Here you can see one of the old and one of the New

 

engine's Crossmember Blocks together:

 

 

Also, I had to change the Bolts with Longer ones:

 

 

I just finished to Reassembly everything together   

 

I'll do a Rear Alignment in Home...

 

 

...and take the "BumbleBeast" for a test Ride,

 

then to an Alignment Shop for the Front, as soon as possible.

 

Kind Regards.

The Rear Alignment is already successfully done!   

 

---

 

The Bolts for the Crossmember's Blocks shall be 5½" instead of 6" Long ...or shall have a longer thread... I had to use the 6" long ones and due to their short thread, I used a bigger sized nut as Spacer on each one. Everything is already assembled back together. 

As I still have the car jacked up in the Air with the tires hanging, to easily Crawling under it and tight the Nuts, I took a photo, using my cellphone's camera, to show you how the '92 Legacy Steering Shaft looks already installed on my EA82 "BumbleBeast"

 

 

 

 

it does Not need any modification at all, and due to its longer size, it is Perfect for Lift Kits that lowers the engine's Crossmember between 1" and 1½" ... Now I'll change the motor oil on my "BumbleBeast" and call it a day.   

 

Kind Regards.

Something pretty interesting happened to my "BumbleBeast" after I returned the Geometry of the front to closer to stock specs as possible: the Steering Wheel became Way Softer than ever, and the car feels super easy to maneuver now.   

 

I bet that the new steering shaft has nothing or almost nothing to do with that new steering sensation; it must be that everything on the front suspension and steering being super closer to stock specs now, has relieved the stress on such parts; also as an extra benefit, the cheap "Clicking" axles I have in the front of my Subie, somehow became Quiet as new, after the first 1/4 of mile driving ... and then I drove the subie all afternoon doing many errands, without any clicking noise from the cheap axles!   

 

It is Amazing how half inch of angle, could change things for worse or better, beyond than we could imagine.

 

Also, here you can see the Ford Tempo Coil Springs I have on the Front.

 

More info about those, ~► Here.

This is how the "BumbleBeast" sits now,

 

with Cheap 15" steel rims and 25" tires ...

 

 

 

... I had to sell the 15" alloys ... Kind Regards.

Twenty Days Report:

 

The Axles stopped clicking, unless I take a U-turn accelerating,

 

And the Overall vehicle's handling is Better and Easier.   

 

The only downside is that I lost half inch of Ground clearance.

 

But is better that, than keep changin' axles frequently...

 

Kind Regards.

 

Edited November 28, 201411 yr by Loyale 2.7 Turbo

I like your thread. And the timing is perfect because in the spring I will be installing the BOSS lift kit I bought for my Red Sedan ASH,  I thank you for working out the wrinkles so that I can be spared them when I do mine.

You're Welcome!   

Since I installed the 2" lift kit, the whole drivetrain moved to the back around an inch or an inch and a half, I had to cut that extra lenght from the Exhaust because its tip went too far outside from the rear Bumper.

 

Also there is a thick "inner" rubber boot on the Shifter for the Manual Transmission, that goes hiding under the Visible rubber boot; and since the Shifter moved to the back on its position, that rubber boot keeps "Pushing" the shifter, affecting the Gearing in this way:

 

The three "Upper" gears, 1st, 3rd, and 5th, are going in Smoothly and the shifter stays there; because the rubber boot doesn't make any kind of opposed force to the shifter on those positions.

 

 

You can see my "BumbleBeast" shortened Shifter in Third Gear, Here:

 

 

 

 

But said rubber boot does an "spring effect" on "Lower" gears, 2nd and 4th, because despite that the Shifter goes into those gears smoothly, feels like the Shifter is wanting to pop out from Gear, back to Neutral position, like if it has a return spring of some sort.

 

 

As you can see, Here:

 

 

 

 

And that is caused by said inner Rubber boot, since the Shifter isn't centered on it.

 

Does anybody has fixed this?

 

Kind Regards.

 

Also, that Drivetrain's change of Position, made the Vibrations Dampening Rubber Cube that holds the Shifter Linkage's Base, to be more stressed, and recently it broke away,

 

 

as you can see in the Following Photo:

 

 

 

 

Which caused my Shifter to pop Down, as you can see Here:

Edited January 3, 20215 yr by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
missing animated photos, fixed by adding a new web link from other web server

I "Fixed" that meanwhile I can obtain another part,

by Welding a Square Tube on it:

 

Original tallness was 1" ... maximum tallness between 1¼"and 1½"

 

But since the whole drivetrain has moved backward an inch...

 

 

...I had to do a small bend on each side to make it Fit there.

