Among the many projects I'm going to be tackling in about a month is completely redoing all the heavy-duty wiring in my car. My plan includes dual Optima red-tops and arctic-rated 00 battery cable, and I've already got a 100-amp GM alternator. Since I'm beefing up the rest of the electrical system, I'm wondering if there is a stronger starter I can put in than the regular EA82 M/T starter. I remember reading that the A/T starters are somehow different, but I don't know what the difference is. How about taking a starter from a later EJ-series soob, since they have to turn a bigger engine and would probably be beefier? Do those fit?

 

I know the stock starter is pretty good, and I've never had trouble starting my car, but I figure there's always room for improvement. My goal for this car when it's all finished is to be able to confidently drive it anywhere on the continent year-round, so I'm trying to get the best components I can. Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

The stock EA82 gear reduction starter is pretty beefy. However when they get old the windings will wear down and they can get weak. The best way to go is to rebuild yours. You can pick up plenty of books at the library on how to build electric motors/starter motors. What you want to do is replace the windings, then resuface the stator, commutator, new brushes, new bearings. Then clean lube everything up real good. My starter will move 3200Lbs of Brat up some pretty serious hills without a hiccup.

 

From the starters that I've had apart, there really isn't much difference between EA81's EA82's or EJ starters. It's one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of things that Subaru likes to do with (the same reason that they have almost the same engine/tranny/rear diff today as they did back then.

I have to agree the stock sube starter is a very durable unit.

 

the contacts do tend to wear out over time but thats about all that really wears out on them.

 

I doubt that a EJ starter would fit or be worth the trouble.

 

the mods you have already will make a stock starter last a long time. They tend to die sooner when used with poor batterys and cables.