mikeshoup

Wow Skip, you've totally cleared things up for me! Thanks!

84 Turbo Wag: 148K (just a baby!) 86 XT Turbo: 180K, on its third engine. About 160k on the block, dunno how many on the heads. Brother's 89 GL Coupe: 245K last I checked. It went for about 10k though wtihout a speedo cable Mom's 99 Legacy L: 57K (low!) I've had: 88 XT6: 144K when I sold it. 88 GL Wagon: 182K when I sold it. I know they're not roos but: 96 Toyota Paseo 89K when I rolled it (lowest mileage vehicle I've ever owned) 86 Chevy Celebrity 262K (Sold it because the original engine blew a head gasket. That's high for a domestic!) 89 Ford Tempo 89K and ran like crap. Got rid of it because it was horrible to drive. You made me recount all the cars I've owned in 5 years. I'm on my 5th and 7th! I hope not to continue this trend.

Things that can keep it from sealing: - Improper torque/uneven torque - Failure to clean both gasket mating surfaces well

4 Door Hatchback *could* mean a wagon. A wagon is technically a hatchback.

Let me know what hoodscoop you use and give me a picture or two. I'm still gathering ideas for my hoodscoop on my EA81T.

He's already got a 4EAT and wants to swap on the EJ bell housing so he can mount an EJ without an adapter. Seems to me that's the best option.

As the title says: Would 185/80/R13 tires fit without issues on my EA81 Wagon? Calculated it out. Right now, its running 175/70/13. Stock is supposed to be 185/70/13. Seems to me 185/80/13 would be about 1 inch greater in radius than I'm running now. Its not too radical, so I'd think it would fit just fine. These also seem to be about the largest 13 inch tire I can get.

The TB has a little block cast into it that keeps the plate from opening past 90degrees. The stop screw is to keep the plate from closing too far. The stop screw should not ever be touched. Idle problems shouldn't ever need the stop screw adjusted.

The 3AT is crap, yes. Though the 4EAT tranny isn't half bad. An automatic still wouldn't be my choice, but its his choice. Its not constructive to tell people what they're doing is not worth the trouble.

The EA81 Axles will not fit on the EJ tranny. Custom axles will have to be made. The rear diff though *should* be the same. Searching revealed that early Legacy DOJs and maybe EA82T DOJs will fit on a FWD EA81 Axle, but not 4WD EA81 Axle. Legacy DOJ + FWD EA81 Axle = Axles that will work.

There wasn't ever a USDM dual port head. Anything is going to be JDM if they existed. EA-81T heads are nice as they have fuel injector bosses. Other than that, they're the same as other 83+ heads (or was it 82+ that the larger valves came out?).

Bah, its gonna be three of us, and we'll make the small girl sit in the back. If she complains, we'll gag her (kidding)

Suppose I put an EA82 Turbo tranny in my EA81 Turbo wagon. What would I need to do about the axles? I know the transmissions have different spline counts and the EA81 axles are shorter... What parts have people combined to make axles that worked? (Speculation welcome, just please specify you're speculating)

Didn't realize he was taking high school physics HS Physics was a breeze compared to calculus based Mechanics and EMAG courses in college.

Don't worry, I constantly preach the use of new radiators. That's imo, the most overlooked part of our cooling systems. Lucky me, the radiator in this car is brand new. Dunno about taking a Taurus. Last Taurus we took as a group across the state line had a water pump seize and take out the engine half way between Ogalala, NE and Denver, CO.

Physics is not fun. I've had to take intro level courses in Mechanics and E&M. Not the funnest of classes. I feel your sorrow. The FT4WD is in 4WD all the time. FT stands for Full Time. Its got an open center differential with a switch to lock it. Kinda nifty I guess. The FT4WD with D/R has an extra lever to put the transmission into a lower range. The low range on it kinda sucks, but it helps. The largest difficulty I can see with putting an EA82 Turbo tranny in an EA81 is the axles.

I like it when you yell about my car. The fan setup is killer. Makes it a PITA though to remove belts. I had to take out the radiator mounting bolts and pull it up so I could get the belt between the water pump pulley and the fan motor... Those are two huge fans btw. They do an effective job I might add. If I do only get 20mpg, we may have to rethink taking the wagon. Especially when my buddy's Taurus (as boring as it is) gets 30mpg highway... Hopefully a 4spd D/R or a 5spd will help. We'll see.

You could convert to an EA82 5spd D/R. There's an article in the USRM on it. bratsrus1 (Jerry) makes a kit with a modified crossmember that allows you to not need to bang the tunnel, and will modify your shift linkage. Alternatively, you could go for a 5 spd pushbutton 4WD, or 5 spd FT4WD S/R, or the ever illusive, 5 spd FT4WD D/R (though the low range isn't very low... Kinda crappy really). You have a lot of choices. Your best choice would probably be the 5 spd D/R from an 85-89 Wagon.

The shaft of the fan is square. I use a C-Wrench on it to hold it in place, then use a small hand wrench to loosen the bolts. Works every time.

The foot well is where your feet fit. Look underneath the dash, near on the side of the car, near where all the wires go through that rubber loom to enter the front door. There's a little plastic panel that covers up all the wires. Pull it off, and mess around in there. You'll find a two wire, pink connector amidst all that. That's the connector for the speakers. Make sure its pink/red, and make sure its two wire, as there are other pink connectors, but they're not two wire, and there are other two wire connectors, but they're not pink. Note: The FSM says its a red connector, though all the ones I've seen are pink. You can do as Gloyale said, and disconnect the connector and use spade connectors to connect new speaker wires to the harness. Or, do as I said and cut the interior side of the connector off and splice on new speaker wire. Either way works, and Gloyale's makes it easiest to return to stock.

Easiest thing I found to do: There's a two wire Pink/Red connector in each front foot well. That goes to the front speakers. Cut the connector off on the interior side. Splice in new speaker wire and run that to the stereo. Much easier than running new wire through the doors, or long lengths of wire to the rear speakers.

Cut it at each connector, leaving an inch or two, just enough to solder on to. Then run your new wire through the routing you want. Cut to length, and solder it with some heat shrink tubing. Crimp butt connectors work, but they're not the best for the job as they can vibrate loose. A solder joint done properly will not fall apart. Here's a good website describing wrong and right ways to splice wire together: http://www.mmxpress.com/technical/connections.htm The site says to use a torch or heat gun to shrink the tubing. You don't need that. I usually just use the cooler part of the soldering iron tip and run it lengthwise against the tubing, and it shrinks right up. You can also use a lighter if your a pyro.

Take your alternator to a parts store. They can usually test 'em. Checker has a machine right out in front that will test it for me.

1800 miles one way (so 3600 round trip), and its in July. I hope to have the money and the parts to do the manual swap by spring break in March, so I have plenty of time to do it. (You know, some kids party during spring break. Me, I'll be installing a tranny ) So I'm sure it will have proven itself reliable anyways.

This summer, our band fraternity is having a national convention in Orlando, FL. We were talking at our last meeting about what car would be reliable to make it. None of us have new cars (the newest being a 96 Cavalier which isn't reliable at all), and since there's three of us that want to go, car is by far cheaper than plane. So here's my question: Who has taken an EA81T across country, and what kind of gas mileage could be expected? I'm hoping to have the MAF wiring fixed as well as a 4spd D/R in my wagon before this hits. The car will be traveling 1,851 mi (about 1 day 4 hours) one way according to Google. Biggest concern here is overheating and gas mileage.