The Beast I Drive

Im sure he meant the crossmember is wider as in the width of the car, so the XT6 arms are farther apart on an XT6 than they are on your GL-10. SOOO, why dont you try an RX front swaybar? If you dont have one, I do, and I dont need it..... It would be the easiest way to solve the problem. -Bill

A few people have tried them on the later EJ motors, and Ive seen pictures of a custom-built EA71 that had a blower built for a VW on it, with a custom intake manifold. The engine was far from stock though, and it appeared to have been running lean and melted itself at some point... I know a guy who is mounting a BDS Blower on a 2.2, hoping to have it done by next year's WCSS too... Thats pretty much all I know about superchargers on Subarus for certain. -Bill

Its not just moisture that gets trapped there, on many rigs the inner fender well (the plastic liner) is damaged or missing, so dirt and road debri and other contaminants get trapped in the bottom of the fender. Those things are what hold the moisture, causing rust. That and New England road salt :-\ The best thing to do would be to make new inner fender shields that will keep the road debri out of the pocket in the fender, but a small drain hole doesnt sound like a bad Idea either, and its easier. just keep the area clean so the mud and dirt doesnt hold moisture and rust out again. Oh and liberally apply undercoating/rust proofing to the inside of the fender as well. -Bill

Idk what I did by poking the hole, but it made it work. I know for a fact the secondary worked like it was supposed to, so Im guessing the hole I poked made up for a clogged bypass somewhere. At any rate, for being a quick and dirty fix at a rest stop at night in the cold, it worked up until the day I swapped it for a Weber -Bill

I didnt suffer any negative effects from poking the hole, it accelerated like it was supposed to, and drove fine, no adverse effects at all. Later on I had a problem with it not idling, but that turned out to be the screws that hold the carb body together had come loose from a rough off-road venture and had nothing to do with the vacuum diaphram. -Bill

There is one different one in there ! There are 3 EA81 wagon wheels and 1 EA82 wagon wheel, from what it looks like in the pics. The EA82 wagon wheels have a much sharper curve on the spokes than the EA81 wagon wheels, and usually the EA81 wheels wont fit the fronts of an EA82 car unless you have modified the calipers or have almost no brake pad left... -Bill

I'll ask for money when I get the kits built, I'll PM everyone when they are ready. -Bill

Yes, I am aware that the input shaft bearing is not there on the Ej's. Hmm, I'll have to take some measurements, looking at the pics its hard to tell. Or, a custom unit could always be machined out of some billet to fit tne needs -Bill

Funny you should mention that.... If I were building my rig with an EJ motor, I would do the necessary machine work to fit the D/R equipment into the EJ case. The Early Legacy 5 speed case and the RX D/R case are so similar its not even funny, the only machining that has to be done is bore out the boss on the side of the case for the D/R lever, and machine the input snout down to flat, and drill the 3 holes to bolt-on the RX input snout. Boom, EJ D/R, with Diff-lock, for less than 1200 -Bill

Wheel spacers are pretty much the only option there, or custom low-offset wheels. -Bill

It probably wont be very cheap, but it has been done before. There was a link here somewhere to a thread on one of the new-gen boards where a guy had a 4.444 pinion gear welded to the pinion shaft of his Legacy tranny for Rallycross... Really its all just a matter of cutting in the right place, getting full penetration, properly anealing it, then properly re-tempering the shaft. I might look into having it cryo treated as well, but that probably isnt necessary, and I have no real idea what the gains from that would be, probably not worth the cost considering there will never be more than 160HP going into this trans anyway, if that much even. I have access to a lathe, and a mill, and I can do the actual machining myself, BUT I dont know how to properly do the anealing and re-tempering, and I'd rather one machinist do it all so there is no confusion and less chance for mistakes. -Bill

