GeneralDisorder

Could be the cause of the problem right there. As far as I know, no 3AT auto ever came in 3.9. GD

So it's true! Your ignorance really is complete. I had only suspected from the spelling and sentence structure.... GD

Auto's are 3.7 rear end, so if you have a 3.9 then something is wrong. Diff is easy to swap out though. No beating will be required. Doesn't matter too much what year you get the parts from - 85 to 89 non-turbo, dual range 4WD would be best. GD

Please do. And stop commenting on the Legacy - you have never (and by your own admission, will never) own one. Your claims are unfounded, and we don't care to hear about how much better an EA crank is than an EJ from someone that has never torn down a single subaru engine far enough to even SEE the crank. Just because it's not what YOU own doesn't mean it's crap. Which is exactly what your small mind has come to beleive. Frankly, the TRUTH is that the Legacy is a far better automobile on all acounts than the Loyale series ever was. Reliablilty, preformance, and drivability are all dramatically increased over the previous generations. Stay in the dark ages if you must, but keep your cave-dwelling, tree swinging attitude to yourself. We are sick of it here. GD

The GCK's are a new axle - COMPLETELY new. As in new shaft, joints, boots, everything. They are also "redesigned" using newer production processes and materials - these are not 'off-the-shelf" components from some axle component supplier. These are new components with "GCK Industrial" laser engraved on them. They are ISO 9002 certified for quality, and (according to the box ) are "optimized for 4WD off-road".... I would have to agree. Now - as for my personal impressions.... they are VERY beefy axles. The joints are 4WD spec or larger, the shafts are thicker, and the build quality is what you would expect on a new car. The joints are so stiff and tight they can barely be bent by hand, and will stay bent at that angle if you bend the joint over your knee - none of this "floppy" rebuilt garbage. This can actually be kindof interesting on an older vehicle as I've had a couple that showed some initial vibration due to the axle being so tight, and the rest of the suspension being old and loose with hard bushings. That vibration has been mild, and short-lived - dissapearing once the axles have been worked a bit (few hundred miles or so). The threads are never bunged or ground off, the boots are higest quality rubber, and I've yet to have to replace a single one. Chef Tim has had them on his lifted hatch for like 3 or 4 years and never had any problem at all. I talked with him about them before my first purchase, and now I run them exclusively. They run $100 no core charge from autozone for the EA81 axles - maybe a bit more for the EA82's, but I haven't yet bought any. That's with NO core charge because of course they are brand new. That's also with a lifetime warrantee through any autozone nation-wide. They are special order, but if I order on a Monday I can usually pick them up Wednesday or Thursday. I'm sure that MWE does an excelent job if Shawn stands behind them, and I'm not trying to steal away any of their current or future customers. But I really like these GCK's - I've beat the hell out of the ones in my wagon and I know Tim probably isn't real careful with his either. Every single person I've had buy a set swears by them. I'm just happy that a major supplier of QUALITY axles has finally seen fit to build axles for our older soobs. GD

So by that definition, a lifted Toy, or Sammy is a "ricer"? Think before you speak young-un. It may be a foreign car, but then what isn't these days? "Rice" has come to refer to the (mostly) young crowd that applies large amounts of "bling" to their ride - in it's purest form the drivetrain is largely stock and all mods are done for "looks" alone. Those who also "tune" are "tuners" and it's possible to be both. Now how does a lifted 80's subaru fall into either catagory? I may be a muddy, weirdo with a shotgun rack in a lifted soob, but I would just as soon park on top of the bling honda as drive it. Label me if you must, but I'm not part of the "rice" or "tuner" crowd, and I'm sure the people that are would agree with me. GD

If you have a spare, it's a lot easier to just swap the whole column out if you have to move it. Two bolts, a few electrical connections, and the steering u-joint are all that holds it in. Also helps to take it out if you need to work on that switch/lock setup. Just pull the whole column and work on it on the bench. GD

The two I mentioned are just the ones I've blown on the street.... I've wasted about 7 or 8 total off-road. But that has since stopped now that I switched to using EA82 DOJ's on my EA81.... works great but sadly there's no equivelent for the EA82 cars since there's not a wider subaru to get them from :-p I was actually pulling them apart as my suspension has enough downward flex to yank the axles apart at high wheel speeds (I thrash the hell out of my wagon). GD

There's two different poster's here - newsoobdude has an 83 wagon and it's already a 4 D/R. He should have started his own post, but oh well - too late now. GD

Beleive me - you really, REALLY don't want that tranny in a lifted rig. It's going to suck like a hoover. You would be in the same situation with a pushbutton single-range tranny, and it would be easier to install cause you wouldn't need $200 worth of custom axles made up. And no - you can't swap the internals on the 4 and 5. GD

Yep - you will have to swap. Also you will need the front axles from the donor (25 spline inner joint), and you realize that the turbo D/R is 1.2:1 low range right? With the 3.7:1 rear end, that makes 4WD low on that tranny about the same as 4WD Hi on the regular D/R. So you can think of it as not really haveing a low range at all (in comparison). *edit* - my bad you have an 83? Then you need CUSTOM axles to run that tranny as no EA81 ever came with 25 spline DOJ's. They can be built though. GD

