Gloyale

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=103080&highlight=Brat+lift+huge Well.....it's an old thread......and I was confusing his lift and wheel size (doh!) it's a 10" lift......and after looking again, he aparently didn't do angled blocks and has worse camber than you! But he fixes it later in the thread. Great pics of what to do. At any rate, other than the fact you've already made the bottom extensions, why would you not want to use strut tops? Made well they should be plenty strong, and you can get rid of ALL that + camber with a 16 Degree cut on the tube. I could sell you some pre-cut and drilled triangle plates for the top and bottom pieces.....drilled and ready to add the tube, any length you decide.

This is why I'll never use a 90,91 harness and ECU for an EJ swap EVER again. Stupid differences in MAF, IAC, and injectors (injector difference is irrelavant, they all work if you have the correct fuel rail) And if the IAC throws a code, it cuts the #1 injector to control idle......stupid. So here's the deal. Leave it as an auto, as in leave the "auto" pin grounded (b48 pin 20) Then trick it into thinking it's always in park. Ground the Park pin (b58 pin 9, Blue w/Orange stripe) Make sure the neutral pin is NOT grounded (b58 pin 10, Light Green w/Yellow stripe) This is what all the VW and sandrail guys do when they use early auto ECUs. Set up this way it should not have any codes or high idle issues. Had to do this for a fix on an EJ22 swapped Vanagon. Alternately, you could try to "reconfigure" it as a manual ECU, but you will need to swap MAF and IAC, cut the ground wire to "AT/MT wire (b48 pin 20) Now the issue is you need a neutral switch which the brat trans doesn't have......some have used a cruise control switch on the clutch......never personally went that route but may work. I did the tricked into "park" all the time on the auto ECU in mine.....works great.

The rollers will bolt onto earlier heads (all the IMP 1.8s had them) I agree with your combo with one difference, I would use the 96-98 OBD II engine managment. (95 would also work but is a "one year only" ECU pin arrangemnet) The OBD II harness is all one, (instead of the weird SMJ, two part harness) and if you keep the OBD II connector you can use a standard scanner on it for easy diagnosis. Plus I think the Fuel maps and overall power potential is higher. So here's my combo Phase I or Phase II 2.5 shortblock 95-98 single port EJ22 heads any 90-98 EJ22 manifold 96-98 ECU and wiring harness

BFH There is a guy somewhere in South America who did a 16" lift on a brat, with strut tops. There is a way.

Man you are making this hard....... But check out the part in red....... If you set the angle of your Strut Top Block to match the mounting plate in the vehicle then the TOPS NEVER MOVE OUT............Strut top mounts go exactly straight down, they stay the same width apart from eachother, and if the crossmember drop is equal, nothing in the triangle changes. The angle is 17 degrees for an EA82.......no matter what height. the only reason this poster and anyone else EVER has issues with camber is when they simply extend the strut length, via extending the bottom, or using top blocks with no angle. In this case the former.

Most of the yard here crush EA cars within a week of getting them.....and they don't get many anymore. And any they do have are full of worn out parts. ON teh other hand, they've got Forresters, Imprezas, legacies and outbacks by the dozens.....all of which have compatible brakes, hubs, axles, struts, and wheels. Bigger better brakes are almost a must on a lifted rig with big tires. tiny EA drums suck at quick stops.

No, the rear overhang of the Impreza is much shorter

You don't get it. You're not accounting for the fact that the subframe drops equally to the blocks. If done right, there is NO CHANGE to the arm relative to the subframe. When you cut blocks for a lift kit, it DOESN"T matter how big you go on the lift. You match the angle of the mounting plate in the car relative to vertical. IF you match that angle, the tube will sit excactly vertical, and the geometry doens't change. 2 inch or 12 inch or 20 inch. Angle stays the same. 16 degrees for EJ (Legacy, Imp, Forrester) 17 degrees for EA82 14 degrees for EA81 22 Degrees for EA71

It's not that easy. you need a P/T D/R EA case and upper shaft, a FT4wd EA box for a set of gears that will fit, and a 4.11 AWD for the lower shaft. Various shift forks need swapped, and the 4.11 ring gear needs to be "clearanced" to not hit the D/R shift collar. Pretty complicated and takes alot of $ for donor parts trannies.

You'll hate them in the mud. Go with the bighorns. Great in snow and mud, and they wear pretty well, and are reasonably quite for a Mud Tire.

Yeah, you can get em for 200 because they are all breaking down. Hubs stripping, rear wheel bearings going out, center driveline u-joints. And I know for a fact that Impreza parts are ussually in stock, easier to get at any of the local auto parts stortes (almost all the enigne and drivetrain stuff is the same as Legacy) In contrast.....getting anything, even brakes, for a GL is becoming hard....espescially for quality parts that won't break right away. To me, the seller is the 5 lug wheels, better brkaes, and better axles. Uhh......bumper skins maybe......otherwise, the Impreza is a way stronger platform. I've wheeled my GL with my brothers Legacy. Even with twice the lift on my GL, he goes everywhere I do with ease. The Imp is the same platform as the legacy with a few inches shorter wheelbase, so I'm sure it will rock. The rear suspension espescially is FAR superioir on the EJ chassis.

