Subarian

I can do 0-60 in under five (minutes) and eventually get up to 85 mph.

Yours is probably an EA81 and mine is an EA82, so they're not exactly the same, but I still have a full-size spare in my car.

One possibility is that the rear differential has been changed. The turbo cars have a 3.7:1 gear ratio, while the non-turbo cars have a 3.9:1 ratio. That would make it really difficult to go anywhere in 4WD.

It's not hard to pass emissions with a Weber, you just need the right jets. As for all the vacuum lines, keep the ones you need, the others can just become ghosts, plug them internally and mr. inspector doesn't know.

Before you retorque the castle nut, pull the nut off and examine the cone washer. They tend to get a ridge near the outer edge. If you torque it without removing the ridge, you won't get proper torque. You can clean the ridge off with a file.

The first thing that comes to mind is a head gasket. You can test it by getting a combustion gas kit. I know NAPA used to sell them, they still might. You run the engine with the cap off the radiator. The kit consists of a tube with a rubber cone-shaped bottom. You put the test fluid in the tube, and if the gases coming from the radiator are combustion gases, the fluid changes colors. I can't think of anything else that would make your engine puke antifreeze like that, especially if you've already replaced the thermostat.

If it's that bad, you might have some blow-by. I'd run a compression test before you put too much effort into it.

Sounds familiar. When I came back from Iraq, my son had driven my soob into the ground. On the good side, after Iraq, life's other problems have a different perspective. I drive down the freeway and someone complains about traffic, my response is, "No IEDs and no one shooting at me. I like traffic." Welcome back.

You don't really need to bother with the EGR valve. Its purpose is to reduce NOx emissions by introducing an inert gas (exhaust) into the combustion chamber when temps theoretically reach 2800 degrees, which is where NOx forms. The truth is, your combustion chamber just isn't getting that hot, because of the design of the engine. So save your money. You might want to invest it in a Weber 32/36. That's what I did when my Hitachi carb finally fell apart (literally). It's been a great upgrade.

That's a pretty good definition of piston slap. It's anytime the piston skirt goes out of round, and slaps against the cylinder wall. Breaking off a skirt would definitely do it.

Or you can use a pry bar braced against the teeth on the flywheel.

That "Best Burnout" would have to come with an incredible cash prize to make it worthwhile!

The carbed model doesn't have an ECU. If it's the one with two tabs that's mounted in the radiator, it's the fan thermostat.

I'd say you definitely had a leaking head gasket. You can pull the pistons without splitting the block. Take out the large plugs on the bottom of the block that have allen heads. Then you line up the wrist pin with the hole. There's a spring clip you have to remove, and then you can get the wrist pin out by taking a long bolt and cutting a hook into the end of it. Then you can get to the rods to see if you can find any play. But if you're going that far, I'd split the block and check it out inside. Remember there are a couple of "hidden" bolts joining the block halves, or you'll get really frustrated.

Where is the sending unit you're talking about?

Could also be piston slap. That won't necessarily go away when you remove the plug wire.

Some of you may have read my earlier posts about the accident and the water pump problem (wrong size pump). This morning I fabbed a spacer for the pump out of a couple of 5/8 inch washers and cut down some 6mm bolts for studs. The Soob is back on the road and running fine. In addition to the body parts I swapped out, it now has a new water pump, resealed oil pump, new timing belts, new cap and rotor. It's happy now and so am I.

I just replaced my water pump, resealed the oil pump, and replaced timing belts. The total was about $75.

While you're in there, it's a good time to adjust the glass. On the tracks you'll find 10mm bolts holding brackets that limit the upper travel of the glass. There are also 10mm bolts that hold the track to the door. By adjusting those, you can make the glass fit tighter against an old seal.

I'd look over the tires carefully, too. Pay attention to how they roll when you get started.

It's hard to convice folks that are used to low-revving V8s that redlining these motors is actually GOOD for them.

I feel for you. Sometimes it just piles up.I hope some auto therapy makes you feel better.

Sorry. I confess to being car-centric.

When I was in Iraq, my son heard the same kind of noise but ignored it. Until the wheel came off at 70 mph on the freeway. Check the axle nut. When you do, take a look at the conical washer. They often have a ridge worn in them, which will keep you from acheiving the proper torque. If it does have a ridge, you can take it off with a file.

The EA82T distributor doesn't use points. The main reason for dual point distributors was to generate more coil voltage for the spark. Coils were limited in the amount of spark they could produce in part by the physical limitations of mechanical points. Since the electronic ignition supplies more voltage than a dual point distributor would, it wouldn't make sense to convert it.