el_freddo

I understand the power plant swap and I’m all for it. If you want the sleeper look, don’t lift it! An AWD box in there will get the power to the ground and make the car very nice to drive without worrying about spinning front wheels all the time! Just throwing ideas out there if you really don’t need the lift. Cheers Bennie

Looking at some of those pics you have one very clean and tidy MY wagon! I’m kind of wishing you had something a bit more ratty to off-road in! For the EJ conversion, if not running AC, remove the wiring associated with the AC system. Otherwise it all stays where it is. You can either run wires from the EA81 engine loom plug to the likes of the oil pressure sender/oil warning light switch or cut down the small wiring loom to retain these two wires. To keep your factory temp gauge accurate as it is now, it’s a good time to have the coolant crossover pipe modified to fit the EA temp sensor in it. The EJ one is smaller and reads very low on the factory temp gauge when used. Alternatively run an aftermarket gauge plumber into the heater hoses on the outlet one. Cut down your EJ loom and lay it out over the factory wiring where possible. Parts of the wiring will naturally lay out in other areas. Some thought will need to go into this! Cheers Bennie

Sounds like what moosens said - disconnected speedo cable. This will throw a code for the vehicle speed sensor as that is in the instrument cluster, driven by the speedo cable. No need to pull the cluster or the ECU. Cheers Bennie

Yes, the cam markings that are lines. I wanted to be specific about this as the arrow on the cam wheel is used to indicate which cylinder is at top dead centre. Some people use this arrow to line up their timing and wonder why the engine won’t run - then wonder why the arrow is there! Cheers Bennie

Welcome Riverrag! There will be plenty of ppl with experience in the outback model Cheers Bennie

I have not ever counted teeth on the belt. Waste of time! Line up the lines on each of the wheels with the corresponding marks on the cam covers and crank angle sensor mount. Install belt (May have to rotate one cam slightly to allow for slack in the belt AND keep the correct alignment). Once everything is lined up and belt installed, pull the magic pin. Rotate crank twice, lining up the crank mark. Both cam wheel lines should be within a mm or two of the cam cover marks if they’re not bang on. If they’re more than this, do it again! If it’s consistently off (with adjustments in your figment method) I’d recommend changing the belt for a genuine new unit. Cheers Bennie

Dunno mate, you’d have to look into it. Is the thumb wheel for the cluster illumination lights plugged in? If so, do you have a second one to swap in and try? Cheers Bennie

I reckon that particular tensioner is not a genuine item. I’d be very surprised if it is. If genuine, you should see the Fuji Heavy Industries logo cast into the side of it. It’s a boomerang looking logo (did I get that right @Steptoe ) I’ve compressed them using a G clamp as previously mentioned, always on their side. An Allen key or a nail/pop rivet (used pin or new unit) works a treat to hold the tension! Cheers Bennie

Will definitely need mods to fit: - new tailshaft or use the ‘88 unit with the centre bearing mounted to the floor somehow. - if the output stubs are 23 spline count, this will use the factory shafts on your EA81 vehicle. - flywheel needs machining to change the height of the step, this gives the correct space to clamp the clutch disc. Use the EA82 clutch pressure plate, throw out bearing and clutch fork. - shifter linkages: can fit the EA82 units with the matching console, OR use the gear lever from the EA82, and mod the EA81 4wd lever to mate to the EA82 gear under the car. This retains the stock interior. Do a search on here. Plenty of threads about it. There are several ways to do the gearbox mounts from what I’ve read Cheers Bennie PS pls use capital letters only at the start of sentences, and for names etc. It will make it easier to read your posts

Could be a dodgy earth, or a loose connection behind the instrument cluster. The back lights could be the dimmer wheel not plugged in, faulty or set to the lowest setting (off!). Cheers Bennie

Maybe one that didn’t come back? Cheers Bennie

Nothing wrong with these tensioners. Just make sure it’s genuine. If you want to swap over to the later tensioner, you’ll need the matching mounting plate. And also check out YouTube videos of their knocking tensioners when the seal breaks on them. Always go genuine with the tensioner for this reason! Cheers Bennie

Yeah wow, I’ve never seen a tensioner like that before! I’d get a second hand one. Install it, reset the cam and crank timing, and get the engine started. THEN look into buying a full cam kit. Don’t get the kit until the engine is running, otherwise it’s a potential loss of money in the event you can’t get the engine running. Cheers Bennie

Welcome to the forum MM. Not too many XV owners around on the forum - maybe you’ll be the start of that trend?? Cheers Bennie

Use the crank key way as the reference. From memory it’s 180* out from the timing mark on the crank timing gear. If the keyway is at 6 o’clock and the cam markers don’t line up, you’ve found your issue. Make sure you use the little line on the cam wheels to line things up, not the arrow! Cheers Bennie

PS: actually, grounding to the door switch wouldn’t work I don’t think. I’ve confused myself on this one now...

Have you grounded the radio to a door switch wire? If that switch is dicky, it would explain the way it randomly turns on. Easy check is to open the door, have the radio turn on and push the door switch button and see if there’s any change. I’ve got a Liberty that does the opposite - open a door and the radio turns off. Same deal I’m sure, just wired differently. Cheers Bennie

Made by Nike! I love it. That’s actually the Fuji heavy industries logo, they’re the parent company or something that owns Subaru I believe. The EA82 was closed deck too. It didn’t do much for the cooling system, and any strength gained wasn’t worth it really. Pretty cool looking engine though. Are the exhaust ports singles or Siamese and a single? Cheers Bennie

Radiator upper support panel or the “walls” of the engine bay back from the radiator up to and including the strut tower is where you’ll typically find your colour code. If you’ve got the original paperwork in the owners manual I’m sure you’ll find it in there. Cheers Bennie

Well there you go. I just learned something new. Cheers! Bennie

I should add (because I missed it yesterday) that the pinion shaft end nut is hard to get to because of the casing you’re trying to remove - the casing obscures straight line tool access to the end of the pinion shaft. And how you stop the diff from rotating is something I haven’t worked out. Cheers Bennie

I don’t think there ever was a stock one - they’re an after factory item, possibly added by the dealer as an extra. Cheers Bennie

Place them evenly on the roof where you want them - ensuring the cross bars still fit (probably best to have them fitted to the rails so you can get them square on the roof). Be sure not to drill your holes “too deep” - aka don’t let the drill bit sink into the roof, otherwise kiss your headlining goodbye. Also rust proof the holes before fitting the rivnut. You’ll thank yourself later for taking the time to do this! Cheers Bennie

Good luck with it mate. The EA82 five speed is DIY-able. But I found the old EA81 four speed a pain in the arse and I really don’t know how ppl do it. I only needed to open the old box and an angle grinder was involved in the end... Once you’ve got the rear extension housing off, the pinion shaft end nut seems to be required to be removed to get the mid/rear housing off. I gave up and introduced it to the angle grinder. A 5spd conversion would be easier and make the vehicle more enjoyable to drive long term. Cheers Bennie

@carfreak85 - what a tease mate! You’ve got the rates right? Could you post them here? Many would be interested and some might even order a custom set of springs/shocks as per the old specs. Cheers Bennie