The Beast I Drive

I think if you could make a 14x6 version of the Daytona wheels, the black ones with the red pinstripe, that would be awesome. AA already makes and sells 15" 4x140 wheels, but no one in the states does 14's. -Bill

yeah I hate those bug shields, mine was already shattered, not to mention it wasnt even as wide as the front of the hood. If it had a cool, full-width one on it I might have left it, but this one was not. -Bill

These kits will be $350 when I start making the again, Im waiting until I get this bolt thing figured out before I make anymore, when I do I will let you know. -Bill

It was a preatty sweet day I gotta say, weather was nice, hung out for a while with a bunch of jackasses Nah it was great to meet up with you guys, glad you are likin the wagon Jeff! -Bill

I have the Shadow Mags mounted on a wagon I just sold -Bill

Looks like its going to be a very nice car, too bad its not 4wd, but its still nice nonetheless -Bill

that is beautiful! I'd put a Supercharger on it though, I dont know how there would be room in the engine bay with that monster 6 in there..... That and I prefer Superchargers. I so wish I could afford that -Bill

Take the stock shock to the parts store, and tell them you want one 4" longer. You might have to use a large hammer to beat the bumpstop mount out of the way to clear the new shock because it will be at a slightly different angle than stock. -Bill

Can't put a price on pride sometimes man, some people just wont do certain things, no matter how cash strapped they may be or not. -Bill

IIRC, power steering was an option on the GL until '87 when it became standard on all EA82 models. The 85-86 DL's are almost guaranteed to be manual steering, and a lot of 85-86 GL's (not GL-10) were also manual steering. -Bill

I have one from a DL, it has torn boots though. I can take some pics when I find my camera -Bill

EA82 Turbo motors SUCK BIG HAIRY NUTS. Of course there are a few people here who have had some good luck keeping up on the maintenance and not rodding the piss outta them, and even a couple have managed to keep moddified ones alive for quite some time now. Many however have had multitudes of blown HG's, thrown rods, electrical issues, cooling issues, etc. Mine exploded and burned my car to the ground on the side of the road, so I have some serious negative feelings for them. -Bill

Toppenish is down by Yakima, google it. PM'ing you -Bill

I have a complete rear assembly from an RX that has the bar attached, I would sell it to you without the rear discs, make an offer if you are interested. The models that came with the rear sway bar were all Turbo models and RX's, and I think XT's as well. To put a rear sway bar on a car that didnt have one you need to either swap the rear assembly with one from a turbo or RX (rear crossmember and control arms) or weld on tabs for the sway bar onto your current control arms and crossmember. -Bill

I grew up on the old 70's fords, my dad bought a 73 brand new, but it got totalled out (remember the E-brake recall on the 73's? ) when the E brake failed and it slid into the ocean at a boat launch After that he bought a brand new 75 Hi boy and kept it for a long time. My Grandpa had a 72 Hi boy that got lost in a fire but insurance bought him a brand new 73 2wd that we still have. My first truck I ever bought was a 74 F-100 that we still have, but its not even 1/2 the truck this one is I have been looking it over the last couple days compiling a list of what it needs, and I found the radiator is leaking, the tie rod needs new balljoints pressed in, and I have a massive fuel leak at the tank selector. The tranny also doesnt shift right, prolly a modulator, so I will replace that too. Eventually when I get enough cash I will have the tranny re-built and fitted with heavy duty internals, and I will re-build the 390 (unless I find a sweet 427 or 428 Cobra motor for a good price) and give it a little more oomph Also Im going to lift it 4", and eventually paint it a really nice metallic blue and re-do the interior black. I think what I love most about this truck is that there is no such thing as a hard-to-find part, I can buy absolutely EVERY piece of the truck (except the frame and cab) from LMC Truck, as well as several other restoration companies. I love it! -Bill

Any chance you could have Delta grind you some cams that would move your power band down into the 1500-3500 range? That would be about ideal for crawling... -Bill

With my stock gears and 31" tires and welded rear diff, the Beast eats stubs like candy if I goose it at the wrong time. I have never broken a rear axles, it was always the stubs that go. Wheelspin is what makes them break, with your low gearing you should be able to keep that under control. I would wheel it with the stock stuff first, and if it cant handle it then maybe try an R180 rear diff or something. Or solid axle... -Bill

