daeron

The spark advance is completely computer controlled on the SPFI system. The distributor is supposed to be set at an initial timing of 20 degrees BTDC. Apparently, some folks *do* get good results advancing? the initial timing a little more than spec.... but this is a subject I have not looked into enough to be able to advise you. I have been wondering myself, but have been too lazy to search old threads about it and too embarassed of my own laziness to start my own thread about it. Note: from here on out the terms "ping, pinging" and "preignite, preignition" are used interchangeably, but technically preignition is one cause of pinging; they are not literal synonyms. However, if you arent pinging now, and you can run low octane fuel, then you probably won't gain very much. If my understanding is correct, in a "big picture," general engine talk sense, you actually can obtain more power by giving your engine LESS spark advance and the cost of that is increased chance of preignition. "Preignition" is the primary cause of pinging, and it happens when the air/fuel mixture being compressed in the cylinder ignites due to pressure, BEFORE the spark has a chance to hit it and make it blow up in a controlled fashion. Just like the word is built, premature ignition. Making the spark happen sooner is the obvious way to avoid letting this happen. In a very vague sense, "Ideally" an engine would spark precisely AT top dead center, when the mixture is at its maximum compression; however in the practical world this is never or rarely possible. In other words, as a rule of thumb, you should run as little initial timing advance as possible without pinging; but you should always run enough initial timing to avoid preignition like the plague. If you run on high octane, ping resistant fuel, (race gas) you can run less spark advance without pinging and get more power. Your SPFI EA82 subaru was built to run with 87 octane fuel, and 20 degrees initial timing (set with the green connectors plugged in, of course. those connectors tell the computer to run zero spark advance; it is the equivalent of unplugging the vacuum advance line on a carbed car) If you want to depart from the subaru spec, do so at your own risk.. but I have heard tell of mild success. I am still learning, though.. that is why I was able to give you a breakdown of it all. These are questions I have been learning the answers to myself, in the last year or so. Edited to reflect correction made to my original post below :-p

the proper response would be edited into a bunch of asterisks, but it rhymes with "luck in day"

yes but how long does it maintain that flammability once it is removed from the heat source?

Great Freaken Story!!!!!!

now ah jes wanna mayke wun thang cleer heer..... I AINT no dadgum redneck! If you want some reading' date=' and an example of a VERY VERY well done roll cage project to give you ideas, click here. The poster of this thread is a VERY VERY smart and experienced dude. Obviously, he is going to exterme lengths to build a top notch racecar roll cage into a datsun Z car, and you are just building a buggy out of your wagon.. so it is two differerent JOBS entirely, but the tasks and issues that need to be addresses are the same. We also got off into a great tangent of body/chassis stiffening, in addition to the sheer safety/impact effects of the cage. Good reading.

same here. speaking of which... have you changed the spark plugs??? (that was a joke at MY expense if you didn't realize)

good to see you got inventive and got it to work, thats the best method when life hands you a short wrench. sounds like we werent a *ton* of help in the end anyhow, heh. the other fusible link is probably for my AC? that would make sense, most any car that makes it to the road down here at least has a broken air conditioner..

I am still chuckling at this phrase, having seen it in type now.... Lucky or no, its just skirting the system. Sooner or later all of the last little loopholes like that are gonna get closed, alas. yay, progress

Its on the radiator overflow, not the windshield washer tank. You checked three?? I have four. I suggest this: make sure you have a good fuse in the socket, Unplug your new horn(s?), turn the hazards on, and go wiggle each fusible link one at a time. See if your hazards come on. If they dont, after wiggling all fusible links, go check to make sure the fuse didnt blow. If there is no positive voltage to either side of the socket for this fuse, then there almost HAS to be a fusible link discontinuity of some sort.

cool, thanks for the update.

http://ch601.org/engines.htm find subaru ea82 fsm .pdf parts one and two. the breakdown of the SPFI is in part two.

I cant imagine it was a fire that burned incredibly vigorously, though.. axle grease isnt known for its incendiary qualities. I also had a small electrical fire in the engine bay of my Z; its a long story but suffice it to say that my fusible link block shorted, and caught fire. It burnt up to the point where it joined the main wiring harness, and that was the straw that broke the camels back on my Datsun. It has sat in my driveway since that day because "it needed a break for me to do the rear disk swap, and the exhaust, and reseal int injector rail, and front shocks, and maybe springs, and some honest to god sanding and priming... and I just CANT do it when its my DD...." Thats when I got my soob. In any case, small fires are lucky. Thats my kind of luck.. I get to say that when MY car caught fire, it wasn't as bad as this. :-\

it is not impossible to get a title for a vehicle that you own, but the previous owner never had the title to, in the state of florida. But it isnt easy. however, my dad has had a certain old japanese sportscar that HE owns, registered and insured using the title to MY "certain old japanese sportscar" despite the fact that its a different year and color car; he was having difficulties getting the title for his car and as a stop-gap, so he could get it on the road (he needed it for DD) I signed my title over to him, listed price as zero/gift, he re-titled MY VIN and put the tag on his car. He managed to slip it through the cracks. This is NOT LEGAL. but it can work, heh.. Personally, I have never had a cop check my VIN, and I have had several run ins with the po-po.

one of my FAVORITE things about my subaru is the "nubs" on the steering wheel at about the "10 and 2" locations... they make spirited driving one subtle step easier.

