GeneralDisorder

Virtually nothing. Strike 1: Very high mileage Strike 2: Rust in the wheel wells and tailgate areas. Strike 3: 2WD Enjoy it for what it is, but those come up fairly often here in the West and it's hard to even give them away. If it were a Brat (they were all 4WD) or a 4WD hatch, and especially if it were low mileage/good condition..... even then they are a hard sell. My old Brat went to the east coast and had a lot of upgrades and I got $2800 for it. A high mileage 2WD wagon..... well 10 years ago I would have called that a parts car that moves itself around the yard....... honestly things haven't changed all that much except people might pay more for the parts now. A 2WD wagon is about the lowest value and least desirable EA81 out there. GD

Early stage failure is often pretty light on collateral damage (often none at all). But the longer you drive it the more the risk. I'm sure more power doesn't help but that car was basically stock. I have seen just basic NA models have similar failures. It's a matter of paying attention to the signs the car is giving and addressing it in a timely fashion. Allowed to go on though it will eventually lead to a deadline failure mode where the car will require a tow. GD

You can't weld the center diff. It doesn't work that way. It's a viscous coupler, not a differential per-se and that would only burn it up in short order. Lookup what that is and how it works. You would have to install a spool (which I don't believe anyone makes), and an axle/driveshaft disconnect..... seriously this would cost more than just buying something with part time 4WD. You are talking about reinventing the wheel down there behind a Subaru transaxle - a cramped space to begin with with a bunch of custom parts, etc..... it's simply not worth the time or effort for a 30 year old $300 $hit box. Get real man. This is for a customer..... is he really prepared to pay for this level of insanity? Because that kind of BS is going to cost thousands and take a lot of man hours. It simply doesn't pencil out. If you wanted to do such a thing as a personal project and had a machine shop laying around that could design it, build it, and then harden/temper the parts for longevity.... .still wouldn't be worth it but might be educational. And even with a locked diff..... you get passed up by a 1999 Forester Automatic with a 4WD duty-c swich mod, an LSD rear diff and 165 HP..... which you can buy these days for most likely less than he's going to pay you to implement this nutty scheme of yours. GD

Not true. They absolutely can do that. They lose the snap ring that holds the VC together and that will go through the gearset like an oak tree in a wood chipper. Usually shreds the transfer gears and sometimes destroys the tailshaft housing and slip yoke bushing. Chipped teeth, etc. Just did one on a WRX that was totally shredded and the dealer told the guy he needed a new transmission. It had to be towed to the shop. It would lock up if you tried to move it. We managed to repair it by replacing pretty much the entire transfer section, center diff, shafts/gears, and all the bearings. GD

What exactly would manual hubs solve? Also infeasible. At that point just do what I did and buy a K5 Chevy Blazer. More capable and more reliable than the legacy. And more range with a 31 gallon tank, more cargo space and capacity. Towing, etc. 350 SBC parts are REALLY CHEAP compared to Subaru parts. GD

They push oil into the filter. So they pump unfiltered oil and whatever other trash, carbon, etc is in there with it. Usually the shafts on either end of the drive georotor get destroyed by abrasive particulate embedded in the aluminum housing. I lost an EA1 back in the day due to an oil pump that was bad - I resealed it and that was just enough to turn off the light (digital dash car) and a few thousand later it ventilated the block on the freeway. I had pictures of oil pump damage decades ago. Don't know where they are now. Trust me if you haven't seen a bad one then you just haven't seen enough of them. I've seen plenty that were garbage. GD

I've seen quite a few H6's with blown HG's around/above 200k and we just end up swapping them with JDM replacements. Usually cost prohibitive to replace the gaskets. The EJ251 and later variants are the best option as the parts are plentiful and they can easily go 250k with proper maintenance and good head gaskets. GD

It has solid lifters if it's the original engine. Then this shouldn't be too much different than the CCC Quadrajet GM used all through the 80's.... assuming it's the model with the feedback carb. The O2 sensor can go bad and cause a stall situation with the computer controlled carb models. Also could be a bad coolant temp sensor for the computer - again if it's equipped with feedback. GD

