Dante

What's reasonable? I don't want to overpay. Also, if I am going to spend $30 or $40, I'd rather hold out for an '83 manual--aren't there some minor differences year-to-year?

If they do, I can't find it. I tried to e-mail them at the address on the linked page yesterday and my e-mail got bounced back

There's an '82 FSM on ebay now, but it's up over $30 with shipping now

http://www.avidair.com/stratus.html

Cool. I'll try to make both. I'm not sure about the Subaru calendar picture day because I don't have not received the title from Mudrat79 yet (no mail on veteran's day). I'm reluctant to drive it too much until my paperwork is in order. P.S. I took a chance and bought the carb. If I have to re-jet it, then I will... P.P.S. This is where I got my carb: JT Outfitters. It's a Toyota Landcruiser place, but they have good regular prices on new webers (cheaper than http://www.carbsunlimited.com). I got another $20 off their regular price for the 38mm DGES...

The point is, it is a community...It's sort of like a small town. I may have been naive, but I'd been lurking around here long enough to know none of the people at EZ's place would want me bitchin' and moaning about being ripped off on the board. I still have not received the title for John's wagon (no mail on veteran's day), but I have no doubt that I will. I know I took a chance, but I haven't regretted it yet.

Thanks! I e-mailed Stockton Wheels for a quote on the Hummer & Power Wagon Wheels with a 4 x 140 bolt pattern. I'll post the reply when I get it. P.S. where is the wheel page?--never mind found it.

Hmm... The intake I am using is 25% larger than stock. The Japanese spec. dual-carb head and cam are supposed to breathe better than the US spec. head and cam. I will also open up my exhaust from the y-pipe back. All that should help, and if I have to re-jet it, then I have to re-jet it. The reason I thought of it is I found a new 38 DGES for $260--the same price as a new 32/36 DGEV at http://www.carbsunlimited.com. What's up on Sunday?

Redline Weber's site says the 38mm DGES will provide "considerably more initial torque and acceleration", and recommends one "if the engine is . . . going to have any level of additional engine modification." I'll be running a dual carb long block with an aftermarket intake manifold and ignition system and exhaust upgrades.

If I decided to spring for these, what offset should I order? Here are my thoughts: IIRC stock Subaru wheels have around a +42mm (~1.65") offset. IIRC, Pugs are around 22mm, right? Stockton Wheels order form asks you for the backside measurement. Assuming I bought 15" x 6" wheels, the stock +1.65" offset would equate to a 4.65" backside. Assuming I bought 15" x 7" wheels, the stock +1.65" offset would equate to a 5.15" backside. I can also just measure the offset per the illustration on the order form, but how do I account for 26" to 27" tires to make sure they clear the struts and that the fronts don't rub when I turn? BTW I like these military style wheels: The caption says "A-TEN-HUT!! Listen up recruits! If you drive a "war-wagon" or just drive like you're in a war, these custom heavy duty "military" style wheels will put you at the front of the squadron! It doesn't matter if you drive a 3/4-ton or 1-ton vehicle (2WD or 4WD), Deuce-and-an-half, M37, or a M715, Stockton Wheel Service can build your custom wheels in 15, 16, 16.5, 17, 19.5, 20, 22.5, 24.5-inch sizes with any bolt circle, any offset, or any width, painted or chromed!"

Whatever I need for an '83 GL 4WD wagon. I'd like something that covers the whole car for repair and service. Thanks

That's the impression I started to get when I was shopping for a 4WD ea81. I just ran a few more searches on http://www.cars.com, http://www.autotrader.com and http://www.nwclassifieds.com. They are much harder to find than I thought they would be. I'm glad I went ahead and bought Mudrat79's '83 wagon, but I can't stop shopping...if I find a really clean straight stock hatch I might have to buy it. I think I've got the bug...

Makes sense--I'll probably start collecting in that order. FSM is a good place to start if I can find one. I've got Bentley for my VW and like it OK. I'll have something to look for next time I'm in a used bookstore...

I'm kind of tempted to see what Joe would charge to go through the long block and have it shipped directly to him and then to me when he is done. OTOH, I know it would be too much. I am a little rusty, but I can do it myself. Do you know if Ron's (RAM's) rebuild kits are priced fairly? I have not had time to comparison shop. Hmm... Maybe I won't have to rebuild it--I just got this from Joe: Just do a compression check on all cylinders, check to see that the oil is clean, pull the valve covers, if they are clean and not full of flakey crust inside, then run it, but I would replace the oil pump.

