el_freddo

What’s your lift combination with the heights/block size for the strut block, engine crossmember blocks and the gearbox crossmember blocks? What sort of springs are you running in the front end? I’m wanting to understand how your lift is possibly effecting your CV angles to max them out. Can you also measure the distance between the ground and the highest point on the arch of your mud guard/fender when the car is sitting naturally and then when jacking it up right at the point that the rubber starts to lift off the ground. This should measure your droop or downwards travel amount in the suspension.

I second what Numbchux said about the single turbo conversion - it’s a very common conversion for the twin turbo “aids”. If you replace vacuum lines do this methodically - cut the old lines open once the new vac line is installed. You’re looking for restrictors known as “pills”. These need to be retained for the system to work properly. Otherwise the usual remains in terms of turbos and reliability. Harder you go the quicker things will need maintenance attentions and usually the wallet flogging.

A turbo beanie will probably suffice. Or you could fold up some sheet metal to do the same thing the original chimney did in the first place. I have an STi converted SF forester that’s a sleeper - built by a mate. This does not have a bonnet scoop, rather it sports a turbo beanie and a water to air intercooler. The paint on the bonnet is not effected and I dare say it’s seen more heat than your EA82t will ever generate.

Ooh, part of me says it’s not a good idea to back them off and go again on those head gaskets. The other part of me says go for it, they’ve not seen a heat cycle yet. Worst case scenario you pop a HG prematurely. It an EA82 and not too complicated at the end of the day - “just” your time and some money. Your call on replacing the HGs if you choose to back them off and inspect those bolts. Do a search looking for a post by General Disorder about doing this exact thing with reusing head gaskets. I can’t remember what he recommended.

Do under the bolt head too. Engine oil will suffice.

When you say rear wheel wobble do you mean vibration? This could be caused by many things as noted - start with the basics: - check mounting bushes of gearbox, diff and tail/propshaft; check centre bearing of the tailshaft for movement. - check uni joints for any play. ANY movement in one of these (where you can move one bearing cap closer to the other without the other one moving) means you need to replace it. Which means mods or a new tailshaft. - check rear CVs for any unexpected movement. Also realise that putting the 2wd fuse in will still see the rear drive shafts, diff and tailshaft spinning when the car moves. It just won’t receive power from the gearbox - assuming you have the auto from your description. What speeds do these vibrations occur? Is there a specific gear it happens in? Can you induce it by driving “manually” by selecting the gear the auto is to be in? If it occurs in all gears when accelerating my thoughts are it will be an issue with the auto.

Nope. Meant EA82. The EA81 shifter is completely different to the EA82. Ahhh… sorry, it just clicked, you’re talking about an EA81 5spd. I’m pretty sure these are more like the EA82 setup too. I’m not used to the EA81 wagons being a fwd 5spd - we only got that gearbox in the hardtop coupes over here. All wagons were 4wd 4spd boxes. So with your sloppy shifter, get under the car: If you see a uni joint on the selector shaft it’s same or very close to EA82. It probably needs a set of bushes, I did a repair to mine once with a piece of garden hose… If the selector shaft is horizontal and has a sleeve over it then that thread fix *should* be of use. Hope this helps - and clears up some confusion!

Zero. The EA82 5spd is essentially the predecessor to the EJ 5spd and shares far more with with that box than the 4spd.

That 3 digit code at the start of the VIN I believe denotes the model and possibly the market it was sold in. This is the start of my VIN for my L series: JF2 And my Brumby: JF3 Interesting that my L series is a 1988 DL and my Brumby a 1990 GL (came with AC). Other than that I can’t tell you much more than the above about VINs. I do collect different VINs to source genuine parts through online searches that use VINs as the reference point.

Good point re tie rods - I’m chasing a knock in the front of one of our Pajero/Montero/Shoguns and was thinking ball joints. They’re probably original and with 460,000km on the car it’s probably time to change them… I’ll check out the tie rods and go from there, thanks for the tip!

No it’s not! Try Subarino auto electrical. He’s based in Perth and will send stuff internationally. The strut with the welded seat bolts in. Subaru obviously realised these were cheaper to manufacture and no one used the “wind up suspension” feature of the earlier struts. @SuspiciousPizza - I can provide you with an AUDM VIN if you need it.

