Free Range

weld the front and rear diffs(have to pull two axles to run on the highway, or just not care ), bash the fenders/wheel wells or lift to fit 28" swampers, skid plate, cage, I do like the convertable, maybe french in a tailgate from a tiny truck, definitly half doors too, no front fenders, or tube fenders, remember you cut 1/3 of the metal out of a soda can and it likes to do the twist

be careful of the threads on the EJ oil pans, they are tac welded in and don't like bashing. somehow and two of my pans have failed after being smashed/hing up on the drain plug, one at the beach and one in the mtns. my bigger problem is my gas tanks in my 91' legcacy, I lost over two gallons of capactiy in two days of high desert, no leaks as of yet though.

up front your going to have issues with your turning radius and those chevy offset wheels, the firewall is easy enough to bash in, but the frame rail just in front of the tire will have to get some serious massaging too. it should work, but you might need to go to a nissian offset wheel.

Your on the right track, the front is a simple body lift, the rear: get a whole rear drivetrain assembly(torsion tube, axles, hubs, shocks,I reccomed ea82 2wd rear shocks and a custom mount) out of an 80-84 wagon or 82-87 brat and mock it up to your gutted rear end(keep your moustach bar. you should be able to picture what needs to be fabbed. it makes the rear track about 3" wider overall(note factory mudflaps). here are my two non explanatory pictures (both of these have custom 3" mudrat lifts) Oh and I'm able to go way higher in the rear with torsion tube on this brat(note axles angles), but then the rake is rediculous (need 4" of lift up front) and I loose too much flex

Jerry is right on the money, I kept the one piece driveline when I went to the 5spd d/r in my ej brat, mine was ~$135 in Eugene OR, driveline specialties I believe. I switched to servicable (greaseable) toyota u-joints at the same time, then the driveline is easily rebuildable, I've seen/heard of this in many applications, and any custom driveline shop worth their salt will stock toyota/nissan u-joints(subaru u-joints are nary impossible to find). I'm going this route with the 3.70 awd d/r going into my legacy this week or next. The only reason I see for a two piece in a subaru is it's easy to remove the rear section and still drive in fwd. I would keep a uniform size pipe for the whole length of the driveline.

EA71FE coupe, 2wd 5spd,

grenaded a few passenger and drivers cv's in my '87 ea82T with a 3.90 d/r, my first lifetime axle from autozone wasn't built right, it died at 90mph on I-5 near Salem OR, damn near took me off the road. In fwd if you hop the inside tire a bunch on pavement the cv's tend to blow chunks, one rear axle (outer joint) in same car blew b/c I learned to drive in 4wd to save front axles... '90 Legacy both front axles died from torn boots/lack of grease, '91 legacy blew a rear axle due to rear lsd and massive torque bind in tired 4eat, '79 EJ22 brat, rear axles die every few months due to welded rear and high traction situations... most of my problems are driver related, with the rear axles in the brat I'm changing over to ea82 inner and outer joints to keep from hyperextending.

UMM?? look again, pretty sure the alternator is the tensioner, I had a really hard time finding a belt that was short enough and the right width to only run the alt off the main pully... I just plugged the PS pump back into itself and ran it like that until my PS lines were adjusted...

Fuel issues are my bet too, fuel pump? fuel filter? accelerator pump? also try taking off your snorkel and running it, maybe your restricting the intake too much. Pull your plugs and see what they look like, is your MPG changing... oh I found some sick hillclimbs north of missoula and got a nice wire feed welder...

like you were thinking, take out the byb bracket and use ea 82 rear adjustable coil overs, or at least try this, it might be too stiff for your application, if so then switch out the coils for 2wd coils, they work well in the back of a friends brat(with about 200lbs of tools), if I remember right you need to put a spacer between the fender and the strut top, or maybe it was an altogether new top mount on the ea82's but then you can upgrage to the gr2's and if you have a huge load application you can put the accord springs in, I bielieve you might want to put in the ea82 doj's when you do this, you will be increasing up travel quite a bit... for the supercheep option just tighten your rear torsion tube up.

