el_freddo

Clean the switch contacts in the cluster switch. Steering wheel will need to be removed for this. Also check all solder joints on the main wires to the switch cluster. Renew/repair if looking dry/cracked/dodgy. I had the main power wire for the lights break off mine one night on a 2hr drive home. It shorted out so I had low beams. Not great but I was greatful for having some sort of lights I could drive home with. The symptoms you describe are the same as what I had in the lead up to this issue - except for the lights randomly turning off when in use. Mine only did it between switching from Lo to high and vice versa. I ended up replacing the combination switch from a ‘91 L series and haven’t had an issue since. It was a much tighter unit too. My old one had 400,000ish km on it with a lot of night driving during my ownership (which continues). Cheers Bennie

Also make sure your crank and cam sensors are bolted in place correctly and are plugged in. Any codes on the ECU? Cheers Bennie

Thanks mate, not instincts - experience after buying a brumby “that just stopped onthe way to work”. Popped Welch plug filled the content of the cooling system into the engine. We got 20L of water oil and sludge out of the little EA81. This is what we found once the heads were removed: One welch plug dropped out. Cheers Bennie

If the fuel pump is turning on and off the ECU is still in check codes mode. You need to disconnect the black connectors above the driver’s feet. It’ll be a single black wire with black connectors you’re looking for. Also make sure the green connectors in the same area are disconnected. That may influence the injector voltage - might not. You’ll have to investigate. Cheers Bennie

Welcome to the forum bbf. Thow up some details and a pic of your 80’s Subaru Cheers Bennie

That’s awesome! We didn’t get anything like that over here AFAIK. Cheers Bennie

G’day Scoby4wd, As you’ve said, under the defrost vents are three bolts. Under the dashboard left and right are two bolts on the lower A pillar. Remove the centre console. Remove any panels from above foot area. On either side of the heater box is some moulded ducting. Remove this, it clips in top and bottom. Can be a tight fit in there. Again, either side of the heater box are the cables for vent and temps. There is also one for the outside air vent high up under the dashboard. Disconnect these. Disconnect the main wiring plugs near the fuse panel. You might need to drop the fuse panel to access them properly. There will be other fiddly wiring clips to undo here and there. Take note of these for reassembly. I believe there is one wiring plug that goes to a relay or some box on the firewall. Keep an eye out for this sucker. Remove the steering wheel and drop the steering column - or remove the whole steering column (leaving the steering wheel in place). Pull the speedo cable from the back of the instrument cluster. Hold the dashboard and jiggle it gentle to loosen it’s sitting position. Feel for any resistance as this could indicate a missed mounting bolt/nut. Carefully lift the dashboard avoiding the windscreen (can easily crack the windscreen). Again check for any resistance while removing, it’s usually easiest to go out the passenger door, but really it doesn’t matter and will be more about what has better shed access (if indoors). It’s easier to do if you’ve got the windscreen removed! Those bolts under the demister vents are vertical and are a PITA to get at with the windscreen in place. Still doable though. The replacement dashboard should drop straight in place of the old one. Install is the reverse of removal, or close enough to it. Pull the cracked one first! Learn, clean the firewall etc. Then pull the good dashboard out. Now is a good time to add AC if you don’t have it but have access to a full kit. I think that’s about it. It’s been a few months since I did this last so I may have missed some finer details. Cheers Bennie

Lunging/trying to lurch forward means the clutch is good and the diff is most likely too. Sounds like something internally may have shat itself. Have you drained the oil out to see what comes with it and what’s sitting just inside the drain hole? Looking at the oil can tell you a lot about the condition of the gearboxes internals - especially if chunks or splinters of metal come out. Cheers Bennie

Correct. Use the EJ25D timing kit, tensioner and matching bracket. I believe the dohc tensioner bracket has a mount for one of the cam cover bolts that the sohc unit does not have. You can swap tensioner and bracket from any wrx - this will open up timing kit options too. Cheers Bennie

There’s a smart phone app you can get that translates foreign language text into English. I don’t know what it’s called, I’ve seen the MCM boys use it when they import cars from Japan. Cheers Bennie

I’ve got one of those hammer drivers for that job. Makes those oil seperator plate screws child’s play Cheers Bennie

Without pics I’m guessing this is a go kart with a clown car sized body on it? Were these a marketing tool, comp kart or just a novelty item back in the day? Cheers Bennie

That early rim with the flatter curve in the spokes will fit the rear drum brakes no worries. Always look for the bend in the spokes when buying this style of rim for your L series Cheers Bennie

