Subaru_dude

Lately my car (EA82 2wd 5spd sedan) has been running rough on startup, sounds like it's running on 3. So this morning when I'm leaving work I start it but it doesn't clear up like it usually does within the first 10 seconds. So I get out of the car to sniff the exhaust a little. Guess what I smell!!! Burning jell-o!!!! It clears up about a minute later. So... I'm gonna pull the plugs if it stops raining and do a compression test too. The headgaskets only have about 10,000 on them, so if it's headgaskets I'm definitely dumping the EA82 probably in favor of an EA81 and doing the EJ22 swap later on down the road when I'm ready for it. Wish me luck on it not being headgaskets!!!

You still need to replace that fluid though after adding a little atf to free things up. But you will probably spring quite a few leaks if you go full synthetic (Royal Purple). Mine sure did, smoked like you wouldn't believe everytime I pulled off the interstate. My 2wd 5spd feels a WHOLE lot better after some atf flushing and fresh fluid. Mine has 215,000miles and the only thing that I've noticed is nothing but improvement from the flush and fill.

UPDATE: Clutch cable gave out today. Replaced it and what I thought was hesitation caused by failing fuel pump or pcv valve (which I also replaced with OEM) was actually the clutch slipping because the hesitation disappeared with the replacement of the clutch cable. Also replaced front struts, and attempted to do the muffler but it's really stuck. So the list is as follows now because I discovered a few new things. Front DS ball joint Lifter tick Needs shifter linkage (shifts smoother with clutch cable though) Side marker lights don't work on PS Rear bearings starting to make noise No power getting to window brake light thus no workie I hate to brag, but damn ain't she georgous?

Do the headgaskets and don't mod it and you should be fine.

Yeah I was going to go that route for the simple fact that I would hate to accidentally drop it into low when shifting gears, but your reason is good too. Drilling all the way through would be a good idea, makes it easy to see what i'm looking for when I look in the trunk. Thanks for that advice. I already put 4wd springs and struts in the rear because the 2wd ones were just too soft, but I still have them so I'll stick em on and see how it looks. How about the 4wd springs with the 2wd shocks?

First of all I must say I'm quite happy to see yet another member located here in the South-east. Second of all yes, be very specific on the info you give them. If you have a haynes or chiltons manual, you can probably figure out what kind of distributor you have (nippindenso or hitachi) and they should be able to get the exact part without much trouble. Make sure they know whether it's 4wd or 2wd.

Alright guys thanks for all the help. It doesn't sound like anything too far out of my range of experience so I'll start getting all the parts together. Another thought: My donor car is a s/r with the button on the shifter. I was thinking about having a setup similar to the twin stick but substituting a stick with the button. Using the s/r shifter button to engage 4wd and using the knob to engage hi/lo. So I could have 2wd hi/lo and 4wd hi/lo. Sound like a good idea?

Thanks for all the great info guys. As for the exhaust, so I just need to get something custom from the cat back or would the y-pipe get in the way too? And how hard would it be to get to the nuts that would hold everything to the bottom of the car? The one's I'm most concerned with are the ones that would need to be in place to hold the mustache bar in the rear... I can't really tell by looking how I would get to those. So, is this going to be fun?

I have some 4wd arms with swaybar mounts on them and new bearings, that's what I will use. And yeah, by looking at it I can already tell the exhaust will have to be moved.

I have a non-feedback carb and a Weber. The Weber needs to be rejetted, cleaned up but I don't have the adapter for it. The Hitachi ran OK. I'm only an hour and a half away from you so maybe I could be of some help despite my lack of knowledge when it comes to carbs. There's a pull-a-part in Knoxville with plenty of EA82s so you could get a SPFI setup there.

I have all of the undercarriage stuff (axles, diff etc.) on my S/R donor car. I'm just wasting my time looking for a suitable wagon so I might as well just throw the D/R in my sedan. It would look just as awesome as a wagon when it's lifted IMO.

I've decided it would be more cost effective to convert my 2wd 5spd EA82 sedan to 4wd D/R instead of trying to find a D/R wagon (what happened to all of them?) As far as I know the only thing I really need to alter on the actual car itself is the transmission tunnel (cut a hole for the D/R knob) and drill+tap holes in the body. So far I have: D/R transmission with shifter knobs and linkage everything needed on the undercarriage from a S/R donor EDIT: Can I get the axle shaft seals and rear seal for the tranny anywhere other than the dealership? And is it worth splitting the case to replace the front seal? Is there anything else I need? I did a quick search but I didn't come up with any sort of list to go by. Thanks for all your help guys. -Jordan

Does the needle make a slow climb to the red or is it suddenly jumping? If it's suddenly jumping then there's probably air in the system. If it's slowly climbing then either your rad is clogged or a hose is callapsing.

Probably air in system. Park it on a hill to get all the bubbles out.

I like the sedans, but like GD said... they don't have very much of a following. Shame, they look really good.

I've had trouble with this too, mine was rusted pretty badly and it took me and my dad going insane and jerking the engine as hard as we could to get it loose. Even then it took everything we had and 2-3 hours of repetative insanity. The cast aluminum should be okay as long as you don't hit it with a sledge like I did. I broke a pry-bar clean in 2 without doing a whole lot of damage to the aluminum bell housing, so you should be okay with getting pretty agressive with it.

8.5"? Just drive over it.

Yeah a clogged cat does rob performance, but I don't think he knew it was clogged. Thought you were doing it for that 1 extra ftlb of torque. If even that. Anyway, could also be the injector leaking gas causing it to run rich/drink fuel. Sweet lookin ride btw. An EJ22 will be a HUGE leap forward in power and reliability. Good luck with the swap.

Welcome to the board!! Brats are being subject to price gouging right now... in REALLY good shape they usually sell for something around 5K on e-Bay. I think I saw a Brat, or maybe even a Brat plus a parts Brat, for $3500 on Craigslist. I'm pretty sure it's in Asheville. But anyway... you'll almost definitely have to do a little work to it for it to be a reliable daily driver. They tend to get neglected. The bed is only 4ft long though. You could get an EA82 or EA81 wagon and carry whatever you have to either on top or on a trailer... there's a guy on here who delivers kitchen appliances in his EA82 wagon. They're quite roomy in the rear.

That's pretty sweet. Looks pretty good too. You could use the whole smuggler's hatch for a much larger tool-box if you needed it (well, I don't know about the depth...). Cool idea.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=65321&highlight=denver+mad+scientists

Wanna trade? Coast or wheels, I'm up for either one.

They may have to be rechromed, there's some rust on them. I have no idea how much it would be to rechrome them either, but if it less than a few hundred I may have it done because chrome would look GREAT, but black would look awesome too especially after I get the windows tinted. Anybody have photoshop and can make them look black?

Just picked up a set of these at the junkyard. First question. Does anybody have any center-caps for these wheels or knows what will work. Second question. Should I leave them chrome and just clean them up real good, or should I paint them black? Here's a pic of them leaning against the car to give you an idea of how they'd look. http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q200/SMASHmySOOByDONTya/Subarus/DSC_0103-1.jpg Thanks guys. Jordan

You should check your front diff fluid, I had a 3AT that started making strange noises while in gear (scratchy, scuffy like you said) and the diff fluid was really low. As for the rear end noise, could be a bearing. Jack it up and see if you can move the wheels side to side. If there is play, could be a bearing.