GeneralDisorder

The Brat tranny is a bad choice - 4 spd is not going to fit very well. You'll have a lot more issues than with a 5 spd D/R. The D/R transmissions are NOT awd - they are 4WD. And manual is not a step down over auto, it's far better for off-road. That said, Andy is right - if you only have one car don't do this sort of thing with it. You will have nothing but headaches - you'll take it out and break something, or it won't be driveable because you have it ripped apart in your driveway. You are going to want bigger MT tires, and you're looking at $500 for tires/rims that will last maybe 10k miles or less.... lets not even go into the mileage issue . My wagon gets 22 freeway, and maybe 20 in town. Best thing you can do is get another rig to PLAY with. Then you don't have to stress about being able to run to the junk yard or parts store whne it's broke, or getting to work, or having a decent vehicle for a date or something. Before you go nuts - get prepared. Get a AAA membership, and pick up a cheap soob for a few hundred as a toy. You'll be a lot happier, and you will feel so free - you won't have the spectre of damage hanging over you. Free to break things and bash stuff at will - it's beutiful, and IMHO more important than any other aspect of off-road play with a soob. Hell - I smashed a window out of my wagon last time I went out - that was probably a month ago and it's still not fixed - because I don't HAVE to. I'll probably just wait till winter. GD

Realistically speaking, the master cylinder is not powerful enough to require braided line. Braided line is used to prevent the rubber hose from expanding when used with high pressure brake systems using very large calipers and rotors. Frankly the stock brakes will fade long before you get to the pressure needed for SS line. However - there are plenty of sources if you really want to waste your money. Try Jegs or Summit Racing for universal lines. All you need it a pipe cutter, a flaring tool, and some fittings. You would be much better off converting to a larger brake system. With some fab work a larger legacy or impreza system I'm sure is possible with a few XT6 parts. GD

Sounds like he's talking about the carter/weber - tighten the bolts on the base and it will probably be fine. GD

It's not very often that you will actually see where the head gasket failed - sometimes they just do, and it's difficult to see where the leak was. Did you check the head for warpage? It may have just warped a bit and pulled away from the gasket slightly. On the last EA82 I did it was the same way - gasket failed (original - 220k, #3 cylinder tested about 10 for compression), and it still ran on three cylinders - drove it home that way. I replaced the gasket and now it's fine again. I could not see where it had failed either. GD

Beign AWD, if you lose traction on one front wheel you still won't move at all even with a rear spool or locker. Not worth it unless you are also going to install a real 4WD trans. Diff is not exposed at all without the axle - the seals are in the diff not the axle, and the stub is external not internal. It takes me about 5 min to remove or replace mine. But again - you need 4WD before you even consider such a thing. GD

It really doesn't matter - 1981 and older subes had the fuel pump in the engine bay, and later they moved it to the rear. Both woked fine, and I beleive the reason for the change had more to do with regulations and/or noise/vibration from the pump. The pulse style pumps are loud. The 1980 should have the pump in the engine bay already, and the car is not equipped with the correct vent/return line system for the under-car mounted pump. Stick with what you have. Check the FPCU as you may just need to replace this or a fuse or ground wire or something. Personally I would not run any pump without the FPCU component in the wireing. It serves to shut the pump down if the vehicle is in an accident. It uses the tach pulse from the coil - if it is not present the fuel pump is not powered. GD

Some came as 2WD 5 speed's, but not in the US. Very popular in Isreal. US models - ALL were 4WD, availible transmissions were only the 4 spd D/R with 3.9 diffs, and the 3AT Automatic with 3.7 diff. GD

Probably not - the front diff will prevent one wheel from spinning anyway, so you'll only get power to one wheel - probably the one with least resistance, and hence little or no vibration. GD

You sure you didn't typo that number? Seems to not fit well to me.... GD

You can get a K&N filter assembly, and then when it gets full of oil at least you can clean it and re-oil the filter instead of buying a new one. They are better filters anyway, and I've found that it sometimes takes a while to get the oil consumption into the intake to stop. Cleaning the PCV is the first step, but it does not seem to curb the oil issue right away. Replaceing the hoses with new ones are a good idea too as the inside of the hoses becomes caked with carbon. GD

I have used new, not rebuilt axles in several rigs now, and I did notice a slight increase in vibration on my wagon, but not on my Brat. The wagon is lifted, and has many strange behavioral problems too, so I'm not of the opinion that the new axles are really the problem. The new axles, being very tight, often seem to expose second order vibrations that would not be apparent with a lesser axle.... if you have a rebuilt transmission, and new axles however you shouldn't have ANY play in the joints - they should be rock solid. Something is not right. And yes - DOJ is on the inboard side - the shiny thing you grabbed right where it enters the tranny. The splined front axles as used on the subaru's are not like many other brands - most use a c-clip shaft that slides into the transmission rather than an external stub. Your mechanic may not be familair with this setup. If you can get the mechanic to do it, have him purchase and install GCK brand NEW axles. They are very awesome quality, and I can say I've had great experience with them myself. They are located in CA too.... http://www.gck.com/ GD

