presslab

That's awesome, Mike, thanks!!

After a bit of research it looks like cryo treatment stress relieves the whole rotor. I'm not sure why cold is used instead of heat (perhaps the material) but this is a great idea.

I have a 3" Thrush on my EA82T, with a small glasspack before the tip. It sounds pretty good. I still have two cats and a turbo, so a N/A engine would be considerably louder. I've read those exhaust valves rust up pretty easy, for what it's worth.

Oh yah you're right, 1 1/16". I bought it from 1stsubaruparts and it was about $120 I think. The 1 1/16" is probably a bit overkill. I imagine you'll need to fab some pipes to put a LHD M/C on... Maybe a 1" Legacy M/C would be idea. After the SVX M/C install I needed the tandem booster. It didn't have enough power otherwise to lock em up. Supposedly the 9" single stage is better than the tandem in feel. With the SVX M/C and 8" stock booster it was firm. With the 7"/8" booster & SVX M/C it took a bit less pressure for moderate stopping (still very firm) and it allowed more pedal pressure before running out of assist. It's easy to tell when assist is gone - there is a little bump feeling in the pedal.

I agree, drilled/slotted rotors are pretty much for show. Maybe if your pads are literally burning/smoking they might provide a small benefit. The brake proportioning valve only reduces rear braking under near lock-up conditions; otherwise it is passive. I think what is more pertinant to this discussion is the static brake proportioning for normal braking conditions. This is determined by how much force each brake applies for a given line pressure. It depends on things like caliper piston size, pad area, pad composition, rotor diameter, drum leverage ratio, etc., etc. The attached pic is from the FSM for the XT. It shows the master cylinder pressure vs rear brake pressure.

You all are missing my point, sometimes I wonder why I try... I take it from what you all are saying, is that Subaru designed their cars with inadequate drum brakes, which somehow caused jackbombay's front rotors to warp? If the drum brakes were the problem, they would burn up and not the front, right? I really doubt Subaru designed 90/10 brake proportioning. I'm sure in good working condition all the brakes will be sharing the load appropriately, if it was 90/10 that would be unsafe! The car would take forever to stop. Either there is something wrong with his braking system, like the brakes are not working up to spec, or he is just overwhelming the entire system and he needs larger/better brakes all around. Slapping on some rear discs without fixing the underlying problem isn't the solution... Sigh... I'm done. :-\

That sounds pretty nice! My pads need warming up as well; I need to really pay attention on the first couple stops, or else I'd end up in the middle of the intersection. Do you have a stock M/C? I still have stock calipers but even with stainless braided hoses the pedal was soft. I upgraded to a 1-1/8" SVX M/C and it was solid like a rock! However, there wasn't quite enough assist. There wasn't enough room for a 9" RS single stage booster but a Legacy 7"/8" tandem booster fit fine. It feels awesome now, I can lock the brakes up without any problem (once warm ), and the pedal is very solid with a good feel.

I've always been a little skeptical of lifetime warranty pads... I'm sure they design them with not wearing out as a primary goal, things like fade resistance and stopping power are probably not at the top of the list. So by better braking do you want more stopping power, more fade resistance, better pedal feel, or ?

So are you saying you took this class? Can you elaborate as to why they work better on big trucks and not cars? Not sure if the brakes on trucks are overkill, I've smelled many truck brakes while driving over a mountain pass. Of course the trucks weigh 40 tons. I believe the original poster's problem was the brakes warping (presumeably due to heat) because of steep hills. I don't see how a rear disc would solve this problem, unless the rear disc can dissipate more heat than the drum. I use Porterfield R4S pads & shoes on all my vehicles. Not cheap, but worth it in my opinion.

Unless Subaru designed a flawed braking system (perhaps...) I don't see why the drums would have less power than a disc. The drums are harder to service and I'd say the drums tend to work worse because they are serviced incorrectly. There is no reason drums have less inherent stopping power than a disc. I mean, 18-wheelers have drums, and they are pretty heavy, I think. A disc brake is easier to service, has better power when water logged, and better modulation. For the same diameter, a drum brake will have more power! Brembo rotors are good but I have warped Brembo rotors in the past as well.

I have $21 Autozone rotors on mine, replaced them when my old ones warped. They have been good for a few years now. I also use carbon-kevlar pads, I believe these keep more heat in the pad (which can make the fluid hotter) but it saves the rotors a bit. In my opinion, turning a warped rotor is not effective. The metal has residual stress that will warp again once heat cycled. Make sure your whole system is in good shape. It might be your rear brakes aren't working right and you're overtaxing the fronts. Of course, proper technique is good too. Be sure to let off the brakes occassionally to let them cool. It's better to stop hard, let off for a couple seconds, and stop hard again, than just drag the brakes the whole time. You probably already know this. I have slotted rotors on my other car, and they probably help a bit when the brakes are actually to the point of offgassing. (Smoking) Do you smoke the brakes often? Other than that they do look cool.

