tjZ06

In general for stock classes the shocks and front sway bar are open (meaning they can be changed) and that's about it. Brake pads are generally open too but you can't run drilled/slotted rotors. Also, any DOT legal tire should be fine. So if you really want to get the most out of your Forester I'd suggest Kuhmo 710s on stock (or stock sized) rims, whatever the best shock available for a Forester is (I dunno how much of the WRX stuff crosses over, but you can not run a full coil-over so I'm talking about a good double adjustable standard style shock), and a nice large front bar to help combat the big body roll that mini-SUV is going to have on the 710s (again, I dunno if you can use WRX stuff or what). But like others have said: seat time is your biggest mod! -TJ

The hood, hatch, spare/jack and a few other things were out also. The windshield might... but probably not. -TJ

It'll be caged in shortly to make up for that. We're probably going to do some "safari doors" anyway which will add just as much strenght as a full door ever did (all a door serves to do structurely is tie the hinge location to the "stricker" or latch location). Sorry to the purists, I know it's somewhat painfull to see. I understand they're a bit rare, especially in full running order. But this car does have a lot of body rot etc. from sitting in a field the last 6 years. At least this way it's getting enjoyed! -TJ

That's the one! So far nothing has been done that can't be reversed (we just removed the doors, hood, hatch, spare etc.). The car just has more rust than I wanted to deal with and no power what-so-ever. The original plans were to clean it up, make it a decent DD type vehicle and RallyX it in whatever the "stock" class it falls into would be. But I just don't think it has the power at stock weight to be any fun at all RallyXing nor deal with my 100mi/day commute on busy CA freeways. If you're still intersted in the car you shoot me a PM quick before we get our hands on the Plasma cutter. -TJ

Well, we made our desicion the '79 would become a "toy." It had way more body rot than we'd want to deal w/ to make it a "nice" street car. And it's just way too gutless for Silicon Valley freeways. So here's a little day-light under all 4 action (crappy camera phone pic): That's what we might call "stage 1" weight reduction. The whole interior is coming out soon, roof is going by-by, and a basic "cage" is going in for structure/safety. Then we have to do something about making this thing make power. -TJ

Any chance of a EJ22? Does anybody make an adapter plate for it... or could I modify one? -TJ

Hmmm. Perhaps a NA is a better option for me. It's down 25% on HP and 33% on TQ which is pretty huge... but has a stronger bottom end. But the higher grade fuel and (presumeably) worse fuel mileage would start to kill me with a 100mi/day commute. My current DD gets about 23-24mpg freeway and only takes 87. I really don't want to go too much worse than that. -TJ

Also, two fuel questions: 1) does the Turbo require premium? 2) what can I expect out of a totally stock EA82T wagon (once it's running right of course), what about w/ ~4" lift + 27-29" tires? Thanks. -TJ

What would you call a decent price, based on the above desc. From the pics I've seen it's one of the cleanest/straightest EA82s I've seen. It's red, which is "okay" with me, not a big plus nor minus. The asking price is 950obo. When should boost come in by (there's some kind of boost gauge right)? It's a non-digital dash so that would mean it's a D/R not full-time AWD right? And just how cheap to rebuild? My current beater truck is hanging in there so that is a viable option, if it's cheap 'nough and I get the ca cheap 'enough. I just want to know what I'm in for. Thanks for the help! -TJ

You must not be lookin' in the right places. -TJ <--still lurking this thread for all the good info!

Well I'm STILL in the market for my Subi (some of my might remember I stormed on here a few months ago w/ a million questions ) and came across an intersting one. '89 Turbo GL Wagon ~170k Miles. It is very very clean inside and out for a 17 year old vehicle, 5-speed 4x4, all the stuff I'm looking for. But the sales add listed it as "turbo doesn't work" so I emailed the owner and they said "it does work, it's just slow to kick in." What could the possible culprits be? Could it be as simple as an exhaust or boost leak? Or could it be something much more serious? Just the turbo itself going south? Or a whole motor going bad? I guess my question is... worth a look or should I run the other way? -TJ

Nice score... I'd love to come up on something like that... though preferably w/ a stick. -TJ

It's a WRX... chance are very high it was abused. It has the classic symptoms of a beat-on WRX: clutch & tranny failures. 6k clutch-dumps will do that. The whole story about the guy just being a bad driver is possible, but highly unlikely. And even if that was the case poor driving of a stick is tough on all the drivelines, axles, etc. At $22k you can do a lot better. -TJ

Especially on a turbo car I think it'd be worth the time/effort to weld a bung in your exhaust pre-cat for a wide-band o2. Does your dyno facility have a wideband o2 or do they just use the sniffer in the tailpipe? Hopefully the former not that latter. Anyway, good work and I'll check that other link. Thanks. -TJ

Thanks again! It looks like the 2nd Turbo tank was much better. More freeway driving? Or perhaps the computer just needed some time to adapt to the new setup? I didn't follow your swap in detail (though if you have links I'd like to) but I imagine you're using the EJ22T computer? One would think its calibration would be pretty close since the chassis swap shouldn't have effected things too much. But who knows. EDIT: just clicked the link in your sig... good stuff! -TJ