ferox

I don't think you are getting my point, but do some research and you will eventually figure it out. The passing lamp is electric, and the solder points on the front of the electric motor probably need to be re-soldered, particularly the green one. Make sure you disconnect your battery first.

A couple things: If you don't have time to do the SPFI swap before you need to get it through emissions, a professional reman Hitachi with a new EGR will probably get you through for the time being. You will want to plug the all the vac hoses [Edit-except for the hoses going to the evap canister] for the emissions stuff and leave it in place as a dummy set-up so it looks stock under the hood. The '81 has an external voltage regulator instead of an internally regulated alternator. I highly recommend deleting the external VM and installing a cut-off relay to the fuel pump for when the engine isn't running. There is a thread on the subject posted by RennaisanceMan (if I remember correctly), but I don't have time to locate it right now. Once you do that you can upgrade your alternator and the car will run better.

This is probably your main problem right now. Are you in an emissions control area? (Include a location in your profile, no one is going to track you down from this forum and it helps us help you.) If you need to pass emissions, you might want a Hitachi carb and new EGR valve. Obviously your ambitious, so you could also do an SPFI swap. If you don't have to pass emissions, then you can get a Weber carb and get 20+ mpg. You are going to want to get OCD with the cleaning. The three main areas to target are behind every interior panel (e.g. inside doors), under and inside the seats, and inside the climate control and ventilation system and probably on top of your heater core. Shop vac, remove all trace, and sterilize. Deploy anti-rodent measures of your choosing. Repeat until desired results are achieved.

There isn't a whole lot of difference between a 165-65 R13 and a 165-70 R13, and like I said, most Justy owners run 175-70 R13s.

Most people run 175-70-R13s on their Justys. I am not sure why you are having trouble finding them. They are readily available. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?width=175%2F&ratio=70&diameter=13 There are not as many 165s available, but they can be found. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?width=165%2F&ratio=70&diameter=13 Your local tire dealer should have no problem finding what you need if you don't like the internet. I wouldn't put $20 craigslist tires on my car.

How is the transmission in your Metro? Is it an XFi model? I personally only own 4WD vehicles, but if I drove a lot (bike commuter now) I would consider a Metro or similar. However they have their design weaknesses as well. A Metro will almost always get better mileage than a Justy. To simplify your decision: Which do you value more, higher MPGs or push button 4WD? Both will probably fetch similar resale, but the Justy is more "rare".

Alternator

I swapped the rear coil springs for Gen II springs when I installed the rear sway bar. They are the same dimensions but less coil, if that makes sense. They are for the heavier Gen II so I assume they are slightly stiffer. Beyond that I don't think there is much difference between Gen I and GenII suspensions. It sounds like maybe your rear coils are shot in addition to the struts. They are all super easy to replace if you can find a Justy in a yard. Not only is the Justy "old" (my daily driver is an '81), but it is an econobox so minimal built-in options. With a fresh set of struts and springs you shouldn't have any camber problems. The previous owner probably just carried too much weight around in the car and hauled a trailer or something.

I know a little bit about Justys. If you have a donor car the EFI swap should be no problem. The most important thing is to get is the Gen II engine block so you can run even length axles. They are beefier too, with bigger diameter spindles and such. The '90 is a Gen II even if it is carbed. I have the same red '88 that you do and plan to do single point Megasquit for fuel delivery. House projects are taking priority right now, so I can't give any advice on that at the moment. Your struts definitely sound worn out. The Gen IIs came with rear anti-sway bars. I posted a guide on the Justy forum on installation if your interested. Get new or used struts and some poly bushings (or just new stock replacements) for your front anti-sway bar and the driveability will increase substantially. The Gen IIs also had solid front sway bar, whereas, the Gen I is hollow (and much lighter). The Gen I is substantially lighter than the Gen II, so if you are looking for mileage the Gen I with fuel injection of some kind is the best combo. If you keep the '88 install an aftermarket oil pressure sensor. There are guides on the Justy forum for that as well. I think eporter may have posted one if you have trouble finding it with a regular search. Nice work cleaning that thing up. The inside looks great, and the dents are inevitable...you may have noticed how tinny the body is.

Have you taken a reading on the alternator charging the battery? Are you running a red top battery or similar? Cougar can certainly correct me if I am wrong, but I think if the alt. regulator and/or rectifier goes, then it can over-charge or supply alternating current and possibly fry the control module in the disty. Also, I used to run red tops in my vehicles until one time when I ran the battery down in my hatch. My alt tried real hard to to charge it back up, but fried the ignition control module in the disty in the process.

