GeneralDisorder

I almost did that as it would have been free - unfortunately PC is thicker and prone to chiping - the black PC in particular also fades very badly in the sun. Zinc will dull with time, but is studier in an application where rock chips may be an issue, etc. It's an excelent rust inhibitor - on par with epoxy and enamel, etc. PC is great as well untill it starts to bubble off and comes off in huge sheets as long as your arm And if you *do* get a rust spot - you can hit it with a wire wheel, some cold zinc compound, and a bit of gold paint. You can't effectively make a lasting repair to PC. Once it's chipped you are pretty screwed. GD

I was inspired by Pooparu's restoration on his EA81 power steering cross-member and rack. So a couple weeks ago I pulled out a project I had stashed away in the shed - an EA81T cross-member with power steering and the "scooped" portion to clear the up-pipe to the turbo - it also mounts the power steering lines on the drivers side so as to keep them away from the exhaust. I dissasembled it and am in the process of evaluating the rack and ordering new mounts and rubber bits. I sand-blasted the cross-member and sent it to our plating company for zinc coating: It's like jewelry for your underbody! More to come as I get it back together. Haven't decided what's going to happen to it yet. Maybe it will go in the Brat.... maybe I'll sell it. Not sure. GD

140 lbs or so with all accesories and fluids. GD

There's two compressor types - as you noted. I was refering to there being about 3 or 4 belt arrangments over the years. There's a couple different V-belt arrangments, and then there's the serpentine belt system used on the spider intake MPFI/MPFI Turbo XT's and such. GD

Pull the plugs - you can cause internal damage if a cylinder is full of coolant. GD

They aren't switched. There were about three layouts used - two different A/C compressors from different manufacturers and then different belt arrangements as well - one type of compressor is "inboard" of the alt, the other is "outboard" of the alt. Your layout is perfectly normal for your car. It's down to the year they were made, the plant they were made at, and if the AC was installed at the factory or after the car was sold at a dealership. There were kits to install AC if a customer decided they wanted it after buying a model without it. GD

You need some Yeild. I'm thinking about starting a group buy.... GD

Other components could be damaged without being actually burnt looking. There's a chance that replacing it will fix the problem, but there's also a chance it will not. There's also a slim possibility that what caused the transistor to blow in the first place is another component on the board being out of spec..... which will just keep eating them. If it were me I would find another one from a yard around here - there's plenty of yards to choose from - remember that calling them isn't always going to work since EA81 hatchback's were made till '89. I'll look though my junk and see if I have another one - you need the black one correct? GD

Warped isn't a problem - $35 each to resurface them. It's only when they are BADLY cracked into the coolant jacket near the exhaust port that there is a problem. That only happens on turbo models though. I've never seen anything but tiny cracks between the valves on non-turbo's. Those are not a problem - even Subaru issued a TSB telling tech's to disregard them. GD

The rings are different so you would need a new set of rings to go with them. Otherwise a simple hone job and a new set of rings would do it. I would likely do main and rod bearings as they are cheap and you are going into it anyway since you'll have to hone to get the new rings to seat. The pistons will drop right on - their only difference is they are "dished" in the center like a bowl - this lowers the compression ratio. And yes - it would allow you to run really crappy gas too. I'm not sure how much of a "bennefit" that is, but such is the way of low compression. GD

I beleive they will not. But check to make sure. I haven't owned an externally regulated rig in a long time. As long as the EA82 has a non-feedback carb it will have some kind of FPCU that works on the same principle. The EA82 feedback's don't have one as the ECU controls the fuel pump. Look for a non-feedback - it should have one somewhere - not sure it will be in the same place. The only carbed EA82's I've had were both feedback so I haven't looked for one before. GD

I think the ticket is the EJ22E with about 10 pounds and a TMIC. Cheap, reliable, and good for about 200 HP with no major mods. That and a light EA82 body.... good times can be had with that combo. The legit 22T is better of course, but a lot more expensive and there's always the temptation for more power - when you have a block that can do 600+ HP..... well you kinda *want* as much as you can get. With the 22E though it's only good to about 300 and you would have to change the pistons to get there.... less temptation. Damn - now I want to build one! GD

