Numbchux

not the case...the EJ AWD systems use a pretty strong VLSD in the center.

cheers.....wish I had the excuse of a sweet project for my lack of progress....once I get mine going, it'll still be stock :-\ there's an epic shot for ya! sweet! I see you've got your rear shocks triangulated.....what do you think of that?

and completely irrelevant since we're talking about pre-1994 subaru PT4WD/FT4WD systems. not 2008 Jeeps. yes, you are right, that true 4WD with a locked (or non-existant) center diff cannot be used on the street. however, it takes only a moment (via the flip of a lever or push of a button...no getting out of the car) to engage/lock the center once you've gotten to where FWD/unlocked have fallen short. and a LSD rear can be added to a 4WD subaru just as easily as an AWD one. your arguments are somewhat valid.....but only in that a rear LSD makes a much bigger difference than what you have in the center. also, by putting down the old gen systems, you're not exactly endearing yourself to the OP as a knowledgeable person on the subject. since he quite likes them.....

like I said....wiring can be outsourced. depending on your timeframe.....I can do it (I just finished wiring for an '05 WRX drivetrain swap into a '96 imp L.....). if you're interested, shoot me a pm/email, and we can talk. you'll want to run a new-gen trans to hold the power. 6-speed would be ideal, but running the DCCD would be all but impossible without an aftermarket controller. even if you get a sweet deal on the motor, you're still looking at at least $5k for the swap. probably much closer to $10k. unfortunately, this is the nature of sweet engine swaps like this.

I was thinking everything but the tranny..... but, I do know of a couple yards up here that could possible be talked down that much I don't know what the local Subaru scene is where you're at. but here in MN....we've got a sweet club, and I know of a few guys that regularly part out entire cars for various reasons (a guy about an hour away from me just bought a turbo'd 2.5RS that had been broadsided from a junkyard.....), and all the parts could pretty easily be sourced from them. they're not exactly high-demand parts. you might also find somebody parting out an old T-leg for the shortblock.....be creative, keep in mind, the rear end parts are the same for an auto or a manual trans. so you can mix and match.

well....that's no fun. it is a rather in-depth conversion. but certainly not impossible. and if you happen to have a lead on parts (know someone who's parting something out, etc.), it might make a lot more sense to convert it. ANY subaru with a MacPherson rear end will work. but you will need the entire rear suspension/diff/axles/brakes, driveshaft, and tranny. I could probably get most of the parts from the local UPull yard for less than $200. sure....some assembly required.....but if you're a DIY person, it's not that terribly difficult. you may want to poke around on more new-gen-based forums like Nasioc or RS25. many people have done this conversion, and you may find more documentation there.

like I said, not really much harder than doing it in a GC impreza. and STI-swapped GCs are running around the world by the hundreds (or more). also, WRX swaps into EA82s have been done more than a few times, and the STi/WRX differences are pretty minimal (nevermind the 6-speed ) the wiring is a rather daunting task, but there are many people (myself included....once I'm caught up), that can do the harness merge for you. and in the grand scheme of the budget required for a swap like that, paying someone to do a harness merge is a pretty small portion.

well, an unlimited center diff doesn't exist in the subaru world....so that's not an issue. and a functioning center VLSD will not easily slip! I've had essentially every subaru 5MT combination there is....PT4WD D/R, FT4WD D/R, and simple AWD in my '94 Legacy. we took the legacy out bombing through fields in a foot or more of powder, following a Jeep on 35" tires. bogged down a couple times, but 2nd gear and hold the throttle down....and it'll pull right out! the only disadvantage the legacy ever had over the others, is an open rear diff. all my EA82s had an LSD in the rear by the time I was driving them much in the snow. that rear LSD makes almost as much of a difference as switching from bald all-seasons to high performance snow tires. only times I've ever been stuck in snow, with any setup, are when it's so deep and heavy, that the snow is supporting the bulk of the weight of the car, and usually all 4 (sometimes just 3...) tires are spinning. so at stock height, you won't notice a difference. IMO (and I drive through a lot of snow here in northern MN), the biggest difference you'll notice is the loss in mileage when you'd have your EA trans in FWD. so you need to decide whether you want the AWD traction on dry pavement (Something I wouldn't sacrifice on a stock-height car) enough to justify the loss in mileage. oh yea, and there's a road here in Duluth that's too steep and is cobblestone, so they don't plow it either. I always go there when it snows.....I've never had to back down it (knock on wood), FT4WD, PT4WD, AWD, whatever. and the AWD car was at a disadvantage anyway without the rear LSD. snow is where independent suspension excels, because the differentials are tucked neatly up out of the way, where they're hanging down like anchors on those Jeeps/SUVs

