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I have read about a lot of swaps to the EJ20, but what is the reason vs staying with the EJ25? What are the benefits and negatives, performance, mpg, etc?

First off thanks to everyone who has replied. I completely agree that tires are a huge factor on all aspects of a vehicles performance. Currently the RR is metal to metal so it definitely needs new rotors and it has an old set of Cooper tires with 4/32 tread left. This is how I bought it. No track days or high HP mods are planned. Just a DD and weekend dirt road explorer, I will also be towing a boat (1800#) or small trailer (1600-2500#) at times. I am used to exploring mountain roads with steep grades that often heat up and at times over tax factory brakes in the past. Often I switch to ceramic pads to help with brake fade. I also have a history with 1980s Toyota 4x4 trucks where many parts are bolt on upgrades from Land Cruisers or newer V6 trucks. So I was wondering if it was similarly easy to upgrade the brakes on these Subarus or not. Immediate plans are to go through the brakes, then replace the tires with good quality rubber. The struts/springs seem to be doing well at the moment. The car also needs a head gasket replaced and the A/C fixed. All of which is why I got it so cheap. Cosmetically it is well cared for however. Doing some research today I saw that the rear brakes can be upgraded from a Legacy H6. Legacy larger rotors, caliper bracket and Forester factory calipers. I assume this conversion uses the factory Forester pads? Anything else needed in this swap and what year Legacy are the brakes off of? Does the parking brake still work or do you have to swap that over too? Thanks

I just bought a 2004 Forester with 16" aluminum wheels and it is in need of a little work. First thing on the list is new brakes. Rather than just replacing the factory rotors and a new set of pads are there any simple upgrades that can be done, front and rear. I have read that 06-07 WRX rotors and calipers might bolt right on. However I have not read a definite answer to this. Has anyone here done a similar upgrade? I am looking for simple bolt on, no modifications and I don't want to brake the bank. Thanks

I am looking to rebuild my motor later this summer so I need to start tracking down parts an ideas. I have a Weber 32/36 on it currently and want to stick with it for simplicity. I am in Wisconsin and none of the yards within 150 miles of me have any Subarus what so ever. So trying to find all the pieces need to convert to SPFI isn't going to happen. My question is will dual port heads fit on my engine? Are cams/timing belts all the same? I know the manifolds are different. I was thinking of building my own long runner manifold to gain more low end torque. Would look at modifying a spider manifold if I cam across one of them. I also know that the SPFI engines have a little higher compression compared to carb. Is this from different pistons or something else? Besides putting on a new exhaust any other suggestions to gain more power? Don't even mention and EJ swap. I am not going that way with this car. I will be buying a new Forester soon for my primary vehicle and the 87' GL will become my back up car. Thanks in advance

Figures. Right after I bought a new set of 13" tires last week. Thanks for the heads up. Bookmarked them for later.

I am looking for any info about the SJR wheel adapters to run VW wheels on our 4x140 Subarus. Do you have to have a lift to run these wheels and adapters? How is the back spacing with these adapters and are their any issues with tire rub? I am thinking of just running factory VW steel wheels with a 185/65R15 or 195/65R15 tire on them. Any have experience running these adapters and a similar tire size? I tried contacting him awhile back and just got a simple replay of, it depends on what wheel I run. No other useful info. http://www.sjrlift.com/index.php/catalog/misc/wheel-adapter-vw5-to-subaru-4-x-140-detail

I was wondering if there are any suspension upgrades that can easily be done for hauling more weight and handling large pot holes better? I am moving 1500 miles away and all I can bring it what will fit on a small tailer and in the car. I am looking to run about 1000-1200# total trailer weight. I have installed a hitch and tailer harness. Are their any rear suspension upgrades to help handle the tongue weight (will keep it between 100-150#) plus about 300# of clothes and tools that will be in the car?

I put the small Weber air filter back on and the bogging is gone. So I am guessing it just can't suck hard enough through the 2" pipe. I'll mess with it in the spring. Not much dust to worry about with a foot of snow on the ground. Timing still doesn't make much since but I split the difference. It runs smooth so I guess I just need to leave well enough alone at this point.