Since Im ending up using the OB stuff for this trans, I figure I might just go ahead and build the 4.111 AWD D/R trans using the Legacy parts and my other RX trans just to do it, I dont really have anything to put it in ATM Im using the Outback ring gear as well as the pinion gear, because the gear cut is slightly different from the Legacy ring gear, and I learned from Gloyale's D/R 4.111 thread that just cuz the gears *look* like they will work, doesnt mean they will, so I will just use the gears that are meant to go together. The RX trans I split needs new seals and a lot of good cleaning from sitting outside, with no gear oil, and a lot of water in it. I was kinda hoping to have it built before the Hatch Patrol run, but I doubt that will happen, I will source out a shop to do the welding on the 4.444 pinion on Monday, and talk to my tranny shop about setting up the backlash. I still have to go pull the NA D/R from one of my rigs to source the 1.59 low gears from, I have one that made horrendous noise driving on the road, but the low gears should be fine I have one more thing to consider while its apart though, should I change the stubs to 23 spline or just leave them 25 spline? I plan on putting it in the Beast, so I can always just go buy Turbo axles, but since its apart now, I have the choice..... Also, if you have the cash, having the case split presents the perfect opportunity to swap in a front LSD and I would put one in, but I dont have the cash to drop on one of those. -Bill

It should work fine if you do the X pipe behind the trans, thats how I have it in my '85 Brat. Its best to make the primaries as equal length as possible. -Bill

Its not ground breaking research, I know, but I confirmed the Legacy pinion is an exact fit in the RX pinion gear tube. As for the 4.444's I have, I pulled them from a 96 Auto trans. The Auto pinion shaft is 100% different from the manual pinion shafts, but since Im going to have the pinion gear cut off and welded to the RX pinion shaft it doesnt matter anyway. I saw in a chart somewhere that the Only Subarus in the US that came with 4.444 5-speed trannies were Turbo foresters, and it was only for like 2 years or something like that, like a '00 or '01 or something, I cant remember. These are the ring and pinion from the OB that I pulled last year Here is a shot showing the differences between all 3 pinions, from top to bottom: RX 5 speed, Legacy 5 speed, Outback 4EAT -Bill

Did a little calculating and diggin around, and it looks like the standard N/A 3.9 D/R 5-speed has a final crawl ratio of 22:1, not accounting for the tires. The stock RX trans has a crawl ratio of about 16:1 The RX trans with the 1.59 low gears from a NA D/R and 4.11 final drive has a crawl ratio of about 23.5:1 The RX trans with 1.59 low gears and 4.444 final drive has a crawl ratio of almost 25.5:1 Obviously nothing close to a Toyota or other T-case rig, but I think I'll be having the 4.444 gears welded on now, to get the best ratio I can to offset my big tires. After crunching the numbers, it doesnt look like 4.11 will get me the gains I want, but for anyone running smaller tires, like 27's or 28's, it would probably be enough. From what I have seen taking these trannies apart, you can build a 4.111 D/R AWD with the Legacy front diff, pinion shaft, and center diff, the RX case and gearset, and the N/A D/R low gears (1.59:1). This would be a bolt-together swap, the only mods required would be to clearance the ring gear to clear the low gears. As long as you have a good working Viscous center diff, it would be a very potent combo for offroading on 27's or 28's or even 31's with an EJ. -Bill

Thanks Brian, except that whoever scanned those skipped over Section 3 (the transmission section) and went straight to Section 6. FTMFL. -Bill

Well the Legacy tranny I have does indeed have a Viscous center diff, and it seems to be working But I really want to use the RX locking center diff... Mainly because I want the true, locked 4wd ability. Monday Im gonna start looking for a machine shop in my area that can cut/splice the rear section of the pinion shaft from my RX onto the Legacy pinion shaft, and re-temper the shaft. That way I'll be able to have what I want. Although, now that Im resorting to that, I might just have them cut/splice the 4.444 pinion gear that I pulled from the OB trans onto the RX pinion shaft..... Then I would have the ultimate low gears But I think Ill just have them do the legacy shaft cut/splice for now, if I like it, I might try the 4.444's on my next tranny Pics of the Legacy trans The Viscous center diff Tailsection off The coupler for the Viscous unit The case split Gears removed The input shaft/gears The pinion gearset The pinion gear/shaft The front diff Here is a side-by-side shot of the RX pinion (top) and the Legacy pinion -Bill

