5-lug AND air suspension swap - 87 XT Turbo

[idosubaru]

ah right, the pump sock and filter should have gotten most of it, good point. 

[waterpoloman13]

So, it's been a while since I posted an update on this project, but it's come a long ways. 5-lug done back and front with brakes and all from the 2000 RS. Raceland coilovers from a 2005-09 legacy have been installed. 1" wheel spacers added and 16" 2002 WRX rims and tires are on it at the moment. It's been aligned, drives straight, and handles really really well.

Some problems have come up since that I'm working on and assessing. I took it to a local "Subaru Specialized" shop and they pointed out a few problems that I'm a little curious about:

• "Rusted frame rails just below driver and passenger doors"; now, i've been under this car, and the rockers are definitely rusted through, but other than that I haven't seen any rust holes on the underbody or subframe. It's a little rusty, and there are 1 or 2 crunchy areas, but overall it all feels relatively solid. I'm going to take it into a body shop this week for a second opinion. As a question - could they have mistaken the rockers for "subframe and structural"?
• Throwing CEL code 44 (since it's an 87.5 apparently it throws the 88 year codes that I've found on this site and the XT owners site) - I've seen a video online to swap the Wastegate Duty Solenoid out for a manual boost controller. If I do what should the boost be (besides 20...for one run)?
• The engine is diagnosed as "leaking from all seals and gaskets" - now, obviously that's a little extreme, but could be possible I guess. I found an engine seal kit on ebay for about 75 bucks and an oil pan gasket for 20 that seems to hit all the right things. That sound legit to use, or does someone already have a better source?

Other than that there's a few little electrical hiccups and such. I'll try to get some pictures up later for your viewing pleasure

Again, big shout out to everyone who posted so quick on this thread before. I wouldn't have been able to get this far without your help and knowledge.

 

Chris

[idosubaru]

7 hours ago, waterpoloman13 said:

So, it's been a while since I posted an update on this project, but it's come a long ways. 5-lug done back and front with brakes and all from the 2000 RS. Raceland coilovers from a 2005-09 legacy have been installed. 1" wheel spacers added and 16" 2002 WRX rims and tires are on it at the moment. It's been aligned, drives straight, and handles really really well.

Some problems have come up since that I'm working on and assessing. I took it to a local "Subaru Specialized" shop and they pointed out a few problems that I'm a little curious about:

• "Rusted frame rails just below driver and passenger doors"; now, i've been under this car, and the rockers are definitely rusted through, but other than that I haven't seen any rust holes on the underbody or subframe. It's a little rusty, and there are 1 or 2 crunchy areas, but overall it all feels relatively solid. I'm going to take it into a body shop this week for a second opinion. As a question - could they have mistaken the rockers for "subframe and structural"?
• Throwing CEL code 44 (since it's an 87.5 apparently it throws the 88 year codes that I've found on this site and the XT owners site) - I've seen a video online to swap the Wastegate Duty Solenoid out for a manual boost controller. If I do what should the boost be (besides 20...for one run)?
• The engine is diagnosed as "leaking from all seals and gaskets" - now, obviously that's a little extreme, but could be possible I guess. I found an engine seal kit on ebay for about 75 bucks and an oil pan gasket for 20 that seems to hit all the right things. That sound legit to use, or does someone already have a better source?

Other than that there's a few little electrical hiccups and such. I'll try to get some pictures up later for your viewing pleasure

Again, big shout out to everyone who posted so quick on this thread before. I wouldn't have been able to get this far without your help and knowledge.

 

Chris

 

1. Rust - western folks are hit or miss when it comes to rust.  Many have no experience and avoid rust, thereby making themselves useless for any useful prognosis for rust. Post pictures or get a well informed Subaru specific opinion from someone familiar with rust on daily drivers. 

2. turbos'....others can answer that

3. Oil leaks are not from everywhere - there's just so much oil they can't tell where it's coming from and they know you don't want to pay $500 just for them to clean it all up and then start diagnosing.  Nothing they can do for a car that puked for years or quarts and quarts of oil and neglected fixing it.

