Really Stoked to be here!!

[Huckersteve]

Hi everybody! Steve here from Seattle, and I'm just throwing up this first post to say HI and tell you all how excited I am to be part of the site! I am the proud owner of a 1991 Loyale Wagon, 5 Speed, 4wd model, and I love my car! I'm a pacific northwest mountain biker and snowboarder and there's just no substitute for a subie around here for my lifestyle. Even if I could afford an Audi or Volvo, I wouldn't mess with them under any circumstances! I'm a Subaru lover for life!

 

My car is stock in all respects, has about 167,000 miles on the original engine, and has been pretty well maintained over the years by previous owners, and I hope I can be as good to her as she has been to me so far. I got her from my ex girlfriend, Kim (who, BTW, is a saint!), and knew and drove the car for almost two years before buying it off her when she purchased an 04' Legacy wagon.

 

The car has one or two idiosyncrasies which I attribute to it's age and having been in constant use during it's career. These are: Slow power window motors, glitchy window switches, a tendency to blow the power door lock fuse, a non-working rear window washer spout, the to be expected engine seal leakage, sticky, noisy lifters when cold, that's about it, otherwise, she's ship shape, and really still does everything I could ask of her.

 

I'm really hoping to learn about my car here on this site, and hope to do a few mild improvements to the car over the next year. Planned upgrades include things like:

 

-Improved intake, ignition, and exhaust system for better power.

-Repair/Replace power window motors and switches.

-Replacement of cargo area cover (retractable vinyl thingy).

-Window Tinting.

-14" or 15" Alloys (Preferably period Subaru wheels, maybe from an XT??)

-2-3" Suspension Lift (Or eq. body lift, whichever makes most sense.

-2" Rear Reciever Hitch for r. mount bike rack.

-Rear Disc brakes (if practical)

-Add Cruise Control.

-Eventual motor replacement IF 1.8 goes to subie motor heaven. (ideas?)

 

Questions I have for experienced owners and members include:

 

-What, if anything, do people normally do to thier Loyale's of my car's vintage to effect better engine performance?

 

-I have heard of Loyales with 4wd hi and lo trannys, is it true, and how practical is it to make a switch to this type of system on a car with only reg. 4wd?

 

-Can I or can't I install the Legacy 2.2 motors from the mid-90's into my car?

 

-What else is important to know about my car, and preserving it forever?

 

-Where can I meet other Subie club members in the NW in person for show & shine type events?

 

-Is there an NW based Subie rally club?

 

 

 

Thanks for any answers to my questions or feedback you might have, as soon as I get some pics of my car, I'll post them here right away. I'm meeting a friend a little later who's shooting some other buddies riding, and I'll ask him to photograph my baby for you!

[FirstSubaruGLwagon]

-What else is important to know about my car, and preserving it forever?

 

I would say, one of the most important things to make it last would be keeping the engine and tranny well cooled and well lubed

avoid any overheating situation.

 

Just one of many sugestions to come .

There is really a wealth of experiance and information on this site.

[Caboobaroo]

-Improved intake, ignition, and exhaust system for better power.

-Repair/Replace power window motors and switches.

-Replacement of cargo area cover (retractable vinyl thingy).

-Window Tinting.

-14" or 15" Alloys (Preferably period Subaru wheels, maybe from an XT??)

-2-3" Suspension Lift (Or eq. body lift, whichever makes most sense.

-2" Rear Reciever Hitch for r. mount bike rack.

-Rear Disc brakes (if practical)

-Add Cruise Control.

-Eventual motor replacement IF 1.8 goes to subie motor heaven. (ideas?)

 

There's a lot on a bunch of these mods. Use the search function and a lot of these questions you have about the mods listed above will be answered and those that aren't, just ask!

 

-What, if anything, do people normally do to thier Loyale's of my car's vintage to effect better engine performance?

 

Basically adding a better exhaust, ignition and intake on it. Search around, you'll find stuff here on the board

 

-I have heard of Loyales with 4wd hi and lo trannys, is it true, and how practical is it to make a switch to this type of system on a car with only reg. 4wd?

 

Its quite simple actually especially when you have a friend to help you out. Any d/r 4wd 5-speed will bolt in and they were put in EA82 bodystyle cars from '85-'94 IIRC

 

-Can I or can't I install the Legacy 2.2 motors from the mid-90's into my car?

 

Again, use the search function or check out the Retrofitting forum located here. A lot of people have been doing this swap for about a year, year and a half now.

 

-What else is important to know about my car, and preserving it forever?

 

Keep up on the routine maintanence. She'll live for quite some time. These cars have been known to get about a half million miles on them, but mostly around 300,000 miles.

 

-Where can I meet other Subie club members in the NW in person for show & shine type events?

 

Again, there's the search function or check out the Meet-n-Greet forum.

 

-Is there an NW based Subie rally club?

 

There should be quite a few in the PNW. Not so much as rally clubs but there is the Hatch Patrol club and a few others I can't think of right now. They do more wheeling type of stuff but sure, you can rally with them.

[Numbchux]

Well, let me say, you've come to the right place!

 

I'll tell what I know here (these are all in my experience, and not necessarily fact):

-Improved intake, ignition, and exhaust system for better power.

-Repair/Replace power window motors and switches.

