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Okay, made some pretty significant strides that warrant photography and a novella of an update - (over a month ago since the last one... Jeez, life comes at you sometimes). I've also figured out how to insert photos from and Imgur hosted upload, so while kludgy I get to keep adding photos without deleting the old ones. The donor Impreza is almost out of my shop - I'll have it hauled off early next week and until then the neighbors are gonna have to deal with it being in the driveway. I've begun cutting away any mounting pieces or sheet metal with bolt holes and mounting bracketry I think I may need. This includes some of the firewall, the access panels for the fuel tank, and most significantly rear shock towers and transmission tunnel. So far I've only completed the removal of the towers, but considering the geometry involved I figured it was probably a good idea to take some time to go about it halfway properly. Before cutting anything off the body I had to remove the fuel tank and rear subframe. The subframe was quite an interesting proposition, and I managed to do it without disconnecting the rear struts from the knuckles, but that was a shortcut that turned out to probably take more time than what I'd maybe hoped as it required some creative jack and jack stand work. For those following in my footsteps in the future I might recommend taking the time to remove the struts from the knuckles, then replacing the wheels before undoing the (surprisingly few) subframe bolts while supporting the diff and carrier on a low-clearance transmission jack. I had to strain on the bushings while also rolling this on its drums to get everything out from underneath, but without the struts it would have been a much easier proposition to roll it out from under the car. This also being said, this would also be a moot point if I had a lift, which would have made a lot of this much, much easier. Oh well, wishes and fishes and whatnot. I got the fuel tank out pretty shortly afterward, but with this particular car in this particular locale, all of the rubber and hoses were very, very, very tight and dry on their fittings, so more cutting of tubing than I would have liked had to take place. that being said I'm not sure which tank I'll be using yet, the brat or the impreza, so I'll likely need to reroute fuel lines anyway. Once I'd given everything with fuel a chance to drain and/or evaporate overnight, I began the dirty, dirty work of actually cutting away the pieces I'd need, beginning with the rear strut towers. (Fire extinguishers nearby, don't you fret) I'm not sure how much of these towers I'll really be needing, so I decided to just take the whole interior wheel well. To somewhat preserve their geometry I braced them with a few pieces of angle iron tacked into place. I've been considering the difference in width of these cars, and the plan is to use the angle iron to keep everything aligned by cutting out the extra width (to be measured still) somewhere in the middle, then rejoining them with another "bridge" piece of angle and either clamps or tack welds to keep everything nominally aligned while I splice everything else into place. Wish I could say this was my original idea but there's a build thread I found (I think over on NASIOC), where someone doing a similar swap (WRX Sedan of similar year) into a Gen 2 Brat did a similar setup to get the rear suspension Frankensteined in. Other things to consider: Part of the reason I got such a good deal on this donor was the rust damage at the rear driver's side (left) strut tower. Going to have to make sure I remove or mitigate all the cancer there somehow so as not to doom my Brat build from the getgo. Also after looking at the rear subframe some, if I am going to splice it shorter, I'll need to get creative with the linkage and where it mounts. I'm not sure yet if i'll need to shorten the linkage AND the subframe, or if there's a way I can maintain the linkage geometry without running into clearance issues with the differential, all while keeping it under the Brat. Food for thought I suppose, but I'll tackle that problem when I get there. For now I forge on to cut out the transmission tunnel and a few pieces of firewall, as well as take a final pass over to pick off any other scraps I may find useful. Once the Impreza shell is well and truly gone, the Brat goes back up on jackstands so I can start removing the old rear end on that to begin making room for the new rear driveline. Onto the next steps!

I’d recommend putting your money towards an EJ conversion if you can. I did an EA82 MPFI conversion on my DL wagon. This is how I “cut my teeth” on EFI systems. No joke, I literally finished the conversion and rebuild when an old teacher introduced me to the Ausubaru forum where I quickly learnt about the EJ conversion. Since doing that to my DL I haven’t looked back. The EA died a sad death when the radiator blew apart in 45°C heat in the middle of nowhere. After jerry-rigging a carb EA82 in and running it for about 18 months (it kept me going) I got the EJ22 sorted and swapped it in. The advantages? Many parts are interchangeable between EJ engines, fuel economy was better, more power, more reliability and no oil leaks! These days I’d drop a phase 2 EJ20 into the L if I did it again. I too was in my 20’s back then. Still got the car but I don’t drive it as much as I once did. That might change again soon. It’s got 530,000km on the body and I’ve offroaded it probably more than they were ever designed to. If keeping the EA82 is your only option, make sure you do a good job of cleaning all mating surfaces especially the ones that have three bond on them (I’m looking at you cam boxes!). This will keep the oil leaks at bay for a long time. Lastly, you cannot get itchy feet for more power with an EA82, they just aren’t built to make easy power gains other than replacing with said EJ conversion. Been done a thousand times now so it’s a proven setup. It sounds like you’ve got a good head on young shoulders. Kudos. Look after it! And hug your parents from us as Moosens kind of said Cheers Bennie

