Warp3

Ahh...crap...the parts I've bought are all from a 2WD XT6...which parts won't work from the 2WD (front and rear) and what is different about them?

They are $19.99/side at JC Whitney (at least for the 1991-1996 Camry): http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=2927&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&storeId=10101

I would assume he is referring to hood hydraulics (like hatchbacks have).

Yep, welcome to the world of late 80s Subaru steering wheels...ugh Momo makes a hub adapter but nobody has them and Grant doesn't even make one (though they do for the 80-84 Subarus, the Impreza/Legacy line and even the freaking Justy! ) Personally, I bought an 85 GL wheel from eBay, hacked it apart and "made" a hub adapter for my Pilot steering wheel (same hub pattern as Grant). It would have been easier with the right tools (mainly a pneumatic cut-off wheel/grinder and a drill press) but wasn't horribly difficult. I basically cut out the center of the wheel (and also kept the plastic piece on the back that has the metal ring for the horn contact), drilled the 3-hole pattern (which is the original-style Grant pattern...the newer 5-hole Grant or the 6-hole Momo patterns probably wouldn't have fit within the metal of the remaining piece), bolted the wheel to it and slid it in place of the stock wheel. Note that while the "5-hole Grant" pattern would likely not fit the metal piece from the stock wheel, the Grant 5-bolt wheels (and the Pilots as well) come with 5-bolt to 3-bolt adapters.

Was searching the forums and realized this question never got answered. The changeover occurred for the '87 model year (which oddly enough is when the MPFI turbos suddenly went from 111 to 115hp...lol...I'm guessing the less restrictive hot-wire MAF was at least part of that). My '86 RX is doing something very similar to what is quoted in this thread and the MAF is one of the parts I'm guessing may be at fault (as it isn't exactly clean inside the MAF tube). I'm also considering the IAC Valve (which I recently discovered is called an Auxiliary Air Control Valve in the service manual and parts listings, FYI) as a possible culprit as well. (Partly because once the car is fully warmed up (and I mean FULLY warmed up) it doesn't seem to happen as much (if at all).)

Wait... On second thought, I already have some silicone hose that I bought to replace my vacuum lines...would that work or is silicone coolant hose different? (What I have is shown here: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=AVC%2D51005&view=2047) EDIT: Never mind...from what I'm finding on the web, silicone coolant hose is quite different from silicone vacuum hose.

That's about what I was guessing it was...thanks! Well, fortunately, I have the Impreza so I'm just leaving the RX sitting at home until I acquire a new hose. Ummm...:-\ Unless that hose starts leaking, I think I'll hold off on that project until I see what happens with the TWE crossover/downpipe group buy and replace it then. BTW...anybody know offhand what diameter the upper turbo coolant hose is? I didn't drive the RX today and if I can find out what size I need before I leave work today, I can stop by the auto parts store on my way home.

After going to the dealership, I'm honestly not convinced that the *upper* turbo coolant hose is anything special. The lower hose is obviously heat-shielded and costs like $23. The upper hose on the other hand is only $3 and appears to simply be a straight piece of hose (according to the service manual and what's on my car) so I'm not convinced its anything more than just coolant/heater hose. Regardless I was planning to order one anyway...until we found out that even though the part is still "orderable" (because, to quote the parts guy, it's not listed as "obsolete"), the current warehouse stock in the U.S. is ZERO (plenty of the expensive lower hose that I don't need, though...LOL). So what next? It's been suggested to me that fuel line should work for this application...is this correct?

That's very good news, thanks! That also aleves my worries about running 195/65-15s on the RX as I have a set of Kumho R700 rally tires in that size (on 15x7 Raceline RL-7 rally wheels) that I was hoping I could throw on the RX for rallycross events!

Bump for my above questions to Subarutex.

You might want to crosspost this on the XT6 board to catch some XT Turbo guys who may not frequent this site. http://www.xt6.net/forum/ and the "Old School" and/or "Other Factory Turbo" forums on NASIOC wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

You are a sick, sick man... LOL

Well yesterday, a friend and I replaced the bad radiator in my 86RX (along with a bunch of other parts: radiator hoses, radiator cap, 180-degree thermostat, fuel filter, and drive belts). Also found out during the install that the thermosensor on the old radiator wasn't even plugged in. Good news: - car is absolutely purring at idle - temp gauge is hanging around 1/3-1/2 and not budging even when driven very hard Bad news: - fixing parts of the cooling system simply found other weaknesses: the car blows coolant all over the engine bay from the upper turbo coolant hose now (but only under boost...is that normal to only have that hose pressurized under boost? ). Do parts stores sell the "turbo coolant hoses" (my friend seems to think they wouldn't and I would need to just buy heater hose in the appropriate diameter) or should I just get these from the dealer? - the fuel filter didn't fix my "stumbling issue" as I had hoped (the car "stumbles" under acceleration and is most noticeable when the engine is cold and at partial throttle). I'm thinking the IAC valve as my next possibility (as the back of the plug on it appears to be halfway falling off anyway (though the wires inside are still solidly connected)) but any suggestions would be very welcome.

That car looks great with the 6-spoke RS rims on there. I'm very happy to know that the 16x7 2.5RS rims will fit since I have a spare set of RS rims on hand and am gearing up for the 5-lug swap on my RX. Are those the stock (for a 2.5RS anyway) 205/55-16 sized tires or something lower profile? Any wheel/tire rubbing with that setup? If no rubbing, how much extra space is there in there?

