Subaru_dude

My favorite car to date... I totaled her December 5th. Rolled her off into a ditch, destroyed it. My favorite pic from her windshield... this turned out to be one of the worst floods Knoxville had ever seen. In all her glory.

I say go for it. Have no idea how much you can find an EJ22 motor for, but if you want to keep the car and don't mind dumping some money into it, then who cares if you "lose" a little money. The EA82 bodies are great... especially the wagons. They're 2 cubic feet short of having the same amount of cargo capacity as a brand new Outback and those things are HUGE. They're a good bit lighter than Legacys, that's fore sure. Hell even with 90hp, they can still get around and (mostly) keep up with traffic. Throw 45hp under the hood and you've got one fun rig. On a personal note... just get that damn EA82 OUTTA THERE.

Wow I didn't know that. Ya learn something new every day!

if even something this small and seemingly insignificant could make such a noticeable difference in fuel mileage, I wonder what could be done to the older, smaller subarus to increase mileage?? Looking at the kinds of computers used and tests performed to build a more modern vehicle like a Tribeca... I could see something like that making a difference.

Actually gear oil is what's supposed to be in the transmission of it's a manual. I wouldn't want to run a 5spd on ATF for too long...

I put 3 quarts in my EA71 2wd 5spd and it put it exactly on the full. Either the dipstick is wrong, not all the fluid drained out of the transmission (like previous poster said, how much drained out?), or you drained your oil instead! lol. This IS a manual transmission right?

I've got an '84 coupe 2wd 5spd with some rust, ticky lifters, rotted muffler, a backfiring problem, and that crappy feedback carb. I get all kindsa hell for driving that stinky machine. My friends really just think it's a piece of crap. But I can see the look of suprise in their eyes when it cranks up before the starter even makes a full turn.... The only 2 people that have ridden in it BOTH said it sounded like the tanks in Battlefield 3 (which they play often). Now THEY affectionately refer to it as the tank!

What part of TN?

There wasn't really anything special about it. All these other models I see were extremely well built and reliable. Any EA besides the EA82 is exceptional. The EA82 is good and all... but doesn't compare to everything else they built. What I'm saying is EA82s are crap and every one left on the road should be swapped out for an EA81.

The first of March. AWESOME on gas. Traded my '95 Legacy wagon for it after the clutch went out again (crooked input shaft due to failed bearing). Leaks water in the rear window and the windshield. I may have a job soon, if so I'll be putting some money into it. Starts right up EVERY time!!!

I had an '88 sedan 2wd 5spd at one time, never got below 30mpg around town. On the highway, it could regularly get 37mpg but on a trip back from Nashville with a strong tailwind I got 41. That car got excellent mileage.

Yeah it's bare bones, big difference from my '96 Outback. gets great mileage, could get better with a spfi swap I suppose. Needs axles too. But right now I'm broke so I'll live with it how it is.

2wd 5spd. 256,000 on the odo but speedo quit working probably about 6 months ago. Did oil change, trans greast change, air filter, tires and that's about it. Have a 3rd eye grill and light for it... just have to see if it even works. Needs the little seals between the front and back windows. Rear window leaks too... I'll deal with that later. Runs great and gets high 30s!!! I'll use this thread as my progress thread. Sometime this summer I plan on taking care of all the rust and possibly repainting it.

Hey from TN. Nice Forester you got there. You should check out the pics of my lifted Outback! (R.I.P.)

Welcome to the Subaru world. Too bad it's an auto, you'd much more enjoy a manual trans with the hi-lo 4wd. T-tops would be awesome too. Can't beat a camo Brat though, no matter the options it lacks. That would be the perfect hunting vehicle. It can fit into some tight places.

I would say that's true. I'm in a hurry because I've been without a car a while. It's together at least, just gotta replace a ball-joint. Did the brakes on my sister's '96 Legacy today so didn't have time to do that, all went smoothly at least. Rear discs are so nice.....

Not changing your cars oil on time has nothing to do with the quality of the bolts. And it's not rusty, less rusty than my Outback was actually. Not that the Outback was a rust bucket, I just got it out in the snow alot. The bolts on the underside were pretty well tainted with the dreaded RUST... but at least they weren't made out of damn lead like this LEGACY!!!!!!!!!!!

Got a '95 Brighton Legacy with 244,000 miles for $500 ($700 after expenses) that needed a clutch. Dropping the trans wasn't bad, but going back in was another story. The 4 smaller bolts that go into the body at the rear tranny crossmember were all sorda stripped. Nothing an impact and elbow grease didn't fix. Got one bolt each side, the other 2 were too fubard. Then the larger tranny crossmember that has one larger bolt on each side gave me some trouble. The weld nuts in the body both broke loose. Using the impact I eventually got them both tight though so no big deal. Front axles, no problem. Tie rod ends gave me some crap too. I unscrewed the castle nuts so that the nut stuck up above the threads. Well, after the 4th smack with the BFH it stripped the threads out of the nut. Ok, I'll just go ahead and beat on it till it comes out and get a new tie rod end. It finally does come out, pretty mushroomed. Same happened on the other side. The vaccuum hoses under the hood were all in pretty bad shape too. Got it all together, and didn't make it 2 miles down the road and something catastrophically fell apart in the front end. I don't blame that on the car, probably something I missed working on the car in the near pitch black. My Outback was of WAY better quality. The bolts in the Brighton are of much worse quality. Is it because it's a '95 and they were cheaping out to sell them? My Outback was a '96 and was WAY easier to work on. Even the rubber hoses in the Outback, having 10,000 more miles, were still soft and pliable. WTH????????? Oh yeah, and the transmission pops out of gear quite a bit. I ABUSED the Outbacks' trans with 3000rpm clutch dumps going up rocky hills, slamming it in reverse, changing gears without using the clutch (took some practice but I could do it pretty smoothly after a few tries) and it never showed a HINT of trouble. What gives? Should I avoid Legacies and stick with strictly Outback or is it because it's a '95? I'm pissed. I was hoping the simplicity of the Brighton would be a nice change but this car is absolute crap. Were some of them made in USA? I'm sure if some were this is one of them.

I know it's a bit of a ride for you, but I've got an EA81 with hydro lifters out of an '85 hatch. It has 86,000 miles on it. It'd be perfect for that Fiat...

Don't worry guys, the flesh is cooking in the hot sunlight as we speak. It is almost ripe for the picking.

I think the structure could have done better . Really wish I had the money for a brand new Forester 5spd, but I'm eyeing a '94 Legacy 2wd (BOOOOOO) 5spd. Hopefully the mileage will be a tad better, IF I manage to get the money before it gets gone. I haven't seen over 30mpg in a couple years:o.

Taking a left onto another road in the rain and slid off an embankment. I was going too fast and the road was recently asphalted. It was similar to driving in unusually slick slush. I was in an all-out drift when I hit the curb. Right rear tire hit the curb first and threw my front end over the enbankment, and over I went landing on the passenger side roof. I'm very grateful I was unhurt and able to walk away. No insurance though... poo.