1900 is double the normal idle pretty much. So that firstly should be addressed. No CEL going off? Online manuals are likely found here:https://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/--Old Models--/ Been a while for me since I’ve had any EA82s but from memory there’s often issues with the CTS coolant temp sensor, or the IAC I think. Closed system for air that’s what google was alluding to. Check for leaks, yes. Adjust the timing how so? Just the distributor position? You have a timing light ? Should be cheap enough these days. Get a feel for that too although your car is kind of a “set it and forget it” type of deal. Going forward and not on subject here, be sure to get yourself some timing belts while you maybe can still find them. It’s the drivers side USA that’s the hardest to find since that’s the one that typically goes. Check for any wobble in your distributor too. Lift the cap and rotor too and grab the top and shake it left right front back. You will be ok with a slight up and down play but should be nothing side to side. Start there and I’m sure others who run those engines still will chime in.

Hey all, I’m having a strange problem with a fluctuating idle speed in my 1992 Subaru Loyale. When I turn it over, it runs and idles at 1900 RPM, then when it’s been running for a while, it starts to go down then kinda sputters out. I looked this up on google, but mostly what I got from it was “vacuum leak.” I also have to adjust the timing, so I was wondering if maybe that fixes it? I’m a very inexperienced mechanic, at least when it comes to real life. The engine is an EA82, and it’s a bit of a mix and match of two different engines. It’s single point fuel injection. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to type away down in the replies.

Well you were raised right. Thank your parents for us, please. You’ll do well with this car I can tell. There’s enough older guys still out there who contribute to the knowledge base. And plenty of archives here. So back to the transmission, most dual range five speeds are going to be ready to use. See if maybe there’s some info or a video on a basic check if a differential online. I think you grab both stub axles and rotate forward and rear should turn counter clockwise as you look at the tail of the transmission. But it’s been a long while for me. There’s not a lot to these and I’m pretty sure like Benny and myself you’re going to see older folks say “send it”. If it was the four speed I’d probably advise you to upgrade to the five.

I guess I hadn't clarified why I'm willing to go the less thrifty route with this rebuild (jump off the boat and swim with the sharks, eh?). I'm in my early 20's, still with my folks and this GL is my car... My only car. My window of time living with my folks is quickly closing and I knew I needed a car that was reliable, and easy to work on. However the issues I had with the car were just one after another. It makes sense, the car is old and tired. So my plan is to get the car to somewhat of it's former glory, deal with the big issues (mainly engine and drivetrain) while I don't have a bunch of bills and have the extra parts stashed away for when some smaller issues come up as I start getting my feet under me and navigating life as an adult on my own. Basically I'm taking the "buy once, cry once" approach in the hopes that in the end I'll have a car that will get me through my 20's without a bunch of debt. And no offence taken, in hindsight I shouldn't have bad-mouthed anyone's business. I'm young and learning, I have plenty of mistakes yet to make. I appreciate all y'all's input, I just don't have much experience so learning from other's experiences is very much appreciated. :]

If the coolant bypassing the radiator (through the heater core[s] in this case) is adequately removing the heat, than the thermostat doesn't need to open. As long as there's adequate circulation, the thermostat will open when it's needed. In theory, removing the thermostat entirely can be counterproductive, as increasing the coolant flow means it doesn't spend enough time in the radiator to actually dissipate the heat.

If you really love the EA82 you could have the engine sleeved. 50 thou over seems a lot. I thought 40 thou was as far as they went with new rings and pistons for the EA82. I could be wrong, I only ever rebuilt one before I really learned about them. Cheers Bennie

I’m in it too. I’ve picked up a few cheap Subaru projects. They get chipped away at when I can and when parts become available. Currently I’ve got my Targa Brumby (that’s what we call them over here!) that’s on the road. 2 RS turbo Libertys (Gen1) - one complete, one in pieces that I’m working on. Neither on the road. Both picked up cheap (not cheap now!). And a 1985 stamped EA81 MY wagon that I rescued from a wreckers yard where it was destined to be crushed. Its power steering rack was the reason why I found it. That went to a good cause. Anyway, side tracked there. Lastly, my offroad L series. Still registered but needs some work to bring her back to her former glory. All up these vehicles cost me $7500 to purchase. The Brumby, MY wagon and L series were all $500 specials! So I’m definitely in the thrifty category! Cheers Bennie

You'll have to bleed the system after plumbing in the aux cooler, that's as good of a time as ever

I suppose maybe it would close the thermostat but in practice, running the heat always seems to drop the coolant temps and this setup worked in the 99 Outback. When it's running hot I assume the thermostat is all the way open no matter what. Have considered no thermostat, if it didn't require draining all the coolant I probably would have tried that by now.

