renob123

That seems pretty high. You could probably save your coworker a lot of money by dragging the car to GeneralDisorder in Portland and having him do the work. You can PM edrach on the board here as well. He has a decent mechanic in the area. Both SMART and AWD are pretty respectable shops in the area, though. Jacob

It's about as low as the crossmembers or rear diff or so. It's not that bad. Jacob

You are correct with the spring perch placement. RX springs will give you a lift. 2WD struts will put it back to normal. Turbo Brat springs are just as stiff, but they won't lift the front. You may not notice the wheel hop as easily as I did, but it's there. I'm not sure about different rear torsion bar rates, but I know on my stock 4WD bar with a Whiteline rear sway, hitting bumps sideways gets a little hairy. I was going to make the rear stiffer, but there was a safety concern. Jacob

I've always felt that strut tower bars were for suckers, but with an EJed Brat, I'm considering them pretty seriously now. The frame definitely flexes under the power of my current engine. I'm interested to hear about your impressions if you beat me to it. I'd do swaybars first, then strut tower bars. The way I see it, the strut tower bar wouldn't be that noticeable with all of the roll from a weak front swaybar. Once you step up the front swaybar, then you may notice the effects of a strut tower bar. I know you're considering this because of what you have lying around, but you could consider either springs from a Turbo Brat or 2WD front struts with RX springs. I'm running the latter. Stiffer springs are certainly a step up from just a front swaybar. Jacob

I'd go for a few 2-day events if they can pull that off. It would be about 14 or so hours round trip, so I'd prefer to get more than a whopping 10 minutes of seat time. Jacob

This is the type most people use: http://www.customtacos.com/tech/files/spring7.jpg People don't do it in the car because of the way our strut assembly is put together. Once you go through the work to take it out of the car, you'll understand what I mean. Jacob

If you read further, you'll find that most of us prefer to leave the brake line untouched and just cut a little bit out of the strut's brake line mount. That way you can remove the strut without having to bleed. Don't bother with the on-car type spring compressor. Those are for a different setup. You'll be fine with the kind that you use when the strut assembly is removed from the car. Jacob

I believe they do, and I had not thought of that. Thanks for the idea. Jacob

What's this "rust" you speak of? I suppose it could be leaking out of the front right or left rear lines, and when I activate the hill holder, it blocks off those lines and makes the pedal feel good again. Am I thinking about it right? Right, so far I've been bleeding on level ground or with the front up. I wonder if air is getting stuck behind the ball that way. I'm not sure if that's possible or not. Jacob

Thanks, but I have used that style as well. I'd like to reiterate that I'm not looking for a bunch of different bleeding methods. I want to know how the hill holder comes into play. Jacob

I like your logic. However, on USDM Brats, the hill holder uses one front and one rear brake. If you think about the criss-cross setup, then you'll realize it can't lock up both rears without locking both fronts, and we all know that the hill holder only affects one of the two circuits. You have me wondering, though, if maybe I should bleed with the car facing downhill. That way the little ball in the hill holder would be out of the way. Does that make sense, or is that backwards? Jacob

It works with the hill holder activated. I've never even thought of removing it. I actually borrowed one and did it that way as well. I'm trying to find out what the hill holder has to do with the braking feel. Jacob

Oh, and yes, I did that bleed order and the Criss-Cross one as well. Jacob

I've been through 3 master cylinders, including one I rebuilt myself (like that matters:)). I'm going to replace the soft lines at some point. The thing that confuses me right now is how the hill holder makes the brakes feel good. If air is stuck in there, how do I get it out? If it's a leak, why does the hill holder fix it? I need someone to think about this for me. Or a large internet community to brainstorm with me. Thanks. Jacob

This is coming up on my '85 Brat: If I had to guess, I'd say I've bled each corner and both bleeders on the master cylinder 20 times each, using various methods. The brakes still feel like they have air in them. The weird thing is that when I use the hill holder, I can pump the brakes a couple times, and they become rock solid just like they should all the time. I'm not sure how the hill holder affects air in the system, but I'd like to hear some ideas on what's going on. Is air getting stuck in the check valve or something? Thanks. Jacob

Yeah. When I ran that type of setup, I used an XT6 clutch kit from the dealer. I had mixed results with aftermarket offerings. After a few different setups, I opted to pay the extra money for the proper fitment/function. YMMV. Jacob

2.25" pipe is widely considered the magic number for exhaust diameter. That's what I'm running. They changed exhaust somewhere in the mid '90s. The newer setup is easier to fit. If you search for threads on headers here and on NASIOC, you'll see what I mean. I'm not sure if anyone can help with the clutch question until you describe your entire setup. Jacob

For those keeping score at home, for a routine head gasket job, GD is probably right (as he usually is). However, Cometic does make a special Frankenmotor MLS gasket that people have been running with minimal issues so far. Jacob

Some people run 87 octane on them just fine. A lot of those people are in higher elevation areas where they can get away with it. A few people at sea level do it as well, but I'm not sure if they've run into any problems. I can list a bunch of tired old sayings about the inverse relationship between money and horsepower, but I hope you already know all of them. If you're really that worried about using the fancy gas, then you really shouldn't be exploring high compression pistons or Frankenmotors or anything. I doubt raising the compression a little bit so you can still run cheap gas would be worth it or even noticeable. Not trying to flame or anything. I'm just trying to put things into perspective. Jacob

No, you don't need a new knuckle unless you really screwed yours up with the hammer. And I mean really screwed yours up. I have no idea what labor for Subarus is like in your area, so I don't even want to speculate. Some board members on here would probably charge an hour or so for labor for that. Les Schwab in SLC may charge 6 hours plus some unnecessary/overpriced parts if they'll even do it at all. Sorry I can't guess any further than that. I suppose you could ship it to a board member or something creative like that, or you can try again, asking questions BEFORE you hit it with a hammer. You should remove the bearings, put new ones in, then draw the axle through. Last time I did it, I used two pry bars and pretty much followed the procedures on this website in the Ultimate Subaru Repair Manual. Jacob

That'll ruin the bearings. I know firsthand. It seemed fine for a while, but then they started screaming. Jacob

I believe Phase 2 2.2s are all single-port, so you're stuck with your stock header, which isn't the end of the world, but it matters some. The consensus on NABISCO is that pistons are the best way to increase compression on a 2.2 block. With that level of disassembly, however, you're at a point where you might as well pick up a 2.5 block and benefit from greater displacement and higher compression. From a cost perspective, the 2.5 block would probably be less than the high compression pistons. I hope that helped. Jacob

If you're talking about the vac advance diaphragm, this worked well for me: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=839891&postcount=12 Jacob

Make sure to read the thread over on http://www.nasioc.com entitled "High Compression Frankenstein". It will give you a ton of information. I love mine. As for which block is "better", that depends on a number of things. Sometimes the best block is the one you can get for free:) The Phase II is considered more reliable, while where I live, the Phase I is less expensive. I don't know how common Subaru blocks are in Slovenia, but I know a Frankenmotor with cams would be very fun in the hills near Bled. Jacob

You owe board members money, and you're asking board members about a somewhat expensive project? If you can't pay, then fine, but don't go spending craploads right in front of us. Jacob