I was over on ebay and did a quick search for "Subaru" "GL" and "manual" and came up with a whole slough of results--Haynes, Chilton, etc. Is there any consensus about which manual is best? They are pretty cheap, so I could probably buy more than one, but I would prefer not to do so if I can avoid it. P.S. I have an '83 GL Wagon and I tried a search before posting this.

Was that yours? EZ or one of the guys there threw it in. Do you want it back?

I'm not too worried about it. The car handles fine in the city and on the freeway, and as GD says John's been doing this for 12 years. This will be a second vehicle for me. I won't be putting that many miles on it and rotating the tires can address any uneven tire wear. It would not surprise me if the next set of tires (probably Cooper STTs) last for a looong time. If u-joints become an issue, then I'll think about "fixing" things.

I picked-up Mudrat79's '83 GL 4WD Wagon this weekend. It is as advertised. Straight body and good upholstery. The carpet is not bad, but it's 20 years old. I think I will rip it out and replace it with two or three coats of Herculiner. The car runs strong. I drove it around a fair amount last weekend (but not off-road). I still have some mods planned. Mudrat79's lift is pretty cool. There is LOTS of daylight under the car! I bought it for a trailhead and dump car, but I'm looking forward to trying my hand at wheelin' it--maybe on the Xmas tree run.

Is there an adjustable coilover for the ea82 that would let those of us with this lift (I just bought Mudrat79s '83 wagon) adjust the back downward a little bit to get rid of the negative camber? If you could find adjustable coilovers that would do that, and they were not too expensive, they might pay for themselves by reducing tire and u-joint wear at the expense of a little clearance.

I got the dual carb long-block and Joe's intake. Joe and Ron have bothe been real helpful. When I crack the dual-carb long-block, I'll clean up and maybe widen the ports. The dual-carb head is already decked, or so I am told. I'm tempted to go all-out, but my plans already blow the hell out of my budget for this car. I will probably just bolt on the Weber and Joe's intake, upgrade the ignition system and open up the exhaust from the y-pipe back.

In reply to all the questions--Click on the link in my initial post to go to Stockton Wheel's webpage and then click on the buttons for the different styles under the "Online Catalog" heading. There are tons of options. For offset information, see the "Ordering Guide" button under the "How to Order" heading. I just told the guy who answered the phone I wanted 15" 4x140s for a Subaru modified for off-road use and asked him for a ballpark range. He said $60 to $70--probably for plain vanilla steelies. As far as cost goes, I just thought $300 to $350 for a set of five wheels is a lot for cars that cost $0 to $1,500. P.S. You have to call for prices. They aren't on the website.

OK, I know this is expensive (but not as expensive as shipping wheels from down under), but I thought I would put it out there FWIW in case anyone is willing to pay $60 to $70 per wheel for 15x6 or 15x7 4x140s. Check out http://www.stocktonwheel.com I just got off the phone with them. They said I could have those sizes for those prices. You could probably also get 14s or 16s made. They come powder coated in black, white or silver. I won't be buying any. Too $pendy for me...

Thanks--that's what I wanted to hear. Will do. The Weber intake Joe Souza sells will work with the dual-carb head or the US Spec. heads. He's the one that first told me the dual-carb heads are better. I also have a line on a dual-carb manifold and carbs, which would be much cheaper... Can anyone on the board provide more details on the differences between the US spec. and Japanese domestic market dual-carb heads? P.S. I just got this response to my inquiry about a JDM dual-carb motor from one of the engine import places: We have a nice engine in stock. It is a low mileage engine that has leak down tested, inspected internally, cleaned, palletized & is ready for shipping. The cost of the engine is 1,195.00 If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thanks StormTrooper. See if you can get Joe to tell you more about the differences in the dual-carb head and cam, will you please. He was very enthusiastic about them. He also builds or built racing cars and said that engine, his manifold and the other common ignition and exhaust mods would give me the best bang for the buck for my application (maximizing low-end torque while preserving reasonable highway driveability). The said the dual-carb heads breathe better stock than ported US Spec heads. I'll be doing more research on that this week.

No. Joe Souza (not by the seller) told me that engine has desireable differences in the heads and a different cam. I've also seen similar things said elsewhere in the aviation community EXAMPLE 1 EXAMPLE 2 EXAMPLE 3 EXAMPLE 4 EXAMPLE 5 , but none of this is very authoritative. I'm going to use a Weber and Joe's intake manifold. As Brian Tracy says: "When a man with money meets up with a man with experience, the man with the experience is going to end up with the money and the man with money is going to end up with the experience" I just hope I'm not paying too much for my experience I'll either have a hot ea81 or an expensive one and we'll all know for sure whether the dual-carb heads are different...