Won't adding that additional cooler in line with the heater core cause cooler water to flow to the thermostat, therefore keeping the thermostat closed and keeping your engine warmer? Speaking of which, it might be worth seeing how it does with no thermostat at all (with or without the aux cooler), just to remove that variable from the equation.

Definitely not too much data, I love it. We've discussed sending high and low pressures to the Haltech. And again, in AZ, seems fully justified. For sure. In the short run (tomorrow?) I plan on just plumbing the added cooler inline with the heater core with no valves.

Make sure you actually bypass the heater core. Circulation through that circuit is what warms up (and therefore opens) the thermostat.

So when the EGR valve opens, the engine revs up? It's supposed to go to the exhaust... I'm confused

And BTW please don’t be offended by the “thrifty types” comment. I’m in that batch - New England boy. This is generally a site for folks who wrench themselves or are lower budgeted and looking for assistance on older cars. So it’s a big boat and we’re all in it. With very little exception.

We have to understand the shops need to pay bills and keep a good reputation of successful work on more contemporary vehicles so word gets out and business grows or sustains. No shop I know of had a great reputation for working on older cars. And like most places it is not just about impossible to find that older guy still wrenching and supporting older vehicles that’s not a full blown restoration shop with rates as high as dealers etc. Sounds like the shop you sent yours to could potentially tell you they’d like to have that block machined and heads etc. Aircraft - ultralight- guys go though that because they’ll be in the air and it’s life and death. And the ticket isn’t for thrifty types. As for your transmission I’m with Benny. Don’t just let it sit there assuming it’s got issues. D/R four speeds yes the synchros but you can work around for quite a while. D/R five speed wouldn’t even think about it. That’d already be in and I’d be driving it. Old guy opinions. Good luck ! Let us know what happened.

Well I am waiting on my engine rebuilder to contact me about how my engine inspection went and what work will need to be done. I'm having them measure everything (not cheap but if it's worth doing it's worth doing properly). Once they contact me, I'll ask them about the transmission (the one I pulled from the car) and if they'd be willing to have a go at it. I've heard very good things about this shop and they work on anything, they're just busy so progress can be slow. I just gotta have patience. If they aren't willing to work on it, then it's basically up to me to pull the synchros. I've been quite unimpressed by the lack of willingness to work on older vehicles at most shops in my area. I've been told "if we can't plug a scanner into it, we can't work on it". I don't mind getting my hands dirty, it's just when I'm working on something outside of my known skill set on very rare parts, that's where I start to get cold feet. Either way I gotta make a decision. I'll keep y'all posted. :]

I have a 4-channel temp reader with a handful of 6' long thermocouples. I put the thermocouple touching the fitting and hold it in place with a One-Wrap style Velcro tie. If doing a driving test, I can temporarily route the wire into the interior past the door weatherstrip and monitor the temps while driving. I also have a set of those wireless A/C pressure gauges so I can watch the high and low side pressures while driving. Too much data probably, huh?

What other option is there? Throw in the unknown box and send it as you say. It’ll either work as it should or it won’t! Otherwise you have potentially three paperweights sitting around… Cheers Bennie

If you have a tap, run it in to clean the threads. If you don't have a tap, make you own by cutting a groves down the threads from head to end of the bolt. Grinder, file, hacksaw.

Ah I didn't think about using a longer bolt... Thanks!

Yeah, I think it's good now, been working well and not cycling on and off. It was probably in the 70s when I finished charging it. And not overcharged, I know as you say that can be hard on AC components. Your AC definitely has to be top notch to be comfortable in AZ. I like your technique of monitoring the AC line temp and stop filling when it stops dropping. How do you measure that temp? Dang $5/can is a killer deal.

Thanks for the links. For the ebay addresses, you can just cut off everything after the item number (starting with and including the question mark). Slammo found at least one other one similar to that Holden one you posted but after discussing it with him a bit more I probably won't bother with the bypass valves for now. Make sure the extra heater core does its job and on cool mornings esp up north I still might want the heat from the stock heater core. Plus it will just be simpler and fewer potential leaks. It was 83F out today and while running the AC the temp gauge was up in the 3/4 range most of the time. Would drop down with the AC off. When I got home and it was at 3/4 on the temp gauge, I left the engine running and popped the hood and didn't see any boiling in the overflow. I pointed the IR temp gun at a few things. Upper water neck (where the sensor is located) was about 210F. Radiator was around 200F top and bottom. So probably nothing to really worry about. Gotta get some accurate temp readings going.

12mm bolt. I've used longer ones as well. Ace will have them, just take the old one and match it, but longer.