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  #1  
Old 10-23-2004, 09:51 AM
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Loyal wagons?

Hey, I'm thinking of geting a Loyal turbo wagon to lift and use as a mini SUV/4x4, can anyone here tell me what things to look at in these cars?
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  #2  
Old 10-23-2004, 10:14 AM
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Send a PM over to Subafreak....he has the only monster loyale that i know of.
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  #3  
Old 10-23-2004, 10:22 AM
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  #4  
Old 10-23-2004, 11:28 AM
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rust - just look for rust.

You have to replace radiators about every year or 2 - they plug up and the car slowly overheats. But they are only around $115 so not too bad. Never had a turbo loyale, subafreak can talk turbos.

Other than that they are little tanks. I beat the hell outta mine and it still runs at 275k. I really can't think of anything else to watch for - we bought this one new, put that many miles on it basically changing oil, timing belts, radiators, and cv shafts.
Original clutch went around 215k and it was abused. Severely abused. Sidestepped at most take offs and 2nd/ 3rd gear shifts abused.

Damn, I love that car.
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  #5  
Old 10-23-2004, 11:59 AM
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There is no Loyale Turbo. Turbo was made from 85-89, Loyale from 90-94. They use the same EA-82 engine though so if you did a conversion you could get a loyale. Fairly bullet proof. I'm assuming rust wouldn't be much of an issue for you out there. Bad cooling though can lead to warped/ cracked heads not just a bad head gasket. Personally I prefer the EA-81 engine as it doesn't have any timing belts or chains and is completely bulletproof. Plus the 80-84 wagons IMO look much better.
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  #6  
Old 10-23-2004, 12:20 PM
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Re: Loyal wagons?

Quote:
Originally posted by NapaBavarian
Hey, I'm thinking of geting a Loyal turbo wagon to lift and use as a mini SUV/4x4, can anyone here tell me what things to look at in these cars?
If you're gonna be off-roading it, I recommend an automatic transmission. It's not as fun to drive, but it is better suited to off-roading. Aside from that, I can't tell you much because they're just darn good cars and don't really have anything worth worrying about. ...unlike an SVX.

The EA82 just doesn't have quite enough guts to do the hard pulls. I just did an XT6 engine swap in my buddy's 5-speed L-body wagon. It's the perfect motor for that car. I've never driven in a turbo L-body, but I think that the turbo would lack the low-end torque needed for off-roading. Using a slushbox would be the ideal solution.

You can get 14" wheels from a Pugeot 404/405 for the L-bodied Subarus that bolt right up. I believe the lug pattern is 4 on 120mm. You can also get Toyota [I think] six-lug wheels, which are 6 on 120, remove the hub, pound two studs out, bolt the wheel on with the other two studs, and use the holes from the removed studs as a guide for drilling two more holes in the Toyota wheel.

The larger wheels are important because you can get decent tires in those sizes. ...although, they're very capable even with 13' factory tires. I've killed factory Jeeps, Toyotas, and Samurais with my factory Wagon. ...then I lifted it and put big tires on it.

Overheating is a problem. My biggest problem is, or was, having the bearings fail in the timing belt idler pulleys. I put Zerk fittings on them, which solved the problem. New ones are about $100 each. I spent $15 at a wrecking yard, got all three and a spare set of timing belts. I've done several timing belt swaps on the trail. Mud gets in the "sealed" bearing and kills it. Mud also gets in the radiator and kills your motor. ...which is the reason mine is parked for now.

Do it though. You can get these cars for nothin'. I haven't paid a dime for the last few I gotten, and they're running and driving cars. ...or at least, they were. Beat the hell out of 'em, fix 'em for pennies, and beat 'em some more.
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  #7  
Old 10-23-2004, 04:26 PM
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I'm not looking to do any serious off roading, mostly for dirt roads and snow. I don't really want another project, but I have considered droping my legacy 2.2 engine into a Loyal or the pre Loyal of the same body style, but if I can avoid the extra work it would be nice. It is my understanding that turbo engines dont loose boosted power at altitude because the blowoff still happens at the same PSI, I'm not looking for a rocket, just something that can maintain speed up hill.
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  #8  
Old 10-24-2004, 01:21 AM
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Oh.


Bolting the 2.2 into an L-body isn't exactly a walk in the park. It doesn't just bolt right up. At least with the 1.8 turbo, the crossmembers just swap straight across. Swapping an EJ22 engine and transmission would be easier, but I don't think it bolts right up either, and worse, the Legacies weren't available with 4WD, just AWD, and it's not the same, and it does matter... *gasp* [for air] ...but it has been done and performs well. (I think SubaFreak did this, but with an EJ22T. I'm not certain exactly what transmission he's using, but from what I gather, it's a piece of work from Frankenstein's laboratory.) The EJ22T would kick arse, but I think the N/A version is adequate. Those old cars don't weigh much.

