The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

hi im new to these forums
ive just been given my mums old subaru leone
after buying her a hyundai for mothers day

i dont know what to do with it??
i used to get driven to school in this thing when it was brand new and its still in as new condition
its an 85 FWD sedan,i know its not worth much so ive decided to do somthing with instead of selling it, my kids think its cool and i think it would be cool to mod my mothers old pride and joy.

i dont know much about subaru's but i have built a few cars over the years and done a few conversions.

what id like you advice on is what engine should i put in this car??
ive looked at doing a 4wd conversion and it looks straight foward useing L series running gear but what engine??
cheers Rod
ps sorry for the long 1st post

Hello and welcome. I think the way you are thinking should be pretty easy for donor parts. Just needs the time effort and money to either get a fairly easy conversion, or if later modifying further with RX equiped etc.
Good luck doing this, and enjoyable future drive. This board is great for help.

enjoy your stay. that is a fairly easy car to mod. if you have a trashed donor 4wd its pretty much a swap out affair.

later model impreza items (engines and brakes) will bolt to this car as well.

plenty of info here.

Welcome sleeper_leone. These boards are definitely a good place to be if you're into the world of modifying Subarus.
My advice as to what engine you should put in the L series really depends on what you want. The engines that can be shoehorned in there range from the one you've got (EA82) to the EJ series turbos and beyond. There are differing levels of difficulty for each motor, have a read around in our Conversions forum to get a basic idea.

Chris_Rogers wrote:later model impreza items (engines and brakes) will bolt to this car as well.

News to me, I didn't know they "bolted" in! You are certainly mistaken on the brakes, they need engineering to fit and the motors well...

Chris_Rogers wrote:enjoy your stay. that is a fairly easy car to mod. if you have a trashed donor 4wd its pretty much a swap out affair.

later model impreza items (engines and brakes) will bolt to this car as well.

plenty of info here.

will L series wagon running gear fit the sedan??
i dont want to go turbo at this stage as my son will probly end up with this car in a couple of years.
is there a twin carb set up that fits the EA82,??

cheers Rod

Hey if its an 85, its probably an MY series,
Or am I wrong?

yep I dropped a word by mistake. 'modded'

sleeper_leone wrote:

Chris_Rogers wrote:enjoy your stay. that is a fairly easy car to mod. if you have a trashed donor 4wd its pretty much a swap out affair.

later model impreza items (engines and brakes) will bolt to this car as well.

plenty of info here.

will L series wagon running gear fit the sedan??
i dont want to go turbo at this stage as my son will probly end up with this car in a couple of years.
is there a twin carb set up that fits the EA82,??

cheers Rod

it will. they are basically the same car.

BRUMBERTY wrote:Hey if its an 85, its probably an MY series,
Or am I wrong?

Nah - L Series started production in 1984. But the release dates are officially 1985-1994.

The only MYs released here after 1985 were Brumbys

Your laughing then!
Thanks for clearing that up Fang.

Excuse my manners please...welcome aboard, sleeper_leone.

so for the 4WD conversion all i have to do is buy
a 4WD wagon and swap everything over??
sounds too easy.

Depends how ready the rear end is to accept the rear drive train. You'll probably need to do some work to get diff hanger etc to bolt on.

Fuel tank conversion too? Or is that only for MY-series?

MUDRAT wrote:Fuel tank conversion too? Or is that only for MY-series?

We used the fuel tank out of a 2WD MPFI Loyale in a 4WD L Series wagon. So dont think you need to change the tank.

i just had a look and the tank has a big dimple in it where the diff would go so i guess the tank is ok.
i also noticed that where the diff hanger (if thats what its called) bolts to the rails there are two round marks where the 4WD whould have holes.

do the 4WD diff hanger mounts bolt onto the rails useing nuts and bolts or is there a nut welded to the inside of the rails??

sleeper_leone wrote:i just had a look and the tank has a big dimple in it where the diff would go so i guess the tank is ok.
i also noticed that where the diff hanger (if thats what its called) bolts to the rails there are two round marks where the 4WD whould have holes.

do the 4WD diff hanger mounts bolt onto the rails useing nuts and bolts or is there a nut welded to the inside of the rails??

then have blind nuts from factory on the 4wd version. use long bolts and you are luaghing. one thing though you will need the centre carrier for the driveshaft. do not use a long shaft in it as it will snap.

Chris_Rogers wrote: one thing though you will need the centre carrier for the driveshaft. do not use a long shaft in it as it will snap.

eh?

remember mine (green car) was a solid one. the L has a two piece driveshaft. inthe 2wd frame the centre carrier mounts aren't there and need to be added.

Why will a long one snap? Surely you just go larger diameter on the pipe to suit? The wagon donor will have a shaft anyway (they do fit don't they?)

I've been running very long single piece driveshafts in my wagon and my coupe. Both are 3.5" diameter, running stock unis. Never had a problem....