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Ignition timing advance from the weights expanding etc inside the distributor. But yes there’s also the difference of the vacuum ports. What I’m getting at is folks had appreciated that ignition curve advance from the different distributor. Wish I had that crisp memory of which and why but maybe the archives might hold some info. But just reverting to stock it won’t mean much. There might be wiring diagrams online. Or they’re definitely in the back of all factory service manuals. I sold off my 80s but they’re cheap enough usually.

You might find front Shock Absorbers on www.Rockauto.com and also, besides the ones for the Loyale, you can use the ones for the 4 Cyl. Subaru XT as I did. Better load capabilities are gained by using stronger coil springs, and thus means lifting, even a little, due to the increased resistance of the coil springs to get compressed by the vehicle's load. Tempo coil springs in front + honda coil springs in rear is my best bet and has been working awesome on my "BumbleBeast" since decades ago. Kind Regards.

Gasket-in-a-tube might be fine...

Might. Won't be able to check until I get to my storage unit next week. Will advise. O.

According to the shop manual all the 4wd soobs had the Hitachi in 83. I did notice the curve in the Nippondenso vacuum advance arm. It is straight on the Hitachi. I don't know what difference that would make but when mine starts dogging out and loses all spark at 2500 or so RPM, it does sound like the vacuum advance is not working properly. That was the first thing I checked but it seemed to be ok. I am hoping once I figure out this wiring the Hitachi will solve the problem.

I apologize is I missed it. What is the solution for 1/2 inch or less lift for the rear. I want better load capacity but I don't want lift. I'm doing tempo coils in front, unfortunately I can't find new front struts,

I need help finding the two gaskets that fit on the throttle body insulator/spacer. Its for an 1983 EA81 HITACHI dcp306-21. The rebut kits come with the spacers but not the gaskets. Any help would be appreciated.

Maybe swapped for the advance curve. That was a bit of a thing to do for some. I’m not positive that applies to yours but i seem to recall the automatics had a better advance curve and maybe FWD different from 4wd ? I would have to check a parts manual. But that was my only thought on why they swapped it out. My 79 4wd wagon was swapped out with a FWD complete engine and exhaust. So i had to decipher that at one point due to ignition parts. Same deal it’s Hitachi or ND. Good luck with it.

Thank you sir, no hurry. The wiring was cut and spliced when the original Hitachi was replaced with the Nippendenso. Thanks again, Bill

I usually go by the shape of the wiring as this is something that’s never changed in my brumby. Someone on here will know for sure. I can check it out thoroughly in a few days and report back if it’s not urgent.

Hello everyone, I'm looking for some help. I own a 1983 Subaru Brat non turbo automatic. Apparently the po installed a Nippondenso distributor at some point. According to a mechanic friend and also the shop manual it Brat's should have a Hitachi. I am having issues with it losing all spark above 2200-2500 RPM's so my mechanic friend recommended changing the coil and distributor back to factory specs. I found and purchased a rebuilt Hitachi. The question I have is that the pickup coil does not have any markings which connector is positive and which is negative. I am attaching a picture of what I am looking at. Does anyone know which is positive and which is negative? I couldn't find any info on this in the shop manual and the mechanic doesn't know either. Thanks for any help. Much appreciated. Bill

That would be correct! Idler and tensioner are two separate pieces.

https://www.jalopnik.com/2017303/subaru-brataroo-travis-pastrana-gymkhana-car-sema-reveal/

Are you referring to the older 2 piece tensioner bracket? O.

no, not worth it. Just get some KYB's for your model and call it a day. O.

I have a 97 Legacy L wagon and my tires are rubbing at full compression in the rear. The suspension is super bouncy and clearly close to the end of its life so I want to replace it. I am wondering if coilovers are worth it or should I just get new oem struts? I want to keep close to the same ride height. My budget is pretty tight, but I don't want to buy something and then end up replacing it with something nicer in the future anyway.

I’ve just heard that the newer style are prone to more failure, besides looking weird. I guess I’m just stuck in my old ways and don’t like change very much unless I’m forced to. moosens you’re amazing and I would never be able to thank you enough! If you don’t find one it’s all good, I’m just going to move over to the newer style. cheers!