Pretty much - in the Army we perform monthly inspections for that sort of thing, and armed with some sandpaper and a rattle can of rust resistant CARC paint we deal with any small amounts of rust before they can get out of hand. Then every 5 years or so the vehicles go in for a complete CARC paint job and any areas of concern are sandblasted, etc. I've seen 50 year old military rigs in Hawaii that were still on the road - looking pretty nasty after 50 years, but they were still rolling, and the frame bits were solid enough. You could stick you hand THROUGH the door's at bottom - salt air eventually rusted them from the inside out. We were replaceing brake lines on hummers that were only 10 years old cause of the rust. And some of them had already been replaced once. Hawaii is WORSE than Alaska on cars. 10 years is a good run in the civilian car market over there. GD

Make sure to put the O2 in the cat. It will help it reach operating temp quicker, and keep it from dropping out of reporting range when idleing for more than a few minutes. Or use a 3 wire heated unit. But you probably know all that if you played the exhaust shop game ;o) GD

Actually, 4th AND 5th are overdrive on the 5 speeds, and 4th IS overdrive on your current 4 speed. You have the pre-83 4 speed, with shorter 3rd and 4th gears. They changed this in 83 due to mileage concerns at high speeds (which didn't really materialize). I have been using an 82 4 speed in my lifted wagon as the shorter gears help a lot with 28" tires on the freeway. 5 speed's are just as good though since 3rd and 4th are very similar to 3 and 4 on the 81/82 D/R - you'll just gain an extra overdrive gear in your case. But none of it really makes much difference - if you are planning to lift it then regardless of what you use your mileage with be about 20 with 27/28" tires, and possibly less. Makes no difference what transmission you have, it's all about the tire sizes and rolling resistance at that point. GD

Heh - I guess I wasn't too far off GD

About 2750 RPM I would say (rough guess). And the mileage is going to depend on the fuel system, but my Weber'd 86 sedan gets 28 to 29. My SPFI Brat (5 speed D/R) is over 30, but I haven't run enough tanks through it to really get a good average yet. GD

Feel free to remove that stuff then. The EA81 ECU's don't really do a whole lot, and it will run fine if you just remove it. Sounds like it had some problems in the past and rather than fix it, they just slapped on a non-feedback carb. The exhaust may have just been a coincidence and may have been replaced for unrelated reasons. It's got an ECU, and the proper vacuum diagrams for it on the hood (shows the duty solenoids), so it's a 100% gaurantee that it *did* have an O2 at one time, and it did have an ECS light - I think it's part of the tell-tale on the 80/81 cluster. They could have removed the bulb easily - they were possibly hessitant to remove the ECU thinking it might mess something up. Unlike the EA82 feedback's, the EA81's do not control the fuel pump so there's no harm in just pitching it in the dumpster. My 84 wagon was a feedback, and shortly after converting it to a Weber I pitched the ECU. It's too bad you don't still have the O2, as that would make it easier to convert to SPFI. They can be welded in pretty easily tho. GD

Then your engine and exhaust was likely replaced at some point as there would be no reason to have the ECU without it's 02, and duty solenoids. #1 - what's the engine serial number? #2 - what does the vacuum routing diagram under the hood indicate? #3 - I'm assuming the paperback sized unit is fully connected into the harness with two or three big connnectors right? #4 - does your ECS lamp ever illuminate? GD

If it's an EA81 hatch you need a custom driveline made as the hatch is shorter and was never quipped with the 5 speed. If it's an EA82 3 door coupe then the 5 speed is a bolt-in. In either case you will need the 3.9 rear diff as well. GD

Only if there is an ECU under the dash. But it sounds like no. GD

Yes, and I've broken 2 that way (because I forgot to take them out). The turning radius of a subaru is a LOT better than a toy, and hard over will snap the DOJ cup if your tires are large enough, and have enough grip on the road. Usually the cup splits open, and the cage/balls "pop" from one slot in the cup to the next. Usually twists the boot or just rips it completely off. Very noisy, and messy. Both of mine were broken at low speeds - 10 to 15 Mph. The flatter you run the axles, the less likely breaking them is, but big tires, hard turn uphill..... yeah something will give. The diff stubs can just twist right off as well sometimes - especially likely with t-case rigs. You can't really compare the halfshaft of a subaru with a splined axle shaft in a solid axle Toy. It's a completely different design. They both transfer power horizontally, but that's about where the similarities stop. GD

1500 is a pretty average number for a 2 year production. They only made around 10,000 Brat's from 77 to 87 for the US market, and there's no real shortage of them (there's a perceived shortage, but mostly only for those areas where they didn't handle the environment). Those 1500 were spread mostly to the biggest markets for Subaru in the late 80's which was the NW, and parts of the rust belt.... so really that 1500 is concentrated in specific areas. They aren't obscenely common, but not "rare" by any stretch of the imagination. Not yet anyway. That said, even if they aren't common, they aren't really worth beans either (in comparison to the normal Loyale). It's still just a Loyale wagon, and most people outside of the few enthusiasts around this board and others will never know or care what the difference is. It's such a small overall difference that most people will just see "another subaru wagon". They also made touring wagons in the Legacy body with a similar roof bump, and most non-subaru folks would lump those into the mix too. GD

Autozone - new GCK axles. You'll never buy another one. www.gck.com GD

Turbo's get bad mileage - just a fact of subaru life. The EA82T is horrible on mileage, and there's really not much to be done. 25 or 26 is about the best you can hope for if you have grandma drive you around. The 2WD SPFI's were the best, at around 35 or more. My SPFI Brat is doing right at 30 with a 5 speed D/R. GD

What about just replacing the rusty section with some rubber FI hose as a temp fix? GD