-Replacement of cargo area cover (retractable vinyl thingy).

-Window Tinting.

-14" or 15" Alloys (Preferably period Subaru wheels, maybe from an XT??)

-2-3" Suspension Lift (Or eq. body lift, whichever makes most sense.

-2" Rear Reciever Hitch for r. mount bike rack.

-Rear Disc brakes (if practical)

-Add Cruise Control.

-Eventual motor replacement IF 1.8 goes to subie motor heaven. (ideas?)

 

-these motors don't benefit much from intake...my car loved having larger diam. wires and new plugs, but I haven't tried coil, or anything expensive...remove your cat and muffler, and get a glasspack, they like that alot!

-before you replace them, take them apart, you'll see the metal contacts, just clean 'em out, and they'll probably work a ton better! I've repaired many this way, just don't loose the little parts!

-JunkYard, or other board member here

-tint....I'm going to try DIY (do-it-yourself) but I'll probably wait until spring so I can take advantage of the greenhouse effect for the winter

-no subaru 14 or 15" alloys that fit these cars. These have a very unique lug pattern that isn't shared by almost any other car, except Pugeots (referred to pugs), which do offer 14 and 15" steelies or alloy wheels that fit rather nicely

-not many lifts available less than 4" and those are body lifts too. I would say do no more than 2" suspension, otherwise you'll eat through CV's, Check out http://www.ozified.com , http://www.alliedarmament.com , and http://www.sjrlift.com , as well as the offroad forum for more info on lifting

-I have an allied armament rear bumper with 2" receiver that would be perfect for a bike rack. although I prefer my yakima roof rack for biks

-Definately do the rear discs. can be had off of any turbo 4wd car of the same body style, GL's, XT's (not XT6's) etc.

-these came with cruise as an option...maybe you could get a unit from a junkyard, otherwise, there are universal aftermarket kits

-see below

 

OK, got that out of the way, these (loyales, late GLs etc. more on that later) are referred to as EA82's. I don't know the pre-1980-ish cars, but for all practical purposes, all pre-1985 (as in, '84 and earlier) models where EA81's, and all brats and 2-door hatches too (they were made through '88...i think), the legacy, impreza, and all other newer models are EJxx series cars, and started in '90 with the legacy.

 

OK, all EAxx series cars have essentially the same engine-tranny bolt pattern. EJ-series ones are different. SO, an adapter plate is needed to put say an EJ22 (common 2.2L legacy/impreza motor) on your 4WD tranny.

 

EA81's came with a 4-speed dual-range (hi/lo 4wd..D/R) tranny. and early EA82's came with a 5-speed D/R tranny, this could be quite easily swapped into your loyale, with only some minor linkage complacations. Also highly recommended.

 

for the record, my GL (EA82) had 215k miles on it when I bought it, stock, and as you can see from my signature, it's not exactly stock anymore. it's still worth alot!

 

Watch the rust! on the west coast, it won't be as much of a problem (mine came from OR), but like here in the midwest, where they use tons of salt on the roads, it is. it's definately the number 1 killer of these wonderful cars (even I had to give one up to salt, though her parts will live on!).

 

There is a ton of info on this site, everything I have just mentioned is out there. but for some reason, I just felt like typing it all...use the search function whenever possible. And enjoy!!!

[Huckersteve]

Wow, thanks already for the awesome feedback guys! I just love this car to death, and have so much fun with it I can't wait to start tinkering with things! I think I'll look into the exhaust mods first, and thanks for the heads up on not going over 2" lift on suspension. I've already replaced a cv boot on this car and heard they blow up a lot, so I'll heed that advice. Lifting will be one of the last improvements anyway, as it is not essential unless looking to go wheeling. I'm more interested in boosting performance and making her even more highway friendly than she already is. I'll spend some time clicking around in here with the search function, but I can tell already, I really did find the right place to start feeding my burgeoning Subie addiction!

 

I religiously change my oil, and generally adhere to all reccomended maintenance on schedule, this car has been cared for before me and I made the same promise to myself that I would do the same, since the car itself was practically free. This year already I have done the timing belt, serpentine belt, fan belts, alternator, water pump, front engine seals, battery, a cv boot,oil pan gasket, a tune up, new brakes, and tires. Sounds like a lot, but I think I'mn into it less than 2G for everything and for a car that's my only transpo other than bikes andI have a driving intensive job, I think it's more than worth it since she's never left me stranded and I drove her for a couple years prior to buying her.

 

One other tip I already gleaned from this site is to maybe try 20w50 oil instead of the stock 10w30 I've been using, I hope it will lessen my oil consumption, I think my rear engine seals must be shot to hell by the rate at which I burn/leak oil.

 

Anyhow, thanks again and please keep the tips coming! I'm super stoked to hear that most of the mods I want to do are common and even reccomended for my car! I'm a sharp one, I am! Looking forward to trying some of these things and telling you all about my experiences! My dad'a an old RX-7 guy, and he tinkered mercilessly with his car for over a decade, been out of that sort of thing for a while, but we had fun installing some driving lights a few weeks back for the Sub', and I'm hoping that as I get into some of these projects, i'll pique his interest once again and maybe get his help on the more involved projects!

 

See you all on here soon and often! Cheers!

 

-S.