Not necessarily. Being in Socal, replacing the fuel delivery system legally is a chore. For $10-$15 you can probably replace every vacuum hose in the engine bay, just do it one at a time. Run some Seafoam through the fuel system. Check your ignition timing. Not sure of your mechanical skill, but if you want to keep your car running in California you are going to need to learn it backwards and forwards. Oh and we like pictures. An '81 with 65,000 mi. must be witnessed

It kind of sounds like your caliper pistons weren't backed off enough when brakes were switched creating too much contact all the time...in effect pre-heating your system before you get to the hill. It could also be that your pads were not properly broken in after install, but I don't know much about ceramic pads and whether they can glaze over. Those may not be your problem(s), but they are common reasons for over-heating of the brake system after new components are installed. Of course you may just have the wrong subaru for what you are doing. If your rotors are glowing at the bottom of the hill, then as people have already mentioned-DOT 5 isn't the solution.

Bump for photos. I pulled off the cowl today, so I snapped a couple

Alamgordo is higher elevation so the performance of a carb is greatly effected. Seems like 20 mpg is still low, but advancing the timing should help. Those cold morning higher elevation warm-ups also eat into the MPGs. "Alamogordo elevation is 4,350 with a range of between 4,300 feet to 9,000 feet above sea level." http://www.usacitiesonline.com/nmcountyalamogordo.htm#statistics

Strange, I just did that myself. I made a tie-plate rather than welding. I might take the cowl off tomorrow, and snap a photo.

Do you know what model year of pump you put on? Loyales had several fuel delivery systems over the years with different fuel pressure requirements.

Sounds like you have the fuel system sorted. Definitely check the distributor vacuum advance pots manually by applying vacuum to them and checking for back and forth action of the linkage. Also check the ditributor wiring...the Justy is somewhat notorious for brittle and broken distributor wire insulation creating running problems.

+1 Seems like your fuel system might still be a little crusty. If your secondary butterfly is binding or you have clogging in the fuel circuits you will have to break the carb down again. I have a used '88 carb assembled and an '88 disassembled carb. I also have a carb rebuild kit NIB for an '88 Justy if you want anything. I am going to Megasquirt my '88. I suggest you check your vacuum advances (there are two) on the distributor. If one of the vac. advance pots isn't working it may cause your problem at WOT. This is not necessarily related to this problem and you probably already changed it, but if you haven't switched out the fuel filter you should do so immediately.

The Justy carb has an integral duty solenoid. Check the condition of the two wires that go to it. They come out of the top of the carb. What condition is your O2 sensor? Could you be more specific about the fuel spraying out of the top of the carb?

Try GD's setup. Notice the Hitachi return spring and throttle lever. His return spring has more tension on it at rest. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=108693&highlight=weber+throttle

The throttle cable depresses easily because you don't have a proper throttle return spring to push/pull against. You are using the return spring in your accelerator pedal as the return spring instead, and it doesn't pull the throttle off quickly or consistently. Use the spring off the Hitachi carb that you replaced.

I don't see a throttle return spring on your install. Do you have one installed now?

If you are a 40 year old (like me) with as much time as will be required to do this build (unlike me), then I strongly suggest you fix the head gaskets and torque bind in the '97 (or not) and buy a Justy ('88-'94) for your gas electric hybrid. The '97 is simply too heavy and the wheels and tires too large. The transmission in any subaru will not function without the rear driveshaft; the transmission will drain all it's fluid.

Replace your fuel filter. Under car, in front of driver's rear wheel. Did you seafoam the carb or the engine or both? It is probably best not to mess with the adjustment screws until you know that the fuel circuits in the carb are cleaned. In fact it's a last resort. The car did not start driving the way it is because the mixture screws got out of adjusment, so if you mess with them you can easily end up confounding the diagnosis. Many a subie goes to the junkyard because people do that. I also drive an '81 hatch and lived in Durango for a while (6,500 ft) and there was only so much that could be done about the thinner air. This may be totally unrelated, but my '81 ran much better after I deleted the External Voltage Regulator. Don't go there until you make sure your entire fuel delivery system is clean though (filter).

Depending on how you drive, the stock toe settings can really burn up the front tires. I went with Les Schwab last time I bought my tires, and had a alignment at the same time (All of my car's bushings, ball joints, and inner tie rod ends were new). Les Schwab prorates credit on your next set of tires if the ones you buy wear out before their mileage rating. After they had replaced a complete set of tires for me (two at a time) after less than 10,000 miles (tires were rated for 100,000), I had them adjust the toe-in to a more neutral setting. There is more understeer, but that set of tires (with a lower mileage rating) has lasted much much longer than the first set and are still going strong. I have had no handling issues or any other issues of any kind with that set-up.