GeneralDisorder

I do clutches all the time - $200 labor + parts. I'm in West Linn, OR - don't know where you are? If you want the tranny swapped AND the clutch done - $300 labor since I don't typically pull the tranny for a clutch. Usually I pull the engine. Pulling the tranny is a lot messier. But yeah - I'm one of the Subaru guru's around here I suppose you could say. I buy and sell them all the time and I do work on the side for folks. If you buy it bring it on by and I can fix it up. Still not really a good deal IMO though. I would give them $200 tops for that car. Sounds like a nice engine donor for an EJ22 swap. GD

It doesn't attach to the body except in the very back by the rear axles. It attaches to the transmission. So no - 4" will not affect the exhaust enough to matter. GD

You would have to drop the exhaust - no way to weld it on the car (and it's potentially bad for the electronic's anyway). That's probably why they quoted so much. An inexpensive wire-feed could do the job but you would want sheilding gas for sure. For sheet metal and exhaust work the 110 welders work great with sheilding gas and good power supply (often overlooked is the wire sizing for any extension cords used - no less than 10 AWG for a small MIG in my opinion). I think you could do it Gary - with the addition of sheilding gas (maybe he will help out with the cost) it's pretty easy. Basically you setup the machine on some scrap and then weld up the joints. Getting them cut and fitted right is important and often with thin material like that you have to just do a series of tack welds rather than running a continous bead. With gas it's possible to do such things as there will be no slag so no potential for slag inclusion in your welds. If you were closer I would give you a lesson on it . GD

They look like the Outback/GT/Legacy Turbo Brakes. But I'm no expert. I just know what is on my '91 SS and I know it's the same as the GT's and Outback's and such up through like '05 or something. GD

There's actually 8 peices total - two rubber and two nylon for each bushing. But you should be able to remove the linkage rod and replace the bushings without removeing the pinned adaptor from the transmission. Unless you can't slide the bolt out due to the clearance. If that's the case drive out the roll pins. GD

Likely the head gaskets are blown and are pushing combustion gasses into the cooling system - causing it to overpressurize and force the coolant into the overflow bottle. Either that or the radaitor cap is bad. You can try replaceing it but they don't often fail. GD

You probably will have to drop the cross-member but it's only a few bolts. No big deal really. Driveline is similar - couple bolts and it comes down and slips out of the tranny. Once everything is out of the way just unbolt the sections where you need to replace the bushings and swap in new one's. You shouldn't have to remove the roll-pinned adaptor from the shift rod. Not as far as I can remember. GD

Pulling a Subaru engine is about the same no matter the year - EJ's are actually easier in a lot of ways. Clutch is virtually identical. Ask and see what you can work out. GD

Isn't there any Subaru guys (board members) in your area? Have you asked around for help/garage space? GD

Depends on how fast you spin it. Get it up to 50,000 RPM like a turbo and it could move some air at pressure - but the squirrel cage fan inside it would probably blow apart long before you got it going fast enough. And you would be severely limited by the fan design and size - it would approach mach 1 at the outer edges of the fan at fairly low RPM's and the forces would simply shred it like a soda can in a lawn-mower. Basically if you want low-RPM pressureized air in volume you need a positive displacement pump. Like a rotory lobe (roots style) blower. GD

Before you get nuts with adding extra's, check out the cooling system and replace EVERY SINGLE hose before you drive it much. The EA82 Turbo you have is very prone to overheating, blowing head gaskets, and cracking heads. The cooling system needs to be maintained meticulously and upgraded if feasible. Watch the temp guage like a Hawk. GD

NAPA can order them - last time I checked though the price was higher than the dealer. Call one of the online dealer's or actually go in-person to the dealer and ask them to order the thing for you. That's rediculous and if they won't help you call Subaru corporate and complain. If any dealer treated me that way I would be furious and would make a scene that would drive away customer's for weeks. That makes my blood boil just hearing about it. I'm going to have to retreat to my sanctuary and rebuild my calm with some wrenching GD

I would tend to agree with Gary. That car has a reputation for HG's, and it's now 13 years old. I would say the most the car is worth in excelent condition is $3000 for a quick sale. With bad clutch probably around $1500 or less. Clutch jobs are surprisingly expensive on Subaru's (though I only charge a couple hundred for labor typically). Why not just rent a cherry-picker and do it yourselves? $200 for a clutch kit - in an afternoon it's done. Then sell the car for $3000 as-is since the head gaskets are good right now. GD

