Adam N.D.J.

My favorite sealant. You have actually make a Subaru engine not leak with the stuff. That said, yes it is resistant to fuel, but only when fully cured. Also you need to remember that it fully cures in the absence of oxygen. So for small stuff like that I will apply a very thin coat, bolt it together, then take some clean motor oil and apply it with a small brush around the seam. Then I just let it sit over night, clean off the oil and should be good to go.

I am going to be heading out of Medford about 5, so that should put me in P-land in time to meet up with all of ya. One question though, The Copper Penny is a bar right? In Lents? I am not all familiar with Portland and google brings up a bar. Just want to make sure. Also, is everyone going to be running some sort of Commo (FRS, CB, ect)? Can not wait, so close yet so far away!!

I can hear the fuel pump, but I would not call it the cricket type. Goes away when I turn on the stereo. This might be some more of my EA conditioning. When I put the ER in my Brat it did not have provisions for a high pressure fuel pump, so I just strapped it to the frame with some hose clamps. Now that was was a loud pump. Grind from 3rd to 4th at 6k. Whew, I guess that is kind of a specific problem. I can not say that I have hit that set of variables. Talking to the wife though (she is a bit more a spirited on 4 wheels than me), and she has not had an grinding from the trans. Some might call it a bit notchy, but I like the feel, it gives you a good positive feel that you are in gear. My tail lights are clean and clear as they can be. Even today (I might be at the bottom border of the Pacific NW but we still get the weather) with dense fog/overcast/drizzling. I do not know if it is a fact that I am getting old and do not drive like that rump roast that I once did, or what... but I do frequent a couple FT86/BRZ/FRS forums, and I have not had the slightest of problems that I read about on there. Only one thing that I did have to have fixed, (and my dealership did it in about an hour, not questions) was the rear view mirror (I have the self dimming/homelink one) was a little loose and wobbling. So I guess the moral of the story is drive like an old man and you will have minimal problems in your car... (hmm, that prolly goes for any car really, lol) Oh, I forgot about the RPM dip. This one is really only when the A/c is on, but I do not run the A/c so I do not experience it. The wife has complained of it a couple times, I just ask her if it died, since it does not, I see no problem. -Adam-

Well, I have owned Aura for about a year now. 2013 BRZ Premium manual. She has just under 11,500 miles, if you consider my daily commute is only 10 miles, and a lot of the time I take the hardtop or the legacy or my motorcycle, I have actually put most of those miles on in pleasure driving. I wanted this car for several reasons. I am a big fan of front engine rear drive cars (both my Brat and hardtop were both changed to it). I have also been wanting to see a two door in the Subaru line up for a loooong time. It was a chance to get out of the econoboc Sentra that I had bought a couple years before. Besides, it is one sexy looking car. I have done no modifications. Only real maintenance has been oil changes and inspections (both by the dealer). Other than than I keep it cleaned and topped off with 92. The good surely outweighs the bad on it. The seating, I am only five nine, so not that tall, but I run the seat 3 clicks up from the back, so even if you are taller it would still be alright. My six six friend was quite comfortable in the seat. The seat has only a few adjustments, forward/back, recline and height (I run all the way down, 3 clicks up, and 2 clicks back). From the seat the tilt and telescoping wheel falls in to just the perfect spot for holding and seeing the gauges, the 3 spoke is nice and comfortable to hold. The shifter sits at a nice reach, not to far or close nor too much to the side. I also find all the controls are within easy reach too (stereo and dash controls). Forward and side view are excellent. I really like the ridges of the fenders and how they make great aim points for hitting a line through a corner. Rear view is good through the mirror, although the extreme shortness of the back end makes me a little anxious then I look back and it looks like the car behind me is sitting on the trunk. Power. All over the net you read about how underpowered the BRZ is, I guess it is a good thing that my previously most powerful Subaru was my Brat with a slightly built ER27, and most of daily driving was done in an EA81T with a failing automatic. Because of my history Aura feels like a rocket ship, 0-60mph is about 6.5-7 seconds (for me). The high compression NA motor feels like it comes in to power pretty early, about 16-17 hundred, and pulls all the way to 7k. The 6 speed shifts quite nice, and quickly. Everyone tells me I should get a short throw shifter, but to me, in stock for it has the shortest throw of anything I have ever owned. Amenities are adequate, I prefer to not have too much stuff going on on the dash. I do like the head unit, on board GPS functions well, better than some apps I have seen, but still has the usual logic of you should be smarter than the technology you are using. I really like the USB capability, I bought a 8gb USB thumb drive the is just a couple mm larger than the connector and leave it in the port with all the songs I have on it. The speakers are lacking a little on the low end, but full fill my needs (if I really want some bass I will fire up the twin 12s in the turbo. Some of the mediocre, the cup holders are in kind of a weird spot, about even with the shoulder, so you have to reach back to get something. Although I usually have a water bottle in the door pocket, it is not a big deal for me. An eight year old girl fits in the back seat, barely. My wife, daughter and I have put in many miles together and while she fits in the back with my wife up front, it it not the most comfortable. This is mostly my daily driver so not a huge point. Some of the fit and finish is a little cheapish, like the dash panels in the front, as some point I will most likely cover them in leather or alcantara or something, but it does not really detract anything. Some of the bad. Hmm, not much here, the back seat, or lack there of could be once my daughter gets taller. Blind spot, there is a pretty big blind spot to the left side, when merging left I have to sit forward and look back, although this could just be with me and where/how I sit. Not much else. Would I buy the car again? In a heartbeat! It is fun to drive, gets good mileage (I average 35 hwy and 28 city), and turns heads. I get a lot of people coming up and saying "Man I bet this thing is fast" (my favorite reply "yup, does 65 all day long"). It is by far the most expensive purchase I have made (well, just under my house) but I think well worth it. If there is anything you think I left out or any questions let me know. Thanks. -Adam- Aura and Leena (my 84 Turbo Hardtop)