I don't know, seems like there is more likelyhood of problems on the older car. I kinda see GLs as having MORE to go wrong at this point......with harder to get parts. No way.....OBS is the same or shorter WB, and has a shorter rear overhang.......take off the front bumper and the OBS now has BETTER approach and departure Fair enough....although I'm seeing some pretty cheap Imprezas these days. I make a kit for this car....."on the shelf" right now....PM me. Lot's of Imps have crank windows. True, but the Imp has an EJ in it already. Swapping the D/R is way less wiring...just a bit extra Fab work for Crossmember, Driveline, etc. Just my $.02

It's easy to tell if it's intkae noise, because it's thorttle related. The whistle will come on a somewhat lower RPMS, if the throttle is wide open and the engine load is high. And right at the point where it begins to whistle, if you dip your foot out of the accelerator, noise goes away, but with a blip back into the throttle, the noise comes back. PS noises I would not think to be affected by throttle and load.

Might have gotten tugged when the Alarm System was installed, or when it was removed......it certainly had to be connected to those wires somehow.

Sounds like the check valve isn't working, and the Pickup tube is going dry on startups. Perhaps the Rebuilder didn't use the right o-ring on the pickup tube? Could just be a Shiety oil filter though too. Or possibly as was suggested the bearing clearnace may be excessive.....this would also explain noises, and shavings. I say you should pull the pan, and inspect the pickup tube. Also look for any signs of bearing failure. Change the oil and use a good Wix, NApa gold, or Subaru filter.

You removed the Intake boot between the Airbox and the throttle body when you did the seperator plate right? Well, it's whistling now from how it's reinstalled. You need to either bed it a bit more, or a bit less. The ridges in that boot act like the ridges in a Elk or Moose call. When you put enough air through it, it whistles. I've seen it on lots of Legacies and Outbacks. We call it the "ghost turbo" whistle. nothing to worry about.....if you don't like it, loosen the clamps on that boot and put a bit more bend in it, or if it's bending now....stragihten it....just move it out of that "sweet spot" where the whistling happens

How much lift are we talking? GL is easier to lift, lighter, swapping in an EJ is pretty easy too. But the IMP suspension is superior for upgrades, wheels, brakes etc...And the rear axles are way better. But putting a D/R in one isn't excactly easy.....and you need a lengthed driveline, custom shifter......Oh and front axles from a 93-94 FWD Imp. (or split the d/r case and put 25 spline stubs in it, that's what we did for the D/R in the Legacy) I'd say cost not a factor, the Imp OBS would be the way to go. Cost a factor.....GL wins hands down. (you will probably have to buy an old GL anyhow for the D/R 5spd, LOL)

??? You are possitive? cause lower gearing and larger tires is what I thought made them "outbacks" and not just a 2-tone painted impreza.

14" These are what you want, they have the best offset to fit in a subaru wheel well without sticking out. 88-91? Toyota PU

In addition to those differences, the electronics of the Phase II trans are different. (2 VSS in trans, and a "torque sensor") So are the overall lengths, Phase II is about 3 inches shorter. They cannot be interchanged.

97 OBS should be an EJ22 with a 4.11 ratio trans? 90's Outback will an EJ25 but will also be a 4.11 ratio trans. So.....I don't see where swapping anything in that combo would beneifit other than a few ponies from the EJ25. Now, with the 3.9 EA D/R, you would have a taller final drive, but the gears themselves are lower and closer toghether. So it would work out fine, and with the low range you'd have the torque when you need it.

I assume you mean subframe blocks relative to Strut extension? yes, 1 inch will give slightly better camber with your extensions, but doesn't solve it. See, what you've done is extend the length of 2 sides of a triangle. This changes ALL the geometry. Without lengthening the third side, the angle that the angles must change. This is potentially is putting a massive side load to the outside on the stuts and mounts. The new angles don't match the cast angle in the knuckle. I could see the strut buckling under, espescially if wheeling. What should be done with a lift, is to drop the entire triangle, unmodified by the amount of the lift you want. This is why making a block that moves the upper mount directly, vertically down, and blocking the subframe the same amount, maintains the original geometry. This is all theoretical really.....there may well be board members who have done 6" bottom extension without issue. they may want to chime in.

NOPE. The angle of the mounting in the body of the car is fixed. Why would there be a variation on angle? so on a 10" lift I'd need 75 degrees? think about that one. No, The angle stays the same, 1 inch or 20. and it really needs to be 16-18 degrees for a standard "top" lift Now, Subi4x4, if you wnat to keep 3 inches of lower extension, and build 3" tops, I would suggest an even more serious angle, perhaps 22-24 degrees......this means you wil have some BFH work to do on the inner towers. Honestly, though, I'd just make some true 6 inch tops, with correct angle (16-18) degrees

FWD fivespeeds are totally different. Shift rod in a different spot in the case. You can't just put a FWD cap on the end of the 4wd Trans. The lower shaft is way to long.

9mm toe out means somethings broken