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Heres my 1980 Brat with an EA71, and 70000 original miles.

That's a good point. I'm thinking of swapping all 4 wheels from my smooth riding Legacy (same size tires) and seeing how each vehicle drives afterwards.

I've bought a couple Spectra Radiators with very good results.

This. The cast alloy and plastic ones use countersunk hardware because the plate is much thicker. The plate steel ones use a conventional bolt. If you've got a dealer nearby, go spend $5 and get the right ones. The dealer I worked at always stocked a few sets as we would frequently retrofit the new plate in place of the plastic ones.

There's probably a heat shield towards the front that can make it a little tough, I throw that in the scrap. 4 bolts (you'll need a decent 12mm box wrench, as there's not enough room for anything larger, and a fair bit of force) at the rear diff, and 2 bolts that hold the carrier bearing to the body. Then snake the whole thing out towards the rear (there isn't enough room to drop it straight down without removing the exhaust).

Those are all reliable components. The reliability will be most effected by the build itself. In this project, you will be removing almost every mechanical component in the car...so it'll be on you to make it reliable. The biggest thing will be the engine wiring, make sure it's clean, all connections are moisture and vibration-proof (I use only Molex Perma-seal butt splices), that nothing can chafe. You will also have to replumb the fuel system, so again, make sure it's done right, and you're not going to have problems down the road. Do not assume it'll be a completely reliable car right out of the gate. Don't take it on a road trip a week after getting it running. Issues will present themselves, you will have to limp it home, maybe towed. If the 81 has A/C, it'll just be a matter of making custom lines to plumb the EJ22 compressor into the EA81 system. If not, you'll have to retrofit an evaporator and stuff into it.....I don't know. Easiest is to just use the EA81 crossmember, front suspension, and axles. You could build your lift blocks to adapt the wider EA82 crossmember onto it, and then use those components, but IMHO that's more work than it's worth for a lifted build. I don't find the EA81 manual rack to be a problem with big tires. I have 29" tires on my Brat, and it seems to work well (not street worthy, don't think I've ever had it over 15mph). I had an EA82 with 29" tires that had a power steering rack that someone had deleted the pump, that was annoying. This would be the only reason to use the EA82 crossmember, as getting an EA81 power steering rack is very difficult. EA81 fuel tank doesn't have the same baffling as a fuel injection tank would. So you'll probably have occasional fuel starve when the tank gets low and starts sloshing around. The correct fix is to add a surge tank, but I just would fill up a bit sooner. There are a couple hurtles of using the EA82 5-speed transmission in the EA81 body. Custom/modified crossmember and driveshaft, IIRC. I haven't done it, but it's been discussed here many many times.

had the same problem with my 05 forester, slow leak from the seam, there's no good repair for that. managed to find a Denso DRM36002 radiator (OEM quality) for around 150 euro, (about 160 $), really easy job to change

If you have a tin plate you might be able to do it. If you have the cast alloy plate, you’ll need the countersunk screws to make it all work with flywheel clearances etc. Cheers Bennie

Have the engine back together. Used the anaerobic sealant on the intake too along with the gaskets provided for extra sealing protection. Appears to work very well and seems more trustworthy than RTV. Unfortunately it was just a cardboard/paper type gasket instead of the reinforced type. I did drain the oil pan the rest of the way, and was sure to lift it straight and tilt it so as to remove as much as possible. Was mainly just residual oil but I did see a small amount of coolant come out. Now just waiting on the rain to stop so I can get it back in the car. Everything should be sealed tight by the time I can do that so I will be able to add fluids immediately and test it out. By the way, I want to give an extra special thanks to DaveT for his info in a separate thread. I noticed on both heads and all 4 cylinders those little cracks between the valves. Without the info you provided on it being a normal occurence and non-issue, I would have been freaking out about finding some heads, so many thanks for that.

Don't. As a design engineer for an OEM, I can tell you that we have analyzed those types of additives and they will end up doing more harm than good. The best advice from this post is to source a spare pump that you can install or rebuild. If the pump/lines/rack from the donor car aren't coated in PS fluid, you can just install the replacement pump. I agree with Numbchux, just keep adding ATF or replace it with a used pump. I would also suggest putting a wrench on all the hose unions and clamps on the hydraulic system to make sure the leak isn't something that just needs a little tightening.

In the U.S. this body style was called the DL, GL and Loyale and were only available with the EA82 engine, hence we call anything with this chassis an "EA82."

Quite a bit but not quite enough, I guess. At this point it's all just kind of pedantic conversation as the details become more fuzzy. Some data for a more technical review: Motortrend road test when new, got that model to stop in 120 ish feet from 55 mph with a professional driver. The vehicle is 168 inches total length or 14 feet. That is a stopping distance of 8.5 car lengths at 55mph. I was doing 63 and saw the incident in front of me as soon as it happened. If you figure 140-150 feet to stop from 65mph (typical highway speed in US), if you're equipment is in good condition, that's 10.5 - 11 car lengths in dry weather. When you factor in reaction time and other variables, the situation can change even less in your favor. The fact that I only cut my finger on the radio knob and had a sore nose from the steering wheel, and my shops opinion on impact speed, indicates I got down to about 15 or so mph. You may be wondering why I didn't just swerve and avoid. Partly because I would have gone left, as there were cars to the right, and there was a concrete barrier wall just off the left lane on this highway and sudden maneuvers at speed could have resulted in a rollover or more severe impact with a solid object (which would have ended very poorly for me). So I took the sure way out. I wish it could have played out differently but presently both me and my vehicle are fully functional, so I can sleep well at night knowing that. I should add also, in case I haven't already that I could only see the vehicle directly in front of me and when he rear ended the stopped car in front of him, he came to a flat dead stop. Not a situation you really expect on a light traffic highway in the middle of the day. He was in a 4 year old vehicle with all the latest gizmos so I'm not exactly sure what his excuse is... Original crash testing done at 30mph. Cool video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7geNTvZcRQY&t=97s Just some food for thought for anyone driving around in these old rigs.

My daughter's 95 Legacy had a problem that was solved by adding another Ground Cable from the Transmission to the engine block. Apparently the ground cable from the battery connects to the transmission. It seems there was some corrosion between the transmission and the engine block that impeded conductivity intermittently. So an additional cable from the Transmission to the engine block solved this problem.