No one makes and adapter specifically for the older Subarus anymore. MOMO used to make them, but they dont anymore. However, its not hard to make one. All you need is a torch, a drill press, and a tap and die set, and a welder. Cut the center of a GL steering wheel out of the wheel. Then, using 1/2" plate, make a ring that will be welded onto the cut out steering wheel center. Make sure the ring is big enough in diameter to drill the Grant GT steering wheel bolt pattern into it, and make sure the center hole is big enough to fit a socket over the nut that holds the wheel on. Using the GT wheel as a template, mark the holes in the ring, drill them out, and tap them for the proper hardware. Then weld the ring onto the cutout from the old steering wheel, try hard to get it centered. Voila! Now you can mount your new wheel! -Bill

Aha, so the RX has the longer pinion shaft... Hmmm. Guess I just have to hope the Legacy trans I have has a Viscous center diff (which I doubt), or else I'll be having a machine shop mod mix and match pieces of the 2 pinion shafts. -Bill

Hey guys, I need a FSM for an RX tranny with the center diff lock. Specifically I need torque specs, and what kind of sealant to use on the case and such. If you have one you could sell me or let me borrow, let me know how much you want please. It needs to be for an 87-89 RX. Thanks! -Bill

Just for the record, those wondering if the Altima alternator will fit an EA82: EA82 and EA81 alternators are pretty much the same. They are 100% interchangeable, Ive done it I dont know how many times. The ONLY differences were wether or not the cars had AC or PS, then the pulleys had different spacing and/or multiple V-belt grooves. So Yes, this mod will work on an EA82 just fine, you just might need a different spacer for the pulley to make the grooves line up perfectly. -Bill

Hey ya'll, well, Ive finally started my little project of trying to stuff 4.11 gears into an RX trans, along with the 1.59:1 low range gears from a 3.9 D/R tranny (vs. the 1.2:1 gears from the RX). The goal of this build it to get the lower, close-ratio gearset of the RX trans, plus the much lower final drive of the Legacy trans (4.11 vs. 3.70) and the lower low range, all to be able to turn my 31's better than with the standard 3.9 d/r I have now. Hopefully it will get me back close to stock gearing and an acceptable gearing for off-roading with the big tires. From what I have read here, the Legacy 5 speeds use a similar setup to the RX, which is a pinion shaft inside a tube which has half the gearset on it, so theoretically the pinion and ring gear should swap (actually the entire front diff for that matter). The trick is to get the locking RX center diff to work with the Legacy pinion shaft, as Ive heard the legacy shaft is a good bit longer than the RX shaft. Ive begun taking apart one of my RX trannies tonight, and although I was quite dissapointed when I poured rust colored water out of it :-\ the bearings all look to be ok. There is a lot of rust on other parts though, but if I cant salvage this tranny I have the one from my old RX that I know is a good trans. Ill be going back out to drain the fluid out of the Legacy trans after I post this, but now, for your viewing pleasure, pics of the insides of an RX trans! The tailhousing off Inside the tailhousing The locking center diff mechanism The inside of the main trans body The other half of the case pulled the gears out the pinion gearset the pinion shaft/gear the input shaft/gears I also dicovered the speedometer gear is siezed. Unfortunately, I rotated the tranny input not knowing this, and it stripped it (being plastic and all, it didnt take much) so if anyone has an extra layin around, I could sure use it, although I dont need it as the speedo will likely be so far off with my 31" tires that I'd be better off judging speed by RPM's anyway. -Bill

Holy 5 year old thread Batman -Bill

I knew you'd be in Earl Who's next? -Bill