The EA81T takes the turbo oil supply from the pump, and then the return goes in to a pipe plug in the right head. On a regular EA81 it would not be that hard to run the supply line from one of the ports on the pump to where ever you have your turbo mounted. The return line is the only thing you would really have to figure out. If you run it in the regular location (for a Subaru) then all you have to do is drill a hole in the back of the right head and press in a brass pipe boss. I actually did this on my EA81T when I could not find a new right head, and used a left head instead, as long as you drill the hole low and get in to the pushrod area then you are set. The oil will drain back in to the pan via the pushrod path. Just some quick meandering thoughts on my way to work.

I am with Uberoo on this one, invest in a healthy supply of heat shrink tubing, a heat gun and a good soldering iron. There is one thing that I learned in the early years and that is that anywhere dirt and water can get in, it will. One thing that I spent a ton of time doing when I put in my injection system is to make sure that all the connections where seals as much as possible. Even at the actual connectors, get a big tube dielectric grease and apply that stuff liberally, if you think you are using too much, then you almost have enough. And lastly, try to get your computer as high as you can, Say the back deck, B-pillar, somewhere where you are going to be far to uncomfortable being in the car long before the water gets to the computer. Great to hear it running, much more incentive to get mine going. I do long to hear the throaty roar of a flat six... Keep it up, can not wait to see it in action, and you are that much closer!!

I have seen a few setups with a side draft carb that fed either a turbo or supercharger going in to an EA81. Biggest complaint that I have heard about it is that there is always a sweet spot once you get the jetting right, but then things go wonky above and/or below said spot. I believe that is has a little bit to do with the fact that most people use a carb that is not intended for the flow characteristics of a forced air system. One problem I have personally seen is that at higher rpms the fuel bowl is being depleted faster than the fuel line can fill it up. In an injection system your injectors duty cycle changes with the amount of air going in to the engine, but also, at the same time your fuel pressure regulator is taking a signal from your intake and raising the pressure of the fuel, so you have more fuel to flow through the more open injectors. Taking this in to account I have thought up some ideas that use an external pressure regulator to try and get more pressure to the carb to account for this. Although, this is of course just one problem, and at the end of the day me and carburetors have agreed to stay away from each other. These days forced air systems are so easy to come by. I think that one of the easy set-ups that one could use for their EA81 would be of the centrifugal supercharger. This is essentially a belt driven turbo. They are compact and can put out enough boost to wake up a minimally modified EA81. Plus if you keep an eye out you can find them for pennies on the dollar. I saw a honda kit on the craigslist for 600 not too long ago. There as many different ways of getting the fuel (and spark, air, ect) in to the engine as there people to think up ways to get them in there. This board has had a lot of different ideas over the almost 2 decades it has been around. I remember the early days there were some really crazy ideas. I am not sure how far back the current iteration the of the board goes back, but I think that if you look in to the archives you can come up with some of the more off the wall stuff. Also you have me as a resource, I am always game to having my brain picked on different things, and I have been down about as many roads as one person could go (maybe even a little crazy). Just remember, no idea is too crazy, at least until the engineers tell you it might be.

