greggbrat

That sounds like my friends 88 XT6.....I picked it up for her about a year ago for $350. It also needed the power steering pump (which is an electric hydraulic pump, not a pulley driven pump) which I picked up at a salvage dealer for $80. It was quite simple to replace. (I think they are about $500 new). Put on new tires, a tuneup and its still running for her today. (granted the front axle shafts both need to be replaced as the boots are torn and they are starting to go. As for maintenance costs.....a bit higher than other subarus just because the parts are harder to get......they only made this car (to my knowledge) from 1988-1989. The other drawback I have heard about is the air suspension......if it goes its a major expense to repair/replace. But I have also heard about people replacing it with a strut system. I would think anything less than $500 would be a good deal......but get other opinions before you take my word for it. I just remembered.....the muffler is not standard.......I think the muffler shops want about $225 just to put on a new muffler.

GD, I had a feeling you were agitated about it. I shaved off about 1/8" to a cone formation.......not nearly enough to change any design characteristics. Shake hands and be buds? :-) Although I still recommend a beer......just for the sake of having a beer.

GD......I suggest more than one beer.

Blah blah blah......your scolding is falling deaf ears. Drink a beer and forget about it.

Go with the flow GD......anything that works is cool.

http://www.monroe.com/catalog_lookup/ocl_miscappinfo.asp

http://www.monroe.com/catalog_lookup/ocl_miscappinfo.asp This is a link to the Monroe website with all the technical data on shock length, travel, mounts, etc. If you are looking for specific shock lengths for lifted Subarus this can be helpful in finding an inexpensive well suited shock.

It looks like we have lots of opinions on this subject. Take your car to the tire shop and have them help you see what fits.

The only grapes I like are aged and fermented.

Somewhere on the internet there is a catalog showing all the monroe shocks with all the tech data on mounts, travel, compressed length, etc..... I used that to get high travel (and inexpensive) shocks for my old jeep. I am afraid I dont know the URL but I will be looking for it in the near future to put new shocks on my Brat when I put on the 3" lift. I know everyone has a different opinion but I think rancho shocks are over priced and over rated. (Dont spam me all you Rancho lovers) :-) If you want something expensive yet pretty damn cool......get some air adjustable shocks.......change your stance with a bit of air. I used to have those on an old International Scout.

Hey Travis, I am in the process of doing a lift on my EA81 and putting on 26 inch tires. I have done alot of searching on this board and from everything I have read you will not be able to fit 27" tires without lots of rubbing. Even with a 3" lift you might still have rubbing issues in high flex situations and sharp turns. If you plan on getting a lift you should probably wait till then (if you can) to get tires.

Did this problem exist before you did the tranny swap?

I tried something new.......I did a bit of grinding on the shaft to make it more cone shaped........that worked like a charm. It slid right in.

I cant get the tranny in all the way. I line up the all the bolts but the thing just wont seat in. I used the alignment tool to center the clutch in the pressure plate......but the tranny just wont go on. I have beat on it, jacked it, shook it........I even got some longer bolts to try to force it in but the bottom two bolts wont go through. Any ideas?

Sounds like something is possibly sticking. Does this scenario happen? You are sitting at a stop light in neutral with the clutch pedal not pushed in. The motor is idling at 700 RPM. Then you push in the clutch and the idle raises to 3500 RPM. If this is the case then something in your clutch linkage is probably hitting the gas pedal linkage.

A brat is nice to have.....great for hauling stuff if you are the DIY kind of person. But I wouldnt mind having a wagon for the people hauling ability (and kid hauling if you have them). And it is true that the wheelbase of the brat and wagon are the same. As for rock crawling.......dont expect to do anything very serious unless you go with a divorced transfer case. I am building my brat right now and plan on using 205/75R14 tires......which is 26.1 inches.........just remember that the bigger the tires the less rock crawling ability you will have. If you use 15" wheels then your choices for smaller tires are almost non-existant. I dont have my tires yet but I have found a few brands that are mud terrain at 205/75R15. If you are going to do rock crawling I recommend the 14" wheels/tires. Did any of the brats come with the 5sp D/R? Or did they all come with a 4sp D/R? I have an 82 with a 4sp and am doing the 5sp D/R tranny swap. I can tell you it gets rather costly and time consuming. I sure hope its worth it when all is done. The good news is that I only paid $450 for my brat. Good luck.

Hey Jerry, I appreciate that you have your kit available.......I just dont have the money. From what everyone is saying its quite the hassle solver you have developed. Gregg

As long as the shifters fit into the shifter hole then I can make it all work. If nothing else I can use my fiberglass skills to fabricate a different console. Hey, now that I am thinking about it a drink holder would be a nice addition. :-) I was seeing red after wasting my time at the junkyard earlier today. A little dinner and I will be all better. The good news is that I am now an expert at tranny removal.

It looks like I will be drilling out the old mounts. I just want to make sure that I wont have any fit problems when I am done. As for the shifters I am hoping they just line up and I can use the EA82 interior console.

The EA82 crossmember would need to be totally resized, ground down and redrilled. The two crossmembers are entirely different in length......plus the EA82 crossmember uses only two points where it mounts on the frame while the EA81 uses 4 bolts to mount it to the frame.

The EA82 tranny mounts wont fit onto the EA81 crossmember. And the EA82 crossmember does not fit on the underside of an EA81 vehicle. Anyone else have any ideas? Or better yet.....first hand experience? Help!

Next issue. I am moving the tranny mounts from my old EA81 4sp D/R to the EA82 5sp D/R. The tranny mounts dont fit. The portion that bolts onto the tranny....the holes do not line up. I can get one bolt in. How have other people done it......are they drilling out the mount to try and get two bolts holding it to the tranny? Or just using one bolt? Hey GeneralDisorder......I thought you had already done this swap? I would think that if you are using all EA82 parts then there is no need to put anything on a lathe. The only possible issue is that bolt holes are larger on the EA82 flywheel. For the overall project I am using an EA82 5sp D/R tranny, EA82 flywheel, EA82 pressure plate, EA82 throwout bearing, EA82 Clutch........which means I am using all EA82 parts.

screw it......I picked up an EA82 flywheel. No more fuss.

I go to the junkyard and find a 1984 EA81 GL Wagon with a 4sp D/R. Then I spend about 2 hours yanking the tranny far enough back to get the pressure plate and flywheel out. Then I measure the clutch/flywheel/pressure plate only to find out its the same damn 200mm clutch I currently have. I need the 8 7/8" clutch parts. This sucks!!!!!!

Jerry, You are a wealth of information. OK, tomorrow I go to the junkyard to find an EA81 flywheel and pressure plate from a 1983 or greater vehicle.