I’ll look for you as I go through my stash. Pretty sure there’s one there. But as mentioned going forward parts availability. Forget originality just make it run and not be a hunt and wallet drain for parts. good luck, I’m a big fan of that engine and have at least two or more but they’re for vintage projects. So all my engine and related parts I don’t really want to sell. But in this case if I have that bracket I’ll let one go cheap.

Contact me if interested. Message here or email me at moosens@yahoo.com Brown, northeast car so it’s got its spots of rot. But overall solid enough to have fun with and run for many more years. Could be repaired by the right person. This car has already been stripped pretty well. But I will return the doors and hood, and I think maybe the rear hatch but I’m not sure about that. Car will needs fenders. I think I have the brown one still. We can talk about that. Maybe another $50 and I’d be happy. Currently only on rear wheels. Not really sure what I’ll leave on it so be sure you are coming with a flatbed or trailer. Again, assuming you’re upgrading and won’t need this stuff, and if you’re going original this is the last year of U-Joint axles so you’d likely want to go with 79 and later years axles. This car may come with some extra parts beyond the shell. All depends on what the taker is doing with it. If you’re SURE you’re going to keep it mostly original I can help you out. BUT - the transmission in this car stays with me. Engine already out and used. Doors are very solid and lower edges really nice considering they’re from up here. Plenty of info and pics if you’re serious. It’s fairly cheap already but if actually come through and soon before winter I’ll make the deal super sweet.

A mate of mine here in Oz swapped over to the newer tensioner style with its backing plate recently. Far easier to get replacement tensioners than finding the original style. All the best with your search!

Anyone have a timing belt tensioner bracket laying around by chance?! part number #13086AA012 I know it’s a far cry as for some reason they have disappeared off the face of the earth, and yes if I can’t find one here I’m going to end up switching to the phase 2 style but figured I’d see if I could get lucky here first. cheers!

Been away from the project for a little bit - but I got your DM- we can chat about it there. Finally got back to a little bit of progress - Bit another bullet and decided to do a little exploratory deathwheel surgery to get a better perspective for the rear subframe mounting solution. I chopped out the passenger bed wheel well and I think I will likely be widening the rear frame slightly to accomodate a stock subframe and subframe bushings (hooray, buying more parts... 😶) This will end up being a much cleaner solution to my problem and I think the creative use of some welded captive nuts and box tubing will yield pretty great results. I kind of half-assedly leaned the new coilover through the wheel well cut after also chopping off the stock bumpstop - and I think the space will be tight but sufficient, especially since I'm planning on using the old Impreza wheel wells as a base for the new structure. There'll probably be some reinforcement of the stock bed sides too, but I'm gonna approach this as close to one problem at a time as possible. Like i said - tight but doable. Everything is also just loosely stacked in place, and the rear end is jacked up about 8" higher than it probably would be so everything seems short at this perspective. I only need about another 1.5"- 2" of real estate to mount the forward bushings, and I think I have a pretty good idea how I'm going to get those in once I've got a new subframe to play with. If anyone has a '98 or thereabouts Impreza subframe handy with the bushings still intact (I botched the original by being hasty - see previous posts), reach out quick or I'm gonna get impatient and go to ebay for one 🤣 Gonna repeat the procedure on the other side of the bed, then it'll probably sit for a little while again while I locate a suitable subframe replacement.

I've been there. I had a water pump fail and drove up to their Waterbury shop for the job. Some shops call in guys who are more or less retired for occasional jobs.

That'd be my guess. Because first start up the pressure was steady but during that start up the brittle o-ring may have sprung a leak (the engine was sitting for 20 years or so). Every start up after that first one the pressure was jittery, but it has been slowly getting less jittery. Either way I'll keep an eye on it. I have a spare pickup tube but I've tried to remove one before and it really is a major pain. I can deal with the jittery pressure so long as the pressure stays in the range that it should be then I'll just leave it. Thanks for the insight, I appreciate it. :]

I haven't had one of those apart in so long that I don't remember. I know an EJ has a seal - I just built one of those a couple months ago... EDIT: Found https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/23378-ea82-oil-pickup-tube/