The output of the trans is sealed by the front of the drive shaft, so when you pull it out you will lose trans fluid. You can drive it with no problem, as it is primarily a FWD car that locks in the rear output for 4WD. So I guess, the short of it is, yes, it will drive, but make sure the back of the shaft is hung in a way that it will not fall in the way of anything.

My 84 Turbo coupe was actually a rescue. I picked it up from this backwoods podunk "car lot" that was more like a wrecking yard that sold whole cars. When I found it in 2001 the auto trans was toasted and the front diff had been run dry for a really long time (almost no teeth on the pinion gear). They had already sold the radiator, distributor, fuel pump, alternator and intake elbow. I brought her home on a flat bed and changed out the trans with one that I picked up from a school mate for free when he did a manual conversion. Put new rad, dizzy, pump and alternator. I had happened to have a turbo intake elbow in my garage that I was using for a wall decoration. The one thing that surprised me the most about though was that the digi dash worked!! This was my "Unicorn" car. I had owned an 83 hardtop before this, but always wanted the elusive T-coupe. Unfortunately I do not have any before pictures cause it was over 13 years ago, but here is a now pic.

In an effort to simplify the interior of my cab (even though 3 shifters does have a cool factor to it) since the Subaru 4wd shifter is only used to operate the dual range lever (my 4wd clutch is welded up). I put a little bit of research in to how to do this. The operation would be almost the same for a single range trans, or an awd diff lock. The short answer it, power lock actuator. There are many different shapes and sizes, the ones that I have used in the past are old Cadillac ones. The one that I plan on using is the dakota digital one from Summit racing, it has a 35lb pull/push actuation strength and a steel body. Price might be a little spendy for some people at 70ish dollars. A cheaper route might be to use a spring scale, measure how much force is required to move your shift lever, then look around online for a OEM actuator that provides that much push/pull then go to the wrecking yard and grab one. Let us know if you do go this route, and always, pics pics pics.

Finished stripping the parts car to get rid of this week. Fixed the blown out fuel pump feed line on the turbo. Sat down and fabbed up a steering rack mount and hung the front sheet metal on the Brat this weekend.

Pretty busy day! Fixed the blown out pump supply line on the turbo coupe, finished stripping the parts car so I can get a little more of my driveway back (for another project kicking off soon). Of course some Brat time too. I did a little more work to the steering, took some measurements, got an idea of what tie rod ends to use (99 hyundai elantra?!), and did a little cosmetic work. I am not settled on how much longer the nose is going to be, but I do not think that it is going to be this much, I am most likely going to bring it back a couple more inches, but that is where I had bolt holes that lined up, and it was good for doing some mock-up work. I like that is is starting to look like an actual Brat again, it might be a little longer, and somewhat wider when I am done, but all I really hope is that people do not ask me if it is a suzuki. It almost looks as if I have a cooler fetish or something, but I assure you they are great for storing parts in. That face, it is the one that I fell in love with 16 years ago. One that I have not seen in well over 10 years. I can not even remember when the last time I had an intact front end was. All in all, good day!

You should pull off the top cover of the rear transfer, it is not at all uncommon for the dogs on the rear transfer to go out on the these. Just clean it up and weld it solid. If you plan on not going back to a FWD/4WD set up it is the better way to go.

