86 Loyale fun wagon

[Probz]

Hi everyone! Im a new member here. I have never been into Subarus, didn't know much about them (except that they are hard to get parts for where i am from) so i have stayed away from them. My wife has always been joking around that when she gets her license she would want a Subaru (she has seen those WRX STIs somewhere and every time someone says Subaru that car comes up on her mind). So few years ago i bought her "a Subaru" as a gag for her birthday. It was a rusted out Subaru Leone 1982 Hatchback.

That car has been sitting since then to have a proper rebuild. So two years ago i found this 86 Loyale for 200 Euros for a parts car (Wifes Leone is 2WD so this Loyale was supposed to be a donor for 4WD). As soon as i bought the Loyale we decided to trash that car a little and we had so much fun - so much that i destroyed the clutch.

I got some other car projects going and due to lack of time and money to "properly" do those projects i decided to hop up my motivation to change the clutch on the Loyale and do some winter beating, so i dragged Loyale home from my country side place.

To change the clutch i decided to take the engine out (didn't even use a cherry picker, just pulled it out with my buddy and our raw strength). Clutch was pretty much gone.

So changing the clutch became so much more Engine was gunky so i decided to re-seal it with new gaskets.

So i took it to pressure washer first.

Also found out that previous owner had messed up ALL threads on headers. I had my friend drill and tap new 8 holes.

(I don't have the pic of new holes) but i decided to build new headers.

When i opened up the oil pan i noticed that a lot of junk came out.

The car also had crazy lifter noise so i decided to replace cam case O rings that were pain to order.

Im not so sure about lifters being sealed in their place it silicone, anyways on of the lifters had came a part so i ordered all 8 new lifters and put it all back together.

So i got new exedy clutch for Subaru XT 2.7l, i got my flywheel machined 1.6mm. New water pump, new pulleys, new timing belts and tensioners, new cam seals, new crank seals (front and back), new valve cover gaskets, new cam case O rings, new oil pump gaskets.

This car is a parts car for my wifes Leone (which im not going to restore least not before 5 years) and THIS Loyale im building is pretty much trashes. Every part of this old Subaru keeps fighting me and more i disassemble the more needs replacing. I am not going to restore this car, its just for having fun (maybe do some ice racing) and crawl offroad around in my country side forest. So why build so much? I don't know! My friends keep giving me a crap about sinking so much time and money into this old Subaru. I got to admit i became huge fan of Subaru engineering and these old cars are awesome.

There will be more to come, currently messing around with brakes (brakes are completely shot - front calipers don't move in any directions, caliper pistons are destroyed and couldn't find new ones, rear drum brakes were braking off everywhere i touched them) i got new brakes ordered from Rockauto and it will take some time for them to arrive. Also im missing those clips that hold clutch release bearing to the clutch fork (been waiting 2 months  on those clips) so then the engine can go in.

[el_freddo]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you’re having fun in the L. And that’s a good find on the hatch, we have very few (as in maybe 5 in the whole country) over here in Australia. 

As for the L providing parts to the hatch, there’s not a great deal that’s interchangeable. The dual range five speed box is probably the best part, but then you need the 4wd rear end to match the Hatch. This is the difference in the EA82 (L series) and EA81 (MY/MV) chassis/platform. 

Really to convert the hatch to 4wd, you’re  going to need a factory 4wd EA81 unit for the 4wd rear end... 

Even the engine in the L series won’t fit (and is a backwards step in my opinion) without modifying the chassis rails to make way for the extra width of the EA82. 

Cheers 

Bennie

[Probz]

Thank you so much for the warm welcome!

Also thank you for the information, i didn't know that L series stuff won't fit my hatch. Hatchback currently has ea81 in it and ea71 as a spare in trunk (with twin carburetors). I haven't had time to pick up 4wd transmission for ea81 from the previous owner (i spoke to him about month ago to see how he was doing, he is 80 year old man who was sad he could not longer drive a car due health issues). But it will be big trouble finding rear end for it, i live in Estonia which is a really small country in Europe and here are almost NO old Subarus. I checked the vehicle registry and there were only 2 Leones and 1 Brat registered. Hatch has a mint interior it looks like brand new, i will try to get some pictures next time im visiting my country side house.

I chose to build this L series wagon because doing projects the right way is time consuming and expensive (my main project is 86 Volvo 740). I had pretty much lost all my motivation to work on cars (hadn't done anything to my Volvo over a year) so i wanted to butcher this wagon together just to get my motivation back and work on it with no pressure.

 

Since mice had eaten the wiring and ive always wanted to build rally style dash, i finally did it:

Since the car came with no seat belts, i want to put in a harness so i built harness bar for it:

Floor was really rusty so it was a challenge, i welded in some new sheet metal for the floor and added 6mm thick metal plates for the bar to mount.

Transmission mounts were totally shot, one was broken up and transmission was super loose. I got these rubber mounts form hardware store and managed to make new mounts with exact same dimensions.

