Reveeen

a college course in "wheels 101" http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html Once a mass is rotating, it takes very little to maintain it, a lighter mass in stop and go driving will improve mileage, but in highway driving the mass becomes less important. Either way, a difference of 2.7%, wouldn't merit spending $10 to achieve.

I got up this AM and this was posted elsewhere: http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/axle_rebuilding.html This is your typical inner joint. Usually the balls get loose in the cage (which requires a cage/ball replacement), but like anything mechanical, anything in there could be worn. Failing faulty material (soft, or improperly hardened components) it is usually water contamination (rust) that "eats" these things. Any "rebuilt" component you buy depends solely on the skill/training of the actual guy doing the rebuild and the "new" materials availaible. I will also take this opportunity to point out that there is very little rebuilding going on in either Canada, or the US.

double offset joint? I'm going to assume you are talking about the inner CV joints. Called a "double offset joint", because it both allows movement in an arc, and in/out. how do i fix this It depends on what is wrong with it. what is the cause It depends what is wrong with it. At my local Subaru dealer I was recently sniffing around for used/junk half shafts (drive axles). I talked to the guys in the shop and in the newer cars it seems that inner joints are failing more than the outer joints. This is not a "normal" situation, at least not "normal" compared to the majority of cars that use this type of axle, they were installing TRW rebuilt axles. I have not seen this type of failure here. My old Loyale had a ripped inner boot, that I replaced, taking apart the inner joint, and cleaning/re-assembling/greasing, I put the boot failure down to old age, as there was no mechanical reason for it to fail. My "newer" car is due for boots in the spring, but only due to age, not mechanical failure.

1) Stock, the oil feed comes from a different rear cam cap (different than naturally aspirated), on the rear of the passenger side head. 2)The motor is balanced internally, so assuming you are starting out with a balanced flywheel, and don't manage to drill the flywheel too badly, the balanced condition should remain (the center of the flywheel centers on a lip on the end of the crank).

When I lengthened the front struts on my EA82, I found some hydraulic tubing, the ID the same as the OD of the struts. After cleaning off the brackets on a new strut, and cutting the bottom off of an old strut, I sleeved the thing from the spring perch to the bracket on the bottom, the empty bottom is "weldable", and the spring perch is "weldable".

+10 on degrading a neighborhood with rusty bits of Subaru.

No idea (I lowered everything the same amount), though a 1" difference would not amount to much and make lowering the drive shaft hanger unnecessary. I lifted 7" and lowered the diff 6" (I picked up an inch in the struts).

Is there EVER a time to sell? I guess it all depends, if you are at "the top of the heap", or at "the bottom of the heap". Me, I'm an old junk man. I buy junk, my '91 Legacy sport sedan cost me $425, my '92 Loyale cost me $60. Neither car is "perfect", or will EVER be "perfect", but I have a bunch of fun. The way I look at it is: If I go out and buy a "new" one, and have to borrow the money, my payments will be $400-$500 a month. (I don't borrow money and haven't since the "troubles" in 1971, far worse than the "troubles" today, bank interest rates were 32%). So if I look at buying a $400 car, and dump $1600 in it to make a driver out of it, I am, in effect, spending 5 months payments. If I get 6 months out of that car, and it "kacks", and I have to walk away, leaving it on the side of the road, I'm "up" $400. If I had a Subaru with a clapped out motor, along with a bunch of other clapped out stuff, I would put a "real" value on it, what I could sell it for. To the "real" value I would add the cost of repair, then divide by $400, giving me a time factor in months. If I figured I could get a greater time than that number out of it then I would consider it a "fixer", if not, then it is time somebody else owns it.

I live a half hour from teh closest parts store Ok, so comparison shop the thing, it is a "stocking" number at an industrial bearing supply, so phone someone (I live in a relatively small city of 150,000 and there are 3 such places), compare with on-line price+shipping. The bearings are oversize for the intended application (hardly stressed), but as I pointed out before, they go bad because of water contamination, so, if you go with a stock (un-sealed) bearing you should be buying seals too (probably another $12). I would buy a double sealed industrial bearing, pull one seal (the inner on installation) grease them, slam them in, then clean up your old seals, and re-use. You are going to end up fighting with getting the axle (stub end) in and out more than with the bearings.

I might just tear into it sunday, and repack the bastard! The last ones I bought, by bearing number, double sealed, from an industrial bearing supply, were $6 each. I do not have the number handy, but it is here somewhere, if you search, for the want of $12, why not put this to bed? Like, you will be in there doing the work anyway, $12 doesn't even buy me 2 packs of smokes.

You get your best performance in a "zero lash" condition. When you back off the adjuster until it clicks, you are forcing the hydraulic lifter into it's fully extended position (caused by the engine's oil pressure), turning it into, in effect, a solid lifter. When you tighten it back down, to quiet it, anything past the disappearance of noise, forces the lifter to operate within it's hydraulic cushion. You will see/hear the engine slow up a bit as you tighten into this zone before the lifter self adjusts and allows the engine to run normally/smoothly. If you encounter one that won't go quiet, do the side loading test, as I described above, before you condemn the lifter. Adjusting Chev valves in this way has been going on since 1955 consider the history while you are doing it.