A little play is alright with the Double Offset Joint cup, but not a lot. It totally depends on the rest of the axle, and where the play is comming from. I've seen some pretty loose that drove just fine, and others that seemed fairly tight but caused such serious vibration that the car was very litterally undrivable. It's all about how tight the joint itself is. New (not rebuilt usually) axles should be extremely tight. It could be worn output stub bearings inside the transmission, or poor fitment between the splines in the axle and the splines on the transmission. It is possible to accidentally use a 25 spline axle where a 23 is required, and the roll pin will move the car forward a bit - till it shears the pin off. I doubt that is your problem - more likely the fitment is poor, or the bearings need addressing. They may in fact feel more solid on a lift - the suspension will unspring and the internal joint parts will slide to a position they are not normally at when driving. This position may have no wear and "feel" tighter if checking for play. If the axles are new though (not some crappy rebuild) then I can't see this as possible. But worth a look. Mechanics are in business to make money, and if they can substitute a cheaper part, they usually do. It often results in repeat business when the cheaper part fails, but a lot of people got for the cheapest shop in town (not saying you did), and then bring it back thinking maybe something was done wrong only to find their 90 day warrantee is up, the car is already in peices to "diagnose" the problem, and the shop has another "cheapest in town" repair in mind for them.... it's a nasty cycle. I do beleive that PT Barnum said it best - "You can shear a sheep many times, but you can skin em only once.". I think most shady mechanics have learned this somehow... GD

Normal when cold. Replace your main seal and cam seals. GD

I have noticed that the power steering racks are easier to turn even without power.... ratio I'm not sure on. I have lost the belt (or more accurately the ability to run the belt ) on my wagon, and I've found that it still turns easier with 28's than my stock Brat does with 185's. I drove it unpowered for a couple months before repairing the idler pulley bearing. Works great still. Using the power rack and cross-member also means you *could* add power to it later if you decide that's something you want. Fitment should be the same with either type. Just cap off the power steering line ports on the rack and it should work fine without the power assist. Leave the lines on the bottom of the rack that allow fluid transfer from one side to the other, and keep the rack filled with ATF and it will be just fine without it's pump. If you can find one, and are into retrofitting, the preliminary measurements I made show the non-power EA82 rack to be the same length as the EA81 rack - the wider track of the EA82 is made up using different tie rods. I noticed once when I drove a non-power EA82 that it almost felt like it had power - it's was VERY easy to turn. I'm not sure what is different - perhaps a different/easier ratio or something. But I liked it I know that..... GD

Absolutely - safe driving is key. But there are uncontrolable situations that do arise at times - people can pull out in front of you for example. There is also other factors sometimes beyond your control - a vehicle that I convert may at some point be sold, or passed on to a new owner. My concience will be clear because I know I've done the job right. I understand the unwillingness of people to admit they are wrong/incomplete with their previous conversions, but this is getting silly. These are BRAKES people, and safety should come first - especially here where people turn to this board for (hopefully correct) information. When I did the conversion, I first did the brakes only (85 Brat, so no valve at all). I took it up to about 50 MPH, and locked all 4 wheels on wet pavement - without the valve I had enough momentum to do a full 180 degree sweep with the back of the Brat and ended up facing the opposite direction IN the oncomming lane. I made several more attempt at lower speeds and found that I could kick the rear end out as much as I pleased based on how hard I locked the wheels, and the durration of the braking. You call that safe? I put the valve in and repeated the test (the SAME day) muliple times and could never get anything but smooth, straight braking. The ONLY difference between the two was the addition of the valve - same street, same conditions, same car. It takes about an extra hour to install the valve and the hard lines.... is that so much extra that safe braking isn't worth it??!? Many of the people that have done the conversion have done it with lifted vehicles - the stock brakes are HARD to lock-up with big tires. Even fully bled and adjusted the brakes just don't lock as easily. This may be part of why it's largely gone un-noticed. That, and people don't often do panic brakeing..... I know I don't... until the day comes that you need it. GD

I have never converted my wagon, it still has drums - I converted my Brat Ken, and this "phenomenon" is not just something that I have experienced - in a recent thread two other people had the exact same symtoms. When panic braking on slick surfaces (snow, wet pavement, etc) the rear WILL lock and slide sideways without the valve. Is this so freakin hard to beleive? I'm no idiot, and I take brakes very seriously - that's why I performed the test. Next rainy day I swear I'm taking the damn valve out and rolling camera on it. GD

You can adjust the release cable, but slipping would mean the cable is too tight - ulikely it would tighten itself. Much more likely the disc is worn or the pressure plate is weak. Probably time for a clutch replacement. GD

Definately the D/R, the low range of the full time box is only 1.2:1, while the low on the part time box is 1.5:1. If you want to sell the full time tranny I may be in the market for one soon (for a street rig). GD

Totally incorrect - you can buy adjustable proportioning valves from any good race supplier. Adjusting the brake bias is very important to proper braking. You have to balance the pressure generated by the system to the size of the front and rear brakes, and their braking power, weight of the vehicle, etc. Using the correct stock valve will work for safe basic street driving though as they are already sized properly for the braking power of the rear discs. GD

Sounds like the VR in the alt is dead - pushing more power than it should. I've seen GM alts with the VR removed power 10, 120v incandescent lamps.... they can put out serious power if not controlled. GD

There is zero difference between the 4WD Auto used in the Turbo, and the 4WD Auto used in the non-turbo. There is zero difference in the steering knuckle end as well. I've parted my share of EA81's and EA81T's as well. The axles are the same. Someone care to lookup the part numbers? GD

FWD (2WD) axles for the EA81 are significantly weaker. If you read my post on the first page you would know this :cool: Also EA series and EJ series axles have little in common as design goes (on the hub end). GD

You do for EA81 land. EA82 is questionable. GD

EA81T axles ARE 4WD axles. Same thing. GD

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/search.php?searchid=286959 GD