Don't mind the purple paint, it was only paint i had in garage to prevent metal from rusting

 

Today i got drum brake cylinders from rockauto. My order comes from 5 different warehouses so im expecting 4 more packages and brakes are done.

[Probz]

My cousin visited me and complained what an eyesore one rust spot is (there are tons of rust spots but this stood out real bad)

So he grabbed a welder and fixed it for me while i was working on some wiring.

Ive been messing with brakes, every piece of brake system has been fighting me and i ended up getting everything new, some parts have already arrived from Rockauto but most of them are missing so ive been working on other brake stuff that i couldnt get online.

Was hoping to do a cheap fix on brake calipers but these pistons are not salvageable. Couldnt find any new pistons online so i ordered new calipers.

Rear brakes cylinder broke in half when i tried to connect brake line to it.

I got drums and backing plates sand blasted.

Backing plates needed new lip so i made them from scratch.

They are not very accurate but turned okay i guess.

Also any suggestions for rear diff lock? Does parts from newer subarus fit? Should i just cheap out and weld the diff? I was thinking about fabricating something like phantom grip. Would some valve springs work strong enough for phantom grip?

Edited May 4, 2019 by Probz

[Marc556]

If you need some parts, just tell me..... I shall try to help you.

I'm living in Luxemburg

[78 brat]

I mean, I could probably lend a hand but I'm over the pond. 

[78 brat]

All I'll say is I made 10-20k Jeep's look retarded with my 81gl with welded rear and this

[Probz]

Haven't been working on my Subaru much, been busy with work. Also picked up 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (my dream car) that needs a lot of work and money.

Anyways stuff i got done on Subaru:

Fuel system is all done, new main hose and return hose, deleted vent tube and charcoal canister, drilled a hole to gas filler opening and routed hose there for ventilation. New low pressure fuel pump.

 

One wheel was barely turning and i found out that tie rod end was rubbing bad. Someone had used a different tie rod end.

Then a ball joint bolt started to mess with me, and ofc i broke it, dumb of me not to heat it first.

Ended up cutting the bolt in half and drilling it out.

Got all new boots and grease for cv joints, decided to replace them just in case (i hear its hard to get new axles)

Had to drop the diff to get drive shafts out.

One of the rear cv boots had water in it and ofc the joint had rust damage.

I just re greased it and hoped for the best.

Since my car came with no front end, i hooked up some "tractor" headlights and made a "custom grille"

I finally got my clutch release bearing springs but ofc one of the little springs was missing from the set. So as soon as i get that last spring the engine can go back in. Don't know what to do about carburetor, the current hitachi one is so dirty and messy and leaky. I wanna get Weber DGV for better performance but don't know yet if i want to buy one, they tend to be expensive and also they need an adapter. Also i need to figure out how to block the water passage on intake manifold.

[Probz]

New calipers arrived, front brakes are done, new calipers, new hoses, new brake lines, new brake pads - you name it.

 

Finished up new engine mounts:

One of the rear bearings needed replacing and it was insane amount of work, i messed around with it for a week to get it out, i welded up a tool to get it out, i heated it, beat on it NOTHING WORKED.

I ended up taking whole rear control arm out and making a relief cut and finally it snapped open, now im having trouble getting the bearing race out.

Seriously, never again! Ill take that bearing to my friends place to press the old one out and new one in. Hopefully it goes well.

[Probz]

Rear brakes are done.

Forgot to order brake adjusters and they were rusted shut.

Luckily after soaking them in diesel and cleaning the rust off they started working like brand new.

Never done drum brakes before, but luckily with the help of Haynes manual it was not so bad.

 

Got the engine in.

Got almost whole exhaust done today from scratch. My cousin brought me a new KIA muffler but unfortunately it had too small diameter inlets. Now waiting on deciding if i should leave it straight pipe or make my own muffler from scratch.

Don't mind the welds ( i got flux core welder at the moment) they are strong, they just don't look good.

I bought brand new Weber 36DCD for really cheap and now waiting on trans dapt adapter and some jets from amazon. My main goal is to get the car running for my birthday ( 15 July) if everything goes right.

Meanwhile ill try to finish up some of the wiring and plumbing the engine. Got to find someone to weld the carburetor coolant port on intake manifold shut.

[Probz]

Im having trouble with bleeding the brakes, i let my master cylinder to run dry, i bench bled it but it still wont build up pressure to lines. Are there any rebuild kits for loyale master cylinders? Perhaps i twisted the rubber inside the cylinder? I cant seem to find replacement part. Will some other subaru master cylinder work?

[Probz]

Finished up the wiring today, brakes are still not bleeding.

 

I disassembled my carburetor and wrote down what was in it. Ended up changing main jets to 140/145, changed secondary air corrector to 180 and idle air jets to 50/55. My carburetor came with 25 choke sizes for primary and secondary, i changed chokes to 26/27.

[Probz]

Haven't posted for a while but the car is pretty much ready.

Build the scoop to fit my Weber 36DCD carburetor.