Does it have an oxygen sensor? If so unplug it. GD

The chains are stupid since we end up resealing the chain cover's at about 70-100k anyway which is so time consuming you may as well just replace a timing belt. At least with the belt you get all new components every 105k. The chain setup is prohibitively expensive to replace but you have to open it up all the same to re-glue the massive front chain cover. Also the early one's leak right into the front AFR sensor and usually kill the $250 sensor. So there's that. The turbo models break piston skirts and are as-yet cost prohibitive to upgrade compared to the STI which is still running the EJ. All-in-all we really don't like them. They are more time consuming to service and aren't handling power like the EJ's. Reliability seems alright if you keep oil in them but cost of maintenance is the same or higher with the silly chain cover and cam tower leakage that all of them have. Personally I would rather deal with the EJ's head gaskets. GD

GMC is just Chevrolet. The C2500 is a 2WD Chevy 3/4 ton truck, and the "Jimmy" is the 4WD Blazer with nicer options. GD

Only if you find belts and interior trim from a right hand drive postal model or from Canada. With the manual you will be stuck with AWD then. There is no locking the center diff - it doesn't have a "transfer case" as such - Subaru's use a "transaxle" that is the the transmission, front diff, center diff, and transfer gears all inside a single unit. The center diff is housed inside of the transmission and there's no way to convert it to 4WD. I used to believe in the superiority of the manual also. I falsely believed that the "sense" of control with so much right hand-job equated to actual control. I am older now with more experience and have rebuilt a thousand manual Subaru transmissions and wheeled Subaru's of every vintage for over two decades. I absolutely agree they are fun and often utilitarian. Have one in my Sport Sedan, my Formula, and my 2WD truck. But not in my Jimmy (off road), and not in my Trans Am (street strip) both have 700R4's because low range, and because shift speed. Auto's rule the drag racing world (powerglide) - for good reason. For wheeling the auto is FAR superior. And in the specific case of the first gen Legacy the auto is the more reliable transmission with far less maintenance (no clutch). You will do as you like of course. But at least consider the educational value of my words. Build a manual - try it out. Eventually (someday) you may realize what I'm talking about. Remember this conversation when you are slipping the clutch over obstacles or having to take a running start to bash over something at high speed because crawling wasn't an option. GD

All of those are crap unfortunately and most are just working through remaining stock. KYB has pretty well left the EA market. 30 year old Subaru's aren't on any manufacturers radar for replacement parts. What's out there is what's left and when it's gone there will be no more. The Legacy on the other hand - you could bolt right up some 2007 WRX suspension for example. Same stuff. You CANNOT get an oil pump for the EA82. But the Legacy engine could use the oil pump from a 2020 STI...... All the EJ stuff will be available for a long time. GD

You're just wrong. They have locking torque converters so fuel economy is virtually identical. Weight on the Subaru transaxle is about the same either way. The auto might be 25lbs heavier. The connection to the drivers is of no use when the thing breaks or can't move. As usual with people that have an unreasonable aversion to auto's... the real problem is a lack of understanding and a fear of not knowing how it works/how to maintain and repair it. Fortunately the 4EAT is a near bulleproof transmission and rarely requires any input from a mechanic other than to change the fluid every 60k. They very often go 300k+. One of my tech's has a very beat-down 2001 Forester with 290k on it that's got the original transmission - having defiantly outlasted 4 owners and 2 engines. So an auto that has a switch for 4WD, the ability to select gears manually, hold gears (such as 2nd) for less slip on take-off, and a torque converter for "low range" has less control than a manual? LOL. And what exactly are you planning to "maintain" on the MT that you can't on the auto? LOL. GD

There are no options for that. And there are no EJ part-time transmissions. The auto's can be modded for locked 4WD..... as I already pointed out. The MT's cannot. In addition they don't need a low range because torque converter. What's your beef with auto's exactly? The 4EAT automatic is a marvel of late 80's engineering. It can be locked into 4WD, it has torque multiplication, no clutch to wear out, and when in AWD mode it can intelligently transfer power. The MT's are completely dumb. They are stuck in AWD with a 4kg viscous coupler - lift one wheel or lose traction at one wheel and they just stop moving entirely, they have no torque multiplication so you have to run at everything at top speed to get over obstacles or slip the clutch, they wear out syncro's and rear input shaft bearings, and then there's the clutch..... those need replacement as well. The auto wins in EVERY category. Period. GD