I recently posted about mounting a Weber 32/36 backwards on my 87' EA82. I have since installed the remote EFI air filter box to get better filtration on dirt roads. I used 2" PVC which should give just a little more volume than the Weber can pull. Problem is the car runs and pulls fine unless I floor it at which point it falls on it's face and chugs. 7/8 throttle and it pulls fine. I am thinking that it is not sucking enough air and loading up at full throttle so I might try going to a 3" pipe. Ideas/Opinions? Second problem. While trouble shooting the above problem I decided to check my timing since I have not done that since I had a mechanic reseal the motor a few months back. With the vacuum advance disconnected and plugged warm engine at idle it shows 23 deg. almost off the timing marks. If I adjust it down to the factory 8 deg it won't even run, it starts to stumble at 14, rough at 12 and then dies at 8. If I put it at the recommended max of 16 deg it idles ok but has no power on the road. I checked to make sure the timing marks are right and the distributor is installed correct. I pulled the plugs, cranked it with a wrench to 0 deg on the fly wheel, verified TDC in the #1 spark plug whole and the distributor is showing just a few degrees before the #1 contact which is correct for it's advance setting. So what is wrong here am I missing something?

Amazon carries a tire that might work for some of you. I have no experience with them. Just passing it along. Maxxis MA-1 90S 60,000 Mile Manufacturer Warranty White Wall Passenger Tire not Trailer Tire 420BB UTQG Performance Radial http://www.amazon.com/P185-80R13-Maxxis-MA-1-White/dp/B00CJG0JAY/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451584333&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=maxxima+185%2F80r13

Our Subarus have an odd bolt pattern, 4x140. So in order to put 14 or 15" wheels on them that are not old Peugeot you will have to do some drilling or swapping of parts. Re-drill your hubs to 6x5.5" light truck pattern http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/128105-offcial-6-lug-re-drill-thread/ Or you can similarly use your hub with 2 bolts punched out to center a 6x5.5" wheel on it and mark 2 new holes on the wheel to drill out. Essentially making the wheel fit 6x5.5" or 4x140 hubs. Or buy these adapters and run old school VW wheels http://www.sjrlift.com/index.php/catalog/misc/wheel-adapter-vw5-to-subaru-4-x-140-detail

Yes I have read your write ups and they do have a lot of useful information in them. However they do not address every issue all of us have had as you continue to claim they do. If I installed the "accelerator's cable plate (upside down)" it would with the intake manifold greatly reducing it's travel and leaving the travel limited to just off of idle. I did look at that option. Without a substantially taller adapter plate my choke would have hit the reservoir. For whatever reason it seems more so on my particular car than the clearance issues I have seen in photos. As I stated I have read similar complaints from a hand full of other owners, date stamped from various years. For those of us who have not lifted and do not wish to lift our cars a taller adapter would give even less clearance for air filter choices. The more air filtration the better when you live in a dusty climate. I am simply posting my solution to a problem many Subaru owners have had. Never claimed to have the best answer to everyones problems. I have often found the best solutions come from a collective of ideas that are combined to solve a problem. This post is just one more piece in a collective of information on this board.

The curve isn't as bad as it looks, since it curves up toward the carb from under the Alt at the same time. The cable slides smoothly through the curve and I've had tighter curves on motorcycles before.

