edrach

Check the ORG website for the latest information. Event will be held at Portland Int'l Raceway again. Details at http://www.oregonrally.com/rallycross.cfm

I put about 75 miles on the car today; about 50 of that interstate miles and it ran trouble free and without any CEL codes. No ugly smoke coming out the back at any time.

It's an oil/gasoline additive with supposed "magic" powers. Try a search on Seafoam within the USMB; there've been lots of threads about it.

Car was serviced locally by the same shop I use and the stolen car was a customer's of theirs. Shop owner confirmed to me that the two cars (video and ebay) were the same.

Did you see the high bidder? robbinandmaynard; I don't know for sure, but Robbin and Maynard are a couple of morning radio show jockeys here in Seattle. I wonder if they're involved in this for the publicity of it.

Took the car to work today and after a few puffs after startup car ran just fine. I'll give it a run on the interstate later today. Looks like its root cause is the clogged air filter. Time will tell and I'll be using some seafoam or marvel mystery oil with the next oil change.

I'm partial to the Firestone shop in Kirkland (just off 124th next to the Jack in the Box). Dan is the manager and I have four cars currently with "lifetime" alignment contracts. First one is pricey at $140, but the rest are free as long as I own the car. Since I usually run 150K or more, I'll get 10 to 15 alignments on each contract. I graciously decline his offer for tires and service since I'm not partial to their tires and I do most of my own work; when I don't I usually take it to Smart Service. Dan understands my preferences and doesn't push it other than to offer it.

Pulled the two day old PCV and it was stuck closed with some kind of gunk so I put the old one back for the time being. But while I was doing that, I noticed all the hoses from the crankcase area and valve covers all meeting and feeding into the throttle body air intake. I thought about the air cleaner and pulled the housing. Air cleaner was pretty well clogged; I have a K&N and haven't looked at it in way too long a time period. I cleaned the filter, oiled it and re-installed it. Most of the smoke is gone and all gone when the engine is warm. Smokes a little when I start it up cold, but I'm thinking of adding some Seafoam to help clean out the plumbing.

Anyone wishing to make an adapter plate for the EA81, I could lend out my spare; Jason H. (forgot his boardname) made some nice adapters for me awhile back. Bow wow Auto Parts carries a line of adapters and linkage kits for way less than weber charges. Call the Lynnwood Bow Wow store and ask for Chris...he knows us and has always given me a discount when I shop there. I can dig up the 'phone number if necessary.

Here's the official word: The final rallycross of 2005 will take place as scheduled on November 6th. The venue will be Portland International Raceway. Please see the website for details pertaining to schedule and which group runs when. Rallymaster and course designer will be April Smith. This event will be a points paying event, the final one for 2005. This event will benefit Rebecca Adams, a four year old girl battling cancer and daughter to one of our Oregon Rally Group volunteers. Please make sure you make this event, and bring friends! More information as it becomes available on this list and at oregonrally.com John Elkin More details can be found at www.oregonrally.com. --ed--

Try www.cvaxles.com. They are in Florida but are an excellent rebuilder also. Board price is $55 plus shipping plus refundable core charge. Talk to Kevin for up to date info.

Is the axle failing on the same side (i.e. passenger side)? If so, the inner boot is right under the catalytic converter and causes the rubber to deteriorate pre-maturely since it is too hot (engine running too rich? causes the cat to run hot since it needs to burn all those extra hydrocarbons). I had that problem with my old '86 GL wagon and fixed it by fabbing a heat deflector shield above the cat to scroop up some extra airflow and deflect the heat elsewhere. I didn't loose another axle until the driver's side went a year later.

It's not expensive; I just paid under $10 to www.1stsubaruparts.com for mine. Common opinion on the USMB is not to buy after market for this part; genuine OEM is best in this case.

My son's Brat was running just fine too; just crappy mileage. When qman tried to adjust the carter-weber mixture nothing changed no matter where he put the mixture screw. So we replaced the carb; better power and gas mileage with the 32/36.

Add another vote for changing it now. A word of advice: use OEM parts for the water pump and belt. We just did the belt and water pump on our '91 Legacy (153K miles) and found a couple of the idlers noisy so we replaced those too. Also, if you have the black cam and crank seals replace them with the brown ones; I've heard the brown seals last forever so if you have them already, no need to replace them. www.1stsubaruparts.com will allow you to replace whatever parts you don't use (you'll still need to pay the shipping, but that's no big deal). Ask for Jason if you call them.

I can get you two more centercaps. $1 each plus mailing sound okay to you? (I'll have to check if I still have them).

Leadfoot!

The sad news is that the engine is indeed toast (sort of expected that)...drained the oil and it's choclate milk shake color. It'll be fixed; next weekend the temporary replacement engine is going in; hopefully I have better luck with that one.

Your best bet is to take it to my favorite emissions guru next to the 6th Ave. South emissions testing place in South Seattle (just south of Spokane St.). $40 plus tax if he can adjust it to pass; no charge if it doesn't pass. Plus if it needs a part he can tell you what it needs and then bring it back to him for "tweaking." You can't go wrong! PM me with a 'phone number if you need more information. Judging from the numbers, it's close and will likely just need tweaking.

Sometimes, it's just a bad carb or too rich a mixture. I replaced the single barrel carter-weber carb on my son's '82 Brat when if got 20 mpg on the highway with a 32/36 weber. Gas mileage now is 27 to 29 on the highway.

Car was facing slightly downhill. Thanks for the tip.

You might try I-5 Autoparts; they have an '86 Brat with a clean front end (it was hit in the right rear); I think they'll ship what you need. They are in Chehalis, WA 1-800-551-4489. Ask for Jack and tell them you saw their number on the USMB; Jack will know who posted it.

Not sure how I could screw in the PCV backwards; only threaded on one end. I used genuine new OEM part.

I replaced the PCV valve two days before the smoke appeared with genuine Subaru part.

Manual tranny.