You will need the shifter assembly, it is a plate that is connected to the trans with a rod, and then to the body with a stud/nut (of which the stud is already in your car). The driveline, mounts and crossmember. Jerry is the 5spd swap guru, look him up (bratsrus1) I am sure he will be able to tell you what I missed. (it has been a long time since I did my swap, and it was far from a standard install). One huge recommendation though, while you have the new trans out of the car still, pop off the transfer output assembly, and clean up and weld the output coupling, then you will not have to worry about it going at an inopportune time (I was lucky and was off-road when mine went, and just had my wheeling partner drag me home). Great update, do hope to run in to you around town or something.

Made it out to the U-pull it, spend most of the day crawling under cars and measuring their racks. (he he). Settled on a 97 ford explorer, has a rack and pinion steering, forward mounted configuration, close to 50 inches across, and it mounts on a flat plane (easy to work with stuff that mounts to a flat plane, means that you can use a single plate to mount something, although I do not always choose that option). Got everything home just in time to get a little bit of mock up work done and start laying the base beads for the mounts. I am still going to lay in the forward rain that will go to the front cross of the frame, and this will also serve as the mount for the skid plate. Good start though, for a couple hours of work. Also got to spend some alone time time with the wife out in the u-pull it! I do tend to make a bit of a mess when I am in full fabber mode. I think I may have fiddled with the settings on my camera, these pics seem way bigger for some reason. Also, initial mounting of the rack. I am liking how this is coming out, simple mounting scheme, easy to work with and change out if needed, nothing what I had to do to get this thing out of the ford. This is the base mounts, started life as an EA81 automatic trans crossmember. Worked well for repurposing to a new mount. The end of my day did get rained out though, I hope it clears up tomorrow so I can finish getting the rack mounted, then move on to the challenge of getting the shaft from the column to the rack.

One of my fav shots of my Brat, from a little day trip to the local mountains.

I have actually been keeping an eye on your post. Cleo is a really nice looking build, will be quite beastly when done. I can see us meeting up some time for sure, if not as a WCSS then possibly like a dunes run on the coast or something. Although you may be done long before me, I have so many irons in the fire, I rarely get the time to work on the Brat that I want. Keep up the work though, can not wait to see ya in action.

I really am partial to independent suspension. Really though, right now it is just a platform to work with. Once I have thing integrated and running than I have ideas for full independent with multi-link high travel stuff. I also went with the Nissan cause at the time Hitachi manufactured a lot of parts for both FHI and NMC, so to me it is like getting a kidney from a close family member, and not a random stranger. (although now that I do own a Toyabaru I have been flirting with the idea of adding in Toy stuff. Like I am thinking of going with Supra diffs and axles). I do say though, that it does elicit some funny looks when you walk in to a parts store with a spreadsheet so that you know what parts you need for what vehicles.

It is possible I guess. I have been working it a long time though.

Yeah, it was a little bit of a pain to drive on the asphalt with manual steering and a welded front diff, but it sure did make for some good mudding. A majority of the EA82 wagons that I have seen myself outside of the Pacific Northwest came with push button single range 4wd transmissions. It seems like a PNW types bought out most of the dual ranges when they were new, and let the /quote flat lands /unquote have the lowly single ranges.

Could be a bad detent, or detent spring. If you are under the trans looking up at it there should be 3 what look like bolt heads in a row. I am pretty sure the far driver side one is the reverse detent. It is best to drain the trans first, then when you take that bolt out it will be hollow with a spring and a small bearing on the top of the spring. I had my 3-4 detent disappear on me one time, I just found a like size bearing put it on top of the spring and put it back together, worked fine for several more years.

Wow, Southern Oregon is really in the house. We should all get together sometime!

You can purchase a new rack from Oreillys if you can not find one used any where, they do run a few hundred though if you go that route. But you do get the piece of mind that it is in good condition. As far as the pump goes, really you are only limited by what you or anyone you know can fab up. I like to use early 90s GM power steering pumps as they use two bolts on a flat plane to mount, and you can get just about any pulley type you want for them. As far as hoses, I have had a local hydraulic company make them up for me, I bring in a sample of the threads I need, and the length. It is usually less than a 50 spot for a pair. Lotsa luck, let us know how it goes.

This is prolly a better picture for this forum.

Some historical pictures that I have dug up. Here is my first frame, hand built 6 inch lift with T-case; The shifter set up with the 6 inch lift; Ready to go to WCSS #6; and of course, some action shots!