4x4_Welder

You might be best off putting flat connectors on the front and rear, and use a reciever-mount winch. That way, you can keep good aproach and departure angles, and avoid having an easily stolen winch on the front end. Plus, if your only pull point is behind you, you can just throw it on the rear and go.

Does it have a boost/vacuum gauge, and have you checked for play in the turbo shaft?

If your car has vented rotors on it now, then go ahead and get the BA rotors. If not, you need to replace the caliper and bracket to put on the vented rotors. I'm using the Bendix pads from Schmuck's, they work ok. No noticable fade, and decently quiet, unless you somehow get a rock trapped in between the pad and rotor....... Common sticking causes are rust, and seizing. If the pad went all the way down to the metal, and stuck to the rotor, then it's new rotor time, no questions asked. If it was rusted solid to the rotor from sitting, then check the rotor thickness. If it's still above the minimum, then you might be able to get away with machining it back to a smooth surface. Usually, the pads are pushed back from the rotor face by the lack of pressure keeping them pressed on, and very minute variations in rotor thickness puching the pads and caliper apart as the wheel starts turning.

I just hadn't seen them yet- If the rear of the diff is dropping, then the front is most likely coming up and hitting the floor. I would agree with everyone here, it is unsafe to be on the road. If you have the time and materials, it's fixable- but way beyond fixable if you don't have the time and materials on hand already. It'll cost more to repair than the car is worth. I have been forced to scrap out vehicles I loved due to frame rot. I just found a mostly-gone rocker in my Hatch, so I'm in the same boat. It's still driveable, but I do have the time, materials, and expertise to do it, and gives me a useable excuse to put in a full cage......... Just because it's cool doesn't justify diverting limited resources from a paying project.

If I could get my Bronco to move under it's own power, I would take it there. It's the only non-67-72 truck I have, and I HATE the 80's body style- they look like chevies.

Place a cold chisel against the steel backing of the pad, and drive it away from the rotor. If that doesn't work, bigger hammer, bigger chisel. If you're chucking the rotor, beat on that too to break the bond.

That's the real PITA thing in WA- If a light is on the vehicle, even if it's not from the factory, it has to be functional. I used to run into that a lot with clearance lights on pickups, if one is out you can get a ticket for it. A third brake light wasn't required on cars until 89, and not on trucks until 92 or 93, but some companies used them before that. I'd try different DOL stations, there are usually two in each county that test drivers.

Strange- how much did the idle change when you turned the distributor? If you increased the timing, it should have picked up the idle a bit, but if you retarded the timing, the idle would have dropped. You also want to set you idle to spec as you dial in the timing, you'll have to go back and forth between timing and idle adjustment to get both tuned in right, the mechanical advance in the distributor will set the timing further forward at higher speeds, so if you dialed it in at 1200rpm, it will be below spec. Also, make sure you hit the timing marks straight on, if you come at it at an angle, the shadow from the pointer will be in the wrong spot.

I have experimented with acetone on a different vehicle, it helps with pinging, but don't use more than a couple ounces per tankful. You will only see an increase in mileage if you car has a knock sensor, or you can safely increase the timing without it pinging.

Nope, this is pretty much for Hitachi 2BBLs only, and as far as I can tell, they stopped adding that line in late 82 or early 83. I know on 84+, the secondary actuator had no provision for an external line. SPFI is a totally different animal.

Actually, diesel oil is far more thermally stable than gasoline, and burns rather than explodes. Diesel engine burn their fuel over about 25º or crank rotation, versus about 15º for a gas engine. Diesels only make their trademark banging noise becuase the pistons are set with zero pin offset (with the exception of a few modern engines), and the fuel gets injected at 5-8º BTDC. The fuel lights off instantly, since the air in the combustion chamber is over 1000ºF, and it is injected as an incredibly fine mist.

Diesel won't damage an engine without electronic controls. It may foul the plugs if you use too much, or the O2 sensor, and may not burn completely if your engine doesn't need the extra resistance to explosion. Done warning, here's real life: I used to run 10% diesel in my 84 F-250. The engine (300-6) was at better than 9.5:1 compression, maybe closer to 10.5:1, and pinged at 6º on 93 octane. The diesel stopped it from pinging with mid-grade, and probably saved the engine. On the other hand, I was also running an HEI ignition, a .060" plug gap, and 9.8mm solid core wires for about a 60kv spark at idle, upwards of 85kv at higher rpms. Don't run any blend of ethanol over about 10% in a car not designed for it. It will eat the rubber in the hoses, if it's something with a mechanical fuel pump, it will eat the fuel pump, and you will lose a lot of mileage due to the lower energy content.