That's the key - with the TMIC you get cooler, denser air. And with the TD04 you are pushing 12 psi at a lower turbine speed thus a lower discharge temp. Although I would imagine that it takes longer for the thing to spool compared to the VF7. The key to your success Rob is that you went through a bunch of engines to find a decent block, and you aren't pushing the thing to it's limits. That's only 5 psi over stock and you matched up your small increase in boost with mods that almost negate the negative effects of said boost increase. The difficulty is that I don't think you'll get much farther without damaging something, and you are probably (realistically) not quite to the stock performance level of my EJ22T (not getting personal or anything - it's just the handiest benchmark at my disposal). Honestly what do you think you are pushing? GD

If he isn't comfortable taking a weekend to do HG's on an EA82 then he isn't even in the same ball-park with people that will attempt a motor swap of that magnitude. The mechanicals pale in comparison to the electrical system modifications that need to take place and frankly if he hasn't done electrical before then it will be a rolling fire-hazzard in all likelyhood. I would not reccomend that route for someone that's never even been under the hood of a Subaru. GD

Seems to fall on deaf ears most of the time. Half the time I wonder why people ask for our educated and experienced opinions and then ignore it and do whatever they wanted to anyway? Oh well - I do help some folks occasionally. The rest hate me because the truth hurts. Even seemingly VERY intelligent people refuse to beleive they have made a mistake - my co-worker got a "good deal" on a mitsi eclipse - 91 model. He's into it over $5,000 now - NEW engine, third used tranny, whole new exhaust, etc, etc. I had to say "I told you so"..... cause I did when he brought it home (not running) for $250 out of some meth-head's garage ..... I said "that's a money pit if I ever saw one!".... exact words. GD

Read in the PDF on how to run a full D-Check. It's a full procedure where you depress the gas pedal to the floor with the key in the run posistion (engine off), then return to half-throttle, etc, etc. Then you have to drive over 5 MPH for a specific distance. Look for the procedure in the PDF's and follow it. It's often the case that you will get codes with a full d-check that didn't show in u-check. GD

My preference for such occasions that I need a goo to make things stick in place is to use engine assembly lube. There are various types but they all have the feature of being fully miscible in the engine oil. I also use Dow Corning valve sealant. The stuff is amazing for sealing o-rings and rubber gaskets such as troublesome oil filter gaskets (non Subaru of course). It also is miscible in oil - thicker and stickeir but likely harder to find than the assembly lube. RTV is a poor choice - when hard it can clog small oil passages and reak havoc with lifters, etc. Personally I keep it a LONG way from oil systems in general. I really don't like RTV for many jobs. EA series oil pan and EA pushrod valve cover gaskets - that's about it. GD

The read plugs should be near the green plugs - they are white. GD

Bad idea. You won't get the oil hot enough to lubricate properly. And it won't burn off moisture it collects from condensation. Cooler is NOT better on a daily driver. For the strip or the race track it's fine but all you are doing is shortening the life of your lubricants and your engine. GD

Yes - you need to pull the system into a vacuum before charging. Should pull down to around 1000 micron at least. Then it's best to charge it with nitrogen and check for leaks. There are now substitites for R12 that are better than R134 and require no changes to the system. Do a google search for R12A. They are cheap, legal, better performing, and have a larger molecule size so they don't leak as easily. GD

You don't need new heads. They don't crack severely enough to replace them except on the turbo versions. They may need to be resurfaced (about $35 - $40 each). Let me lay it out for you: 1. The engine has close to 200k. At the least we can assume it's been overheated and generally neglected maintenance wise. The lady obviously didn't have the cooling system addressed in a timely manner so we can assume that other mechanical maintenance has probably not been done either. Anyway you can't be sure it has been. With that kind of mileage the bottom end may have very little life left in it. With PROPER maintenence the EA82's sometimes make it to 300k but it's the exception. Most that I see in the yards are shy of it by a fair amount. 2. It's more than just the head gaskets. The EA82's have troublesome cooling systems, poor oil seals, and a tendacy to make gnarly noises from their valve trains. With that kind of mileage it's just not worth the gamble to have a bunch of work done to it only to find that you have to repair something else soon after. Chances are VERY good that you will. 3. These engines are 1980's technology. The Loyale line was a continuation of the GL/DL line made from '85 through '89. It was a stripped down cheaper model for the inexpensive 4WD car segment - the Legacy line was introduced in 1990 as well and was the flagship model line with all the bells and whistles. They are also twice as powerfull, twice as reliable, and about the same price on the used market - hell someone just gave me one for free a few months ago. 4. The EA82, unless you are familair with working on them, or have a specific shop in mind that has a lot of experience with them, are frustrating and can be difficult to work on. The timing belt arrangement particularly is very unusual and throws a lot of uninitiated people for a loop the first time through. 5. Really, unless you are going to do the work yourself, you are MUCH better off finding a nice, running and driving legacy. The shortcuts that most shops take WILL come back to bite you on the EA82. I wouldn't trust anyone outside of a dedicated few on this board to properly maintain one. They are by far the most troublesome model Subaru has ever made. It is in your best intrest to back out of this deal and find a Legacy. If nothing else trust that I have nothing to gain by telling you to buy something else other than I don't want to see you have a bad first experience with a Subaru. I love them all, but a broken EA82 is not the answer for someone that can't do their own repair work and that has never owned a Subaru before. GD

