So here's the story. My father built this out of two non-running subarus for my little sister some unknown number of years ago. Recently, he mailed me the pink slip and said to come take it away. So I did. I drove it from San Diego, California to Seattle, Washington, with no trouble. ... No, thats a lie. The engine siezed less than a block from my house, and I towed it up into the driveway with my truck.

 

So now I've got this beauty, no real knowledge of auto mechanics (ie: I cant personally replace this engine), and some sketchpad notes of what my dad wanted to do with it ... eventually.

 

I've talked with a few people in the local Subaru club, and they say I've got three options:

- Sell it off as a parts car or off-road fixer-upper

- Drop in a 2.1L and use it for the next 10 years

- Find someone to do some work and put in a 2.5L, and try to make it an on/off-road for personal use (they say those 2.5s, when tweaked, can top 500HP?)

 

So what would you guys do? It's an '84 GL Wagon in good condition (save for the engine, of course). Redid the interior, lifted it a few inches, and put on bigger rims. How much time/money you think each of those options would cost (rough estimate), or how much you think I can pawn it off for?

 

They said you'd be the experts to talk to. Thanks for your help.

 

i bet you could put a motor in if you reeealy wanted to...

 

 

but you cannot let this one go, its too cool... you guys on the west coast

get all the good stuff

Man that car is awesome looking! If you can, try to get some info on those rims and how they are fitted.

 

I say you keep the car, just put another EA81 in it unless you can find someone to slap a EJ20 or 22.

 

-Brian

i guess this is what would happen if they put a subaru on "pimp my ride"

 

keep it, easy as pie to switch a stock motor on one of those. if not there is plenty of people here that have put bigger engines in rus like this before.

Well, basics first: What do you mean by the "engine seized". These are pretty rugged engines, and unless you ran it dry of oil it is unlikely to be fatally damaged. Replacing an engine in that car is about as easy as it gets...

I must agree with everyone else, that car is pimp!!! Keep it, save some cash for a motor swap(stock or otherwise)if you really don't feel like doing it yourself. Heck, I'm pretty sure that there are people nearby who would be willing to help out if you ask them. Just plan out what you want to do to it and then save up.

keep it out of a junk yard subaru's rule they are very simplke to work on any one could swap carb engines with the help of the people here they have never steered me wrong

the wrx sti 2.5 turbo brings 350 hp from the factory i believe sry for the double post tired

put an ea82 in it, bolts on the same. its a wagon, the hatch back is 2-door

Keep it... or sell it as-is for like $500 to a board member. Its too sweet to part out though.

I'd definately go with a new EA81 (stock) motor if yours is really truely unrepairable... have someone from your area come take a look at her... it may be something more simple than you think.

 

Yes it's true that 2.5 TURBO block can handle 500+ hp. The NA ones can't though. There is some company I can't think of their name right now that builds a 2.5 Turbo they bore it and beef it and design it to go on a sand rail pushing 600+... so yeah.. if you got the money.. you can get the speed.. You could probably get a "new" used stock motor for your car for a couple hundred bucks... and I bet there is a board member up there that you could pay:brow: to do the swap for you... unless you want to learn to do it yourself... it's easy. Good luck. SWEET WAGON BTW! If you don't want it.. I DO! *Dreaming*

Wow, surprising replies.

 

To the Keep It posters: Love to. I wont bother rebuilding this engine, or replacing it with the same model, as with the new wheel size, it has far too little power on hills. What would it cost (ballpark) to buy a rebuilt 2.1L (or something with comparable HP) and have it put in? Like I said, I'm not a mechanic... not even a hobbiest mechanic. I'm a video game programmer... closest I get to working on cars is writing the physics handling engine for racing games. As far as "Saving Up" goes, the car would be really far down on the list. I've got student loans to pay off, my wife's car, and a dozen things around the house that need to get done. Which leads me to...

 

If I do end up having to sell it, I'd want to sell it to one of you Subaru Fanatics... someone who'll use it! Where's the best place to find a buyer? Here? Or is there another forum or something for West Coast Subaru fans where it'd be better suited?

best place to sell that one for the west coasters is here on this message board in the marketplace, i'm sure someone would buy it, thats and awsome ride there..

 

as far as fixing it, just so its driveable i'd say get a stock engine for $100 or so, (i know a board member on teh west coast has to have a good one sitting in thier shed somewhere) then buy the beer and gas money and someone out there might help ya put it in.. (yes you'd have to get greasy too)

 

least that way its running and driving, even though it might be a dog on hills..

