Numbchux

not just talking about making it shorter.....but actually improving the approach angle. with the stock bumper, the rad support is still the first thing (or maybe second, behind the oil pressure sending unit) to effect the approach angle.

sweet! a pair of '99 stock miata shocks with springs and top mounts just arrived at my house a couple weeks ago. these do have a bushing on the top much like the EA82s do....when I stop being lazy, I'll see if I can't make the miata bushing fit in the EA82 bracket......that would be the holiest of grails! although, I've put about 12k miles on this setup using the '90 Miata shocks. works muuuuch better than the EA82 stockers. and holding up fine (knock on wood!).

well, I think the best way to do it, might be to take both pairs in (one pair, R180, and one pair EA82), with an accurate measurement of what lengths they need to be (easiest way to do this would be to get an accurate measurement of the difference of widths between the 2 diffs), and take them to a drivetrain shop. as they'll probably have to be cut and welded together. Which, especially in a high hp environment, should be professionally done. but once you get both sets of axles side-by-side, you may find that you'll be able to just mix and match parts.....who knows.

who knows. the r180 is bigger in every dimension. uses different axles, hubs, brakes, etc. etc. etc. doing the swap in an EJ car means essentially replacing the entire rear end. from suspension, to lateral links, to diff hanger, all of it. but the rear end in an EA82 car is completely different...... I think the easiest way to do it, would be fab up the mounts for the r180. and then make custom axles to run the EA82 trailing arms.

ooo.....good call, I'll do that now.

here are the 2 from my hard drive: date on the files says I downloaded them in September of 2004.....

of course there is. but 99% of that stuff is heavily documented on dozens of other subaru sites. Seriously, this isn't much different than doing the same swap into an Early impreza....which has been done hundreds of times. only things that won't be the same for an EA car, is the fact that the dash isn't interchangeable, the rear end stuff isn't either, and there isn't a cutout already stamped into the firewall for the hydraulic clutch stuff (although, IIRC, suberdave is using a hydraulic clutch in his beast.....). my biggest worry is the rear diff. I've seen what a modded EJ257 can do to an R160 under mild abuse......

yes there is....it's saved on my dad's computer. but I can't find it for the life of me now.....I'm lookin though EDIT: VICTORY!!!! found it.....so I uploaded it to my site.....now I'll be able to find it easier:

holy open-ended question batman!!! there's no one-size-fits-all motor out there, if there was, it would be way more expensive. there are tons of options, they're all good....

did you read my write-up? it's catered more towards the EJ22e side of things, but will give you a huge jump start. and from there, search the likes of NASIOC and other forums for the information to get to a 257. as someone who's helped on a number of major swaps. here is my biggest piece of advice. do NOT piece together a swap. it'll just add to the headaches, and time. save up, and cough up what you need to for an entire donor car. then you'll have everything you need. and you'll know that the engine runs. I did the wiring for 2 full EJ205 swaps (engine, tranny, interior, etc.) in the last 6 months. 1 was done in about 2 weeks time because he had the entire car there, the other took about 8 months from first ordering the parts, to running and driving, finally got it going a couple weeks ago. because he didn't quite get everything. also, if you have an entire car, you can make a bunch of your money back selling parts that you don't need (the guy who bought individual parts ended up spending substantially more!). I know of a few places in the midwest where wrecked cars can be found..... Use an EA82 car. that'll also save you a ton of time and money in the fabrication department. as I know the DOHC motors don't fit between the EA81 framerails, and I highly doubt the 6MT would fit in the tranny tunnel..... But, we know that the DOHC motors fit in the EA82s. and they say that a 6MT can be put anywhere that a 4EAT could, and we know that EA82s came with 4EATs...... your biggest hurtles will be, in no particular order, wiring, converting to hydraulic clutch, rear diff (stock r160 + 257 power.....yikes.....and converting to an r180 in an EA car will be a giant of a project), and 5-lug (gotta do it, period. only way to get the brakes and suspension to control the power.....now, start looking for XT6 parts!!!). look for a '04-'05 donor car. the '06+ ones have immobilizer systems that will make it impossible (or very close to it) to run the motor on the stock ECU. and the '07s (I don't know about the '08s...don't have a FSM for one of those yet...) dropped the 1.1:1 transfer gear, so will need a 3.545 rear diff, the older ones use a 3.9 rear diff, which already exist in plenty in the EA cars. also, you'll need the speedo gear from an Early EJ tranny to swap into the 6MT to get your speedo to work (or find a way to graft the STi gauges in there, but that would take a stinkload of work to make it not look like total crap!) all the information is out there. take the information in my write-up, plus the documentation that suberdave and rguyver have done on their swaps, plus the information on NASIOC and RS25......you'll be doing it with your eyes closed.

