RenaissanceMan

Get the car aligned, you would be amazed what that will do if it rolls striaght down the road. Put as thin of an oil as you feel safe in the engine. 10W30 mobil one? 5W30 mobil one? I saw this once at wcss7, make a water/deposit separator thing to go between the valve cover, and the PCV valve on your PCV system. Run your tires up at 40 psi. (be concerned about traction in hard stopping situations) Try running thinner gear oil than what you have in there now. Remove any unneccesary interior, lol Fresh O2 sensor, for quick and precise fuel control, faster switching. thats the only stuff I can come up with for now, hope any of that points you in the right direction -Mike

That dancin' nana is awesome... anyway its still AT for now cause I am in need of the manual pedal assy.. I got a 5sp d/r just sittin around waitin... somewhere... (and a 3.9 LSD for the rear as well)

So here we are, I lifted my 1984 Turbo Brat. SJR 4/4 lift (awesome lift, love the cast aluminum, highly recommend). It only took me about a week (working at night cause I have no days off). I decided to use my 15" pugs on it, and I got a HECK OF A DEAL on some slightly used Pirellli P600's (80% tread, $100 for all four). Oh yeah, not that its safe to tow anything that heavy, but I installed a class 2 receiver & light adapter As you can see, I had to flip my airbox around and cutout the bottom for the intake hose to reach. So I still have my set of 4 SSR's on 14" for when I really want to do some 4hweelin. For now I just took some pics around my house. Wait for it.... :banana::banana::banana: -Mike

Well here she is... I put in a pair of axles, and some seat covers. So far she's treating me pretty well. It may be a piece of crap inside and out, but I still love driving it, just because of how much better gas milage it gets than my brat (turbo). And there ya go. My $80 car. -Mike

I'll try to post some pics as soon as I can get my camera back (and also I'll post some pics of my lifted brat) anyway, so I decided to go ahead and replace the axles. I been drivin it around today. Other than the interior is kinda gross, and it could use some idle adjustment, its kinda fun to drive. Never owend a car with a trunk before. Cost of the car - $80 New axles - $95 (employee discount lol) Replacement antifreeze, radiator cap, battery terminals, and replacement wheel stud - $15 3/4 tank of gas - $20 So far the car hasnt really cost me anything worth complaining about.. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some seat covers and throw in some carpet. I just think the interior needs a little help. -Mike

well, I dont think I wanted to do much to the body work, I was just debating if it was worth the time and money for me to fix the mechanical issues and drive it Keep in mind we dont use salt out here in CA, so the undercarrige isnt an issue as much as around windows and the like

So the other day I picked up an 82 GLF 2 door coupe for $80, and drove it home. Its got all the bells and whistles, PS, AC, Cruise, Power windows... (it must have been real nice when it was new. Its lived next to the ocean, so there is some major body rot around the windows. (but it appears to only be surface, nothing structural) One of the rear quarter windows is busted. It has trouble idling sometimes, and the throttle cable can stick (looked under the hood, its corroded). The only other major issue is that it needs new front CV's of course (they all do). Which for me I can throw a set in for about $95. Its FWD, auto, ea81, got a roof rack, and the interior has seen better days thats for sure. So it drives pretty comfortably, and it goes as fast as any other subaru of the era. So all the issues I know I can fix.. been there done that... So is it worth keeping and driving around or should I grab the engine and throw the car in the dumpster? Thanks, Mike

Rich, you saw what I did for struts on the old brat I had right? that wasnt too bad to do... actually, I just have them sitting in storage right now if you needed to get inspired by them -Mike

Converting over to an internally regulated type alternator is pretty much a breeze for subarus. Here is a link for the conversion: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47847&highlight=alternator And that should work with not only any internally regulated subaru alternator, but if you change out connectors any 2 wire alternator out there. hope that helps -Mike

Scott if your browsin the forum by all means answer away, otherwise if anyone else has any experience/input with these lift kits let me know So I go the ea81 4/4 lift kit, and installed everything in the back no problem yesterday, lift kit is absolutely freakin awesome. So tonight I am going to start on the front, and a couple things dawned on me. First off, its an auto still, has anyone had to deal with extending the auto linkage? is it as simple as I am imagining it in my head? Secondly, I got to thinkin this on my way home.. The engine cradle and struts are getting dropped 4 inches, the radius rod mounts are getting dropped 3 inches. so my thought is.. the transmission crossmember is mounted to those radius rod mounts. -Therefore the rear of the trans will be dropped 3 inches. -Therefore, the whole powertrain will be pointing down in the front. How does that work out? Wont that cause issues with reading the fluid levels, changing u-joint angle, etc...?? -Mike

No, not those. This is way before that. Someone on the board was making some kind of a race setup and made those bushings custom. I think maybe 4 or 5 people at best got in on the deal. -Mike