An understatement to be sure! I build compressors and compressed air packages and the rule is that you get about 4 CFM per 1 HP of electric motor @ 100 psi. Most "garage" air compressors are woefully inadequate for anything but infating tires IMO but that's beside the point..... To flow 350 CFM at 12 psi from lets say a Roots style blower you would need an electric motor putting out around 40 HP at 1800 RPM. 40 HP is getting really big to be running even on 230v three phase, and single phase? Forget it - the largest commonly availible single phase 230v motor's are 7.5 and 10 HP. Anything bigger and you are in the realm of three phase power. For reference, most 230v "garage" compressors (home depot, sears, etc) put out less than 10 CFM @ 100 psi. Even my 5 HP Quincy QR-325 only puts out about 22 CFM and it's a full industrial machine costing around $4,000 retail. That's about the most you are ever going to see in someone's garage. At work we have a sandblast cabinet that USES 45 CFM for it's nozzle! I couldn't come close to running that in my garage even with a 10 HP machine. I would need two 10 HP machines and about a 200 gallon receiver. That's a lot of juice to be sucking from a residential drop. Blowers are cool, but best left to crank driven or exhaust driven (turbines). Besides - installing a REAL exhaust driven turbo isn't that difficult. GD

The EA81 body (Brat's included) are narrower than EA82's and up by several inches. The cross-member's are similarly narrower. It has been done in conjunction with a lift for off-roading but making it work on an unlifted rig would be difficult due to the inability to move the strut tops without reworking the entire front end of the car. Thus you would have to shorten the control arms or (better) move the mounts inward. It would seem much better to install an EJ power steering rack into an EA81 cross-member (from an EA81 with power steering of course). The sway bar is no problem as there are plenty of random sway bars around that can be made to fit - Rguyver used one for a 60's cuda. The Brat benefits most from a rear sway bar which it doesn't have stock but one from an EA82 turbo or XT6 can easily be modified to work by welding on the brackets from a set of EA82 turbo trailing arms or just making new one's. Same goes for the dash. And EA82 dashes (RX's included) are nothing to write home about. If I were going to do it I would put in something truely newer. EA82's are pretty dated. GD

That's really a mistake - you will be into it more than the car is worth. You could buy a clean runner for just as much or less and have to put almost nothing into it. You should be aware that the EA82 engine in that Loyale does not like being overheated and it's very probable that it was - thus the head gasket problem. Even with the engine fixed it may still need a radiator and who knows - if the guy works at autozone and can't fix the thing himself he may have tried a bottle of that head gasket repair stuff.... you don't want to do a heater core on that thing - trust me. Especially if you can't do it yourself. The cost to do a heater core replacement is as much as the entire engine reseal and head gasket job because of the 6+ hours of labor to pull the whole dash out. Go find a nice 90 to 94 legacy. The Loyale line isn't what you want if you have around $1000 to spend. The difference is enormous. GD

No problem. See - it's all about the warm and fuzzy feeling. You feel W&F, and so do the bunney huggers and the guy that tests your car. It's all about perception and when you are dealing with these type of people you just have to cater to what they want - they want the *appearance* of cleanliness and functionality. I feel for you man - if I lived in CA, I could easily see myself yarding out my "modified" engine every time I had to run through the test station and installing the stock plant. GD