to answer your original question. all brat's have the EA81 engine (in the US, anyway...). so, yes, those are EA81 pistons. but, being for a turbo, they have a different shape to allow for a lower compression ratio. so they are interchangeable, but not the same. if you're looking to drop your CR, these are perfect.

I'd start by inspecting all steering and suspension components. tie rod ends, ball joints, struts, shocks. in that order. then look into tires, maybe sway bar bushings, etc.

neither. just saying that the rest would be 3.9. but now that I think about it, the '85 and '86 RXs had a PT4WD DR trans that would be a 3.7. but both have crappy gearing. almost worse than a single range non-turbo one. short version. get it from a non-turbo car.

I was just thinking of that one. I may have a couple old pictures saved on my other computer.....I remember the snap-on canvas cover on the rear.....pretty sweet rig.

wait....there's rust? blah blah blah. you spoiled PNW folks. :-p fix it, don't fix it, whatever. but don't stop driving it!

where did you get them? I looked when I was in the market for new ones for my '88. every source I found just had the one application. nothing specific for the '85-'86.

AFAIK, the only 3.7 final drive D/R in north America is the RX trans. pretty easy to spot that one, as it's got the vacuum center diff lock thing AND a dual range lever.

they're not....only '85 and '86s got them

holy crap!!!!! that's awesome. there's probably more money into that 'roo' than almost any one here......heck, those tires cost more than I sold my wagon for

yes, but no diff lock. a local guy seems to think that a Mazda 323 GTX locking center LSD can be swapped into an RX case with little modification......although neither of us have actually tried it (he's got all the parts....but no motivation...)

ding ding ding! great trick for any tapered press-fit (tie rod ends too!). give the piece that it's pressed into (control arm for the ball joints) a good whack from the side, and you'll knock the hole slightly out of round for a moment, and force the joint right out of the hole. works wonderfully. much better (hard to believe, I know...) than the jack trick.

I put about 500 miles a week on my loyale delivering the pizzas in downtown duluth. it's definitely hard on the car, but it holds up pretty well.

they definitely do bind, but the strut will reach maximum extension before they actually limit anything.... but good point, they'd restrict things too if a longer strut were used.

^ I would agree, except he's not getting any heat at idle. which means there isn't enough circulation through the heater core at idle. which is the symptom that I'm focusing on. if they're independant problems (i.e. it's not really overheating), then I'd say your heater core is clogged. but if your radiator is good, and the system is pressurizing properly, you could completely bypass the heater core, and still run cool. also, circulation through the heater core is not restricted by the tstat, so that's ruled out. only 2 things I can think of that could cause that, is the water pump itself isn't pushing enough coolant around until the rpms come up. or the system isn't pressurizing. if it's not leaking AFAIK the only way for it to not pressurize is the rad cap. EDIT: I just reread your original post....sorry, you already mentioned what kind of pump it was.... anyway, you also asked if it's possible for it to not move enough coolant. and it's very definitely possible. the water pump on the motor that came out of my loyale and went into my blue lifted wagon was like that. the car would stay cool on the freeway, but sitting still and at idle, no heat, then the motor would overheat, and the radiator was barely warm to the touch. only thing I replaced was the pump itself (all hoses, tstat, radiator, etc. were all reused), and the problem went away 100%. which brings up another question. when it's doing this, have you checked the temp of the radiator? is it getting hot?

ok...my next guess is water pump. you say you replaced it.....what did you replace it with?