Very common on the EJ 5 speed's. Means the rear input shaft bearing is shot. I've replaced a couple for that reason as have other members. It's either replace the tranny or rebuild it. This can happen at surprisingly low mileage. The last one I replaced only had 115k on it. I dissagree. Bad wheel bearing, bad axles, bad transmission. That's a $250 car. I bought a '91 AWD Automatic not long ago for $200. Installed a used injector (#3 had failed), replaced a wheel bearing and all the front axle boots, new timing belt/idler/seals/water pump, cleaned it up and repainted the hood and one fender (peeling clear-coat from previous minor body work). I sold it for $1400 - had about $800 into it. There's no way I would pay $800 for one with a bad tranny. Not a Gen 1. I paid $500 for a '96 not long ago with the same problem - replaced the tranny for $200, new clutch - complete 60k serivce, etc. Sold it for $2000. Those are just examples to give you an idea. Look around for a deal but don't spend your money on something that needs major repair like a tranny swap unless it's CHEAP and you can do the work yourself. GD

Your dealer can't order one? Mine can have them in a day or two. About $6 or $8 IIRC. GD

I prefer Rislone over MMO. Just a preference thing - it has worked better/more often for cleaning up gunked up engines for me. But I usually just start replacing a quart of the engine oil with ATF as it's cheaper and does about the same thing. Do that and change the oil every 1000 half a dozen times and it usually starts to clean things up pretty good. Sometimes I'll opt for the Rislone the first couple times as it seems a bit better at quieting lifters and such. GD

Definitely could have damaged it - they are designed to use a very special fluid which is no longer made. There have been some people using other (carefully selected) synthetic fluids without issue. Check the XT board for info on that. Lucas makes nothing that I would put in my vehicle. Definitely avoid their products in the future. And for the most part there is no such thing as "power steering fluid". It's hydraulic oil - typically ATF or silicone based. Subaru's (with the exception of the XT6) use ATF across the board. Don't ever put any kind of "stop leak" into a vehicle's fluids - always fix the leaks mechanically. There is no such thing as a repair in a bottle. GD

Two knob next to the ashtray - sounds like an EA81 to me. I'm guessing it's an EA81 Hatchback since you don't mention it being a Brat. If that's the case remember than you need to order parts for an '84 unless you go to the dealer. The EA81 hatch was a hold-over from the 80-84 body style. It's not a "true" '87 though they made them till '89. Check the connector between the ignition switch and the body harness - it's under the dash below the column. It's pink. Unplug it and look for burnt wireing and melted plastic. Pretty common on the EA81's. GD

EA82T's aren't worth much. Most undesireable Subaru engine. The inoperable air suspension is a common problem. The best solution is to just swap the struts for standard one's. With a bad rear bumper and needing struts all around..... 23 y/o car with an undesireable engine.... automatic (yuck)...... less than $1000. Run. GD

Yeah - the panel is pretty easy to remove. There's a few bulb holder's back there. Same with the ashtray - there's a light in there too and I think another in the cigarette lighter..... GD

By the book the torque spec is 47 ft/lbs. Most of us go to 55 to avoid having to retorque them after running the engine (and we use Fel-Pro head gaskets that don't require the retorque). Also important is the sequence they are torqued in. Get yourself a Haynes manual for a few bucks and it will give you the sequence and the torque specs. A simple search here on the board would probably reveal all this information. Give it a try. GD

It was doomed the moment it came to market. It was supposed to be the come-back of the Brat but they castrated all the cool parts. Made it a 4 door, etc. It should have been a 2 door, tall suspension, dual-range transmission, etc. As it turned out it was an Outback with no back roof . They were aiming for the 30-something crowd and what they got was the 50-something crowd. They didn't sell in the numbers needed to justify the production costs of the different body. That's not to say there is anything "wrong" with them from a mechanical or safety standpoint - very solid machine just like an Outback. Unfortunately for sales.... too much like an Outback :-\. GD

Yeah - if you didn't change the TO I would also suspect that. What is "hoon driving"?!? Should I not be calling someone a hoon? GD

It's a single cam on the EA81's. You do have to split open the block to get to it since it's mounted directly beneath the crank and is only accesible when you tear the engine completely down. It would be sensible to do a full rebuild at the same time since all that stuff is removed in the process anyway. GD