'78 Brat, EJ22, 3.90 5spd D/R, custom 3" lift, power steering, six lug nissan 15's, welded rear(axle eater), rear disks. Currently all torn apart with lots of repairs underway. '91 Legacy LS, '97 EJ22, 4eat, rear LSD, Forester struts/coils, 215/70/14 M+S, ready for it's new 3.70 D/R '90 Legacy LS, 4eat to 5mt swap, outback struts/coils, it's my dad's "Sheep dog taxi"

to get around the '95 and up slip in rear axles, just swap in '90-'94 legacy rear axles and diff, then you can swap in any old 3.70 rear lsd... worked on a '98 forrester and a '97 legacy, remember those axles are side specific. 3.90 rear LSD was offered on the XT6, I've seen one in person, like Dr RX said, a RARE item. I say swap a 3.70 unit to whatever ratio you desire.

'91 LS, 157K, Forrester strut/coil swap, rear LSD, 215/70/14 M+S, currently trying to burn up the 4eat so I can justify swaping in a 3.70 D/R found some elk an hour ago up on the homestead... and in 12" of fresh mashed potatoes on the side of Mt hood in Jan.

People have added seecondary shocks to work in parallel with the factory struts and shocks by welding brackets on to the struts and a-arms, but that won't address any issues other than dampening... More steel is probably your best bet...

DaveAP, Did you keep the rear independent torsion tubes on your '78 brat? pictures? I didn't in my '79 brat, went to an ea81 rear torsion tube. the single range 4wd does get the job done, as you are evidence, but if I was building a lift I'd also try to get ahold of a d/r trans, where I am at mud tires are mandatory, and the smallest super swamper is ~27/8.5/14, I think that's roughly a 235/75/14... later on

front part of the lift is easy, body lift it 3" using square tube steel blocks(just like any other subaru lift) rear lift: whole different story, look at how the independent torsion tubes attach to the body, it can and has been done by mudrat 79 multiple times, ask him, I beleive he even has a whole rear end setup sitting around at the moment... do it, but with the 1600 and single range 4wd you will hate bigger tires and the taller gearing, so at the same time go for the 1800 and the 4 or 5spd hi/lo.

search for outback/forester lift... fronts will bolt in no probelm, rear will need your orginal strut tops on the new struts, or strut towers will have to be slotted out. do it to it

yup car has great heat, it's waay below zero here currently, rust, well a litle surface rust, if I wanted a 3 door this would get done up right trans and diff are going into my '91 legacy. first one on the block.

yup runs & drives like a raped ape, flies through the air pretty good too. D/R AWD 3.70 center diff lock, rear LSD, all the goodness of 10 forward gears. don't get me wrong the rx 3 door is a cool car, had one all rallied out, wrx IC and 3" straight pipe, full roll cage, tons of fun, but I've had it with the ea82T they are too much work too often, I I'll stay with my ej22's and ea81's thank you.

Eh its just a toy, when it breaks it will get parted, unless somebody really wants it sans diff and trans...

Yup, '89 RX, 120K, everything works, took off the body kit before the extreme rally test (anybody want to buy a complete body kit?), passed with some coolant and oil leeks and some fresh underbody body damage... once I pull the tranny and diff you can have it for cheep. ac works good. cd player, Gen III turbo heads, good turbo, dual core radiator...

don't jump too quick for an ea81, the gen 1 brat('80-'81) that came with the ea81 and d/r 4spd has a unique belly pan/steering rack and a unique shifter linkage setup, you can fudge your belly pan enough to fit the ea81, but your going to be retaining the single range 4wd trans, so you will have to pull the bellhousing off the 1600 and slap it onto the 1800, none of this is too hard, but I personally like the 1600 block, it floats valves before redline, so its really reallly hard to destroy one of these motors, they love to wrap out and show you all their mighty 70 horses... use what youve got till it breaks, there are plenty of 1800's at the j/y, and I've got an extra(free to me) 1600 at my shop... p.s. I could use that pin punch sometime... -n

thanks, will contact them.

keep the best clutch assy, they interchange on those cars, front axles and rear diff will need to match trans, rear axles stay, any d/r shifter from those years will work. I reccomend driving nice when in 2wd, compared to awd the stress will be all on those front axles. 3.90 d/r's me like, swapped them into four cars now, tractor gears compared to the 3.70's

Looking for reliable mechanic in or around san francisco to do up a 2.5 Outback, car had had recent water pump, but head gaskets are going... classic scenario, Not in a hurry, just want it done right. Point me in the right direction... Thanks N