moped

Hey, that sounds familiar. Do you have to really heave yours over to get it into reverse too?

Wow guys, thanks for the responses so far. On the basis of the advice from everybody, maybe the first thing to do is to get a compression test. There's a garage at the end of my street I can probably take it to for that. That'll tell me whether or not the Weber conversion is even an option. If the compression's okay, I guess that opens up the option of doing the Weber swap. The list for fixing the EA-81 would be along the lines of: 1) Head gaskets to cure the coolant leak? 2) Rear main seal, and possibly the front too. 3) Valve cover gaskets 4) Oil pan gasket 5) Carb itself (requires some manifold mods, it looks like? I haven't read all of the threads yet) 6) Clutch while I'm in there (goes hand in hand with the rear main seal) 7) Adjust the lifters 8) New water pump 9) Ignition issue (it seems to be missing from time to time) 10) New muffler Now if I get a lower mileage engine from a yard, that takes a couple things off of the list, notably the gaskets, the ignition issue, the water pump, the front main seal, and possibly the lifters (haven't checked a manual/the forum for an EJ-22 to see if they're hydraulic or solid). The muffler and clutch are a given either way. If the Weber's an option, I guess the question boils down to what's the value of putting time and money in an engine with at least 150000 miles (the odo is stopped there, and I don't know what year it stopped...), versus biting the bullet and getting a whole newer engine. In dollars, the answer seems to break along these lines: (Engine + accessories + adaptor + Y pipe mods at a muffler shop) vs (carb + misc gaskets and seals + water pump + any ignition components I'd need) I know somebody whose dad owns a junkyard (automotive salvage place/whatever), so I'm pretty confident I can at least work it out so I get a running EJ-22 to start the project with, complete with water pump, alternator, etc. There's a clutch shop that re-faced the clutch for the TR-6 when I did that near my office, and I'm sure they can handle changing the holes for the EJ-22. I suppose absent a compression test this is all idle speculation though. I'll see what the garage can do for that Thursday. I'm sure they're going to love doing the cylinders on the driver's side of the engine. I've changed the plugs, and they're a royal pita to get to with the A/C compressor and alternator in the way. On the subject of the ECU, the Y-pipe does have an O2 sensor on it, and the carb is festooned with an array of gee-gaws and doo-dads with wires coming out of them. There is, however no ECU attached to the (roughly) Y-shaped piece of metal welded to the bottom of the steering column. There don't appear to be any cut wires, or enough loose plugs to connect to one either (I count about 30 connections in the diagram in the Haynes). Hence the confusion. I'll snap some pictures when I have daylight if you want to see. On the subject of parts for an EA-81 or EA-82 to do an SPFI conversion (nice guide, GD), I would put my money squarely on being SOL. In Cleveland, salt is the name of the game all winter, and most of the older Subarus around here have long ago rusted into the ground. Mine came from Florida, so it's pretty clean (minus some spots in the bed and a couple places where the undercoating is starting to crack in the seams underneath). Incidentally, I can solder and read a basic wiring diagram. So can Ross (the willing accomplice), so it's mostly a question of getting the time and tools to do job. Notably, getting the engine in and out of the car. If we can do that, I'm fairly confident we can make it all work. I'll let you all know how it comes out!

First off, a quick introduction. I became a Subaru owner last fall when I bagged a deer on the way to go backpacking in September. The cars that made the short-list for the replacement were an '86 Brat, and a 95 Forester. I went with the Brat. Miraculously, it ran fine all winter long, but at the beginning of the summer, it started losing power. It will now rev to 3000 rpm at full throttle in neutral, and will barely make it up the slightest incline. I've checked the obvious: Fuel filter (replaced it), air filter (ran it with the top off), timing and advance (bought a timing light), dropped the exhaust off to make sure the catalytic converter wasn't blocked, checked the fuel flow at the filter, ignition coil isn't shorted. The car idles acceptably, the problem shows up as rpm increases. At this point, I've pretty much run out of cheap things that could be causing the problems, and I'm seriously considering just doing the engine swap. This would no doubt go a long way towards solving several other problems: the EA-81 backfires (hard enough that the muffler is puffed up like a sausage), the mileage is lousy (especially in the winter), my mechanic refuses to work on it because it's an emissions disaster (for which I respect his integrity), it consumes coolant (no idea where it's going, there are no visible leaks, and the oil looks pretty clean when I change it) and it always was a bit on the under-powered side. I've read through the guide that is posted at the top of the forum (thank you everybody), and have a couple of questions: 1) Can I use the EA-81 flywheel. I understand that it will need to be re-drilled either way, but section 2 specifically refers to an EA-82. 2) Where does the spare tire go once you're done with the swap? 3) How tough is the wiring harness work? Questions seem to crop up with some regularity on the forum... 4) How much of the dash, etc will I need to strip from my Brat? 5) While I'm in there I probably ought to replace the clutch disk. Do I need an EA-81 disk, or can I buy an XT-6 clutch kit (provided it's cheaper to do that and buy the Nissan 720 throwout bearing than to buy the parts piecemeal)? I.e. does the tranny for the EA-81 have the same number of splines, etc as the XT-6 one. 6) Can I bolt up the EJ Y-pipe temporarily to get it to a muffler shop? I don't own a welder or know how to weld. The tubing on the exhaust is probably a little thinner than I really want to learn to weld on (I'd hate to go burning holes through it) 7) Engine out the top or the bottom? I don't own a hoist or a suitable shade-tree, so if I could raise the car, drop the engine on a hydraulic jack and be on my way, that would be sweet. Is the engine taller than I can realistically lift the car on jack stands? 8) Are the fuel lines hard to replace? I've seen the pictures of where they run under the door sill, and I know where they poke out of the firewall under the hood. It seems like that could be a treat. 9) Where exactly is the ECU on the Brat? The Haynes seem to suggest it's right below the steering column, but I'll be damned if I can find one, or a mess of disconnected wires? I assume I'm looking for something roughly the size and shape of a cigar box, and I can't find it to save myself. I guess this isn't directly pertinent to the swap, but it's been a nagging question for me. I'm of about average mechanical ability. I've swapped a clutch on a '76 Triumph TR-6, and re-booted one of the inner CV joints on the Brat. I do all my own work on my bicycles. Also at my disposal is a willing accomplice who helped with the TR clutch job. He does his own work on his Porsche 914 (and complained constantly about the poor engineering on the TR ;-) He was impressed by the ease of getting to things under the hood in the Brat) Thanks again for the awesome guide and any help down the road.