I still think an auto-box is the way to go, even if you're not planning to play in the technical stuff. I love turbo slushboxes, but find manual turbos to be a pain unless you're racing them. I can't imagine a turbo 4x4 with a stick. At low RPM they have half the power of a naturally aspirated motor. ...until they get wound up and knock your socks off. I guess that'd be fun in a mud pit. :P

My advice is pretty much like you first suggested, but throw tires on it. Take a rubber mallet to the fender wells, throw big wheels and tires on it, convert it to GL struts front and rear if it has the GL-10 style pneumatics, and call it a day. A car like this performs amazingly well, and takes virtually no work to set up.
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  #9  
Old 10-24-2004, 12:14 PM
SVXer95 SVXer95 is offline
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I believe Subafreak is selling his ej22t loyal....
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  #10  
Old 10-24-2004, 12:21 PM
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Are there other names that these cars go by, so far I have Loyal, GL-10, and GL. Also, was there ever a 2 speed transfer case? A friend of mine swears that there was, but I havn't seen one.
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Southwest members, click here to check in!CA,NV,AZ,UT,NM,OR,CO
Wanted...your busted SVX! Watch out Earl, I'm comin to getchya
Return of the Pissed Platypus! X2
My dream (other than a pearlie)
1.8 SVXi and a laguna blue spoiler...somewhere
I decided to quit drinking, but I didn't like it so I quit not drinking.
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  #11  
Old 10-24-2004, 12:54 PM
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DL, RX, and XT Obviously the XT looks alot different but it's all the same underneath.




The tranny in mine is an RX duel range AWD tranny with center diff lock, modified to bolt directly to an EJ motor and still use the bigger EJ clutch. There are adapters for bolting the EJ motors to the EA trannys but you still have to use the smaller EA clutch, and I don't know if they work at all with an auto tranny but there is a guy around here that bolted and EJ25 up to an EA auto tranny with some spacers and other custom stuff.

I agree with Ben on the motor choices thoe, the EA81 was ten times as bullet proof as the EA82. Half as many places to leak oil and the heads don't crack if you look at them wrong The only down side is no F.I. thats whey the EJ swap is the best, well that and the power.
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  #12  
Old 10-24-2004, 04:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by NapaBavarian
Are there other names that these cars go by, so far I have Loyal, GL-10, and GL. Also, was there ever a 2 speed transfer case? A friend of mine swears that there was, but I havn't seen one.
Yes, many, many of the 5-speeds from the mid to late 80's had dual range. It's a wonderful unit. It shifts on the fly, and because there's no center differential, it's very capable off-road. (Also, if you remove one front CV shaft, it's a hoot to drive around in RWD. Nothing like a mid 80's Japanese station wagon turning doughnuts in a wet parking lot.)

They used to be named in respect to the L-series. GL (middle of the line,) DL (low-end model,) and GL-10 (deluxe version.) There was also the RX, XT, and XT6, but they were also part of the L-series. Later on, they started calling them Loyales. The correct generic term for any of those vehicles is L-series, or L-body.


I didn't know the RX was available with such a neat transmission. I woulda swore such a thing never existed. RXs seem to be more rare than SVXs, so maybe that's why. (By the way, anybody near Puget Sound got one for sale, cheap? I'm in the market.)

I would also agree that the older motors are tough, but I find the power to be woefully inadequate, and thus, not a viable option. All Subaru motors seem to be reliable enough that choosing one over the other based on that criteria just doesn't sway me.
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  #13  
Old 10-25-2004, 05:08 PM
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With a high output coil, advanced timing, K&N panel filter, 5"x8" intake scoop in place of the spare tire (bypassing the stock fenderwell airbox which is a choker), and free flowing dual exhaust, my little red wagon will spin the tires through first, most of second, and bark them into 3rd. Top speed went from low 90's to 112 - not fast by today's standards but it does show quite a hp increase over stock.

The EA82 isn't a scorcher, but it will move the L series pretty well with a few simple mods.
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  #14  
Old 10-25-2004, 06:28 PM
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I'm not saying there a terrible motor........well yeah I am.

I'v just gone through way to many of them to like them at all. Turbo and non turbo, maybe I'm just to hard on my cars but I could never kill the EA81 in my 85 BRAT or the EA71 in my 77 BRAT. But every L-car I've had I killed the motor. And now with the 200 something thousand mile EJ22 in my Legacy wagon that I BEAT the crap out of everyday. It will not die. I rev it to 7,000RPM, run it down the highway at 6grand for an hour and change the oil when the motor start ticking (usually whens it's about out of oil ) Now those are bullet proof motors.
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  #15  
Old 10-26-2004, 06:40 AM
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I put over 200,000 miles on an '86 GL wagon with a 5-speed and dual-range 4WD. Wonderful car; Vermont road salt was its undoing. Never had an overheating problem, that's with AC and mostly-Subelt driving, never replaced the clutch, and I taught my teenaged daughter to drive in the thing... but I will second what somebody said about those timing belt idler pulleys. (I also had an accessory belt idler seize.) The dual-range, 4WD gearbox was a dream on unpaved mountain backroads. Navigating steep, downhill terrain in low, you don't need to brake and find yourself giving it gas just to move.

And I think it had, like, a whopping 90 horsepower. But it would run 75 in cruise all day long... once you got it there. And it approached 30mpg (when driven sanely and with a light payload) on regular fuel.

As a matter of fact, should you find one for sale in my part of the country, let me know.

dcb
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