4. Find the source of the leak and fix it first. 

If you want to replace a bunch of gaskets as a guess then replace the following - this isn't a bad idea on older Subaru engines anyway as the valve cover gaskets and seals are all prone to leak very frequently.  It's standard practice for me to do all this on a new to me XT6 (very similar to your car - same crank and cam seals)
a. valve cover gaskets first and PCV valve
b. crank seal, cam seal, cam cap orings, and reseal the oil pump, and water pump (this is all behind the timing belt so do it all at the same time and include a timing belt and all new pulleys if you want a reliable daily driver).  These long shaft water pumps are prone to leak more than newer stuff so good to replace the water pump with the timing bits. I prefer Subaru seals on older engines - I dont' know if companies have updated EA parts or not but I've definitely seen mis-sized crank and maybe cam seals from aftermarket companies on EA and ER engines like 10 years ago.  The OD was slightly too large and would be difficult to install and prone to leak afterwards if you crammed them in.  I don't do enough of those older Subaru's any more to know if that's still possible or it was only certain companies. 

Ideally for the leak: 
1. clean up the oil first so you can diagnosis the source of the leak
2. replace the PCV with a new Subaru PCV valve
3. identify the source of the leak (again - post pictures underneath the car)
4. repair the most egregious leak first
5. monitor oil loss and see how much you're loosing

 

[idosubaru]

7 hours ago, waterpoloman13 said:

So, it's been a while since I posted an update on this project, but it's come a long ways. 5-lug done back and front with brakes and all from the 2000 RS. Raceland coilovers from a 2005-09 legacy have been installed. 1" wheel spacers added and 16" 2002 WRX rims and tires are on it at the moment. It's been aligned, drives straight, and handles really really well.

That's great, glad it drives well.  I love daily driving my XT6.  It was down for a few days while I just replaced the timing belt, water pump, crank seals, cam seals, etc.  I was so glad to park my 09 legacy and get back to the 89 XT6 !

[Evicted]

On 9/12/2018 at 10:35 AM, Numbchux said:

Yep, stock rear EJ multilink rear shocks can be made to work without too much difficulty, but they are not setup to use a bushing where the shock rod goes into the mount, and the EA rear suspension swing arm pulls the shock bottom longitudinally too much for that. WJM and I both broke a shock. Not ideal. The NA miata ('92-'98ish) shocks are very similar, without a bushing on the top, but the NB ones ('98ish-'05ish) do have the bushing, and are almost a direct replacement, only using a different diameter spring (have to run coilover sleeves).

Hey! I’m currently trying to swap out my 86 Xt’s shot air suspension and want the most dropped look possible (slammed haha) do you know if rear NB Miata coilovers would work for the rear and 05 legacy coilovers for the front? I hope u see this, I need help so bad rn

[Numbchux]

The Miata ones will work great in the rear. Front or rear Miata ones will work, one is considerably shorter (I don't remember which, easy enough to find out, though), if you're going slammed, you'll want the shorter ones.

EJ chassis fronts will only work if you've done a 5-lug swap and have EJ front knuckles. I'm not up on the 4-lug options, and I ditched that hot garbage early in my build.

[Evicted]

1 minute ago, Numbchux said:

Thanks! Will they bolt directly up to everything in the rear with no modding the 4 lug? Also sadly mine is still 4 lug front also, what do I need to change that and lower it?

[idosubaru]

49 minutes ago, Evicted said:

55 minutes ago, Numbchux said:

Thanks! Will they bolt directly up to everything in the rear with no modding the 4 lug? Also sadly mine is still 4 lug front also, what do I need to change that and lower it?

Ream out the control arm to accept the larger EJ ball joint and bolt on EJ knuckles with an EJ axle.

Chux likes to change the tie rods to...I think EA81 for proper geometry and angles, I'm still running stock tie rods on mine.