Hello all!

 

I bought this car about 6 months ago, but sold it to a friend because I knew he'd care for it, and he needed a dd.  He just got a new car so I bought it back and would like to fix it up a little bit, as well as possibly swap in an ea71/81 with a 5spd.

 

Maybe in the distant future I would undertake a build like this one, just don't have the time currently:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/1986-subaru-leone-sti-turbo-197985.html?t=197985&highlight=leone+sti 

 

 

I'm familiar with the 05-09 legacy platform, as I've owned a couple, but very new to the older subarus.  It looks like there's a lot of great info on this forum.  

 

I'd love to hear any impressions or build opinions any of you have. I'd like to keep it simple for awhile, but feel the 1.4 and 4spd are lacking a bit. 

 

 

Dang! That thing looks incredibly clean. I'm no Soob expert as I just acquired a 78 Wagon about a year ago that I am still working on. Looks like you have a good jumping off point with that ride though. A lot of knowledgeable folks on these boards that I'm sure will be able to help you out. Good luck. 

Wow! Is that the original paint? Very super clean!

It's the two door version of my car only with way better looking paint!

 

The 1600 swap is pretty strait forward, it's the 5 speed swap that is a little trickier. Take a look for my 5 speed swap thread it should tell you everything you need to know to get it done.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/126561-74-dl-sedan-1400-4speed-to-1600-5speed-swap/

 

Try that maybe?

It's original color, but I doubt it's original paint. It's in pretty good shape though. 

 

How does the ea81 compare to ea81? Does the 81 have a big advantage or not so much?

It's original color, but I doubt it's original paint. It's in pretty good shape though. 

 

How does the ea81 compare to ea81? Does the 81 have a big advantage or not so much?

You must mean to the EA71. More power sooner. Not going to blow you away but it'll be quicker from a stop and will get up to highway speed in a more reasonable time. But nothing like an EJ22

Nice '09 Spec B!!!!

 

That link you added about Nico's build is on here as well.

 

And yes, you have a very nice car there.  Unless body damage is hidden that is a nice starting point for sure.

Edited March 15, 201313 yr by O.C.D.

You must mean to the EA71. More power sooner. Not going to blow you away but it'll be quicker from a stop and will get up to highway speed in a more reasonable time. But nothing like an EJ22

 

 

Yes, I meant EA71 vs EA81.  How involved is an EJ swap on these gen1's?  

 

Nice '09 Spec B!!!!

 

That link you added about Nico's build is on here as well.

 

And yes, you have a very nice car there.  Unless body damage is hidden that is a nice starting point for sure.

 

 

Thanks! I had to travel far and wide to find a nice low mileage specB, but I love it. 

 

There is some minor rust/bubbling around the bottom edges of the doors, but the chassis looks pretty solid and rust free. It seems to be in perfect condition to just keep as a driver for now.  Down the road when I have more time I'll likely do more of a full build. 

 

 

The carpet really seems to be the thing in the worst shape right now, does anyone know where I could get a gen1 carpet kit? 

I love how all the early subaru rear licence plate light covers are broken.  Subaru should have installed a warning label

"NOT A TRUNK HANDLE" .  I also love how you west coast guys note inner fender lip paint bubbling as a rust issue.  If that car lived on the east coast it would be a scaley pile of driveway chips right now.  Great car, keep it going.  

Yea I've actually been working on reconstructing that rear license plate light cover.  I have no idea where to find one so I'm remaking it out of bondo/fiberglass, we'll see how it goes. 

 

Sometimes I miss actually having winters, but clean cars are a nice benefit of the perpetual sunshine. 

I know between myself , ctsuba , and drivesubie alone we have a half dozen of those and probably at least two NOS.

 

Gotta try Danny first - drivesubies - he's pumping out the NOS right now. 

NOS? I am not familiar, what is that?

