good equipment to manuever the trans with on reinstallation or a couple people then that can be quicker. you'll have to look at what resources you have and figure out which is better for you.

i agree with nipper here. i'm not a machine shop expert but at the machine shop i deal with they always machine heads to a nearly perfectly smooth finish. well it looks and feels smooth to me anyway, i'm not sure what he means by "rough", i've never seen that done before. this machine shop i use is an aluminum head speciliast and i'm one of their very few customers, they mainly do reman'ed heads for NAPA. 'ive used a couple other machine shops in the past and they've all done the same. never heard of a "different" ways to do heads.

this is the way to go. but first - leave two bolts still in place and only partially threaded in. you don't want the head/cam to come off and fall off the engine. leaving two bolts will allow you to break the head or cam free and they will catch it. otherwise they'll just fall off and onto the ground or bang around the engine bay. when removing the cams you want to attempt to keep the rocker arms in the same position, so it's best to knock the cam case loose and pull each rocker arm off by hand rather than knock it loose and have them all spill out all over the floor. on the cams i'll leave two bolts in and only leave them only 1/4" - 1/2" from all the way screwed in. this will give me 1/2" to break them free but doesn't allow the cam carrier to come out so far that the rocker arms fall off and all over the ground. with 1/2" clearance they'll stay in place but you can reach up there and pull them out individually and number or keep track of them however you like so they can be resinstalled on the same valve.