photorich65

Great information scoobydube ! Any chance you have a place to start in my search for EA82T distributors ? Both my '86's are running on a wing and a prayer with high mile units. Rich

what a crazy little tire ! You did see the part about "not for highway use" ? Just checking, they probably work fine. noisy, but fine.

I was mostly talking out my a$$, it's not easy trying to daily these suckers. I bought a well used FJ Cruiser to have a back up after an untimely igniter failure. If any of you have a source for new or rebuilt distributors, that's my Achilles !

All these recommendations to bale for a better supported old car... sheesh. Are we not manly men ? Anyone can mod a Miata - it takes gumption to backwood engineer a lowered strut for our beautiful old EA's ! I've had to channel my inner McGyver more times than I can count to keep these funky old boxers humming. I'm thinking about some sort of adapter that'd fit into the spindle socket and allow the typical strut to clamp onto it... but it'd have to be an awfully short strut on a lowered car. Larry the GL has a sectioned Monroe housing with a VW Rabbit cartridge stuffed inside. What we lose in ease we gain in satisfaction 😉

I thought about the two pin idea a few days ago. I have my son looking at the dead dizzy to see what we can reverse engineer. Can you elaborate on the Speedyefi comment ? Turns out they're not far from my home. Didn't see anything on their website having to do with series 2 distributors or even Nissan components.

Thanks for the responses - I was off forum and forgot I'd posted the question ! I've managed to find a used Distributor off a salvaged car so both of my rigs are good at the moment.... the search continues for backups, I'll look into the suggestions above ! Rich

My pair of '86 EA82T's. They alternate duty as my daily ride.

I have a couple EA82T cars. One with 90K, the other with 150K. Both are strong, lovely engines. They have nice torque down low and a tiny little RPM range where they pull hard enough to give the illusion of power - remind me very much of my Harley Evo. That said, I'm an old dude and having read a forum string such as this, fully expected a fragile, flawed engine when I found my XT. If I had a point when I started this missive, well it slipped my mind lol. Certainly adding a turbo to an ancient EA is a fools errand. But all this ire aimed at my tiny snail toting boxers... just mean. 😉 Rich

Recently bought a set of BF Goodrich Radial TA's for each of my two '86's. They're only available in one (13") size 205/60-13 but look good and drive smooth and quiet.

Any of you old school guys have a source for distributors or ignition modules for my fleet of two '86 turbo's ? I'm trying to keep them both running well enough to daily 😉 Rich

Same situation - 1986, one owner XT turbo with 80K sat 20 some years. New gas, filters, and timing belts. Three years and another 15K miles with zero issues. As far as a mechanic to go through it - good luck with that ! I paid the local Subaru guys to inspect it and they charged me 120.00 to tell me it was old and had some rust. They refused to do any kind of work on it. Some BS about liability and parts availability. Well the parts availability is a thing. You'll learn to search the forums for advice and interchangeable information real quick. FWIW Some Loyale parts are useful. Fun car though - worth the hassles !

I have a 1986 XT and 1997 SVX. The XT very much feels like a slightly stronger and more modern VW (old style) Beetle. It's light weight and the metal is obviously very thin. Between that and the maintenance needed I'd only recommend it as a spare car for tinkering and occasional drives. And that's not even mentioning a dearth of parts... there's almost nothing available for the XT - you have to adapt other model's parts and use your inner MacGyver. The SVX, on the other hand is a much more substantial car. Solid, with airbags and anti-lock brakes. Dependable except for known transmission issues and the nits that come with any older car. In my opinion it's much less fun to drive than the XT - more like a sporty Camry. Long story short, I'd recommend you follow your parent's wishes and find a newer generation Subaru as a daily, eventually buying an older Sub as a hobby car. Good luck with whatever you find ! Rich