GeneralDisorder

Well - the small R160 LSD clutch pack is just too small for the large tire sizes, and relatively slow speeds of trail use. The small amount of help the LSD provides isn't worth the cost of finding one. For the price, you could almost BUY a welder and do the welding yourself on the rear diff. GD

In addition to the above list: You will only need the front section of the driveshaft. You will also need the manual speedo cable - it's longer. You will need to rig up a DL style return spring for the clutch fork as you don't have a hill holder. The 5 speed D/R from the coupe is probably the crappy 1.2:1 low range, and may or may not be the 3.7 diff ratio. Wagon and sedan D/R were 3.9, but the coupe's were usually 1.2:1 low and 3.7 diff. You will have to check. Axles are all the same except for turbo cars that had the 25 spline inner DOJ. GD

I was easily able to lift the back of my EA81 wagon without the rear suspension or fuel tank in place. Just the body back there is pretty light really. If the tank were not full, and you had two large guys (I'm 6' 2", 200 lbs) you could probably lift the back end of a complete sedan. The engine acts like a counter-weight because it's forward of the front wheels. Definately possible. Everything else bdg says is uneducated nonsense tho. Sure is funny to read tho. GD

It may last a long time, but then it may not. Symtoms can be anywhere from mild vibration, to "OH MY GOD" shaking that will make you pull over thinking the car is going to split in half. They usually (in my experience) fail rather abrupty. All of mine that have exhibited bad vibration failed in a span of 10 miles or less. GD

Don't even troubleshoot it if you don't have to. Run a jumper to the + side of the coil, and crank it over. GD

The difference isn't what you think - it's not bigger *around* but rather has a different sized hump in the exhaust area. Make sure to check it out for differences. GD

Personally, I think eliminateing the rod, and making the lower arm an A arm with another pivot point on the cross member would be the way to avoid both bending them, and to get rid of the whole radius rod plate assembley.... Actually it wouldn't be too hard to just make custom control arms from some tube with flat bar for the ball joint mount. I saw some pictures not too long ago of some custom control arms someone made. GD

2WD Loyale would be your best bet (90 - 94). GD

The XT6 clutch is plenty strong. There's a member that recently posted about a race clutch that he installed. I think it was a kevlar material. Do a search. GD

No - it will not help. The gasket is the wrong material. GD

Tony makes real nice stuff - but he doesn't own a soob anymore. You might go trolling for him over on pirate4x4. I have both front and rear bumpers from him - excelent stuff. GD

I wouldn't bother. Save the kit till you really need it. Usually the EA81's don't blow HG's unless they are old and severely overheated. It's also not hard to replace the HG's in the car if you need to later. No need to pull the engine. If your gasket kit isn't from the dealer, I'll warn you now to go straight to the dealer for the intake manifold gaskets. Aftermarket ones (even the Fel-Pro's) won't last more than a few months unfortunately. They leak, and besides just leaking and burning coolant, the manifold bolts will quickly rust in place in the block and when you go to do the gaskets again in 6 months you could snap them off. The dealer version is much like a head gasket in design - it's a metal gasket with graphite. Aftermarket are just cardboard and don't cut it. GD

It's in the pedal assembly for the clutch. Clutch in = neutral. But the FT4WD tranny I thought also had one on the side near the reverse switch.... I know the regular D/R doesn't have one in the tranny..... As for getting the starter to turn, it *should* just work. As long as the ECU pin isn't connected it will think it's in neutral anyway. That was how mine worked, both with a manual and an auto ECU..... GD

Similar, but the intake valves are smaller on the '82, and it will have solid lifters instead of hydraulic. The net effect is 73 HP instead of 74. Not a huge difference on paper, but the power curve of the later engine is a little better as is the torque. As far as the block, it will work just fine, but may not exactly match up on the exhaust - you may have to swap around some of the spacers under the heads between the two. The head gaskets are very easy to do though. Just dissasemble it and you will see. Very straight forward. Be careful with the intake manifold bolts as they tend to snap off. I've taken to using an impact set on a low setting to break the rust bond without turning them far enough to snap them off. GD

SPFI was introduced in 86 actually. 85 2WD's (GL's and GL-10's) were MPFI non-turbo. DL's were always carbed till late 87 when carbs were done away with. GD

Same, yes. GD

Those are the same as the SPFI pistons - both are 9.5:1 The EA71 pistons don't give a lot of comp. increase, and the ring lands are thinner. Plus they are more difficult to find than SPFI ones.... GD