Well, I still have the same old one, The Beast. Nothing much really different this year 87 GL Wagon 6" lift 31/10.5/R15 Maxxis Bighorn tires welded rear EA81 motor stock 5 speed D/R custom exhaust modified front lower control arms other mods But I do have this now in the making... '78 Brat 4" lift, stock tires for now stock EA71 with a Fat Case bellhousing swapped on, '81 Brat 4 speed D/R swapped in more mods to come And this, which will be sold soon '85 Brat 3" lift 27/8.5/R14 Maxxis Bighorns on Pug steels custom bumpers 3" stainless exhaust stacks stock EA81 with Weber and 4 speed D/R other mods to come -Bill

I have run both. The Clutch Type LSD is excellent in a car with small tires like a Hatch with 27's or an RX with stock-ish size tires. Its awesome for rally-style driving and offroading with smaller tires. They are almost worthless off-road with 31's though, the clutch disks are just too small. For what I do and because I have such huge tires, I now run a welded rear diff, and I wont ever go back. Full traction, no clutches to burn, positive lock, etc. The downside is the tires chirp when I make tight turns, big deal. Some people will say you will break more stubs or axles with a welded diff than a LSD. This has not been the case for me, I broke more stubs with my LSD because it still allowed my wheels to slip and spin, and when they suddenly caught traction the stubs just snap. With the welded rear both tires spin the same all the time, no matter what. IMO, both are excellent, but you need to have the one that will suit your needs. -Bill

If you want to know what's the biggest tire you can put on there with out any cutting or beating, you need to measure the distance from the center of each hub to the edge of the wheel wells. This dimension will be the radius, and you want to make sure you get a tire that won't rub on bumps or turns. Your formula for tire size is totally wrong, because the wheel wells don't automatically widen when you add the lift and because the center of the hub at stock is way up in the wheel well. You have to measure to know, every vehicle is different. Other than that, it looks good with the outback struts! -Bill

Make brackets to mount the lights to the crossbar, thats the best way. Drilling through the roof of the car is not the best idea, though it could work, the thin sheetmetal on the roof might not be stiff enough to keep the lights from bouncing around while driving. -Bill

Ok, let me lay this out. You need AT THE VERY LEAST a welder to make any kind of reduction setup at home. Even with just that, you would still need a machine shop with a lathe and a mill to turn parts and make precise holes/splines to attach the hubs to the driven shafts at the top and bottom of the boxes. If you dont have a welder or a lathe or a drill press, or money to pay someone to do that work, then you will not be able to make this happen. I make stuff like this every day where I work, I have been fortunate enough that my dad has been doing things like this for the better part of 60 years, so I have everything I need to make these. There's a lot more to it than I think youve considered, like bearing races that need to be precision machined into the cases, custom axles for the lower sprocket that will need a custom machined hub to to fit them, how they will attach to/replace the stock Subaru knuckle, how the Subaru axle will attach and drive the top sprocket, how you will change the chain if it breaks, etc. Im gonna have to agree with everyone else, just wheel the car you have with what you have. You have everything you need to have fun with it, 2" lift, 235 75 15 tires, EA81, and now a 5 speed D/R. Mine has 31" tires and an EA81 and a 5 speed all in a bigger, heavier Gen 3 body, and I have a blast with it and I learn when to use the gas and when not to, and how to pick a good line. Just wheel what you got until you have the means or the money to build what you dream of. As for something more capable and affordable, you can pick up a used early 80's Toyota or Nissan for under 1000 almost anywhere. Those come stock with solid rear axles, solid fronts on the Yotas, clearance for 31's with no lift, and 3X the flex that a modified Subaru will ever have. We dont wheel Subarus cuz they are teh Bezt 4wd eva made, we wheel them cuz its fun, its challenging, and they are unique. Those of us who got bored wheeling them after pushing them to the extreme limits moved on to Toyotas. -Bill

They are both hydraulic fluid, Ive mixed and matched them before with no ill effects that I could see... -Bill

Ive seen 3 on one side and 2 on the other, or 1 on one side 2 on the other, etc. They vary from each rear end because not all of the parts are machined to the exact same dimension every time, due to tool wear, different manufacturing plants, etc. Whatever shims you find must have been what was needed to set it up right... -Bill

Yes, as long as its an EA71 the bellhousings will swap, I just swapped a side started bellhousing onto a top starter motor a couple weeks ago. Good luck! Back on topic, how's the adapter comin along? -Bill