robert_the_sane

For the SVX guys - My pearl started surging tonight, very odd...seems almost like it's starving for fuel...until I press the throttle. Then everything's fine... Only does it at very low speeds and only very light throttle...and only when everything is up to normal temp... Any ideas folks?

That's a GREAT idea.....if the powerplant, drivetrain, running gear, and other parts are truly worthless to you As for off-road 4-wheeling, bashing up body panels and tearing up yer paint job, exhaust damage or maybe even busting an axle is to be expected ( anyone ever seen an $80,000 Escalade in the woods? )...if you're going to get in the ring, you better not whine about a black eye my BRAT now needs a replacement tailgate and rear bumper after this Spring's adventures here in 'Bama

Well, what can i say ? I've been BUSY !!! Had to install a brand new radiator in the SVX...(possibly the only NIB one remaining anywhere in the States !). Oh, and I found out there are only 8 other SVX's in Alabama, according to DMV Replaced the clutch unit in my BRAT, rebuilt the shifter (the plastic & rubber was disintegrating) and installed new rear shocks under it...and replaced the front axles (once again...I seem to only get about 20k out of 'em, we all know that aftermarket axles are garbage, plus I'm kinda' abusive-that is to say I drive the hell outta' my scoobytruck) I pulled apart the cancer-ridden '85 BRAT GL I had picked up for $800 (both frame rails were completely rotted through, the rear diff. was hanging from a ratchet strap, hahahaha!). A fair price, I felt, considering he threw in a 100 mile trailer tow... From it I snatched a good running hydro. motor (I'm gonna' steal the heads for my Hi-Pro EA81 build that's in the works), a D/R 4-speed, and all the good spare parts I could grab-including a Gen.2 push-bumper and a low-profile topper, the sliding rear windows and Halo T-tops, all kinds of hard to replace items I hate sending the skeleton to the shredder, but that BRAT would never be roadworthy again... ...at least I salvaged everything that was worth saving. Perhaps by being an organ donor, it may help keep my venerable '84 on the road for a long, long time to come Gave my '91 XT-GL to my 18 y.o. son when he came home from BASIC and AIRBORNE school at Ft. Benning. He promptly had a power steering line blow apart, so we had to replace that (before all the fluid spraying on the cat set the car ablaze). Put a wet-sanding on the XT-6, and primed it flat black. 'Cos nothing else says, "guys, I'm trying" quite like a shot-coat of primer. You can hardly see the holes in the front fenders now The Beautiful One somehow lost the rubber gasket that belongs under the oil filler cap from her '94 Toyota Corolla. The lil' 1.8L T-type motor blew out most of its' crankcase oil out onto the valve cover and exhaust manifold. It made alot of smoke which scared her enough that she stopped driving and called me to road-rescue her...I love being her Hero - esp. when the fix is that easy Oh, and Friday night after work, I put the push-bumper on the BRAT. Wow, it looks really, really good.

Thanks GD ! That was very probably all I needed to really know ! Yup, they are quite obviously different, as I am all too familiar with my EA 81/EA82 axles (my BRAT eats 'em up about every 40,000 miles) and I was sure they would have to be different ( 5-lug instead of 4). Seems there is a difference in the spline count at the tranny stub side compared to other EA 82's, and also at the hub end. Bottom line is that the part I'm getting is going to be the correct one ! Hooray !

Does anybody know the correct spline count and shaft lenght for a 5-speed 4wd XT-6 front axle? I am pretty sure they are not the same as the other EA82 axles, and won't interchange with the axles from an XT GL. Is this a correct assumption on my part? I have sourced replacement front axles, and they have 25 splines at the female (tranny) end, and 27 at the wheel side...26 5/8 " overall. Can anyone verify this is the correct shaft for the car? Also, are the front axles the same on both sides? Or is one side different than the other ? I can't imagine they are any different, as the tranny sits center in the car...but the supply house has different part #'s for each side...and some of those part #'s are identical to the XT GL...so I'm concerned that I'm going to get the wrong parts...

