GeneralDisorder

No need to mess with the axle nut - the disc is clamped in place between the wheel and the hub via the lug nuts. It should slide right off the lug nuts with the wheel/caliper/bracket removed. If it won't move then usually a good smack with a mallet will dislodge them. GD

A WRX turbo will absolutely destroy any of the EA transmissions - that's close to 3x the HP and more than 3x the torque. Hell - the early WRX transmissions couldn't handle it. With the light weight of the Brat you definitely at least want a WRX turbo 5 speed to go with it. There are no sensor's or electronics of any kind with the AWD 5 speed's - even the WRX 5 speed's. The 6 speed's do not have wheel sensor's either - they do have a DCCD but you can get aftermarket controller's for that. Of course the cost of the 6 speed's is typically around $4,000 to $6,000..... You will need a LOT of modfication for a WRX transplant. Off the top of my head: Engine Transmission Rear diff Custom 25 spline axles Wireing harness Pedal assembly + Clutch MC Exhaust + modifications to the engine cross member to clear the up-pipe (or replace with EA81T engine cross member (rare) Fuel pump and rubber lines upgraded to FI hose Surge tank or find Turbo Brat tank (very rare) Custom radiator/hose/fan setup. There is likely more that I'm forgetting..... This is not the project you want to undertake if you haven't worked much with Subaru's. It's not a simple bolt-in and it taxes the time and resources of established members here to do such things. If you don't have the time/money/tools/parts/people that some of the members here have - it will be even harder. Just a small example - there's an EJ swap into a Brat going on in my garage right now. The owner is doing most of the work with my guideance - it's not a turbo - it's just a plain 135 HP EJ22 mated to a 5 speed D/R. It's been in my garage over a month and I've done FI swaps into EA81's several times before so I have most of the process figured out. GD

Do you have a check valve in the vacuum supply line to the actuator? The more you open the throttle, the less vacuum there is to work with - there is a point at which the actuator simply doesn't have enough pressure differential to hold a given speed - and it can't accelerate to change speed for a hill, etc. I would think it would need a vacuum supply and a check valve to insure it works at freeway speeds for a decent interval even at close to WOT..... I would guess these are probably built into it. The check valve may not be seating properly. Try adding a second check valve in the line going to the actuator. Also - something I noticed at the yard yesterday - on gen 1 Legacy's they went back to the second cable on the throttle w/vacuum actuator in the engine bay. I wonder if one of those would work..... GD

I don't know about the Gen 1's specifically, but in the 80 to 84 body style, the supply is about 5/16" and the return is a bit smaller than 1/4" - probably about 5mm. I used 1/4" fuel injection line when I changed the rubber in the return line's over to high pressure - it's a bit large but works if you clamp it. GD

Yeah - if you have have the 2x2 tubing to use as braceing between the blocks go for it. At least with the thin material it will make welding easier as there is pretty much no prep required other than to remove the paint. I don't know which is worse - the sheering forces, or the compression forces with respect to the engine cross-member blocks. The one's I witnessed didn't seem to have a problem with sheer so much as just compression from the weight comming down on them when the front end would bounce. You could also put "wings" on the blocks - just some strips of flat-bar that turn the vertical cross-section into a "T" shape. That would help keep them from bowing outward. GD

Just call up your local bearing house and have them check stock on the 6207-2RS-C3's. You need two per wheel. Usually about $5 to $10 each. GD

It's probably corrosion someplace - the ignition switch could be the culprit as well as the connections on the back of the gauge cluster where the volt gauge bolts to the circuit board. If you meter says 14.2 off the back of the alt you should be fine. The alt feeds directly to the positive side of the fusible links, which feed the battery. You can check the voltage drop across the circuit from the alt to the battery - just put your meter on the positive battery terminal and the back of the alt - if you get more than 0.1 volts then you should address the poor connections between the alt and fusible links or the battery and fusible links, or the battery terminal itself. With the gauge reading low, it likely means that some of your accesories that receive their power through the ignition switched circuits could be getting low voltage. GD

Yep - clutch cable about to snap. GD

I understand that you don't agree with some of my methods but to argue that he should learn for himself and make his own mistakes ignores the primary function of this forum - which is to help people NOT to make mistakes. He can choose to not post here and "learn for himself". IMO, posting here on the USMB is a consent to hear opinions on a subject - yours and mine. GD

So I'm rediculous.... but we are saying the same thing. How does that work? At any rate - to recap the consensus here: Reinforce or replace. Wheeling it the way you have it now, while it may work for a short time, is probably ill-advised. You stand a good chance of breaking something - not that this isn't inevitable with wheeling a Subaru, but at least try to forsee it and build to avoid it. That way maybe you actually get to spend some time having fun rather than just fixing or towing your machine. Try to avoid what I did - first time out with my wagon I went maybe 20 feet into a mud hole and it never moved again till it was towed back to Qman's place and the engine pulled out for a clutch job. :-\ GD

