mikie

EA82 is right behind the seats, it uses a 5spd DR 4wd box for better gearing with the rear output shaft capped off. Even thou its longer than the 2wd box the low range makes it worth while.

Nice looking setup and i like the idea of building it on a table. The wedge shape of the front 'screen' and cabin area is pretty cool. For what its worth can i suggest you watch the castor angle when you mount the top of the front suspension struts. More castor (leaning them back) can help reduce understeer quite a bit, and a slight amount of negative camber can also help. When you lean the struts back you will have to wind the tie rods in to compensate for the added toe-out this causes (due to the steering rack position) and may have to add some more thread to the rack ends.

Mid engine is quite doable, A shaft shifter can be done but is a wee bit tricky since it has to get under the engine. Find the right legacy/impreza inner CV joints (22 spline) if you want to mate to the rear axles on the EA rear suspension. The trans is about 1 inch wider than the diff, which is absorbed by the CVs. Attched is pic of buggy a helped a friend build last year using an EA82 engine. Very impressive traction for a 2wd vehicle, but still capable of powersliding.

Sounds like a heap of fun. I rounded up 2 of those suzuki K cars a few years back, with plans for them. One was a 3cyl 2 stroke and the other a 1l 4 stroke, super lightweight and quite intriguing. An enthusiast spotted them and insisted he buy them off me before i got into them, so i went to the subarus shortly after. Its all the rage over here atm to put atv tires on the little 4wd subaru and suzuki mini-trucks for use as farm vehicles.

Indeed it is/was, since sold it. Despite the rather Agricultural appearance the system never failed or even required adjustment. On the 2 occassions i broke rear cv joints i drove several km's offorad on the front wheels only to get home. The only downside is that with higher speeds the chain lube flicked off rather quickly. Tested it to approx 140kph. Another buggy is being built locally that copies that same system, ive gone to the 4eat because it will be maintance free and i reckon i can use the electronic trans to my advantage.

First few designs were non-subaru, front engine/rear drive. First 4wd was based on a subaru 4wd domingo van (google it), that ended up being brilliant for mobility but underpowered. More recent was toyota engine with subaru running gear. Once this one is complete it will be realatively easy to simply and duplicate it to make a road legal 'volkswagon' which would be far more versatile i think. Trying to build something for the first time involves a lot of trial and error making things fit together well. Oh, and target weight is 700 kg, which is 1540 pounds, should give a nice power-weight ratio. As for manual boxes, ive investigated SR as well as DR and neither will allow the crownwheel to be flipped,, even if it fitted in the housing the teeth would not mesh correctly.

The power flow through the transmission is similar to any other auto until the output shaft. The rear output has a wet clutchpack which can be locked up to drive the rear wheels (for me that will be the front wheels), and also 2 gears that transmit drive directly to the front wheels (my back wheels) via a long pinion shaft that runs down the side of the transmission to the built in differential. My plan is simply to replace the 2 gears with sprockets and a chain. AFAIK only the 4EAT can do this, as the manual box is built quite differently. Thanks to the others for the encouragement, and as for street legal, i have picked up a fiberglass volkswagon baja body, which just happens to be the same wheelbase. When its all ironed out i intend to repeat the build for the road Two seater for that one, and im thinking a later EJ205 engine or maybe 6 cylinder goodness

Started this one almost 2 years ago, after a few 2 seater buggies i thought about trying to squeeze 4 seats in. Stalled a bit, bought a house, stalled some more, just getting back into it with a long way to go yet. Engine is JDM EJ20 turbo, with 4 speed auto trans. Front diff upside down, rear is subject to as yet unproven theory of the 4eat being reversable with some modification. So far so good, although its not that sporty looking because of the 4 seat layout. Final ground clearance 10-12", wheelbase 2m, overal length 3.3m.

Ive always liked the idea, 2 EJ20s to make a 4 litre flat 8 Dont overcomplicate the idea of 2 unequal engines - 100hp + 80hp = 180hp. Think of it as one big engine, with different camshaft lobes for some cylinders. But - nagging doubt - if you put them inline how much loading is there going to be on the second crankshaft, will it handle it? Flat engines have particularly thin crank webs between journals. Maybe if the 2 engines are phased 90deg apart. Unless the engines are identical the coupling between the engines will have to be along the lines of a rubber driveshaft coupling to minimise torsional viabration being transmitted between the 2 engines and destroying one. Yous just going to have to do it to find out!

The legacy rear diffs we have here are externally identical to the EA82 diffs, with the roll pin retainer and stub axle on the diff head. The JDM legacy turbo 4EAT cars (with which we are flooded here) had the 4.44, and some non turbo 4EATs. I have one of each, many of the turbo opnes also have the VSLD.

OTOH Ive seen this (non-subaru) quad bike race and it is nuts... its got more power and its been built to be used, not just for show:

Similar to other injected vehicles - around 30 psi at idle, 45ish at 0 manifold pressure, and 60 psi at 15 psi boost. Give or take 5 psi.

Some ej18 sohc motors had a disty in them, they are relatively few and far between thou. There was a chap doing something like that, Monstaru, he posts in this forum. He adapted a disty out of another vehicle to fit.

Well.... i shouldnt claim too much since i havent actually done it yet, but replacing the the 2 final drive gears at the rear of the trans with 2 sprockets would reverse the direction of drive nicely. Ive got one apart as well and i reckon theres enough room for a 9/16 chain in there which would handle the load, the bearings are plenty big enough and support both sides of each shaft , and the chain will be sealed and running in ATF for lubrication. And ive heard rumour of it being done on the internet, so it must be true! I have started on a project with this layout, but progress has been slow due to other commitments. When it works out (hopefully less than 6 months, fingers crossed) i will post some pics. Mike

Which way round do you intend to mount the engine ? If you use an auto trans you can have rear engined 4wd, you need to reverse the drive direction within the transmission for the back wheels (doable) and flip the front (was rear) diff. Best of all, you get permanent fulltime rwd, and the front wheels will be engaged by a clutchpack on demand as necessary. (originally fwd with the rear wheels engaged by hydraulically operated clutchpack). Both the 3 speed and 4 speed transmissions work this way, the 4 speed is more compact. If you use manual you cant reverse the drive direction within the transmission so easily, mid engined would be more practical.