Different models used different amounts of controls. Yours probably just has the standard vacuum solenoids like mine. Usually, though, low end power issues are from either too free-flowing of an exhaust, or an intake leak. I would make sure the carb is tight to the intake, and use carb cleaner or an unlit propane torch to search for vacuum leaks.

I finally got my 81 Hatch GL to have the mid-range power I remember my 82 DL wagon having. There is a line coming off the vacuum seconday actuator, to a solenoid that vents the vacuum to atmosphere when de-energized. The computer wasn't opening the solenoid until ~3500rpm, so power would start to tail off, then come back on halfway decent to whatever I wanted to run up to. While I was in there changing the intake gaskets, and a head gasket due to my screwup, so I clipped and plugged the line at the secondary actuator. Finally got to drive it today, and what do you know, the car came to life! Now, the power is very smooth from 1500rpm to 6k, and the throttle response is much crisper. It even sounds better, with a nice deep note when you stomp on it. If you guys don't know what line I'm talking about, I can see if I can get a photo of it later today.

One thing I have found on mine, if you liberally coat the axle stub with MagnaLube (high heat teflon lube, get your mind out of the gutter), it won't stick. Good luck finding the stuff in a store, though, I can only get it through my industrial maintenance connections-

I don't regret leaving, that was something I had to do in life. I do regret not going back when I had the chance, and not going up there more often when I was living in CT. I know the economy up there is hit or miss at best, that's what kept me from going back. What I really liked there was the rural life, and the live and let live attitude. I never was into the touristy stuff, but I did go cross country skiing on the carriage trails in Acadia every winter, hit Sugarloaf, Sunday River, and Lost Valley a couple times each year as well. I was in Augusta for the ice storm in 97, I was two blocks from the capital building and without power for a little over a week. Fun, living in a 150 year old house, with only a fireplace for heat. It did give me more respect for the people who lived there in that time, for sure. I was living in the South China area in 86-87, when the big flood hit the Waterville/Winslow area, I remember going with my parents down Rt. 32 to Winslow, and seeing the water almost up to the parking lot at Peking Hut. I guess what I have are the memories of growing up in Maine, and I guess that's better than actually being there. As is the case with most things, if I went back there and tried to relive those memories, I'd probably just ruin what I already have. I mean, growing up there was by no means an idyllic experience, I just don't remember the bad as much. Daeron, you're nuts. That is all.

I miss living in Maine, where there is a real winter and you actually get snow. That's the only thing I don't like here, very little if any snow, if they see two flakes touching each other they shut down the western side of the state since they don't know how to deal with it.

The problems continue on the Hatch. Apparently, when you use a rag stuffed down the intake port while you weld a nut onto a broken bolt, a nice ball of hot metal can still get through, and eventually into the cylinder. So, pulled the head, just a bunch of pock-marks all over the head and piston, but no actual damage. I've run cars with worse. My real concern thoguh is after cleaning the head, I found cracks between both pairs of valves, and on one side the crack extends down to the casting line, halfway to the valve on the intake side. It didn't burn any coolant, but I'm not ruling out a leak stop having been used. The head isn't warped at all, so should I be actually concerned with this crack? What's the worst you've seen without coolant leakage, and can I expect at least a bit more service from this head? Or should i just block the EGR and use my spare left side head? I really don't like the thought of running a cracked head, knowing it could go at any time. But then, I suppose it could give a few thousand miles yet, I don't expect this engine to be needed past another 4k or so.

That's what my car sounded like when the exhaust gaskets were starting to go the second time. A bolt had come out, and the gasket slowly spun to block the port.

Drop it off at my place for about a week, I can make it look like that, maybe a bit more body left on it, full tube doors, etc.

I know the old Ford jeeps with full independant suspension (can't think of the model right now) used oilcloth for the cv boots. I'm sure you could have something similar made up at a sailshop, but expect it to cost a bit.

It's not good for it, you're spinning a lot of rpms, but when you're on an engine and tranny that are getting swapped out soon anyways...........

Sounds like I shouldn't abandon my custom intake and efi plan, then. I may still find a way to drop one of my old Motorcraft 2150 2BBLs on it, though. 354cfm, anyone? Good for the nice low redline of about 8k?

Push the clutch, pull the lever, release the clutch. I've taken mine out of low range at around 55 before, no issues. Going up the short launch ramps onto the highway here, I like to run up to third in low, shift it to high, then third and fourth in high. Of course, I am in RWD on my car, but on any Subaru it shouldn't have any issues, since everything is always turning.

If you build pressure in the exhaust at higher rpms, then it will take a little bit for it to go away. My vote goes to a plugged or semi-plugged fuel filter, though. It's a cheap fix, and couldn't hurt since you're supposed to change them every 12k miles, or annually IIRC. Just out of curiousity, how much do you think it would cost to get one of those dual carb intakes here in the US? Real power for an EA81 = and