Numbchux

The EA82 engine is, by far, the worst engine subaru has ever made. That being said, in the grand scheme of things, it's still a pretty darn good motor. but you can't beat the cost, power, and reliability upgrade of an early EJ22e. it's really not an expensive swap, and for the money you save in the long run by having a substantially more reliable car, I don't know why you wouldn't do it. when you're talking about just repairing, and getting tons of miles out of your STOCK EA82, I would very rarely suggest a swap. it's a big project. but if you're talking about performance at all, there's no question. when a stock non-turbo EJ22e gets the same power as a stock EA82t.......with a billion times the aftermarket support and reliability.......huh

here's where I saw the information I was referring to..... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=74340

alright......ver. 2.0 here's the '99 miata shocks, with their stock rubber bushing, the EA82 upper mount/spring perch, and these GC springs. stock miata bushing, minus upper mount/perch. put a spring under it, the EA82 perch to replace the lower washer, than the EA82 bracket between the bushings: these springs are way too long. Had to really crank on the spring compressors to get the tops on. less than ideal but I gotta have this thing back on the road tomorrow!

the problem is, the bracket on the strut that attaches to the knuckle actually extends inside the rim, so if you make an extension that attaches the lower hole on the strut to the upper hole on the knuckle, the upper part of the bracket will hit the rim. IIRC, SJR tried it.

if they're not loose or noisy to the touch, they're probably not entirely shot. so you could pretty easily just pull them apart, clean out all the old grease and any dirt/grime that may be in there, and repack them with some fresh grease and be good to go. while driving around, see if you can't narrow down which corner the noise is coming from.

nope, the ones I've been using are '90 Rears. only difference between fronts and rears are the length. the short distance between that ring and the end of the shock is the reason the rubber bushing can't be used.... the ones I will be replacing them with are '99 (different design, these use a rubber bushing in the upper mounts like the EA82s) fronts with 250lb/in springs instead of 450 lb/in springs that I've been running.

your trans is a 3.7?! huh......alright. but yes, that pretty well covers it. it really is that easy. before you start, take a peek under the legacy and see if it's got the spring pins like the EA82 axles. if the pins are there, then it'll be easier. some cars (pretty sure that didn't start till after ~'95ish) don't have separable stubs, and won't have the springpins at all.

I'll be in for a repro sticker. as the sticker has fallen off of my car. if you'd like, the image that I posted from the FSM is scaled down substantially. I can send you a higher resolution version which might be a much better start.

depending what year legacy (???), it probably has stub axles that remove from the DOJ cups much like the EA82 ones. once those are removed, the legacy DOJ cups will attach to the EA82 stubs just like stock. also, pretty slim chance (if any....) that your legacy uses a 3.7 axle ratio. if you're going to put an EA82 LSD into it, you're going to be doing some gear work

and the bellhousing size issue is on the tranny side, not the engine side (well, maybe on the engine side as well......). the tranny bellhousing is smaller on an EA tranny than an EJ one

yea, with the arc'ed travel of the trailing arm, the lower shock mount needs to be able to move forward/backward in reference to the upper mount. I loosened the upper mounts a bit, and pointed the bottom of the shock a bit further forward before tightening it. And I'm pretty sure I got more out of it that WJM did (I'll see if I can find his pm......). but I got a healthy 15k miles before this one failed, and there are zero signs of cracking or anything on the other side. also, it occurred to me while I was at work tonight (delivering in my girlfriend's '96 OBW.......how luxurious ) that the side that failed, was the side that I was having trouble getting those bolts to torque down all the way. I was having a hell of a time getting the bolt on the rear-most side of that bracket tight enough. so it's possible it wasn't supported sufficiently. well, I've got these miata shocks from a '99 that will allow me to run a bushing on the top. so I'll try those next.

UPDATE!!!! I only have a few minutes before I have to leave for work. but.....just as WJM warned......I had a shock break last night. I had been monitoring them rather closely, looking for stress cracks or anything, and they appeared to be in good shape. but last night while I was delivering, I suddenly noticed a rather severe clunking sound coming from the rear. and it seemed to get very bouncy today I jacked it up, and sure enough, the top of the shock rod snapped off. Good thing I've got another set of suspension to go in there........oh wait, the shock mounts that I bought from subaruguru aren't supposed to get here until Thursday.......

the starters are in the same place. on the side of the bellhousing, but not the same distance from the input shaft (different diameter flywheel). the disc itself is the same as EJ stuff.....that's for sure. but the flywheel, pressure plate, and throwout bearing are all different. a good machine shop could probably lighten an XT6 flywheel quite a bit. some carefully drilled holes around the outer edge would really effect how quickly/easily the engine revs. and Spec makes numerous aftermarket clutch kit options.

subaru XT6. any year. they were made from '87-'92 I believe. they are based on the 4-cyl cars, but have a 6-cyl, so more power, so the clutch kit needs to be stronger.

the caliper bracket is the same, but the backing plate is, indeed, larger. which is why when using all XT6 parts, you need the backing plate as well.

look for some of Phizinza's old posts. before he decided to build a hybrid EJ trans, he was looking at modifying the starter to work with the EJ flywheel. and it's not just the starter gear. IIRC they use the same gear, but the whole starter unit is physically in a different place. I've never had an EJ flywheel anywhere near anything EA. my EJ donor car was an auto...... BUT, I know the tranny bellhousing is a bit smaller on the EAs. I'd be worried about it fitting in there at all.

this is already pretty well documented (Phizinza did it, except with dual range EA82 gears in a dual range EJ case). but, if you're not going dual range, or FT4WD, why bother. just run an EJ AWD tranny as-is. way less work, and way better than just S/R PT4WD.

EJ hubs means EJ knuckles, which means EJ axles, which means EJ brakes, which means EJ struts, etc. I'm running '92 Legacy axles on my car. they work just fine, and there seems to be a similar amount of play in the DOJ compared to stock. btw, the OEM part number for the axles I'm using are the same for anything pre-'97ish except FWD 5MT '93-'94 imprezas (which use the 23 spline inner cups)

painter. the only thing that's different between an XT6 kit and a non-turbo 4-cyl one (Beck/Arnley uses the same part number for the RX and XT6...) is the pressure plate. puts more clamping force on the disc, means more power can be held, which is necessary. my 4-cyl EA82 disc only lasted about 10k miles behind the EJ22. I've already put about 15k on it since the XT6 clutch, and it's still working like day one. the M Rose plate includes all the bolts needed, you drill out the threads on the engine bellhousing, then thread the bolts from the engine side into the adapter plate, and then the same from the tranny side. works very well.

^agreed. until the last 5 years or so, subaru ABS systems are terrible. worst part is, if it senses that one wheel is slipping, it interferes with all 4 wheels, even if the other 3 have traction. it's kind of scary when you're mashing the brake pedal, and the ABS is interfering with it, then you grab the ebrake handle and magically....the car stops.

yea, little silicone would work pretty well. otherwise, just post it up in the wanted section. I bet you could get a good one for a decent price (in fact, I've got a good one in the shed, let me check which side it is tomorrow....)

I really, really, really wish people would read the whole thread before responding. not just the first post

no, it really doesn't. I was blowing them at at least that rate before I replaced the headlight in my '88. and then went more than a year before I sold it without replacing the bulb again.

check your thread in the old gen thread. I responded with all the measurements you'd need.

I had power steering on my blue wagon. and definitely would have liked having one while wheeling. necessary? no......but it certainly would have been nice. and it'd probably be easier than converting to power steering. It's been done. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15305 that exact setup might not work on a non-tcased rig because the exhaust is right there. but it's a good start