No, but the book is out of print, so who's going to complain? No one is being cheated out of royalties or sales profits.... and there's no way it's ever going to be printed again. If you really think some publishing company is going to sic it's lawyers on a message board full of 80's subaru owners think again. They have plenty of other worries that aren't 10 years out of print and about as desireable as leftovers from spaghetti night. And I'm not sure, but the author may not even be alive anymore. Hasn't published anything near as I can tell since the late 80's. If someone wants to attempt to contact the guy that would be awesome..... but good luck finding him. With a name like that...... well there is probably a LOT of dudes named Larry Owens..... It's also been floating around for at least a couple years on here and "just under the surface" of this board. I know I've had it that long or longer. Oh yeah - and besides being an easy to understand learning guide it's really not too usefull as a reference. Good read the first time, but I haven't cracked it open in a long time. He goes the way of all the rest of the manuals and claims you need help (machine shop) to press the axles in and out of the hubs GD

Break a CV and the car will stop moving (or with the VC style it will move, but *slowly* - undrivably slow). AWD will not work if any single wheel loses traction completely (broken CV is equivelent). Where you got this "bad cv wrecks manual AWD tranny" business is beyond me. You will have a crappy day, and it's true the car won't move, but all that's required is an axle replacement. Your arguement is a non-sequitor really - you can't drive a manual AWD with a broken axle... Auto's are different, and I won't comment on that mess, but for a standard 5 speed AWD (no LSD's) that's completely wrong. GD

There is nothing wrong with the OEM gaskets. As I said I've used them too. My reasons for using the Fel-Pro's are several: 1. No retorque required. BIG plus. Quote from fedmog's web site: "These head gaskets compress enough at installation to conform to, and seal, minor surface imperfections while minimizing relaxation and maintaining adequate clamping force over long time periods." Clearly this is improved technology that wasn't incorporated into the OEM design. And the Napa/Other brands I've looked at don't incorporate it either. I've also heard BAD things about the NAPA subaru gaskets - carquest too. I aquired a problematic EA81 that had gone through 2 sets of Napa HG's. I put in Fel-Pro's and never had another problem. 2. Under ideal conditions (newly milled head, and block - with factory level finishing of the gasket sufaces) the OEM gaskets should perform just fine. However this is rarely the case. If anything I'll mill the heads *if I have to* but generally if things look alright I would prefer to just clean the surfaces very well. From my experience the Fel-Pro's seal well under "feild replacement" conditions. They conform well to non-factory level finished surfaces. 3. They are quite a bit CHEAPER. Even wholesale at my dealer EA82 gaskets are $23 each for the non-turbo gaskets. The Fel-Pro's are $15.99 each and are rated for the turbo's as well. One gasket fits all. Anyway, I recommend you give them a try. I have to admit I was skeptical about them at first too, but others on here convinced me to try them. At any rate I wouldn't buy anything but Fel-Pro or OEM. Either choice is a win in my book GD

9.5 would run nicely. The EA82 SPFI runs that comp already, so just using the SPFI pistons would work. Take .020" off the heads and you might get up close to 10:1. Should still work fine, but I would probably use the SPFI on it. GD

You could trigger it the way it's done on the EA81 - when the AC compressor comes on so does the second fan. That's really all the clutch fan is for anyway. It's there to cool the AC compressor from getting dangerously hot when the car isn't moving. The non-AC models of EA82 didn't have the clutch fan at all. Same with the EA81's - it was just electric. That's why they are so hard to find - not many EA81's had AC. GD

All my manuals show a three stage torque - 22, 40, and 47 I think, but don't quote me on those. Close enough tho. GD

No - mine went 230k, and it's engine #808. Definately capable gaskets. I just installed a set for a friend. But it's got to be noted that OEM gaskets have been sitting on a shelf for years, and were designed with 1985 materials. Fel-Pro perma-torque's are using the latest in improved materials and processes.... and after some extremely hairy personal experiences with them I can say they have a death grip on the gasket surfaces. I overheated an EA81 about a week after I did the HG's to what I considered at the time to be the point of no return. I drove it at least 3 miles in 80 degree weather with zero coolant. Only reason I stopped was because the engine lost all power due to pre-detonation. I thought for sure they were blown. Drove another 20,000 miles after that day - had to replace the heater core hose that blew . I recently tore the engine down for main bearings and was amazed to find the HG's looked almost good enough to reuse. Fel-Pro for life for me! GD

Stop-gap solution. 20 year old tech. The Fel-Pro's are stronger. Also - it's common when doing these to torque them to 55 or 60 rather than the spec 47. Even tho the Fel-Pro's don't need a retorque, a little extra for the insurance doesn't hurt. I've been setting all of mine to 55 and no problems at all. I also use a harbor freight $9.99 torque wrench so who knows how accurate it really is anyway . GD