NOS= New Old Stock....Basically it"s new original parts that you can"t buy New anymore  !! 1/2 the people on here would cut a pinkie finger off for a 81 UP NOS Dash Pad-Right guys   Oh yea welcome to the forum.....NICE Subie for sure!!!

Pretty Pretty car. Try not to molest it too much, as it looks sweet.

Thanks for all the info guys!

 

Yea, at first I wanted to do an EJ swap and 4wd conversion, but I think I'll probably just keep it lightweight and more original.  I'd like to maybe swap in a 5spd and either EA 71 or 81 with p&p heads, cam grind, weber, etc.  

 

 

I'd also like to stiffen up the suspension a bit, any recommendations there?

What you do is your biz but you can do all you mentioned and it's still an old Subaru that won't beat much of anything from the stoplight. Your greatest satisfaction will be when a few years from now you've grown with the car some and you'll see it as an accomplishment just having saved it.

 

Gas isn't getting cheaper. You've got a good sipper there. Why make it guzzle only to be blown off by an 80's Honda with primered fenders?

I can agree with that. Original vintage is cool and pretty good on gas. Althoe the 5 speed is kinda a necessity if you really want to drive it anything further than around town.

 

An EA81 swap should be pretty simple without to much butchering of the original car and these things are so lite there still pretty quick and fun to drive with little power.

I'm not trying to make the car fast, or beat/race anyone.  The specB is fast enough for me. My main interest in the 5spd is to be able to do longer highway trips with the car.  I figure if I actually end up doing the swap why keep the EA63?

 

Even without trying to beat anyone, I can certainly appreciate a little more torque and throttle response in a car this light. I would just like it to be a little more zippy around town.  

 

Does anyone know if I can bolt the Redline Weber 32/36 kit to the EA63 directly? The Hitachi is having some issues idling, and the Weber seems like a nice upgrade.

 

Sorry if some of these questions have been asked before, I definitely appreciate all the advice.  

Don't worry about asking questions that have been asked before as sometimes the search function can turn up so many hits it can be overwhelming. I am all for a 5sp upgrade for this car

There always seems to be this idea the EA63 needs to be replaced by an EA71 or EA81 for better performance. However the EA63 actually performs great for only 1400 cc. A dual port EA63 will certainly rev out and perform better than the EA71 and the EA81 will only win because of its torque.

 

In Australia the EA63 was a 'dirty' engine without pollution gear and its performance was certainly superior to the later 'clean' EA71. Especially in twin carb form.

I'd ebay that stock gem and get a different one to modify. That one looks really straight. I just wouldn't do any unreversable modifications to it.

I really don't want to do anything irreversible to the car. A 5 spd swap seems pretty easy, and a very nice thing to have on the highway. My revs are pretty high at 70+mph. 

 

I'm not opposed to keeping the EA63, but I do need a new carb because the Hitachi is not idling correctly.  Looking for suggestions of what to do with the EA63.  

 

The owner gave me what looks like a second EA63 long block (sb and heads/valve covers). If the EA63 is a good motor I'd like to rebuild that one, but looking to squeeze out all the tq/hp I can out of it, since it's '74 it's smog exempt so no concerns there.  

I would have been happy running the 1400 I just couldn't find one that didn't have an oil pan full of rod bearing and at the time I just wanted to slap a motor in it and get some driving in before winter came. I had a running 1600 so that's what it got.

 

The hitachi is pretty simple really. Have you taken it apart and cleaned it out yet? The idle circuit has very small passages in it and can get clogged up by the smallest particle. I would change the fuel filter and install a better inline filter after the pump. Only after I installed another in line filter did I stop having problems with my idle getting screwed up.

Not sure if this is common knowledge, but i couldn't find the answer by searching, but the Redline/Weber kit for '76 gen1 1600/1800 applications is a direct bolt on to the 1400. 

 

Car is running/idling much smoother now with the Weber. Still needs some more fine tuning though, it's running a bit rich.