Exhaust is finished and done. pic of my home made headers:

Changed trans and diff oil 75w90

Rear diff looked quite good.

Ive been battling with bleeding the brakes for a few weeks no, no success

Bought master cylinder repair kit form rockauto but still nothing, the pedal wont build up pressure.

Got the seatbelts in

Car is pretty much done, it runs and sounds great, only if id get the brakes bled i would drive the sh#t out of it.

 

 

[czny]

P40 warhawk tiger shark nose art....if the eyes were more forward.

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=d3dpXffLNIrb-gTT0aqAAQ&q=WWII+tiger+shark+nose+art&oq=WWII+tiger+shark+nose+art&gs_l=img.3...87909.97825..99824...0.0..0.216.2210.24j0j1......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......35i39j0i30j0i67j0j0i8i30j0i24.dxRKKmOC7F0&ved=0ahUKEwi348LZqKvkAhWKrZ4KHdOoChAQ4dUDCAY&uact=5

[Probz]

Yep i had those shark teeth stickers laying around for a while now, always loved them but they didn't fit on my cars until i stick them on my Subaru.

Got the brakes bled and did a tiny test drive. Sorry for bad quality video its uploaded from phones whatsapp.

 

[Probz]

Car has been working amazingly well and ive been driving around like mad man.

Until recently i noticed a weird stance on rear wheels.

Just now discovered that rear end has broken loose.

 

[Probz]

Its not pretty but its functional.

Prolly gonna put it back together tomorrow, ive also ordered new brake hoses to front brakes (driver side hose rubbes against tire and is leaking bad), esitmated arrival is 1. october from Rockauto.

[Probz]

Rear end got back in

Been driving my subaru every weekend so far, having a lot of fun, not making many pictures/videos.

 

 

Front wheels won't hold air so i got inner tubes in them, recently driver side inner tube broke and when i replaced it it instantly got hole in the same spot as the previous one so i am guessing that the wheel is bad or tire has something poking in it. Currently got a slick spare tire in front.

Weather is getting cold so i doubt ill work on the car this year, also got another project going on.

Plans for the future:

6 lug wheel conversion with bigger tires

Fuel cell (gas tank is leaking, also fuel fumes in the cabin are horrible)

 

[Probz]

Subaru has developed some kind of engine noise, can anyone identify what that is?

 

My guess would be bent valve or it has skipped a tooth on timing belt.

It revs up fine and has good oil pressure, but its down on power.

[el_freddo]

EA82sare non interference so it wouldn’t be a valve issue unless it was major, in which case it’d be making more nasty noises than that (if it would run at all). 

Check your tensioners are still locked in place, it sounds like one is loose. Or you have a big end issue. 

I’m hoping tensioner  

Cheers 

Bennie

[Probz]

Engine wont start anymore,backfiring trough carburetor.

 

Startup mechanism has come loose and 2 pieces are missing, probably sucked down by the engine. This is the worst thing that can happen.

[Probz]

Got the car back home yesterday.

Today took compression test - 125psi cylinder 1, 50psi in cylinders 2-4.

Got the engine out just now.

For my surprise the lower transmission bolts that stick out are too short for engine stand. The other engine stand that i specially welded for this engine is in use right now so i got nowhere to mount the engine for teardown.

[Probz]

Disassembled the engine today, timing belt had come loose on cylinders 2 and 4 side, tensioner bolt has stripped threads in block. Took the whole engine a part but did not find 2 missing pieces from carburetor, is it possible that they exited trough exhaust?

 

Im worried about these cracks, both heads had them between valves. Is it bad? Anyone seen anything like this?

[Subasaurus]

pretty much every EA-82 has those cracks between the valves, normal, in a sense, nothing to worry about unless it causes another issue, i've had 3 3rd gen subaru's, they've all had them.

[Probz]

I haven't posted for a while and thats because ive been busy with work and i recently bought a jeep grand cherokee 1993 5.2 magnum (my loyale gave me bit of an offroad fever). Ive been busy working on jeep.

This week ordered new head gaskets and decided to start working on subaru again. Gaskets were supposed to arrive today but for some reason they didn't. While i waited for gaskets to arrive i cleaned up heads and head bolts.

Head bolts don't look too good but i have no luck finding new ones near me. I found some in another country but they are bit pricey for my taste. So im reusing the old ones.

 

 

Does anyone know what size are head bolts? I need to clean threads on the block but i have hard time finding a tap or thread chaser that fits. I measured the bolts and they look like M10 or odd M11, thead size seems to be 1.25. Im afraid they are M11 and i dont think there is a tap for that. Anyone seen score marks on lover side of pistons? I have them on 2 pistons, i thought maybe they are caused by carburetor pieces that intake sucked in, but bore does not have any scratches.

Also i was thinking about taking 2mm off from head bolts since they are used and maybe streches, but since i dont have a thread chaser for that size i don't think i wanna grind them shorter. Any suggestions?

Edited March 7, 2020 by Probz