 

Kind Regards.

Edited January 3, 20215 yr by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
► Edit: I should have welded it one inch closer, my Mistake.

After I installed that:

 

 

► The Shifter really Feels more Solid and Rigid, but nothing exaggerated.

 

► Beside the normal "Feeling" of the Shifter going into a Gear, Now you can Hear a small muted sound on the Floor, along that feeling.

 

► Engine's vibrations now are sent in a certain small amount, to all the Floor, without the Rubber Cube, but the Shifter's Vibrations are the Same as Before.

 

So the Rubber Cube was for isolating the Drivetrain from the Body, not for the Shifter itself.

 

Those three are the only changes I could notice so far.

 

Kind Regards.

Definitely the shifter has moved, an inch backward precisely.

 

I removed the thick rubber boot with its metal base, and the Shifter makes all changes smoothly and easily, moving freely; so the obvious solution is to move the thick rubber boot with its metal base, an inch backward.

 

Now I'll search among local Junk Yards, maybe I could find a Better rubber boot because the one I have is Cracked, also maybe I could find that part which has the rubber cube for dampening the Drivetrain's Vibrations.

 

Kind Regards.

Common fix for the rubber coming off is to drill and bolt it. Found this pick in another thread looks like they replaced the old rubber while doing this too.

What i ended up doing on my hatch to drop the linkage 6 inches.

...What i ended up doing on my hatch to drop the linkage 6 inches.

 

May I ask if you Dropped the Linkage, without using any Rubber as Vibration Dampening?

 

Right now, my Subaru "BumbleBeast" is working without said Rubber Dampening cube, the Vibrations on the Floor isn't a Problem, in fact I'm Loving how solid the Shifter became with full metal there; but I fear that the Weakest part might get Broken Away, due to the Vibrations...

 

Kind Regards.

Maybe put some rubber in between the end bolts now?

Maybe put some rubber in between the end bolts now?

 

Yes, That's a Good idea, because it will help a little to dampening vibrations,

 

while keeping the new Solid Shifter feeling that I'm liking.

 

Kind Regards.

I hope you don't mind me saying my thought out loud. Could the lift have been the final straw that caused this 27 yr old rubber to fail? 

I hope you don't mind me saying my thought out loud. Could the lift have been the final straw that caused this 27 yr old rubber to fail? 

 

Dear MR_Loyale, all your Comments are Welcome.   

 

And You're Right, the Lift made that 30 years old Rubber to Fail,

 

but Not due to moving Up nor Down, but due to This that I explained before:

 

 

 

 

...

 

But since the whole drivetrain has moved backward an inch...

 

 

...I had to do a small bend on each side to make it Fit there.

 

► Edit: I should have welded it one inch closer, my Mistake.

 

Kind Regards.

I've not done anything else to the Shifter linkage yet, because the Vibrations sent to all the Floor, are only noticeable with little noise, during low RPM's in limited circumstances, such as:

 

► At idle when the EA82 is first started in the cool early Mornings, for the first two minutes.

 

► If I move the car slowly using the Engine's idle speed only; either in First Gear or Reverse;

 

Otherwise the Vibrations aren't noticeable at all; the vibrations seems to be sent only when the Drivetrain shakes a little, which only happens with pretty Low RPM's.
 
Beside those very short times of Vibrations on said circumstances, the car Runs and Drives almost identically to what it used to Be, when it had the Vibrations' dampening cube, instead the solid metal plate I did, but the Shifter became much more Solid, each gear goes in with more limited movement.

 

 

Not like it used to be   

Edited January 3, 20215 yr by Loyale 2.7 Turbo
update images' web links

Despite that I already have another Shifter Linkage's plate,
 
With vibration dampening Rubber Cube, sent by MilesFox:
 
 

 

Today, a gift package arrived for me, sent to Honduras by my Friend, MilesFox:

 

 

So, I have a couple of items of the Subaru Ambassador program! 

 

Also a new part for my "BumbleBeast" shifter linkage,

 

Thank you so Much, MilesFox.

 

 

I Really Like too much the Solid Feeling of the Shifter without the Rubber.

 

But as soon as I could, I'll be doing this:
 

 

... put some rubber in between the end bolts ...

Kind Regards.

Really the Shifter got very Solid and that feeling kinda remembers me the early 1980's Ford Courier 2.0 (Rebadged Mazda B2000 / Sundowner) whose four speed transmissions, were super solid, in fact each gear only took one inch of movement from the Shifter, making a "Click" noise while entering or leaving a gear, and I really liked that, in fact I always wanted to have that shifter's feeling on my "BumbleBeast" so, I will not use the Dampening Rubber Cube.