 

if you were out here on the east coast i'd buy it fer sure, or else help ya fix it (i have lots of motors laying around)

 

as far as a engine conversion goes, i'd use the ea82 carbed engine with a weber carb on it.. would give you the power you'd need and it'd be fairly straight forward..

 

good luck and nice ride hope it goes to a good home and not a junkyard..

 

give it to me?

Wow... my daughter would love that car!

as with the new wheel size

 

do ya want to sell the old wheels?

 

that is a beautiful car.i don`t think subaru made a 2.1 liter, but you could put a 2.2 liter in there.they are stock in the 90-94 legacys.you would need to do some cutting to get it in there.personally, for simplicity i would go with a ea81 and a weber, it should have no problem pushing 31 inchers... well it is a sube so its not going to be a power house, but good enough.

-Jon

come on man, a stock EA81 isn't going to have alot of poop, but there are things that can be done to make it better

 

if you want a bit more power, drop an EA82 in it and do some mods to it too (also a 1.8L, but newer and a little more powerful)

 

my EA82 pushes 28" tall tires pretty well, it's not fast, in fact it's probably the slowest car on the street I've ever ridden in, but in lo range 4WD, it'll walk through anything, and still cruises at 75mph pretty comfortably

 

you're '2.1L'...probably mean a 2.0 or 2.2, is an EJ series motor...and won't bolt right up to your transmission. so it will be a very expensive swap, if you can find somewhere to do it. but if you want to, the guy for the job is mudrat79 (board name here), he's on the west coast (oregon somewhere I think...), and does great work, as long as you're patient...

 

I say, put in a replacement motor (if you must, I bet you're motor is saveable, and cheaper to pay someone than any swap), and do some exhaust work, a weber carb...a few other things, and it'll have plenty of poop for the road. besides, if it didn't quite make it home, it probably wasn't running right before anyway...

That 2.1 was supposed to be 2.2. Not that *I'd* know any better, of course. Regardless...

 

So, it sounds like the easiest way would be to rebuild the engine thats in there, and live with 50 mph uphill burdon. OR I can buy an EA82, then find someone willing to work on it for beer money... with my clumsiness as an assistance.

 

... hm, if I got this running again, maybe I could sell my wife's car and use this one. I'm sick of car payments....

 

Okay, I'm gonna have to do some followup on this. Still need help, though. Where's the best place to look for an engine? Also, I'll need to find someone willing to help. Would I just start posting around here for help in WA, or is there another WA-local forum where I can find somone?

you're in washington... that's practically the land of the subaru's... try the "meet'n'greet" forum to see if you can offer people free beer to work on your car or something

id keep it just for the bumpers.

 

i wouldnt rebuild the motor thats in there, it would cost about 1000 bucks. plus removal and install. you should get a junkyard motor for around 100-200 bucks, with around 100k miles on it. will be good for another 100k...

 

how did you break the old motor? over heat? loud (very loud) lifter tick for a few miles?

if the motor blew up, its most likely the reason you could only go 50 uphills, cuz it was on its last leg. a stock motor in good condition should be adequate... better than lettin it sit for montyh/years.

 

overhead cam ea82s bolt right in there, and have about 10-15 more hp. thats alot when you only start with around 65-70

I dont remember, it died months and months ago.

 

I drove it 1300 miles from Cali to WA, though, without any problems. Engine just didnt have enough guts to go uphill even at the start of the trip, let alone the day it died.

 

So, meet'n'greet huh? Can do.

Sounds like your motor was sick from the start. The fact that the motor is seized backs that up.

These cars are not fast but they should be able to get you around in a stock configuration.

 

Sounds to me like you'd prefer just to sell it and move on?

 

I'd think you'd be able to get around $500 from someone with a spare motor laying around in their garage.

 

Good Luck,

Glenn

82 SubaruHummer

84 GL Mad Max

01 Forester

Well the wheels are a few inches bigger than stock, so ya know, little loss in uphill speed there. And it cruised at 70 no problem, it was just those extended uphills (ie: the mountain ranges between Cali and WA called "Oregon") where it really lost power and started to crawl.

Well the wheels are a few inches bigger than stock, so ya know, little loss in uphill speed there. And it cruised at 70 no problem, it was just those extended uphills (ie: the mountain ranges between Cali and WA called "Oregon") where it really lost power and started to crawl.

 

yea, we understand the lack of power as a result of oversized tires...my wheels are 2" taller than stock, and my tires are total 6" taller than stock!

 

take our word, a solid running EA81 will be able to get you up those hills fine (not alot of power to spare...but you'll make it fine), some performance upgrades, or even an EA82, and you'll be set!

 

<still one vote for you keeping this beauty!

I was told that an 82 wont bolt in properly stock. How much work is involved in getting one to fit?