I purchased these from a board member about 3 years ago, and they turned out to be an incredible product. They are 3 piece control arm bushings for pretty much any subaru from 1971 to 1994. They were made of some kind of super-indistructo self lubricating plastic. Anyway, anyone remember who this was? Thanks, -Mike

That would be a Toyota SC12 or SC14 supercharger, I got one sittin in storage. Unfortunately mine's not for sale -Mike

I'd make the drive if I wasnt working every darn day of my life... I'll have more free time when the semester ends anyway -Mike

once I get past the other millions of projects, I do plan to build a TBI setup for the EA71... Delta Camshaft does make a few cams for the EA71 btw. -Mike

This is the expensive version, it works quite well if you can afford it. I dont have a picture of it, but the one I have cost me $60 and works more like a drill chuck, The best part is that it can be used with an impact gun (not the snapon one) There is also the more common type that uses a 1 larger wheel with teeth on it, (available at any local auto parts store) but I have had bad luck with those. if you dont want to spend a lot of money, a 10-14" pipe wrench will remove the studs. Just remember to de-burr all the teeth marks the wrench is gonna make before you put them back in. -Mike BTW, on a side note, the head bolt/stud size on the EA engines is 11x1.25mm it is IMPOSSIBLE to find anything in this thread, so be carefull. If you need replacement studs, they usually cost about $10 a piece from the dealer, OR ARP actually makes head studs that will fit for about the same price.

Am I the only one who has used the trick to get out the wrist pins, where you take two large flatblade screwdrivers, and stick them down in the pin, spread them apart and pull out the pin?

LOL, ok the car is long gone by now.. thats not why I am replying to this.. That has got to be one of the BEST pictures of a f*&@ed up subaru I have ever seen. I mean... its all creepy like a subaru version of christine... Seriously, you can just stare at this picture for hours thinking what kind of painstaking trip thru hell this poor old subaru went thru. I say put this pic in the next subaru calendar. -Mike

Where are you in SoCal? I am in Central coast Cali (San Luis Obispo). I own an 84 Turbo brat also, and if you need any parts, or mechanical assistance, let me know. I've got spare parts to every one of the 8 subarus I have owned, lol. -Mike

for a temporary short term situation, no you dont need one. However over the long term, absolutely yes you do. The pilot bearing is actually the front support bearing for the input shaft. My former drivetrain instructor described the pilot as actually part of the transmission itself. Basically without it the input shaft puts all the stress on the bearing inside the case. Over time this stress will lead to premature failure of that bearing and then your wonderful transmission has pieces of hardened metal meshing itself between the gears breaking things.:-\ -Mike

I think we are confusing new and old style ea71's (shawnW) The old style (gen 1 ea71) is a big pain in the arse cause its in the crank. The later "fatcase" style and ea81 etc.. had the larger bearing in the flywheel with comes out easily with the socket/hammer technique -Mike

As I tell some of my spanish speaking customers... La Hencia o Los Junkes. FYI the housing end that threads into the tranny doesnt get super tight. usually you can thread it in by hand, and when it gets tight, give it a quick tug of the 17mm wrench. If you feel things start to "flex or distort" or just feel "spongy" then your golden, as it doesnt take much effort to get it there. Make sure that the inner cable is closely lined up with the shaft in the transmission, I recall being able to feel it engage before I get it to thread in more than a turn. -Mike

always replace the pilot. I had a tranny go kaput cause when the brand new clutch was put in years and years ago (and had sat pretty much since then) they didnt replace the pilot bearing. Unfortunately sometimes those things can be buggers. what you need is a small dremel bit, dremel or die grinder, and a cutting chisel if it becomes a problem. (by cutting chisel I mean one with the tip looking like a slanted diamond) Almost every time I have had to do this because the little needle bearing thing self destructs and you are left with a hardened race. pick a spot and start grinding into the race of the bearing till it gets thin, then repeat on opposite side. Start hammering the crap out of it (catching an edge on the bearing) with the cutting chisel. repeat grinding and hammering till something on that race finally collapses and you can pull it out. Get the best synthetic grease you can for the new bearing, and find a small socket the right size to tap it in the crank. (suprisingly the new one taps in really easily compared)

Electronic Ignition was an option back in 78 & 79. The book says california models came with it, but the only early ea71 I ever got with electronic ignition came from another state. Starting in 1980 with the fat case engine, I am pretty sure 90% came with electronic, even though points were still available thru 82 even on the ea81 engines. -Mike

One with EA71 on the driverside is the older gen1 engine. EA81 stamped up front next to the distributor is the later model engine used from 80-87. Other than some of the emissions stuff, I believe you can interchange them. With respect to the water pump and crossover tube of course. I believe later EA71s had larger bearing journals, correct me if I'm wrong. -Mike