Battlewagon - this car is a 1994 SVX LsI, so it's an OBD-I meaning user-friendly, right ? Like my '91 XT is ? And plus, from all I have read, by '94 the clutch pack problem in the CD had been fixed, and also Subaru had added a remote trans. filter...so adding a trans. cooler is going to be easy!:headbang:I sincerely doubt I will have any problems from the tranny - it seems to me any failure would have happened by now (I hope). I talked to the owner at GREAT length before going 400+ miles to see/buy it... the car has 191K on the clock, and has never been abused or put on the track.The car has been professionally maintained since day one, and the (only) previous owner kept ALL his service receipts to prove it !! How rare ! "It was the best car I ever owned...", he had said. Now I truly believe him ! This is truly an amazing car and I am more impressed with it EVERY single time I get behind the wheel !!! I am certain this romance will eventually have it's tough times, but dear Lord I am in love with this thing! :slobber:Soon enough, I will have to be wrenching on it, but I fully expect I will as happy with Subaru's engineering as I am with my other two Soobs ! I am not nearly as intimidated now as I was a week ago, which brings me to my next point: I am so pleased by all the positive feedback I have been receiving, here, and at http://www.Subaru-SVX.net ! I cannot thank all here enough, as time and again, this site has been an invaluable resource ...

I strongly recommend you replace those belts...as has been said before, TB live very sheltered lives, appearance doesn't mean a thing. Break one, and your engine is down for major internal repairs...

This is for the SVX guys here...thanks in advance for any input ! Just went to Hilton Head, SC, this past weekend and got the car of my adolescent fantasies...(perhaps it's my mid-life crisis) Now that it's MINE, I'm beginning to realize the enormous amount of complexity involved in this cars engine, and in it's electronics...I am quite excited (and a touch intimidated) when I begin looking around under this monsters' hood ! I'm used to the old EA81 and EA82 engines-this EG33 is a wholly different animal altogether...and I need to get educated quickly !!! BEFORE problems arise, that is I have about a thousand questions, but two I really need answered: I'm very curious if there are any "very common" problems with these engines (or it's controls) - for example, the crummy CTS connections in the XT6's? Is the EG33 a non-interference engine, like the EA and ER engines ? Or does it destroy itself if you break a timing belt, like the EJ's do?

Oh geez, have I been busy with my BRAT !!! Today I tore into the front end, intending to do some much-needed replacement of old, worn parts ! Nothing has really gone wrong yet, but I can't afford to wait for something to fail...a tie rod end letting go could send me off the side of the mountain, the way I drive I guess this thing got parked in the grass everyday for 24 years before I bought it. The corrosion is horrendous truly worse than I had realized. Ball joints were frozen in the spindles...can't say enough about the selective use of heat and impact ( and lots of PB blaster) to remove them.I don't think they would have EVER come out without the pickle fork.The castellated nuts on the ball joint studs, and on the tie rod ends, had corroded to the point that I had to cut all 4 studs to remove them. I hate to have to take a sawzall to my truck ! But in the end I managed to persuade all of them out from the steering spindles AND the lower control arms. What a task ! Next problem was removing the spindle from the end of the strut...first pinch bolt I put the wrench on snapped. Spent the next hour drilling out the old bolt and re-tapping the hole. Tedious, but necessary. After all of that mess, the rest was easy ! New struts, new wheel bearings and seals, new tie-rod ends, new ball joints, new brake rotors and pads ! Oh what a day, but I have now given my BRAT a good start towards the next 160 K !

