Hawkwolf223

I will have to look at that thread. From measurements, it appears there would be enough material to re-drill, especially if I "plug" the existing holes. The more pressing question is the "location" lumps on the hub. They do not seem to provide any support or re-enforcement, so it seems possible to turn the hub flat and re-drill...

Has anyone ever tried to turn down the standard 4x140 hubs (removing the location lugs) to redrill to 4x108 (same as 4x4.25)? It appears there MAY be enough material to drill them out to the larger lug pattern...

Working on an EA 81 conversion on a Gen 1 BRAT. Does anyone know the part numbers for the upgraded DOJ mentioned in previous posts? It seems these should be used in lifted divorced t-case conversions, but I can't find correct part numbers... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/98455-23-25-spline-doj-conversions/

OK, resurrecting an old, old, old thread. Have a Gen 1 BRAT with a locked up engine and single range trans. Found an 82 Gen 2 wagon with severe cancer issues so bought to use as donor for engine/trans upgrade. So i have: EA81 engine, DR trans, Rear diff, all wiring, all connectors, exhaust, steering, blah, blah, blah. (Also have all side glass, front fenders, bumpers, window regulators, etc. if anyone is restoring a Gen 2, EA81 car. PM me) So, I am looking at divorced t-case options. I like the Spicer 18 personally. Well familiar with them, have multiple options if used. Side drive, so clocking to vertical would allow front to rear drive without offset. Since I have the EA81 crossmember, I was thinking I could mount the 81 engine/trans to the 71 crossmember, add spacers/weld/fab brackets for T-case, then make brackets for the EA82 crossmember to fit under the EA71 crossmember with the difff mounted in between. Allows the use of EA81 steering gear, EA81 CV shafts, provides an additional "skid plate", and adding a lift in the rear would level everything out. Obviously fabricate brackets to hold the front diff in place... Thoughts? If anyone even sees this old thread? Anyone know if there are air struts with enough travel to feasibly make a long-travel suspension setup? Really crazy thought: Has anyone tried adapting/fabbing the lower control arm from a 2000 forester (or similar) as an upper control arm? Maybe designed to bolt up like the current strut with a heim joint as upper "ball joint" with the bolt in the center to connect. Add a shock mount to the control arm just inboard of the heim joint. That would allow for a long travel or air adjustable shock. Adjustable ride height and wheel camber with consistent wheel camber over long travel of the wheel... BTW, has anyone considered the possibility of power take-off from the stock transaxle? If going divorced transfer case, the front CV output is no longer used. Maybe drive a high output generator (trail welding) or compressor (old AC compressor) to fill an air tank for trail use... Just an additional thought.

Actually, there is a rubber plug which goes in there. It is an inspection and timing port. If you turn the engine over you should see timing marks for setting the ignition timing. The rubber plug insert is kinda difficult to find. I have been running mine without it for years. Nice build, BTW. I am beginning work on my '79, but am going a different direction. EA81 engine/trans/drive-train swap. Probably suspension mods for longer travel. I need to find longer travel struts, or another option to increase the suspension capabilities. I also will swap the AC compressor for a newer version more capable of running with R134.

I'm presuming this sold... No update, so I had to ask.

New coil, runs great. Thanks for listening to my rants.

Hmm, interesting. But there are no oil lines to the heads which would be needed to control the I-Active system, and nothing different at the fron of the cams to indicate the presense of I-Active... I have called around looking for replacement engines and aprts, no used coils available. JDM coil is a no-go. The mounts are different spacing, and even temp mounting, I get no start at all.

Agreed on the need to work around other items. Initially, it ran great, then started miss-firing on 1&2, but would come back to running great again. It has gotten colder here, a cold front blew through and dropped temps 20 degrees. Bought transmission hose for the trans cooler lines. Could tell if they were 5/16" or 3/8", so picked up both. Really don't want to spring for a coil, but I can't think of anything else. The crank and cam sensors are the same, essentially, from 99-09. Looking at the parts from the JDM, it appears I got a newer engine, it has the 05-11 coil pack, also some butterfly restrictor plates between the intake and the heads...

Not much JDM left. Intake, temp, knock were all swapped. The connectors didn't match, so the USDM went to the JDM. Except the crank and cam sensors. Those two use the same connectors and plugged in without an issue. Still can't get past the intermittent fire of 1&2 when I pull a plug wire. Maybe will swap the crank and cam sensors this morning to see if that changes anything.

Checked the 2.0 coil, won't work without complete wire change. 2.5 coil has posts similar to plugs, 2.0 has sockets. Completely different plug wires. I am back to replacing the coil as the fix for the probable issue.

Yes, swapped the intake, and it made most of the hoses a non-issue. The silly one going to the bottom of the throttle body didn't fit right from the EJ-20, for example, so I swapped that. probably could block it off, but I wasn't sure, maybe it prevents icing or something... I figured the coil pack from the 20 was matched to the ignitor and ECu for the 20, so left it on the 20 intake. Is there a difference? Seeking info please... Thanks, HW

Hi All, Posted a short write-up about an EJ25 to EJ20 swap. Thought it might be of interest to have the EJ25 video available for diagnosis. I suspect a spun bearing... Replaced the engine and plan to rebuild to have on-hand for future use... Diesel_EJ25.wmv

Hi All, Been a member for a number of years, since i have a '79 BRAT. Latest thing is my 17 YO daughters first car. Found a 2001 Forester, decent shape, ran well, so bought and began setting it up for her to use during an internship and proposed to get her through most or all of college. First thing was timing belt, water pump, idlers, tensioner, etc, along with full oil change and tires. It ran well for her for two and a half months. Then something "bad" happened. Sounded like a spun bearing, and we didn't have the weeks needed to get the machine shop work done to rebuild. JDM EJ20 swap to the rescue. Many say this is a direct drop in, with two "pulley changes": Drivers side cam pulley and crank pulley. Yes, these do need to be swapped, but there are a few other items as well. First DON'T PULL THE ENGINE WITH THE TORQUE CONVERTER ATTACHED!!! I did, and will never do so again. The litttle spring clip cost me half a day between fighting it and researching why the convert would not go back. Second, the knowck sensor connector was different, so I swapped those, as well as the temp sensor. The water cooled oil cooler did not swap over (I don't care for them0, so the supply for that needed a block-off. A note of issue with the rubber gasket around the cam belt cover: The rubber deformed on re-install and began rubbing on the waterpump pulley. This is not a real issue, but it created a high-picthed sound similar to a bearing failing. I thought I would have to replace the just-installed water-pump (All idlers, tensioner, etc were swapped from EJ25 to EJ20, since they were brang new with less than 2000 miles) Keep this oin mind for future reference, I almost didn't find it, but running the engine without the timing belt cover there was no sound, when re-installing to check, the thing would not go on, and I found the rubber deformed from rubbing... So, that is my experience thus far. Little things kept needing to be swapped; small hoses, crankcase vent hoses, extended wiring for temp sensor to reach new location on EJ20, et. etc. etc. Otherwise, it went in well. By the way, the EJ20 IS smoother than the EJ25... Now I have no spark on cylinders 1&2. This is intermittent, and when I pull one of the plug wires from the coil, I get arcing from 3&4, nothing from 1&2... most of the time. Occasionally I had been able to get spark by pulling a plug wire from 1&2, then the engine would run great. I suspect the coil pack. Am I off base? I will pick up new wires and plugs this afternoon, and maybe a coil pack, as well as some EFI hose to replace the transmission cooler hoses which are showing deterioration.

Interested. Would want 5 in black. Price might be sticky especially considering I need to rebuild my engine to get he back on the road.