The Beast I Drive

does it crank faster than it should? you might have a broken timing belt, or the belt may have jumped a tooth. Are you sure you have the wires on the right plugs? are you positive you had it set at 0 tdc on compression? If its at 0 tdc on the exhaust stroke it wont work. -Bill

If there is no ridge or bump or scoring, Id say its ok -Bill

Damn, why does everyone have electric windows I need the parts for the rig Im building, it started out as 3AT 4wd car with power windows (imagine that ) and Ive converted it to D/R and want manual windows, the power ones are too slow. And I want a Loyal hatch cuz I want to replace the rear window with Plexiglass but I dont want all the holes from the old trim. I just got an 87 wagon, but the interior is too nice to take the doors off it, although I did need to steal the guage cluster for my project, Im hoping to get that replaced eventually, maybe make a decent EJ22 swapped rig out of it. On another note, what all is wrong with your GF's car? Is it in decent shape? Tranny still good? -Bill

Right now I need a parts car, with manual windows. I also need a DL or Loyal rear hatch, the one with the rubber window gasket not the glue-in kind. Whatcha got? -Bill

If you decide to sell your GF's car, let me know, I need another EA82 car... -Bill

we never got EJ dual range trannies here in the U.S., so we dont really have the same options some of yo Aussies have. AFAIK, there is only 1 EJ dual range that ever got imported here, and it sold not too long ago and I know not who owns it. So EA guts in EJ D/R is a no-go for us in the states. -Bill

Believe it or not it handles wonderously with the rear jacked up, but with the stock Premier style alloys the car understeered horribly, like on dry pavement the car would act like it was on snow, but a big part of that was the old narrow tires. Now with these wheels and tires on, when i turn the wheel, the car goes where its pointed, no questions asked The Calmasters push the wheels and tires out to just about flush with the body lines, the new wheels I ordered will prolly push them outside the body just a wee bit, but that is better for stability, and the "wrong" fitment look has kind of grown on me I read somewhere on here about SJR building a dune buggy that had a 3.7 front diff and 3.9 rear diff, and he ran 2 different size tires to offset the diffs, and it seemed to work great. I am toying with the idea, I must admit seeing Subaruguru's hatchback with 31" slicks in the rear was pretty awesome :grin:and if I were to run a solid axle in the back that has aftermarket support, I could get just about any gears I would need to offset different tires, Right now Im collecting parts for my dual weber IDF carbed 2.5/2.2 Hybrid motor, and that swap will com when I have the money/time/space, and eventually, like when they get more affordable, I'd like to swap in an STi 6 speed tranny and matching rear diff, but for now the stock tranny should do the job. -Bill

Ive thought about it, but Ive heard the horror stories of what happens when the trans gives up If i were to mod like say a Nissan or other RWD tranny to fit the engine, then it could be pretty fun... But I LOVE my AWD in the snow and ice -Bill

I lifted the rear end 4" with 3.5" blocks on the frame and 4" on the diff and springs. The rear was lower than the front when I got it, and I like my cars lifted in the rear -Bill

Honestly, when this rig is done, it needs to be the background of the USMB home page -Bill

Here's some pics with my temporary set of wheels, I ordered a set of 14" six-lug Ultra solid aluminum racing wheels from Les Schwab and they will be here on the 21st, but I wont have tires for them for a while Im thinkin 235-60 R14 for tires when the time comes But for now these 185-60 R13s are a big improvement over the 175-70's that were on it, and the lower offset of the Calmasters helped my handling tremendously, putting these on made a night and day difference. I thought they would look kinda dumb cuz they looked kinda dumb on my Mom's wagon, but they actually seem to look right at home on my ride This is what I ordered, but in 6 lug, and 14" rim size -Bill

Definitely plannin on makin this one, not quite sure what Ill be drivin, but Ill be there -Bill

You should be fine with the tires you are lookin for, or even some 28"s. just a thought, I cruised through most of Oregon at about 80mph in my 6" lifted wagon running with 31" tires and a worn out EA81 doin the work -Bill

lol yes the American Subaru petting zoo lol. I just have a problem with buying cars, specifically Subarus, I cant stop! -Bill

Holy Cow dude that thing is BAD rump roast!!!! -Bill

Thanks guys! Yeah, the shifter is rather sloppy, but it doesnt grind!!!! Im gonna fix the slop and drive it with the 4 speed for now. The front 2 wheels are EA81 wagon spokes with 185/80 tires, the pass. side rear is a Les Schwab special with same tire as the front, but the drivers side rear is a stock steelie with a 175/70 tire on it :-\ so before I replace the front hubs I will make sure i have a full set of tires of the same size The projector lights I gave to my buddy, I know 1 of them worked, dunno about the other one though. The Brat is gonna get lifted in the future, 6 inches fo sho, gonna leave it the color it is though cuz I love it, but I might put orange Halo decals and pinstriped on it to set it apart from the crowd The wagon, well its just gonna sit for now.... Needs a new motor (or at least a head gasket) and possibly a new tranny (the D/R in it has more slop than the 4 speed in the brat and it makes a loud whining/grinding sound) but its too complete and the body is too nice to part it out. Oh, that pair brings my count to 14 I believe, Ill have to count them again -Bill

Well not too long ago I went to Idaho and picked up this wagon and Brat. I cant say I am really happy with the wagon, it turned out to be in not as good a shape mechanically as I had hoped, but it has a nice interior and a good body. The Brat is beat to hell and with 2 stripped front hubs, but It made the drive from Pullman to Toppenish with minimal issues, just had to fix a stuck secondary on the way home. The plan was to drive the wagon and trailer the Brat because of the hubs, but there was no way that was happening with the way the wagon was (not)performing. Incredibly, the Brat tranny (stock 4 spd D/R) although sloppy as all get out still shifts into every gear with NO GRINDING!!!!! Overall I am satisfied with my purchase, not sure what Im gonna do with the wagon yet, but the Brat is gonna get lifted 6" after I get a couple other rigs done and be mainly an off roader. Pics! -Bill

direct bolt in, just need all the turbo related components from the donor car and the ECU and harness to make it work. Most people would say "just EJ it, you wont be happy with the EA82T", and they are prolly right, BUT if its what you wanna do i say go for it! -Bill

The EA81 and EA82 Mustache bars arent the same, they have different curvatures and such, and as Chux said different lengths, but if youre using them for a custom application like your lifted wagon, I see no reason you couldnt make it work, just a matter of cutting and welding zzz:Flame: -Bill

If you know what you are doing you wont be building a POS. Some people actually DO have good fabrication skills and take pride in knowing they BUILT their rig, not BOUGHT a bunch of bolt on parts. -Bill

Id be in for both shows -Bill

Prolly wont be working on it for a while though, gotta finish up my current project (this one actually will be driving out instead of rolling out of my shop), and I still need to make a lot of parts for a lot of people... -Bill

Holy crap, 202 you just reminded me that I do in fact have an EJ trans bellhousing and several useless EA81 4 speed trannies and access to 1/2" plate! Time to make EJ adaptors for a couple of my rigs...... -Bill

Dude, I have Edelbrock stickers on all my soobs.... I did have an Edelbrock air cleaner on the Beast for a while, but it wont fit on the Weber cuz I dont have the round filter adaptor... Oh, I learned the hard way that you really want to take the sway bar completely off otherwise it will dangle and get in the way of your steering stuff, and still hinder your flex a bit. I got lazy though and just cut the ends off right by the mounts with a 6" cutoff wheel on a grinder -Bill