TheSubaruJunkie

The air intake for my turbo... the pipe that leads from the MAF to the turbo, is broke. Its sucking in air, unfiltered and unmetered. Makes the RX run like crap and studder and stall. Also, i found a BUNCH of hoses that were baked and brittle. Ready to snap. One actually did and a solenoid of some sort will need to be replaced. I might do some fabrication for the MAF and air intake, but a run to the junkyard is in the near future. -Brian

Oh... to find parts, ebay is your friend some search terms that can help you in eBay... For your Manual Boost Controller "GFB MBC" or "GFB Boost Controller". That should point you to the one I have. For your air intake, you can get a cone filter adapter if you search for a 1988 Nissan Sentra adapter. -Brian

Eli... start simple man. You dont want to do too much at once, or you'll end up with problems and not know what caused it. 1st thing 1st... repair the fire damage. I know people who run without timing belt covers, so you should be fine with damaged covers... but make sure the belts are good and replace if needed. As far as performance... the 1st thing you want to do is intercool the engine. For simplicity I suggest the Saab 900 Intercooler. The inlet and outlet are 2.38", same as the throttle body on our engines. I installed my Intercooler using about $50 in pipe; $30 in hose clamps, paint and other odd's and ends... and then $40 for the intercooler. After you have the engine intercooled, then you can play with boost and everything else. The TD04 turbo upgrade seems pretty straightforward, but the only reason I havent done it is because of my intercooler setup. I would have to buy new pipe and re-route some things. Intake and Exhaust is a MUST! I wouldnt worry too much about the up-pipe, but instead replace your downpipe and the exhaust behind that. 2.5" would be near perfect... 3" wouldnt hurt but is probably overkill for our engines. Wastegates are a part of the turbo, so you cant really modify or change that... but a better BOV would be nice. Our cars dont have a BOV, or a BPV (ByPass Valve) but the EA82T and its MAF calls for a BPV and not a BOV. If you installed a BOV you will create some problems that a BPV will solve. I am running the BPV from the Saab 900 that my intercooler came with. Routing of hoses was a small pain, but it worked out and is simple. It wont add much HP but it will help keep the HP you have. Im about to replace this BPV with something better... so we'll see where that goes. And last, but certainly not least... a boost controller. Spend the money on a good one. The 1st one I bought was from ebay for $11 shipped to my door. It didnt work. If I had tried to make it work and ran with it Im almost positive it would have failed and destroyed my turbo & engine. The 2nd MBC i bought i got for $40 shipped off ebay. This is a real boost controller and it works great. Made by GFB (Go Fast Bits) and currently is set for 8psi. Night and day difference between 5psi to 8psi. 12psi is dangerous but FUN! As far as head shaving, cam grinds, extra and larger injectors... I say dont worry about it for now. A good intercooler and a finely tuned engine will be enough to make a noticeable difference and keep the RX running smooth. -Brian p.s. One other thing. I suggest Magnecore Racing Wires. They come in 7mm and 8mm. I got the 8mm wires direct from their website for $47 shipped and I could tell a difference between those and the 7mm NGK wires I used to run. Smoother idle and smoother acceleration. Definatly worth it IMO.

ARGH!!! You gotta rub it in dont you?!? Hopefully next time I try to drive up there... the RX wont fall on its face again. Ive found a couple of new problems since I replaced the turbo. Lets see if I can get them fixed next weekend and then maybe I'll try again for the weekend after that. -Brian

I mounted my CB to the roof of my wagon. But i didnt like how low it sat, so I made a way to mount it tucked inside the roof liner. Pix: In order to attatch the CB to the roof, without drilling into the roof, I used a piece of fiberboard. The fiberboard was cut into a large T. If you look at the pictures you can see the bracket for the CB sitting on top of the fiberboard. That way it would be sitting as high as possible. Then if you notice the pattern of screws you can imagine where the rest of the fiberboard is. Running the wire wasnt too difficult. On EA81's the roof lining is easy to detatch and everything unscrews. I ran the wiring down my passenger side A pillar, except for the CB antenna which ran to the rear passenger window, then out to my Antenna mount. All the wiring is hidden above the roof liner so the final outcome looks very clean and slick. The CB i have I got from Wal-Mart for $30. Its small and does the job. I spent more on the antenna and mount than the CB. If you dont care about your paint job, magnettic mounts are the way to go. -Brian

Hey... how come when you dumped your clutch your car didnt bog and near stall like mine does? -Brian

Ok j. Is it just you going to PnP? Jeremy, what do you got planned for tomorrow? Dave? And JB... you should see if that new Brat owner will go wheelin with us. -Brian

Okay... Im going to risk it on these tires. They shouldnt fail me just yet I am still planning on being at the junkyard by 10am. Who's gonna do some wheelin tho? I heard you guys got alittle snow? -Brian

