i'm new to the whole subaru thing. so i need help with my 88 gl wagon.

spfi? what can i do with it..carbed i'd be fine for a while workin on it and all and upgrading...but spfi...i'll need assistance with this one..any suggestions?

Well - what do you mean by "what can I do?" For starters you can.... drive it.....

 

GD

i mean for the engine. what can i mod in the engine.

i'd start with a full tune up cap rotor plug wires and new plugs then i'd change the oil

ya, i'm doin that as soon as i have free time. i'm changin the spark plugs, rotor, cap, spark wires, and maybe changin the gap to .5

Vitually nothing you can "mod". Changing the gap will end up damaging your coil - .5 is too much for a stock coil. Aftermarket "high power" coil is possible, but will stress the ignitor in the distributor. Going to a larger spark gap will net you zilch in the way of power. A properly tuned stock ignition system is more than adequate for the stock EA82.

 

You can drill some holes in the bottom of the air-box as the stock intake under the fender is small, and has a lot of sharp bends in it. That will give you better throttle response. K&N filter or a cone filter is a nice addition as well. And you can change the muffler to a "turbo" muffler. The stock one is fairly restrictive.

 

You could change the cams - Delta Cam in Tacoma WA has several grinds for EA82's. That requires quite a bit of work tho.

 

Other than a few simple things, the EA82 has almost zero aftermarket for it. There's plenty that can be done to the turbo models, but largely the N/A versions are a dead end. The SPFI is already 9.5:1 compression. The heads flow terrible so high HP is not really possible. There is plenty that can be done with the low-end torque curve for off-roading and such, but you have to start with new cam grinds.

 

GD

have 2 inch straight pipe ran for exhaust, gut the cats, rip all the emissions crap off it. gap plugs a .48, use a MSD blaster coil. get rid of the stock airbox. block off the egr valve.

 

They can actually be fun cars for rallyin around town in if you get rid of all the "extras"

The best thing for the SPFI is a tune up, as it has been said.

 

After that you have to spend real money, as a car with 90 horse power will never be a speed demon.

 

Cams and exhaust could brobably be had for under 500 bucks and wake up the car tremendusly.

 

Any mods to the intake track will net you almost nothing, i've bench flowed the intake and found no increase if the bottom is removed, or if an K&N is used in place of the stock filter. All it really gets you is more sound, which is cool if sound won races.