I don't throw things away that are actually useful. My current fleet: 1969 GMC C2500 1984 GMC Jimmy 1986 Pontiac Trans Am 1991 Pontiac Firebird Formula 1991 Subaru Sport Sedan 1986 GL Hatch So - as you can CLEARLY see - I have nothing against old vehicles..... that I can get parts for. In fact I prefer them. I deal with newer stuff all the time and can easily afford them - I can fix them (or even just point at the thing and have my minions do it) - but I have no desire to complicate my life with CANBUS and dozens of modules..... I own a Picoscope and I have no desire to pull it out for my own cars. The Subaru's aren't daily driven and certainly aren't taken outside the towing range. Also I own a Subaru/Performance shop so I have access to an infinite used parts supply and I know all the locals that have parts. And yet even I can't lay hands on an EA82 oil pump...... A clapped out EA82 lawn ornament is worse than useless. Can't get any parts for the thing. Basically the same reason I'm retiring the GL hatch for actual off-road duties (even with the 10" lift and Nissan transfer case). Can't get parts to repair it when I inevitably break it off-road. Also the Jimmy is on 35's and has a 350 HP V8.... so there's that. The basic problem with the Loyale is that you have to start your own junk yard to keep it on the road. No axles, no hubs, no engine components..... it's a wasteland out there for EA82 parts. Can't even buy basics hardly - brake pads and struts are almost non-existent. Etc. Add to this that it was a ho-hum platform in the first place that was essentially a marketing solution looking for a problem that never existed. The platform was terrible to work on with the EA81 and EJ22 platforms on either side of it both easier and more reliable. And the simple fact is that a couple of lawn ornament Legacy's that haven't moved in years and are probably full of mold, etc..... aren't worth their value in scrap except for maybe a few parts to donate to the few that are still on the road. It makes no financial sense to even bother with such garbage when for less than the labor and parts to get one on the road you can simply buy one that's nicer and is still driving. You can find some old grandma example for peanuts in nice condition with low mileage if you look around a bit. They aren't worth beans. GD

Both. And yeah do the research. And don't say I didn't warn you. I've only been doing this for 20 years....... checkout my post count. LOL. The Auto's are much better. Wheel circles around the MT's. And yes - the "Fucitol" option is absolutely the best. You'll get several hundreds in scrap value and that can go toward a $700 Automatic wagon (they are REALLY cheap). I use these things as loaners at my shop - last one I bought was $300 and had 112k on it. Needed a HG..... Keep whatever parts you like for spares and send the rest to China for smelting. GD

Just crush the 87. Nothing useful there. You can't, and shouldn't, use any of the parts on a Legacy. Fix one of the Legacy's. Go into a holding pattern till you get #3 and find out the condition. Also being you are in Portland, OR where my shop is - word of advise to you - just scrap all 3 of these "lawn ornaments" after cherry picking a few parts and buy a running/driving 90-94 Legacy AWD automatic WAGON. You can likely get the nicest example around for $1500..... which makes it basically not even worth spending significant labor on repairing something that's been sitting for ages. Forget the 5MT's and anything that's not a wagon and if the plan is to take it through any amount of off-road or back roads and into the back country just stick with an automatic. Many reasons for this which you can research if you choose, but trust me just crush all that garbage. The auto will do what you want and can be locked. It's also much smarter with a computer to aid traction control and has a built-in low range (it's called a torque converter). GD

Confirmed - bad center diff in the transmission. GD

Honda rice shop. Trust me they don't have any EA82 struts in the back. Call them - you'll see. GD

https://parts.subaru.com/

Closed deck (stock, conversion, etc) is a waste of time. The deck isn't the problem - it's the weak cylinder liners. Closing the deck only attempts to shore up the weak liners, you can't fully deck the block because you have to allow for case half bolts and coolant flow so ultimately it's an exercise in futility because one way or another you are going to break the liner or blow the HG, etc. Much better to just install Darton sleeves and be done with it. Keep the open or semi-closed deck for proper coolant flow and case bolt access, etc but have a liner that won't rupture if you exceed 25 psi or get a bit of detonation. If you are NA - this is a pointless conversation. GD

Denso, Koyo, and CSF are all fine for plastic. Just make sure you change it every 8 years. After that it's just on borrowed time. Also warning to all those running the OAT blue coolant that Subaru switched to in 2011 - it eats plastic radiators. Just like it ate intake manifold gaskets on the 90's Vortec's. Honestly I have no use for the stuff. GD

They are going to be a drop-ship middle man. I could do the same thing with any of my suppliers if I wanted to build a web store (I don't). These companies exist only on computer. They have no actual warehouse or stock of parts. Chances are they will cancel the order when the parts aren't actually available. Unfortunately all this stuff is being discontinued and you're only choice going forward will be to haunt eBay for new old stock. GD