It’s an EA81 intake looking at the location of the thermostat housing - as GD said. I’m not up with the width measurement of these intakes so can’t help there. If you fit this to your EA82, you’ll need to run the EA81 upper radiator hose. You’ll also drop a bit of power but probably not notice. This is due to a smaller carb. They look the same but the EA81 is actually a bit smaller - you can’t swap them between EA81 and EA82 or vice versa without an adaptor plate or other mods. Cheers Bennie

If the Welch/freeze plug have popped out your engine wouldn’t run as it would be full of coolant. You oil will be mixed with coolant. What makes you think you’ve popped these plugs out and that it’s not another coolant loss issue? The radiator would be more likely to crack before the block was effected. I think more investigating is needed. Cheers Bennie

What’s the mileage on each engine? Have you done a compression check on the replacement engine? Why was the engine replaced? Cheers Bennie

It’ll look like every other subaru’s cylinders - visible crosshatching... what more do you want to look at? If the HGs are not blown, don’t touch them. I got five years from my junk yard HG’d EJ22 before they started leaking. They didn’t have an easy life in my hands either - boiled the coolant on a soft beach crossing, froze the block up in our high country (used the wrong coolant - rookie mistake!). Two years after the freezing they let go when I gassed the AC for the first time in having this engine. New HGs and she’s still going. Wish I did the rings at the same time but didn’t know about this practice back then. I’d do the cam belt kit and water pump, all coolant pipes, front and rear engine oil seals then shove it in. If you’re removing the intake manifold for whatever reason, I’d replace the coolant crossover pipe O rings too. Cheers Bennie

Fuel pump would give a dying engine and loss of power feeling before stalling out. It doesn’t give a direct engine cut feeling/situation. I’d also be checking earth points, make sure they’re all clean and solid. Cheers Bennie

With the EJ five speed you’ll need to fabricate a gearbox crossmember, modified tail shaft will be needed and you’ll need a set of MPFI L series front drive shafts. You might need to modify the shifter linkages to fit the L’s body too. Make sure you’re running the same rear diff rationto that of the gearbox. If you want to run the L series dual range 5spd, you’ll need an adaptor plate and elongate the holes in the flywheel to bolt to the EJ’s crankshaft. It’s also a good ideas to have the clutch beefed up. Many talk about the XT6 clutch used in these conversions. The adaptor plate is probably the easiest way to go. Cheers Bennie

Get the factory harness and cut one down. WAY easier than making your own loom! Overlay this over your L series loomand off you go. Of course it’s not as easy as just saying it, but once you’ve got your head around it, the wiring isn’t hard to do. Cheers Bennie

Front end is bacially the same. Rear end setup is completely different. Our 2.5L RX with 17 inch rims drives like it’s on rails. A larger cat back exhaust makes the engine feel like it has more get up and go. I like it, my sister likes it - which is good, because she smashes the km on it hard! We got it at 330,000km, it’s now got well over 420,000 in less than three years. Solid platform, looks good, sounds good (genome muffler - bit loud but it keeps the Roos away! An UEL Y pipe unleashes the subi beat), comfortable to drive long distances etc. winner in our book. The RX model over head comes with climate control too. A nice feature to have - set and forget Cheers Bennie edit: these can have issues with a dead centre diff. To check for it you need to warm the drivetrain up with a short drive, then perform some tight turns - U turns are best. If the centre diff is toast, it’ll produce a rotational clunking sound and a possible light shudder through the car too.

Is there really such a thing these days out side of regular maintenance programs at dealers?? If there is, it’d probably cost more than the value of the car Cheers Bennie

It should be. Hangers could be different but wagon to wagon works as does sedan to sedan. Sedan to wagon and vice versa needs a mod to the exhaust tip length from the rear muffler. Cheers Bennie

GD, came through with “the goods”! You should read up on some build threads from those that have done this conversion before. I don’t recall many from this site but I know of one or two on subyclub (Oz site). Cheers Bennie

The rear struts won’t fit the Gen3, the rear end setup was changed on the Gen3 to a spring on shock setup. If you can, go the RX 2.5 litre version of this model, goes ace! The Gen3 runs a phase 2 engine, the EJ22 is a phase1 engine. You could swap the phase 2 heads onto the EJ22 and run the 22 that way. I reckon the Gen 1 and Gen 3 platforms are the best that Subaru produced in the Liberty/Legacy’s. That said, I haven’t ventured much beyond the Gen3... One thing to look out for is leaking HGs - typically seen on the LHS of the engine, the leak is oil externally from the no pressure oil return galleries. Replace with MLS genuine head gaskets Cheers Bennie