What's the alignment like? GD

Just install a Weber - you'll want it with the lift anyway. The EA82 Hitachi's are really boring - very sluggish - dangerously so with a lift. A Weber will make it a whole different car. GD

Primarily because with a single peice shaft you have fewer moving parts - less to fail. Stock EA82 two-peice units are not serviceable without modification and in some parts of the country they are very scarce in the used market as well. Add to this the cost of a replacement stock assembly at somewhere around $600 to $800 and you can see why people would rather pay ~$150 for a new shaft that has serviceable u-joints, etc. The price for converting a stock shaft to serviceable joints runs about the same. It's an economic decision more than anything. Here in the NW where used shafts are plentiful and rarely fail due to our lack of rust - we just run the two-peice unless there's a need to do a one-peice because of size limitations (EA81 hatch with a 5 speed for example). GD

Yeah - you are right. I just looked at it again - forgot about the 3rd wire . GD

Interesting - on the harness I just installed the remote sense lead was simply connected right to the white lead about 6" down from the alt. That was how it was wired from the factory. This was a 90 or 91 harness - maybe different from yours? I agree that closer to the main junction would be better but apparently Subaru didn't deem it all that important for some reason. Glad you got it working and the new alt fixed it up. I was pretty sure from your description that you were dealing with a bad part. That's super frustrating to have a bad part while doing a major wiring transplant since you are always second-guessing your installation. GD

They were crushed down about 1/2" or so - but they were 3/16" and an EA81 is lighter than your's. 1/8" is *really* thin. I can easily bend 1/8" mild steel with a small hammer and a vise. I don't think they will hold up to much - though at least they won't loosen since you didn't through-bolt them. If it were me - I wouldn't wheel it hard at all with those. As long as you don't drop the front end real hard it will be alright for a while. The biggest problem with EA front suspension off-road is the lack of dampening - you hit something hard enough or get enough air under the front and you'll bend the struts where they enter the knuckle. An additional shock in front of the strut helps a ton. But in your case your engine cross-member blocks will crush even before the struts bend. GD

Either you need an O/A torch to heat it with, or knock the spindle out of the trailing arm and work on it on the bench. Dissasemble the joint and pry the grease plug from the bottom of the cup - then you can pound out the spindle with a brass drift. GD

Are you trying to replace a ball-joint or was there other work performed that required it's removal? What's the story? GD

That would do for the weight and the neccesary extra large tires to get the approach/departure angles decent. Still doesn't solve the long wheel-base nor the size of the vehicle. Not without major cut/weld hillbilly style body work. Any of the side-starter transmissions with the right adaptor plate/flywheel/clutch combo. The most popular is of course the 5 speed D/R from the '85 to '89 GL's. GD

Sounds like a good plan. I think you have just been burned by the tendancy to think that it must be an installation problem vs. a bad part. But I think in this case the alt actually is shot - maybe it was borderline and the battery was low enough to send it over the edge. GD

Not neccesary. The bolts for the rocker's come out through access holes in the frame rail. They may not have known about those or they might be talking about EA82's where the valve cover bolts are difficult to access without jacking the engine up. These days everyone has a 10mm ratcheting wrench though and that makes even those easy to do without jacking the engine. GD

Have it zinc plated instead of painting it. Powder coat would probably hold also. Zinc is pretty cheap and you can get together a bunch of stuff and have it all done for maybe $100. GD

There is no timing on the oil pump. Highly reccomend you replace the cam and crank seals and reseal the oil pump while you are in there. It's very little extra work or expense and with a turbo EA82 the seals are bound to be cooked by this age. It would be pretty silly not to do them. GD

Hardly - most will agree that the EA81 hatch is the best choice for a trail machine. It takes the least amount of modification, and has the shortest wheel-base and lightest weight of any model ever made. The EA82 wagons are easily 500 lbs heavier and have a very poor departure angle. In stock form they have worse power-to-weight than any of the EA81's. The EA82 wagon *can* be a good machine - but it takes more lift, bigger tires, and more HP to do it. And then you have an overall larger machine that's harder to manuever. My first lifted rig (still own it) was a lifted EA81 wagon. It's too heavy and too long. As for the EA81's breaking axles - that's entirely dependant on how they are setup. The EA82's have the same axle joints in the rear - they swap back and forth easily between the two shafts. I've used EA82 rear axle joints on my EA81 wheeler for years. Axle breakage is a function of the speed and angle of the joint - nothing more. GD

Exactly - my point is simply that they need to be reinforced somehow. There's a couple ways to accomplish it, but 1/8" wall 2x4x2 blocks will not cut it on their own. GD