Many of us have done or are interested in upgrading our factory carbs to the Weber 32/36. But there is a challenge in fitting the electric choke version to our EA82 motors with the P/S reservoir right up front. Some have claimed they were able to dent in the back of this reservoir with out any ill effects. However I found a few comments made over the years stating that the electric choke wanted to intrude on the P/S more than a ball peen hammer can address. I am among this group. After installing the Weber/Redline adapter plates I found that the front of the electric choke wanted to be so far forward it would almost be touching the reservoir mounting bolts. There was no way I could bash in that much of the reservoir without causing big troubles. So I decided to install the Weber backwards. This of course caused a problem with routing the throttle cable. Once I found the best path the factory cable was not long enough to reach. So I made one. The parts I used were Brake cable from a road bicycle (think Tour de France) These have a similar ball end that you need. Universal motorcycle throttle cable kit (5' housing and assortment of fittings) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O1C2L7S?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00 Old factory Subaru throttle cable Here you can see the different parts to make the throttle work. After cutting the universal throttle housing to length I re-crimped the Subaru factory adjuster to it. You can also see that I am using the Weber linkage instead of swapping the Subaru cam. I was unable to get the secondary to open with the Subaru cam link so I tried the Weber and it worked on the lowest hole. You can see that the ball on the bicycle brake cable is smaller but it is still large enough to work This is the grommet that captures the ball end of the cable to the gas pedal The factory hole in the Weber cable location bracket was to high and was causing binding, so I drilled a new one to keep it level with the throttle linkage. The universal housing slid snuggly into the grommet in the firewall. I routed the cable low past the distributor and under the intake manifold. I continued it under the Alternator out the front and under the lip of the P/S reservoir. There is plenty of clearance from the belts and pulleys no worries. I really don't like the small air filter that comes with the Weber. I don't see these things doing a very good job on dry dusty dirt roads. So I went down to the junk yard and pulled the air filter box off a similar year EFI engine. The air box bolts right into the carb engine bay. I am tracking down the parts to make this work with the Weber. The benefits will be better filtration and it will be easy to find replacement filters when needed. I will update this post with pictures when it's complete. I am using an aluminum air intake adapter on the air box. The hole in the EFI air box and the adapter are both 3" in diameter. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HG7D56G?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00 I also advanced the timing to 12 deg while doing this conversion. I might advance the timing a little further.

You can buy non mechanical (no CD player, aux/usb input and radio only) head units that are not as deep. They should fit flush.

Yes I have read your write up a couple of times. It doesn't talk about having this problem. I am using the Weber cable bracket

I have been working on a Weber swap this week. Conversion nightmare... long story. At any rate I have it together and it starts and idles well. I have no slack in the throttle cable yet I don't have enough travel to open the secondary. I have tried with the Hitachi linkage and then with the Weber swiss cheese link on various holes. I just can't hit the secondary or flow enough to rev over 5000 and my top speed is 55. Any ideas? 1987 EA82 and I do have full pedal travel.

They are the 15" flat spoke alloys. Do you know you can mill 8mm off or just throughing an idea out there? If it is safely possibly I might consider that to keep them in as far as possible.

Any chance you have pictures with those wheels mounted?

I have read on a couple of sights that these have a 30mm offset. I know that's not much of a difference, just hoping they work without rubbing. I will try and post up a thread when I get it installed.

I'm interested in the pass. side mirror and rear deflector (with mounting hardware). Possibly the front mud flaps too, considering mounting some up to cut down on winter salt spray. Can you give me a price to pull and ship to MT 59912? I'm hoping the mirror is still clear? Both of mine were delaminating and getting very dark. Found the driver side locally but no pass in my neck of the woods

Thanks for the replys! I might have to consider the 195 series option. I just resealed the whole motor last week. (Head gaskets, valve covers, oil pan, rear main, cam seals, oil & water pumps and a new clutch) I have a Weber and Pro Comp multi fire ignition box on the way. I will probably upgrade to a 1.75 exhaust too. Hoping that all wakes up the motor some and more than compinsates for the slightly larger tires.

Well looks like luck has shined on me. I scored a set of 4 Peugeot 505 Turbo 15" flat spoke wheels with center caps and lug nuts included. It will take a couple of weeks before I get them since they are coming from the east coast. I am thinking about running 185/65R15 tires on them, does anyone know if these will fit without rubbing? (1987 GL 4WD) The car is not lifted but rides higher than any stock GLs I've seen in person. Low miles so I am assuming the springs just haven't sagged yet. What is the largest tire you can run with out lifting or cutting? (The body is pristine and I don't want to mess it up)

I need a new set of wheels so I can get some better tires. The tread on these little 13"s are the most dangerous tires I've ever had. I am not looking to lift the car but will probably go up a tire size 24-24.5" from the factory 23.5" diameter. I just recently moved to MT from AZ and .... yada yada yada. Update below

My 87' has great airflow, no A/C just heat. Don't know what your blower sounds like, quiet and not blowing or loud and just not making it out of the vents. But I have seen a few Subarus over the years that have a bad fan switch on the dash. It doesn't seem to give the correct voltage to the blower. If you push on the switch knob and the blower speeds up, there's your problem. My 3rd position is currently that way 1, 2, 3 (trickle), 4 (Full power)