+1. Dropped the window in my Z many many times... never broke it. Replaced door with one with good window crank, yay!! for three months, window crank broke; was back to square one with same wooden block. One day, I dropped THAT piece of glass.. (not for the first time, but maybe the 2nd or 3rd) and it shattered. Replaced it with "unbreakable" piece from stock door, heh. Treat it like you would treat a glass shelf out of a fridge for cleaning it, or a pyrex pan.

what about the simple facts of much less torque and power being pushed through the gearbox, with much less weight holding it back? To me, those alone would be ample reason for an identical gearbox to suffer more failures and be less reliable in the imps, and leggys, and outbacks, and foresters.......... The tons start racking up pretty quick.

since Gloyale already started it, im going to make the response I want to make EVERY time someone brings up an inexpensive turbo car... I DREAM of the day I have this opportunity with money in hand... and when I find a car like the one you've found, my plan will be to almost immediately yank the engine, replace headgaskets, reseal or replace oil pump, nail any potential oil leak spots (all of them) water pump, timing belts, and hoses all around. You do that, then MECHANICALLY SPEAKING you should have a plenty reliable turbo soob for another 50-60K miles.. basically dont worry about anything other than coolant flushes until you need a new timing belt. Outside of mechanicals, 99% of the problems the turbo cars CAN have are electrical FI issues, and those are simple enough to track down with patience, an FSM, and a multimeter. (of course, the next steps on my personal plan would involve larger injectors, a TMIC, and possibly even a larger turbo, but thats because i am dumb like that, and have most of those parts just from the datsuns in the family. )

who here has seen the results of a REAL car fire?!??? Re BUILD it?!!! puddle of copper sounds more accurate. There are two kinds of fires in a car: 1) the kind that you manage to extinguish REALLY FAST and 2) the kind that kills the car. Yank the engine out, fire doesnt hurt a longblock too much.. but I wouldn't trust any engine accessories OR front end steering/suspension systems after a fire bad enough to melt the float bowl in your carb. Sorry to hear about the flameage... but at least YOU are OK. Good luck finding another 'roo; try an SPFI flavored one next time! they're grrrrreat!

Yuh, theyre laying down on the Dynomax box.... they ALWAYS know how to get in your way, don't they?

heck i didnt mean to sound all anal retentive about it.. I was just throwing the number out there

well then slightly increase tire size in terms of outside diameter to "adjust" it.

It is something that you run as pure as possible just before and during the actual test. If youre going on a drive to "run her out" a few days before the test, use sea foam or something of that nature added to your fuel.. then run the tank near dry (get a gallon in a can, and your alcohol, and run it dry the night before, then fill it with the alcohol, even...) Go for a good hot run burning the alcohol before the test, and go take the test. Probably pass with flying colors, as far as emissions go. alcohol burns CLEAN as far as smog goes.

my only thoughts on this subject run thusly: I see those bumper stickers that say "Drive it like you stole it" and, since high school, my response has been "drive it like you built it, dillhole." Well, slightly more colorful than that; I literally swear like a sailor when I get started.

Care for a little advice? It sounds like your presentation is basically just the sort of thing where the teacher wants you to immerse yourself fully in a subject, and learn all there is to know about it. The presentation aspect of it is merely to prove that you know what you're talking about, right? Anyhow, the way I always handle these things (and it might seem obvious) is find a document or article such as the pdf that you were given.. and read that, familiarize yourself with it and understand it.. then do something like search "4EAT" on the various sub forums here, read peoples experiences with the gearboxes at random, and then go back, look over your "fact sheet" pdf again. Then, write yourself a brief outline of what you have to say about these gearboxes. Fill the outline in with a series of facts and statistics, combined with whatever real life experience you have discovered that is relevant to points as they arise. Make the outline just a "cheat sheet" for the presentation, and then basically go into class with some notes, and tell these people what you know about this gearbox. NOT being the first person to do these presentations is usually the single thing you can do to make it easiest.. but some people (or some presentations) are best if you just step up and do it before any one else has a chance to make a precedent. You get to be the judge of that, but that was just some minimal advice. From what I gather, this trans is an amazing gearbox, and I am not fond of automatics. It was good enough that its still virtually the same today, right? or at least until 98 as the pdf stated.. In any case, patience and preparation are the important parts. Good luck!

Something tell me that is all on his "to-do" list, since he hasnt even welded the rear doors shut yet.