Found a MINT '89 gl-10 ea82t, guy said head gasket was blown. tore engine apart, found tiny cracks in between the valve seats. is this terribly bad? should i replace them? And if so, where can i find refurb heads?

Cracks between the valves are very common and are to be expected/ignored. Subaru refers to them as "bridging cracks". But do look for a crack up in the port runner. A crack there and time for another head. The heads used on the XT and any model with a turbo are the same. Engine has to be the MPFI type.

does the XT have to be turbo? if not, i found one i can pull the heads from

Just check the back of the passenger-side head. The holes used to mount the turbo should be there, just not threaded. Also the provision for the turbo oil-return line should be there but will need drilled.

thank you! thank you! that is exactly the answer i was looking for. So im going to go ahead and order up the new ea82 heads and drill them and tap to make them work on my wagon! thank you!

Keep in mind, that while Subaru was building EA82 Turbos, they phased through 3 generation of EA82T head designs. If you are looking to replace your heads, you might do good by looking through the junkyards and see if you can find a new(er) EA82T Motor with Gen3 heads on it.

 

Read through here to help identify the differences between Gen1, Gen2 & Gen3 heads: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=48560

 

-Brian

I found some remanufactured, decked, vaccuum tested heads for 125 a piece. They are mpfi and gen2 I believe. I jumped all over it lol

It's been said that the Gen 3 heads were only availible after the production of EA82T's stopped as replacement parts.

 

GD

I found my Gen3 heads on a 1989 GL10 Sedan when I was rebuilding my RX motor.