I’d put my money on the aftermarket shafts being the issue. Been there a few times ;( I do like the suggestions from bushytails. As for the front diff issues, I’ve never seen an issue with the manual transmissions and their front diffs.

Wouldn’t it be easier to get another front subframe and build the diff mounts to that? My thinking is you’ll need the steering rack lowered as well - and the rear subframe may not sit where you need it to accommodate the suspension pick up points and steering rack mounts. The way this was always done in the MY and L series models from the ‘80’s was to use a second engine crossmember. In saying that we don’t have a rear suspension crossmember or subframe as such in these models. I’m keen to see how this pans out!

That sounds awesome. What size lift will you run in the cross trek? Should be an interesting and capable vehicle!

I don’t recall the EA82 having head bolt holes that go into water jackets. I you have it on an engine stand turn the holes to be cleaned upside down and let gravity do its work. You might only need to agitate it with a piece of wire. Then run the thread chaser down each hole again. Or so it on the bench by “whacking” the deck into a soft surface like a newspaper or towel on the bench. Anything that doesn’t come out shouldn’t be a problem.

Measure whatever lift block you have on the subframe or above the strut. I believe you can get away with removing half an inch from this measurement and use this to fabricate the new trailing arm mounts. If you can make your own mounts, you have the advantage of making several sizes to see what works best for you and keeping your costs down in the process.

I have not done this and those that did this years ago are most likely long gone from the forum. One of the biggest factors is your driving style and mechanical sympathy. With a dual range gearbox and the dual range divorced transfer case and the addition of 4.44:1 diffs, you could run larger tyres and crawl really slowly - best of both worlds. What vehicle are you putting all of this into? If a vehicle with an AWD, you’ll need to weld the centre diff. Being a 1.44:1 low range it’s either an MY chassis or the sf forester (but I didn’t think you guys got the dual range gearbox from factory in the states).

I love your checklist of stuff you worked through, very systematic! Interesting about the low range, you’re probably keen to know what the issue is. I’m keen to see a low range for the 5spd! That redesigned rear knuckle “just paid for itself” (quote from “The Castle”) with that bolt on bearing replacement! I bet the rally crew would be interested in a set of these knuckles! Keep up the good effort!

Metal zip ties are awesome to use too. Just ensure you get plenty of pressure on the boot before cutting the tag end short. Roll the remaining tag end over the zip tie’s clamping piece. This locks it in somewhat.

Man you’re nailing the MS-paint images!!

EA82 lyfe!

So no change or updates since your last post of the same content? Since there is no reply to your proposed variable switch I’m guessing it’s not a common thing to do. Why not just replace the knock sensor and be done with it?

I was a long time ago that I did an EA82 headgasket job - I don’t recall there being instructions to back off the head bolts in the process! Just use engine oil, nothing special required. If you dip the first 5mm of thread that should give you heaps of oil to play with. If you can use an engine stand with the cylinders vertical (engine 90° rotated), this will help keep the oil in the holes and not on your new head gasket. Oil pan, drain it. Then pull it off to clean it out. Reseal with quality sealant. Cooling passages - you’d probably be better off hitting any passages you can with a high pressure washer before starting any real work on the rebuild side of things. Just running water once the work is done won’t move anything. If it’s looking really nasty, getting a rod or a screw driver in there to remove scale can be effective. Ensure you get this crud out. When putting everything back together, clean all mating surfaces then wipe with methylated spirits or some alcohol wipe that completely evaporates without leaving a residue. Then apply your goo or gaskets etc and torque to spec. After about six months of continuous driving, it should develop an oil leak if you’ve done things right (joke! It should last longer than this!). EA82s always leak oil! On that note, they usually leak from the cam box where the sealant is the only barrier between the engine internal environment and the rest of the world. I hated this seal! Best method I found was to clean as described above, apply silicone to fill the channel and the edges of the mating surface. Then sit the cam box on the sealant and leave it to harden a bit before torquing the cam box down properly. And the VERY BEST method I found for EA82 oil leaks was to EJ it. The only EAs I tinker with now are EA81 units 😎

Forgot to mention checking your wheel nuts are done up tight. This is a quick and easy check that could save a lot of headache!

Check your tyres for a bubble or something odd. I went through a process of eliminating parts from the back of my L series including removing the rear diff and driveshafts! Turned out one rear wheel developed a small bubble/egg on one side of the tread. Swapped the wheel and happy days!