Whistles & Bells Source

[rick_hake]

Can anyone out there refer me to a place like JC Whitney that specializes in whistles & bells that can be added after market to my Loyale. I am really starting to become a fan of this little car now that some of the issues are getting under control.

Thanks for any help in this.

Rick

[GeneralDisorder]

There's almost no aftermarket for Loyales. What few things can be done to them are mostly hacks or straight using parts from newer Subaru's.

 

What types of things are you looking for?

 

The Loyale was the red-headed little sister to the Legacy. It was renamed the Loyale in 90 when the Legacy became the flagship Subaru model. It's the same as any of the 85 to 89 GL's, which are also known as the Leone series. GL's and Loyale are both members of the Leone chassis series. As such, the Loyale is a stripped down version of the 89 GL wagon. Stripped of the goodies the GL's and GL-10's got so as not to compete with the Legacy lineup.

 

So you have to understand - you are dealing with what amounts to a 23 year old chassis design, and by the time the Loyales came along in 90 to 94 they were entry level, low end vehicles who's days were already numbered. Any aftermarket suppliers knew this and discontinued anything they once made for these many years ago in favor of supporting the newer Legacy chassis. So while it may not seem all that old from it's model year, in actuality it's much older with respect to the aftermarket.

 

Nearly all of the pitiful quantity of aftermarket parts for these that were ever made have been out of production since the early 90's.

 

GD

[[HTi]Johnson]

Amen to everything GD said.

 

As for aftermarket parts...what did you have in mind?

Check out www.sjrlifts.com , www.headtraumainc.com or www.ozified.com

[rick_hake]

Dang!, I was just getting comfortable with the idea of investing in this little car, but it sounds like I should plan on upgrading to a Legacy in time.

Any reccommendations to someone who would like to get a Subaru that would be worth investing time into with the idea of keeping it long term? I am pretty open; Brat, Legacy, Impreza. Nothing close to new will appeal to my pocket book.

Rick

[GeneralDisorder]

90 to 94 Legacy. EJ22 (2.2 liter), AWD 5 speed. Wagon or sedan - doesn't matter. Excelent vehicles, and nearly bulletproof.

 

Brat's are always a good investment as their prices have been on the rise for the past several years. But unless you want to maintain a vehicle that's likely been abused for nearly 30 years.... probably a poor choice.

 

GD

[Stevethefolkie]

Well, you can put a crap magnet in your car and drive it through a tacky-shop (like pep-boys) if you're looking for neon lights under it or a bobble headed dog with eyes that light up with the turn signals on the rear parcel tray - but if you're looking for performance upgrades, like the song says "don't give up on us babe" - you'll just need to be creative (like the hot-rodders in the 1950's - or my friends and I in the 1970's hopping up VW's) -do some research on performance springs (all you need to worry about is spring rate and diameter, well, and static height), wheel diameter and width can be a limiting factor - but the peugeot wheels are viable - and a decent fab shop can always widen your 13" wheels or re-center some 14 or 15" rims (hell, we put pre-1968 VW wheel centers in Caddy wheel rims when I was a kid) - all it takes is to be creative -the really cool thing about doing your own thing is that - unlike the WRX and Honda crowd - you won't see your car coming down the road every day -

 

Peace

 

 

Steve (fellow Loyale owner)

[heartless]

and again, the question gets asked:

 

What kind of "upgrades" are you looking for????

 

granted, there is no real "aftermarket" for these cars, but there are things that can be done. If your car is in good shape, don't just give up on it - spend a little quality time with it and really get to know it.

 

now, if it is in so-so shape, then GD has hit the nail on the head for "upgrading" to a newer model. I am loving my 90 Legacy LS wagon! got it on the cheap due to blown air struts which resulted in torn up exhaust. swapped out the air struts for standard coilovers, fabbed up exhaust from a parts car and store bought parts, and down the road she goes! I think we have about $600 total invested in this car, including purchase price, parts, and gas to go get it.

 

oh, and the 4 spd auto's in the Legacy's are MUCH more durable than the old 3 spd versions ever thought of being, but yeah, if you can find one, & like a manual, then that would be the way to go (i do kind of miss having the manual tranny...)

 

and one of these days i really need to update my avatar picture!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pay it forward!

[rick_hake]

To answer the question of what bells & whistles am I looking for:

I guess I was wondering what generically was available in the form of body parts like bumpers, flared wheel wells, modified dash panels and consoles for the shifter area. Lights and interior/exterior neon lighting options. Steering wheels, and bolt on engine items for speed and cruise control. Things like that.

Rick

[GeneralDisorder]

To answer the question of what bells & whistles am I looking for:

I guess I was wondering what generically was available in the form of body parts like bumpers, flared wheel wells, modified dash panels and consoles for the shifter area.

 

Nothing. You would have to fab your own. Stainless steel or aluminium is nice for interior. Exterior would have to be fiberglass most likely. But it's up to you to make the stuff if you want it. Some of these things WERE availible either to the Japanese market or even here, but they have long since been discontinued, and are extremely rare and expensive should you locate one (ebay, etc).

 

Lights and interior/exterior neon lighting options.

 

Neon is universal mostly. Buy a kit and figure it out.

 

There's nothing really for the headlights. You could smoke the tailights with some transparent smoke spray. But no - there's nothing you can just "buy" for any of the lighting.

 

If you want to take apart the gauge cluster you might be able to swap the bulbs inside it for some LED's or even just a different colored bulb.

 

Steering wheels, and bolt on engine items for speed and cruise control. Things like that.

Rick

 

Cruise kits are fairly universal, or you could just get the whole cruise assembly from an older GL or GL-10 and bolt it on. Junk yard or around the wanted forum for parts like that.

 

Steering wheels are an excelent example of what I'm talking about. Momo did once make an adaptor for these cars but it's out of production. Sometimes they come up on ebay. They command a price usually - $50 to $100 for JUST the adaptors for the EA's.

 

The engine is a single point injected, 8 valve 1.8 with poorly designed heads. There's lots you *could* do to it from a custom standpoint, but there's a big wall of performance right around 120 HP that takes HUGE money to get over. If you don't want to be looking for another engine soon, I sugest you leave it be. The EA82 is not suited to high performance modifications. Many have tried, nearly all have failed. The ones that succede rarely get to the performance levels of even a stock EJ22 turbo, and spend enormouse amounts of money getting there. It's just not worth it.

 

GD