depends on your definition of "fits" yea, it'll fit, it'll bolt up......but it's not the same as what he already has. and certainly not an upgrade.

^boy...that makes it sound a lot harder than it is. it's really not much more difficult than doing an STi swap into any other subaru. get the STi 6-speed trans, some custom linkage and driveshaft work, stock N/A 3.9 EA82 rear diff, a turbo crossmember, some custom radiator work, a scoop in your hood (or FMIC). the stuff that makes it more difficult than doing it into a GC impreza, for example, is really not that terribly difficult. worst part, IMO, would be converting an EA-bodied car to hydraulic clutch. but I believe Suberdave did that.....so it's definitely possible.

stock EA82 4WD. 185/70r13 IIRC.

guy here in the cities has now had a weber carb'd EA81, an MPFI EA82, than an ER27 in his Hatch. he's said repeatedly, the swaps were all just as much work as an EJ swap.....but with a fraction of the reliability/power (the ER27 is comparable power to the EJ....but a bigger pain to swap). if you're going to go to that trouble.....do it right the first time, and go EJ.

Finally got the Subaru to a point where I'm not worried to drive it to the gas station, much less deliver in it. so it's time to sink my extra income into the Truck for awhile. so, this arrived on Monday: inside: complete Engine rebuild kit, including timing set with the engnbldr metal chain guide (factory uses solid plastic ones.....they have a tendency to fail), all bearings, seals, new oil pump, new pistons non-turbo pistons at that, since the seals on my turbo are blown, and rebuild kits for those are much more expensive and harder to find, I decided to drop N/A pistons in it, to return the compression to normal, and ditch the turbo entirely and something about the 4-cyl kind of needing the turbo to be able to move the weight of a 4Runner with an auto trans and offroad gear (not to mention oversized tires). so, I spent a little extra and got this: it's not on the top of the project list, but now I've got the parts. I moved the truck so I can still easily park 4 cars (my 3 + the girlfriend doesn't have to park on the street....) on my slab, and I can still get in front of the truck to work on the engine.

you may or may not have heard of Grimmspeed....they've become pretty well known in the new-gen crowd lately, growing insanely fast. I've seen group buys and build threads by them on every new-gen specific forum I've been on lately. search around, or just check out their website here: http://www.grimmspeed.com well, I happen to know the guy who started it pretty well, Justin Grimm. he's a long time member of MNSubaru, and I just did the wiring for their "Team Grimmspeed" Car, known as their Project L. it's a '96 impreza LX Sedan with full '05 WRX drivetrain and interior swap. and he's gotten sponsors for pretty much every part on the car that they don't make their own, everything from bushings, to adjustable suspension arms, to coilovers, to a full vinyl wrap for the car. anyway, they've become known a bit for doing some new and interesting products, specific for older cars (EJ-series of course, but phase I, and N/A stuff! not just WRX parts). They do small runs of parts anyway, no real need for a run of many thousands of parts to justify doing it. so I was thinking, while I'm hanging around the shop this weekend, consulting him about doing some EA stuff. sooooo.......those of you interested in taking your EA builds to the next level. most likely EA82t.....but not necessarily.....check out their site, and see if there's anything you like. I'm sure porting/polishing and ceramic coating of the stock EA82t headers/up-pipe would be easy, but how about things like phenolic spacers? let me know, and I'll put in a good word if there's interest

my buddies got an '82 vanagon diesel, and he wants to convert it to EJ subaru power. would the Kennedy adapter kit work with the diesel tranny? other problems we might run in to?