Assuming "regular hydraulic lifter" Chev V-8) 1) I am not going to tell you that there is a clean way to do this, because there isn't one, no matter what you do there will be oil. 2) cut the center out of an old tin valve cover (a slot wide enough to get a socket in, front to back) 3) Or buy a box of these: http://www.lislecorp.com/tool_detail.cfm?detail=570 (this is what I use) Hydraulic lifter only: With the engine warmed up (turned off) whip the valve cover off, and install oil stoppers, or cut valve cover. Start up, back off rocker arm till it "clicks", then tighten until it stops, then slowly add 1 full turn (by "the book"). I myself only add 1/4 turn, but whatever works for you, and the state of your lifters. Carry on doing the same for each rocker arm. NOTE: solid lifters are a different story! Now, the 305 Chev engine is KNOWN to wear out valve guides. The noise of a sloppy guide in these engines is like the noise you describe. If AFTER adjusting the valves the noise persists, you isolate the noise maker with a stethoscope http://www.lislecorp.com/tool_detail.cfm?detail=1062 then using the wooden handle on your favorite hammer, you insert the wood between the valve springs, prying carefully/gently one to the next, if the noise goes, you have a bad valve guide. Pull both heads and send to a machine shop for guide replacement, no knurling, unless you decide to install proper umbrella valve seals. When you get your heads back throw the 205 thermostat in the garbage and install a 195 MAX.

It should "pop" out, but that is easier said than done. The usual it to hold the axle in a vise and "pop" the end off by strategic application of a BFH and a punch. Here you are coming at it the other way around, and would be looking to fabricate something, to give you a slide hammer effect on the axle shaft, at horizontal. Easiest: hit it with a torch and cut it flush.

(*knowing nothing about Justy engines*) It would depend on the type of valve seal you are fitting. Without a, well, radical attempt at oil control (double clip teflon valve seals, like a Crane seal, or a seal found in a Chev Vega), knurling the valve guides will provide more than ample lubrication to the valve stem/guide, ample to the point of blue smoking, excessive oil consumption, in short guide/overhead cam motors. Though more expensive, though I can't *see* it being a whole lot more on a 3 cylinder engine, I would go for guide replacement.

It is a "luck of the draw" sort of thing. 307,899 miles on mine ('91 Legacy) with no sign of troubles. Regular oil and filter changes.

he didn't know why 1) he knows EXACTLY why. 2) he knows what the dealer wants to fix it So, come back at him with $1100, it's not like it's driveable, $1100 is a fair price for a lawn ornament that requires $2500 to make it into something. What about the transmission? Torque binding?

With non-Subaru cars you measure the resistance of the pick up coil (I have no idea what Subaru suggests), typically the pick up coil has a value of 650-850 ohms, Ford, Chrysler, GM, Honda, Toyota, etc, etc. I have no idea what you should be looking for here as a value. My Haynes is silent and my '89 FSM has a different type of distributor (photo-electric), it does say that when there is a fault in the system it will throw an error code out of the computer. All I would assume is: no codes = good to go, no matter the value.

the point at which the steering shaft comes out of the fire wall needs to be lowered No "issues" here with a '92 Loyale. The frame is blocked with 6" inter connected blocks, the steering shaft needed 5 1/2" of "extension", no brake line "issues" either.

On your meter, switch it to the 2k range, little readings (under 1k) aren't really accurate up there at 2M. (2k range being 0-2000 ohms)

Over greasing would cause heat dissipation problems? I kinda *think* it would cause some really not nice things to go on with your front brakes. These are fairly large ball bearing assemblies. The only time I have seen them go bad is with water contamination. And yes, if they will go bad, it seems to me it is at this time of year. First set I ever changed I was lying in the snow to do it.

on sealed roller bearings The trouble with this situation is that: 1) they are ball bearings 2) they are not sealed (provided we are "talking" front of an EA82) You can replace the OEM/OEM style bearings with sealed ones, but they are not sealed bearings in there, unless someone put them in. What I do is buy sealed bearings, and pull the inner seals, leaving the bearings open on the inside where they can get grease from the inner spacer area. I did read somewhere, where a guy rigged up a grease fitting to this inner area, and greased his front wheel bearings at service time (2 shots of grease maybe, you would not want to over grease). New bearings are almost a "service item" at about $6 each.

just add the extension to the bottom This is what I did. I took a new strut, cleaned off the brackets, cut an old strut bottom (with brackets) 7" in length, measured the length, looked high, and low, for a piece of tubing to sleeve the assembly in a shrink fit situation (freeze strut, and bottom piece, heat tubing) quickly assemble, weld tubing to spring mount on the top, and the bottom piece. End result: bad camber Remove lower control arms, and lengthen by an inch, plating the bottom for extra strength, slot upper strut mount holes, and now the camber is under control AND fully adjustable. Looking back at it I should have just made the offset top mounts, but I know that my stresses created by driving is in line with what it was originally, and not offset.

BUT! It could always be worse.............. I have seen almost crazy deals on Land Rover Freelanders (like $1000 for an 03, or newer). Then you look up on the internet: Land Rover help, and end up here: http://landroverforums.com/forumid_14/tt.htm Take a look: What to do with my lemon? stranded once too often 03 freelander disappearing coolant Axle broke, tire exploded These are the first 4, personally I laugh at a couple of head gaskets.

Clean up with a wire brush/grinder, then fiberglass, of course no impact guarantees. Probably the best bet is a muffler shop, or auto parts store, and a torch to solder in the piece.

Mine seems to get, well, erratic in the cold, in fact the whole dam car gets "erratic" in the cold. A good shot of -25 (or colder) messes everything up quite nicely for about a week.