The Beast I Drive

Ive never had a problem with GL/Loyale series hubs being weak at all, in fact Ive seen several that were re-drilled with 3 bolt patternes in them and were used off-road with no issues... As for the bolt coming loose, did you torque it to the required specs when you installed the new axle, and did you re-torque it after a couple hundred miles? Also, did you install the cotter pin to keep it from loosening? Ive done plenty of axle swaps and have never had this problem... The only rig that I ever saw that problem with was my black Brat when I bought it, but I believe that was because someone was driving it in 4wd on the street thinking it was AWD :-\... Anyway, proper torque, re-torque, and cotter pins are important... -Bill

I had a thought when I was thinking of how to build my Carbed EJ25 that you could possibly trick the ECU into igniting the coilpacks at the right time but still run the carb... But to me that would still defeat the purpose of swapping to carbed, becasue of the wiring it would entail and you would still have a few sensors. If there was some kind of "switch" or something you could set up that could control the coil packs like the ECU using some kind of RPM signal then you would just need a crank angle sensor of some kind and that switch unit to run the coils, and it would all be solid-state electronics that way... -Bill

Im running 31-10.50 R15 Maxxis BigHorns on 15x7 Toyota wheels with a 6-ish inch lift. Power is a bit lacking in the top-end, but it still gets up to 80 at see level. A little big for crawling, but man I can go over things I did a good bit of cutting and bashing in the front, really only needed to do some hammer work in the back but I got crazy with the sawzall instead... Bad Idea. -Bill

You will need to use whatever lugs are supposed to be used on those alloys, using the tapered seat lugs on wheels that need Mag lugs is an absolute NO-NO. Shouldnt the Toyota thread pitch be the same as the Subaru studs? idk, It would just make sense to me, being as how they are both Japanese... -Bill

Andy's rig is more of a "poser" rig, for lack of my ambition to think of a better word Its pretty much a street beast. I think the most hard-core wheeling it will ever see with him as the owner would be a B-grade service road.... No offence Andy, but we all know you baby that thing.... When I looked at it It looked like the answer lies in either new endlinks, relocating the bar's position to the mounts on the car, or a combo of both. OR, we could attempt to make brackets to adapt an EA81 unit to fit, so it would mount to the radius rods instead of the trailing arms... But it prolly wouldnt give you *quite* the handling you are looking for... -Bill

I just got the Beast in the shop minutes ago, will begin prepping it for the trip tomorrow! 5 major that must be done: 1. Replace bad motor with the JDM I have on the floor 2. Replace the bent up and broken exhaust with a new, tucked-up design with an X-pipe 3. Replace the rear wheel bearings 4. Convert my RX's LSD to 3.9 and install 5. Replace all 4 axles If I have time I might clean it up a bit, but this will make it trail worthy. So far my list of spare parts is -extra axles (front and rear) -Diff stubs -bailing wire -Duct tape -tool set -come-along -Maybe a distributor, if I can find/build a good one in time. Shouldnt need an extra though... -Maybe some extra ball joints, I think I have an extra pair... Im excited, I'm finally gonna get to play on the big boy trails with all the other Washington sube wheelers! -Bill

You could always swap in some Delta camshafts, they aren't that expensive and its not much harder than changing a timing belt to do it... Might see about 30 hp gained from it depending on the grind and fuel map... But thats pure speculation on my part -Bill

Thats an EA82 steel wheel, You can tell by the raised ring that the bolt holes are drilled into and the soft indents(as opposed to a hard, clearly visible line) around the spokes/holes. it will fit any 4 on 140mm Subaru hubs, except the rear wheels on gen 1 cars, it will scrape the control arm... No rubbing issues with any front calipers though. -Bill

The way I see it, either way there will have to be some wiring. To use the EJ cruise, I think you have to have a ECU that came with cruise? Im not sure, but I know the EJ CC plugs into the ECU for a signal. With the EA81 cruise attachment point being the gas pedal, you would not need the second throttle cable that the EJ cc uses, so it would look cleaner under the hood, but you would still need some kind of RPM signal from somewhere for the computer to work... I sold mine because even though it is nice to have, I just didnt need it... But if you can make it work, more power to ya! -Bill

what I had was dealer installed, not factory, but yeah, it should work with the EJ, nothing bolts to the engine. The only problem I see is the computer uses some kind of signal from the coil or tachometer, so some funky wiring might have to be done to make it work. I dont have this setup anymore, I sold it to a guy when I started building my Hatch into a mud rig... -Bill