of course! as always I agree with GD. the flywheel mod is an easy home mechanic project....but the adapter plate is money well spent!!

well, it worked every time tonight. and I probably made a third more deliveries tonight than last (27 tonight...). I'll keep my eye open for a new starter, and/or new brushes. Thanks everyone!

well, I pulled the starter off....pulled the cap off the end, and the brushes were filthy. I hit them with a wire brush, some compressed air, and electrical cleaner. put it back together, and got about 15 good starts just sitting in the driveway..... hopefully that solves it :-\

little bit, just take the EJ flywheel or flexplate, hold it up to the EA flywheel...and see where it doesn't line up.....and then make it line up.

I'm just extremely baffled as to how it could have failed on me when I did the clutch job....ugh....I wanted to sleep in today

did a clutch and oil pan (rusted through...) job today: and thought I'd post a few pics of my modified flywheel. I did this myself with a dremel, did not have the holes welded shut, or the wheel balanced. I've never noticed any vibration, and I've easily put 15-20k miles on it since I started driving it about a year ago. you can see the outline of where the bolts were. notice the bolt circle is a bit wider, and some of the holes are offset a bit: here's the 'nub' on the back of the engine that keeps the flywheel centered, the EA flywheel fits snug on this, so it's not possible to have it anything but perfectly centered: w00t! 'new' oil pan!

OK, I did a clutch job this morning, pulled the motor (so I could replace my rusty oil pan too). put it all back together, and it won't start, barely cranks over. First thought is that theres something binding in the clutch/flywheel/starter, but it's acting just like it has a dead battery....so I jump it with a known good battery (meanwhile cussing that my Red Top has failed me), with no change.....well.......the battery's good, so that's good, right?! well, after some fiddling, I find that it's the relay within the starter (ign on, hotwire the starter straight from the battery....same symptom). so I get out my hammer, give the starter a few good raps....and it works fine. I think I'm good to go. I go to work tonight (pizza deliver....lots of starting....oh boy!), and get to the first house (at which point it start overheating! crap....didn't get the coolant system burped all the way....but I brought extra coolant for just that reason, so no big deal), deliver the pizza, go out to start the car, and no go. same symptoms, I get out my 1/2" ratchet (left the hammer at home), and whack the starter a few times, after a few tries, it goes again, and is good for hours. this song and dance continues all night, happening at least 4 times. and of course, this is in an area where I would never leave my keys in the car, ever. if I'm on a hill, and pop the clutch to start it, it starts up fine, but the starter just can't turn it over fast enough. so, it's the starter....I've established that. it seems to me that this is a somewhat common failure. but a quick search didn't turn up anything conclusive. I can see how this relay could wear out over time, and intermittently give me troubles.....but how could it go to working 100% of the time, I do the clutch job, and get about a 70% success rate, if that. so.....coincidence? did I break something? is it fixable? I need to have this car working tomorrow (Sunday) evening for work again.....if worse comes to worse, I can pull the one off the '86 sitting here, but it's not a parts car, so I want to call that beyond the last resort.... also, I may have the starter left from the 3AT somewhere. any chance that would work?! days like this I wish I had a stock car with a warranty so someone else could deal with it I'm just so mad at the car. on the good side....the rest of the project went well....and the $100 closeout XT6 Beck/Arnley clutch kit I got from RockAuto works very well. plenty strong to hold the power of the EJ22, but very smooth, wonderful for daily driving!!

this help? as mentioned...lengths vary drastically from model to model, so would make that list incredibly complex..... BUT, that is a pretty good start. beware, these numbers were gathered from different sources, and as a result, are not entirely accurate (for example, BE legacy springs are not the same upper diameter as EA82 ones, I believe the 78mm number comes from the outside of the springs on the EA82, and the inside of the BE ones....making the BE ones noticeably bigger.)

that's probably the issue.....as most EA82s had power steering.....

yep, I just heard back from him. also....he's going to be in the US soon, so order now for cheaper shipping