The Beast I Drive

Turn the struts down all the way, then install the lift blocks. EA82's dont eat axles as bad as EA81's, and you should be fine as long as you have good axles, not crappy remans. Or a good liftetime warranty. -Bill

My 2" lift kit is hardly expensive. $100 for a 2" suspension lift -Bill

Short answer: No. Any standard DIN stereo will stick out about an inch, which is why the install kits have the spacer included. The only way you could fit a stereo in the stock space would be to get one that doesnt have a CD/tape player internally, or have one custom made by a Custom component shop (big $$$). The second option is done by some custom/street rod folks. -Bill

87 SPFI was introduced in the GL's, but VERY few came with it. 88-89 were the "best" years, if you want SPFI. Personally I prefer Carbuerators, but thats just my preference. There was no D/R in 1990, but it was the last year of the EA82 Turbo (thank God) -Bill

You can gain some access to the heater vent ductwork by pulling out the glovebox and removing the blower fan, then you can get some of the stuff out if its in the heater assembly. Otherwise, its a rear PITA to get mouse nesting out of the actual ducting. -Bill

The DL dash on the Gen 2 Brats was indeed different than the GL's. It was more like the Gen 1's, and a dash cover for a GL wont really fit a DL dash, and vice versa. -Bill

Pretty much. The early Legacy cases DO have the boss in the case for the low-range shift lever (not drilled out, but its there), and they do have the bulge in the case for the low-gears, but you would have to modify the case for the input bearing and the shaft for the low gears, as well as drill out the boss for the shifter lever. Of Course, with an aluminum forge, you could just cast new cases with all these mods already included..... -Bill

This will not increase the CV angles at all, I've learned that the early EA cars cannot take any extra CV angles due to the short shafts, so all the angles will be stock when the wheels are on and it gets set on the ground. It is highly recomended that you have a 4 wheel alignment done by a good shop after this lift, all the adjustment for the rear alignment is in the rear tosrion bar mounting bolts. -Bill

Here's what I got It started as a lightbar for a fullsize Bronco, then I added the pipe for the rack, and mounted my spare, my jack, and a shovel to it. Also incorporated a pair of flag holders on the corners -Bill

paypal would be perfect. Let me know when you want to come up, we can shoot ideas for bumpers -Bill

Get struts for a '79 brat to avoid confusion at parts houses, the EA81 bodystyle was introduced in 1980 and used different components, but was built side-by-side with the older style Brats. I wouldnt drive it with a siezed strut, but thats just me. the tire does provide some amount of suspension, just not much and with no dampening. -Bill

Well, after my trip to the Hatch Patrol's Christmas tree run, I noticed a white crust all over the Beast from crossing the pass. Road Salt. All you in the Midwest and East Coast know it all too well. Now Washington has begun to salt the roads as well, apparently 2 or 3 years ago they started doing it on the passes. This could mean the end of rust-free older gen Subarus from this state, and that is a sad thing. Where's the sad bannana emoticon when you need it :-\ -Bill

OK, so it looks like I have 3 people here in on the $200 deal? I have made progress, and I look to be on schedule to have them shipped by Christmas. All I have left to do is make the front strut blocks and brace a few of the seperate blocks together for added strength. Some pics of what I have so far parts for 4 kits (minus strut blocks) some pics of the 5th set of parts on one of my Brats the blocks in these pics will be braced together for side-to-side stability -Bill

If you are gonna run it off road, intall a solid skid plate to keep snow, rocks, etc. from lodging in the belts. Also keep spare belts and the tools to change them in the storage hatch. There is no need to run covers, they just get in the way and complicate an otherwise simple procedure. -Bill

It's a Wagon right? You dont need to have the driveshaft lengthened, you can weld on the mounts for the EA82 carier bearing and use a EA82 wagon 2-piece driveshaft if you wanted to, its cheaper..... -Bill

I can't believe I haven't posted this one here yet From the big Walker meet a couple months ago -Bill

Nice! You shouldnt have had to grind the rear diff housing, I had the same problem when I converted my 3.9 to LSD, and if you put the bolts in the ring gear after you install the assembly, it fits with no problems. Kind of a hassle, but no mods to the case. -Bill

Lol -Bill

Let me know if you need help with any fab work, you know where to find me and how to reach me -Bill

the Motor type I use 15w40 Chevron in all my cars, because I get it for free at work. Just use a good quality motor oil, and I would say 10w30 or so should be perfect for a Brat. -Bill

You need a 5 speed from an EA82 car, the EA82 flywheel (there are other ways to use the EA81 flywheel but I like the EA82 one better) and either fab a custom trans crossmember or buy a 5 speed conversion kit from Bratsrus1 (Jerry), which includes modified shifter linkages and conversion crossmember, making it a bolt-in swap. -Bill

5 speed swap man, you cant beat it. -Bill

Not really important or helpfull post to the topic, but its a pet peeve of mine. THE LOYALE IS NOT AWD, its 4WD. 4WD. 4WD!!!!! There is no center diff, there are transfer gears. When you push the button, its not in AWD, its locked in 4wd (if the tranny is working properly). There is no slip between the front and rear when the 4wd is engaged, so there will be binding if its driven on dry pavement in 4wd, because its not designed for that. If you drive it like that too much it CAN destroy the transmission's 4wd output gears. If one of the previous owners did not know the difference between 4wd and AWD they probably drove it on the street, every day, in 4WD, and in the process destroyed the 4wd output gears while wondering why it was binding in turns . The 4wd system on these Loyales is more akin to the 4wd system on a fullsize Ford 4wd truck than a AWD Legacy, you don't use it on the street unless you are driving in adverse conditions (snow, heavy rain, ice, et.). On a side note, I had a transmission from a wrecked GL (5 speed D/R 4wd) that had rear ended a PT Cruiser at 60... The 4wd engaged and the gears were intact when I opened the rear cover, but the aluminum collar machined into the case that holds the gears in position had broken from the impact, and the gears could slide in/out of 4wd anytime they wanted to. Back to the topic, pull the tranny out of the car and pull off the plate on the tailsection to look inside. You will be able to inspect the transfer gears for damage or something blocking the 4wd from fully engaging. Pull the drain plug and imspect the fluid for metallic particals or chunks of the gears as well. If everything looks good, then go over the 4wd engagement system, which is 2 electric vacuum solenoids hooked up to a round vaccum diaphram mounted on the driver side of the tranny, connect to a cable that runs to the 4wd lever on the passenger side of the tranny. If there is a vaccum leak somewhere it may be pulling the diaphram enough to get it to begin to engage, but not enough to fully engage the 4wd, hence grinding and bad noises. 4wd. -Bill