I used to work for a TV repair shop, and would deliver TVs in a Dodge Caravan. That thing was a heap! It had only 150k miles and the tranny was junk. To get up some hills we had to turn the van around and go up in reverse. Not to mention the thing burned oil like a banshee. I remember the smoke screens we would make in the drive-through when we stopped at McDonalds for lunch.

Man it's problems like these that make it nice to have a scope. I use one meant for electronics but my friend sells the Snap-On Modis. My girlfriend's car had a bad coil (arcing on the secondary) and the Modis had an example graph showing normal behavior and the bad coil was a bit off from that. Pretty cool! Anyway sorry for the OT. Maybe you can find someone who has a scope of some type to look at it. I'm guessing the ignition amplifier too, although changing from 11.3 to 0 by turning the disty means the amplifier is working at least a little. You can't repair it if bad, you just replace it. Shorting out the wires like you had and arcing creates large voltages that can fry electronic things.

Seconded...

Ah yes, that boost cut I am familiar with. It's not such a bad thing, it's just attempting to keep the engine from going lean when the boost is too high. Aftermarket != cheap or bad. All the Stant thermostats that I've seen are junk. While Stant is one of the most popular aftermarket thermostats, that doesn't mean all aftermarket ones are junk. I can't see a thermostat failing for any reason other than a manufacturing defect/poor quality, being worn out, or overheated.

Yes, you're right, my hands have indeed brought this engine back to life.

Oh I just found this, thanks for the info!! When I installed the XT6 rear bar the seller included the mounting hoops. The hoops from the XT6 bar were about twice as thick as the original ones on my wagon, so I used them. It seems Subaru knew of this problem as well. And Patrick you should consider a TD04.

Fuel cut, as in too much boost (air flow vs RPM) fuel cut, right? Hmm, recently I had my OEM thermostat that wouldn't fully open after only a few months old... I replaced it with some aftermarket (not stant) and it seems ok so far.

Ah so the VC is in parallel with part of the diff... Is it in parallel with the two outputs or with the input and one of the outputs? From the diagrams it looks like it is in parallel with the input and the front output... I have heard of Vanagon Syncro owners driving for hundreds of miles through the VC when they break a rear axle. Not recommended, but it works.

Looks great! I thought it especially nice that you used your lift blocks as a subframe adapter. You guys have inspection down there, right? Do you have any problems with that due to your mods?

Is there a rev limit in the ECU? It's way up there if there is. I have also had mine up that high... It pulls strong until 8k; this is with TD04, TMIC, and 3" exhaust. Before those mods, the engine was choking out at 5k. The stock GL-10 4EAT TCU shifted at ~6k, the Legacy TCU shifts at 6k as well. Doesn't that seem a little too cold, 145 deg? You do have a thermostat, yes?

Got around to doing the fronts. I drilled the hole just above where the knuckle mounts, the metal was thick here as well. They had the same original fluid viscosity and volume as the rear. I replaced it with 6 oz of 10 wt Silkolene RSF, just as I did the rear.

The XT6 front bar was rubbing on the lower control arm; the bends are a bit different. I put back on the 19mm original front, still 20mm XT6 on the rear. It seems great so far, a hint of understeer perhaps, but it seems "ideal" now.

The gasket will work fine dry. I've been adding Permatex Copper Spray to my paper type gaskets, supposedly it makes them easier to remove later. I haven't removed any so I can't vouch for that, but I haven't had any leak on me. In any case, make sure both surfaces are clean, clean, clean. This will go a long way to ensuring a leak free seal.

Thanks Rohan! Did your Brumby come with a 4EAT? I don't think any Brat in the USA did. Or was it using a SVX TCU with the EJ22? I can sure help you work out the wiring but I don't want to make a business of selling modded TCUs, I'm sure you understand. If you can find a '90 or '91 Liberty TCU it just might be the same as ours over here, that would be the easiest to get you going. Make sure it has pads for the ROM socket. The SVX trannys are pretty strong, just keep the ATF clean and cool with an external filter and finned cooler. There are also mods you can do to make it even stronger. http://www.ecutune.com/4eat.htm http://www.levelten.com/store/subaru.htm Sounds like a fun project, good luck!