Where was your 500 mile road trip to? -Brian

I would say sell it. You got it for free, and if its as good as you say then it should get you enough cash off ebay for a lightly used TD04, and alittle extra for a new downpipe or somethin -Brian

I'd have to say EA81 as well. Ive owned quite a few of them and they have all been low maitenance, and last forever. My 1st car was a EA71 which after a while refused to hold oil. Rear main seal was broken, and I was in highschool. Drove it with no oil for a few days until I sold it. But ive owned 1 EA82 and 1 EJ22T, and now i have a EA82T as my daily driver. While these engines are still long lasting and relativly low maitenance, they definatly arent as bullet proof or reliable as any EA81. -Brian

Those tires look nice. -Brian

I like large pictures But i also have a 21" monitor so it doesnt bother me. Cars looking good. Need to find some tires with tread on em. -Brian

The best thing I could have ever done was quit AT&T. Im much happier now than then... except for the no free time thing. Im working tomorrow... no way out of it other than calling in sick. Dont want to do that as I will lose more from cutting work, than i'd be saving at PnP. Im hoping I can still make it Monday cause I really want to go wheelin. I also need to get new tires before I can make the trip. Hopefully I can do that Sunday... if not I may not be able to make the trip. -Brian

I wouldnt risk it. If you detatched the driveline then you'd be okay. -Brian

The guy at big o told me it'd be cheaper if I ordered the tires from tirerack.com and have them shipped there... rather than them ordering it for you. -Brian

Sounds to me like you have enough to get 12 more subarus!! Who needs guns anyhow? Definatly a good trade. Only wish I could find me a hatch around here. -Brian

I talked to Big O Tires (one right next to my work). They said I could get the tires shipped from TireRack.com straight to BigO and then bring my car in and they would mount/ballance them. $39 a tire *4= $120 (roughly) + tax and shipping = $160ish... then BigO wants $20 a tire for mount and ballance ($160+$80=$240) then add even more tax and california tire disposal fee's and environmental b.s. and it should work out to be just under $300 for a set of brand new Sumitomo's from TireRack.com to my car. Too bad Payday is Friday, BigO is closed Sunday and I need new tires by monday morning for a road trip -Brian

Tony there (Soobme) can build just about anything. I drew up some plans and sent them to him... this is what i got in return: This is a one off design I came up with. I like it that way, i've seen some of the EA82 bumpers he's made and they look great! Might want to shoot him a PM. -Brian

205/60's at tire rack for $42ea I think im going with 195/50s instead tho. -Brian

Custom or from Australia. Subaru didnt offer any pushbars for the EA82 cars in the U.S. -Brian

10 is always the target. Actually, the target is to be on I80 by 8am so if all goes well i should be at the PnP by 10a. Another member Eddy might join us. Also, i have a buddy, Thawa to the USMB, that wants to follow me to Reno. He will just be doing the yard thing... not the 4wheelin. Eddy has some business to take care of in Reno. If it can wait until night, we can do it on the way out. But im not sure if we'll need to stop in Reno somewhere along the way. This is... of course, all hinged on my RX. I am in need of new tires badly. Payday is Friday and hopefully I'll have enough to get new tires and afford gas for the trip & the PnP run. -Brian

Napa sells manual oil pressure gauges. You may need an adapter but they should have everything you need. It's just a couple fittings that attatch where your pressure sending unit goes. It replaces the unit and has a hose that leads to a simple gauge. Its a sure fire way to know if your pump is producing any pressure. I pulled my hair trying to figure out why and engine I put together didnt hold pressure. Came to find it was just my gauge. -Brian

THat looks pretty good. If its sealed properly, it should sound great! Now all you need is a good amp. -Brian

got any more pix of those cars? They look great. RX's arent the best to lift and take offroad. They are too rare and more of a rally car or a street car. The subframe is all the same as any other EA82 wagon or sedan... so lifting one 3" or 4" would be no problem. The center diff lock only locks 50/50 front and rear. Any standard 4WD gearbox will do the same, except you will not have Full Time 4WD. You will have FWD and 4WD, but the center diff will always be locked (well, there is no center diff... but its 50/50 all the time in 4WD). The Dual Range on the RX is actually worse than a standard Dual Range gearbox. The low range isnt as low as a standard 5spd. Then there's the turbo. Turbocharged engines arent that good off-road. They lack the low end torque required to help you get over those obsticals slowly. The one thing the RX does have going for it, is its rear LSD. The locked rear end comes standard on RX's and no other EA82's were offered with one. Ive taken my RX off-road once. It was great fun!! But since then, i have lowered it instead of lifting it. And making it faster instead of getting it dirtier.... -Brian