It probably was the kit designed for the EA82 cars, but it had all the mounts to fit the EA81 Hatch... None of the mounting brackets fit any of my EA82 wagons... Also, the parts in the kit didnt match any of the parts on my Mom's 86 Wagon dealer-installed cruise setup... Anyway if you want cruise control I guess the bolt-on solution is find an 85+ EA81 car like a hatch or a Brat that has the dealer installed unit... -Bill

Its definitely an 86.... Interesting, Hopefully they will sell it to you cheap, would be a good rig to play around with after you ditch the turbo EA82... -Bill

The EA81 cruise control steup I had in my Hatch was actually pretty neat and compact, but it was a dealer-installed unit and the Hatch was an 86... It was just a vacuum ball under the hood by the relays, and a computer under the dash with a vacuum can with a chain that hooked to the gas pedal... No dual throttle cables or huge bulky boxes anywhere... -Bill

Ok, one thing I havent been able to figure out is how do you remove the end of the crank that the flywheel bolts on to? I can't figure it out, is it pressed on? I would like to think I could remove it while its still on the car, If I could it would make changing cams a million times easier.... I tried removing one from a post 80 EA71 block, but all I managed to do was mess up my puller.... -Bill

Well, you drain the fluid first, and make sure you have new fluid to put in when you put the cover back on... -Bill

Looks like a pair of stock EA82 electric fans, one turned on its side. With the EZ30 being so much shorter than the other H6s, you might be able to get away with moving the fans to the front of the radiator for the clearance... Assuming you don't have an AC condenser in the way... -Bill

I don't think those will work quite right, they look to have the standard 60 degree tapered seat, the pug lugs have like a 2 piece ball seat, they are kinda wierd, I had 8 at one point, but I sold them... Check this thread, it has the info about the adaptors and other info http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49131 -Bill

I say EA81 swap as well... Cheap, simple, reliable, easy swap. -Bill

Ive never been a fan of white cars, but this one has "the look" NAILED!! Absolutey beautiful, worth 16g easy now The dark charcoal split spoke 15" pugs really set of the pure white paint and the camo graphics just set it a notch above perfect As for the lugnuts, I remember there being a Pug lugnut sticky in the wanted section I think, and I believe someone found some little adaptor washers that have the ball seat like the pug lugnuts, so you can use any Mag lugnuts with the right thread pitch.... -Bill

Is there any way you could check to see if it has the 4.111 diff ratio? The early 4wds had 4.111.... Also, if it has the U-joint/slip-yoke style rear axles, Id like to know how much it would be for the trans, rear diff, axles, and rear wheel stub shafts. Thanks! -Bill

Like, engine blown, or fireball like mine? -Bill

Im a definite in, and Im bringin a buddy -Bill

Gen 1 Brats do not have the same torsion tube unit that the Gen 2s have, they are independent bars and are not connected like the Gen 2s. Gen 1 Brats have no factory height adjustments on the rear suspension at all, so if you want to lower them you must reclock the torsion bars or disable them and make custom mounts for coilovers. -Bill

Trust me, your Brat does NOT have rear struts. Those are shocks. Ive owned 7 Gen 1 Brats and a 76 4wd wagon, and have had these suspensions completely apart. There are 2 independent torsion bar assemblies in the rear, one on each side. What you are saying is a strut is a shock, someone may have put a coilover on it but the rear suspension of Gen 1 Brats is the independent torsion bars. Now, these are NOT height adjustable like the Gen 2 Brat torsion tube assembly, so the only way to lower the rig in the rear is to re-clock the bars, which entails removing the bolt that secures them in the tubes, pulling the bar out until the splines disengage, then rotating them in the direction you want to get the desired ride height. My 4wd wagon was lifted using this method, but like I said, it made the camber goofy so the inside mount was shimmed to correct it. -Bill

Damn you and your superbly inexpensive 2" lifting mechanisms!!!!! Looks great man -Bill