Subarian

A mechanic put in a used head gasket? And he's surprised it failed? All I can say is, if you decide to buy the car, fine, but I'd stay away from the mechanic.

My first guess is that the timing belt is off by 180 degrees. If they're installed correctly, one timing mark will be up and the other down with the crank at TDC.

Well, if Bob says it, it must be so. I checked Bars Leaks' website, and they don't make any claim that ANY manufacturers use their products. The only thing they said about manufacturers refers to the big 3 (GM, Ford, Chrysler) and goes like this: 5. Will Bar’s Leaks plug my heater core? No, the tiny particles will pass through a 24-gauge mesh screen which is the spec for the BIG 3 car/truck manufacturers. They say that any product installed in the cooling system must pass through this screen. Bar’s Leaks is the only stop leak to pass this test and to be approved by the vehicle manufacturers. Being approved by a manufacturer and being used by a manufacturer are very different things. I still wouldn't use it, except maybe in an emergency far from home.

The master plan is an EJ motor and some 14 or 15 inch wheels.

One of the swaps I'm considering is a 93 EJ20 turbo from an impreza. Does anybody know if this ECM requires a vehicle speed sensor? Anybody?

The EJ22 I thought I had for it was gone when I called, so now I'm out looking. Still, it's a really straight body. Thanks for the compliments. BTW, there's a EJ20TT on ebay that ends in about five hours. I think I need to have a chat with my wife.....

If you loosen the bolts holding the air pipes to the side of the exhaust port and slip a quarter under each one, it will effectively block off the ASV system, and you can reverse it if you decide to. As for your original question, it's possible that the timing belt could be off by a tooth on either side and still have correct distributor timing. The distributor runs off the cam on the driver's side, but you adjust it indepently of the cam timing. You would have a rough idle and really low power if a belt is off by a tooth.

If you've got an 87, it's probably got SPFI (single point fuel injection, also known as throttle body injection). Converting to a Weber carb wouldn't gain you anything. If you've got a carb, a 32/36 will give you a little better throttle response off the line and might slightly improve your mileage.

I've often had more than one engine apart at the same time and haven't sorted the lifters. I haven't experienced problems with them.

I imagine you already did a google search. I think I got mine from redline weber, but it's been several years ago.

EA81 is the earlier 1.8 liter subaru motor. It has a central camshaft driven by gears. EA82 first came out in 85 and has single overhead cams driven by timing belts. The distinctive feature of the engine is the front timing belt covers, big pieces of black plastic on the front of the engine. Yours should be an EA82. Look on the top of the block by the oil dipstick and you'll see a casting that says EA82.

Several members of the board sell lift kits. I won't try to name them 'cause I'll leave someone out. Just use the search function.

I've owned 2 turbo wagons, and both had the pushbutton 5 speed, which makes me wonder, how common is the d/r with the 3.7:1 ratio?

Do you have A/C? Check to make sure the compressor turns freely. The A/C comes on with the defrost to dry the air.

Going to the root of your quest, it sounds like you want to increase mileage or get more top end by going with bigger tires. Neither is likely to happen with bigger tires because the Subaru 1.8 (especially N/A) just doesn't have enough power to drive the box through the wind at high speed. You will find that you're running in a lower gear at freeway speed and it will pretty much be a wash.

Your best bet is to find a 4wd donor car. I'd look for one with the dual range 5 speed. You can tell if it's dual range by an extra lever behind and to the left of the shifter and a decal that says 2hi/4hi/4lo. The single range 4wd will have a pushbutton on the top of the shifter. If you want to do serious offroading, you'll definitely want the d/r. Changing the clutch isn't too difficult, especially since you'll have the transmission out when you swap in your 4wd.

I was mentioning to a friend of mine that I was thinking about putting an EJ22 in my wagon. He just happens to have a metal fab business and said he'd make a an adapter plate FREE if I have a pattern. I suppose I could make one, but I was wondering if anyone has a pattern available.

Just file the ridge off. It shouldn't be there.

On ebay there are a couple of EJ20TT JDM engines. One of those in my 86 wagon would make a nice sleeper.

Actually, the engine will be completely disassembled and cleaned before I clearcoat it. I was wondering if one product is better than another.

Is the factory radiator for the EA82T a two core or single core radiator? If it's a single core, is it any beefier than the N/A radiator?

Has anyone out there clearcoated their engine? I'm getting ready to build my turbo motor, and I thought it would be nice to put a clearcoat on it while it's clean to help keep it that way. I know you can get Edelbrock aluminum manifolds with clearcoat from the factory, but I don't know what they use. Anyone know a good, durable clearcoat that would work?

I have run R134a for 5 years with the stock condensor and it gets cold enough even on our hot days (over 100) that I have to turn the A/C off sometimes.

Thanks. It's got the brown on brown interior. The carpet's in really good shape, but the seats are a little hammered. That's OK, though, because the turbo wagon (donor car) has good seats, and they happen to be brown. As far as rust, it has a very little on very bottom of the rear quarters, but that's all. Even the underside looks pretty good. I'm going to take some leave next week (I've had 24 straight duty days) and get started on building the turbo motor. There's an outside chance I'll be picking up a 2.7 H-6, but it's probably going to be the turbo.

It sounds to me like you may be low on refrigerant. Just because there's enough to hiss out of the shrader valve doesn't mean there's enough to run the system. There's a low pressure cutoff that's designed to keep your compressor from running if your pressure is too low. You can test the compressor clutch easily. Just disconnect the wire running to the clutch (it's blue, if I remember right) and run a 12v jumper to it. If the compressor runs, you just need more pressure in the system. You'll want to leak-test it, but most A/C systems have some undetectable leakage, and with a car that's 14 years old, it's likely it's just lost refrigerant over time. BTW, I've been running mine without the pulser for years. A belt broke and removed it rather violently, and the A/C is still working.