Exactly my point. A bone stock 2.5RS has a curb weight of 2840 lbs, 165 hp and 166lb-ft of torque. According to the 1989 service manual, the FT4WD GL-10 Turbo wagon with 5MT weighs in at 2790 lbs and the FT4WD RX Turbo 3-door with 5MT weighs in at 2670 lbs. Both have 115hp and 134lb-ft (and my '86 RX only has 111hp though I think it may actually be even lighter being a sedan (the '89 RX Sedan is 25 lbs lighter than the 3-door) and part-time 4WD). However, despite how impressive the torque number looks on the EA82T, my RS feels MUCH stronger at low RPM than the RX does. At 3000rpm both feel strong and are in their torque band. Drop to say 2000 rpm, though, and the RX is just flat out dead while the RS is still pulling surprisingly strong...and this is with cams in the RS that raised the RPM power/torque peaks a good bit. I'm not saying you can't make the same peak power I am (in fact I have no doubt that an EA82T could pump out that much power). I'd just be surprised if it could be done with the same smooth wide power band. Now maybe your cams and higher compression pistons can combat this some...and if so, great...you may have a chance after all...lol Make sure you get wide enough rims for this. If you are only looking at 15x6 rims, I'm not so sure I'd recommend 225s. I know Steven didn't have such great luck running 225/50-15 Victoracer on 15x6 Legacy rims on his 2.5GT. The sidewalls were very angled and I don't think he was getting full advantage of the 225 width of those tires. Honestly, 205/50-15s would have likely been just as fast (plus had a better gearing advantage). I'm running 225/50-15 on my Impreza BUT that's on 7" rims. I'd say shoot for a minimum of 7" width for a 225 tire, otherwise you are buying more tire than you'll be able to put on the road. BTW, I guess I'm committed to the 5-lug swap now. I sent out a money order yesterday for all the "must be from an XT6" parts and have Dale investigating possible aftermarket strut and brake options.

Are you insane!? LOL Even with the lighter weight, I could never picture my '86 RX outrunning my 2.5RS at an autocross (well not with the EA82T engine anyway). I got to calculating some rough estimates the other day (with formulas that are of course all theoretical) and assuming the stock VE, A/F ratios, etc. I would need 19.5lbs of boost in the RX to equal the power/weight ratio of my 2.5RS in it's current "cam'ed" trim and about 14.5lbs to equal a stock 2.5RS. Don't forget that the 2.5RS puts out 50 more hp STOCK than even the 87+ EA82T and the power band is MUCH more flat (and smooth power is a big advantage at autocross where you are constantly powering out of low speed turns). Plus I would thoroughly be surprised if the car could be made to handle as well (especially with the lack of aftermarket support). Though, if it could, the weight would be a great advantage (for the RX anyway...I'd imagine the GL-10 wagon is a bit heavier). That said I totally intend to autocross my RX in Street Mod once I get some more stuff done to it, but currently have no expectations of it being anywhere near as fast as the 2.5RS (even though I'm doing the 5-lug conversion so I could throw on the Victoracers...hehe). If it is, I'll gladly recant (and hey it gives me 2 autocross cars), but I don't foresee that happening at this time based on my experience with the two cars. (Remind me to give you a ride along in the 2.5RS at a future event. )

Correct, this is known as "tuned-length" and is how the very expensive SYMS headers for the Imprezas are configured.

I'm in for one of each (header and downpipe) as well.

Ok, this was the kind of info I was looking for. So the L-series/XT-series Subarus actuate the caliper itself!? This makes more sense then and explains why it would work with the XT6 caliper/Impreza rotor combo. The reason I wasn't aware of this, is that the Impreza doesn't actuate the caliper for the e-brake, it actuates a brake shoe that acts like a brake drum inside the rear rotors. I was assuming the front of the L-series/XT-series was similar but apparently not.

Just to confirm, I *am* planning to use XT6 front calipers, I just want to make sure that using them with Impreza rotors/hub/spindles, will not kill my parking brake functionality...hehe. Also, I'm trying to figure out exactly which Impreza rotors I'll need for this. I assume we are talking "base model" rotors as my 2.5RS rotors (10.7") would likely be too large, much less WRX rotors (11.4"). Does anyone know what diameter the stock XT6 rotors are?

I wouldn't have thought that would work since the Impreza rear rotor is what has the hub-in-disc setup for the e-brake. If it works, though, great. Also I noticed that the official "locked" thread about the 5-lug swap makes no mention of axles, though past threads did. Does the stock front axle already work with the XT6 or Impreza hub? The reason I'm asking all these questions now, is I'm actively pursuing these parts from an XT6 that's being parted out and want to make sure I get all the necessary parts...I was originally only asking him for the parts that HAVE to be XT6 parts, but then the front e-brake issue made me 2nd guess that call. The reason I'm trying to use as many Impreza parts as possible is to make my car as friendly as possible when it comes time for replacement parts (as the XT6s are so much rarer than the Impreza/Legacy line).

After rereading the 5-lug conversion posts, I have a question: If I use Impreza rotors (and the accompanying spindles and hubs) in the front, does that mean I will lose my e-brake completely (seeing as the Impreza has a rear e-brake and the L-series/XT-series have front e-brakes)!? Any possible work around to get some sort of e-brake functionality or should I just try to get those parts from an XT6 instead (even though they are more rare that way)!?

I am definitely interested in the crossover pipe and downpipe as well!!! Someone make sure to get a group buy thread going for this come spring.

PMed you!