Here's where I put mine on the BRAT:banana:

...so I was racing along through the mountains this afternoon, having a grand ole' time-slaloming thru the turns at insane speeds, with lotsa' high RPM shifts, up and down - oh man this XT handles so damn good ! Corners like it's on rails, and I was givin' it pure hell, grinning from ear to ear:grin:and frightening the oncoming drivers into (possible) urinary accidents in at least one of the hairpins Anyway, I top the mountain in Vandiver, nearly home, and running WOT @ 5,500 RPM in 3'rd, when POW! *ping**chatterchatterchatter*ping* and a cloud of smoke emerges from behind the car's tail in my mirrors! !!! F@#% !!!! I JUST BLEW UP MY FAVORITE RIDE!!! I shut down and pulled to the shoulder in seconds flat (I was at the top of the mtn.), jumped out and immediately smelled coolant....ok, so at least it's not oil smoke...I opened the hood expecting a burst hose, or something similar. But what do I find? The stamped steel timing indicator, lying free behind the water pump that it's supposed to be attached to...and both bolts missing:confused:The pump itself was completely loose, and coolant was pouring out from the bottom of the timing cover...I found one bolt on the splash guard below the radiator. WTF ??? The water pump FELL OFF??? You have GOT to be kidding me... Pulled the sucker apart right there, shroud,fans, belts, and timing covers. Found the remaining two bolts free (but captured behind the timing cover).Put it all back together as best I could, as I was missing one bolt...filled the radiator, and limped down the mtn. home. Then stole a bolt off the spare motor I got out back and slapped it in. I'm not seeing any leaks, but I don't really trust the gasket has truly sealed, and I'm somewhat concerned about what effects such an event might have had on the pump shaft seals and bearings. Any thoughts ? Anyone ? Is it just me, or does anyone else think my car hates me ?

Gary, much appreciation and thanks! But I found your post all on my own ! Happy news is that I got it installed properly - it only took me three hours:horse: Seriously, I hope I NEVER have to do that again....

yeah, I pulled the driver's seat just so I could get at it, as I'm 6'2".... my real problem is getting the pin installed, there is just no room for me to get at it. The same job on my '84 BRAT, while a real PITA, was child's play by comparison... I just cannot believe how impossible this appears to be...been searching thru old posts here and I'm coming up empty:banghead:

Got a '91 XT GL with a snapped clutch cable....Sweet Jesus, who designed this set-up??? Can somebody please tell me how I can install the pedal side? I don't relish the idea of having to remove the steering column and everything else...but I simply can see no way for me to install the pin without removing the entire pedal assembly from the car. Surely someone here has had to fight with this before... I'm certainly open to any suggestions...

~Thank you so much !~ I've got some VW buddies that are anxiously waiting to see what can be done with it, and I'm having a blast working on the lil' bugger ! Got my hands on a running EA81 with hydraulic lifters...Ive got the solid lifter engine disassembled, but I read a post here somewhere that the hydro. model can make more power...any thoughts? And I'm also now extremely curious! Just what you did to have to do to get an EA82 in a BRAT? 'Cos I've got an '89 XT MPFI layin' around here somewhere-freshly rebuilt and only crashed once! Some might say it would be a downgrade...I would disagree completely, but then,I'm clearly not right in the head, building a HP EA81 !

ok, there are a couple of things you need to do, =-> - make sure the disty is electronic; i.e. no points....then : #1- re-route your wiring (regardless of mfg.) so the run position switch goes to the coil (+) ...take the Yellow wire from the disty ,land it on the same coil post (+). Land the black wire from the disty to the (-) post on the coil.Do not ground the (-) post from the coil! So go on and hit the key! If it still wont spark, then : #2- identify the distributor mfg.(Nippondenso or Hitachi) ? Most models have an INTERNAL module....I've been told the exceptions are the '80 Hitachi, and the '80-'82 ND... you said 1 yellow, 1 black feed the disty, so that narrows it some, and I can see the advance has a single diaphram, that narrows it further...it's hard to describe the differences between the ND and the Hitachi. But yours looks like the Hitachi to me Go ahead and open up the disty,peek inside... if the advance weights have a spring-inside-a-spring setup , it's certainly a Hitachi...if the springs are single affairs, its a ND. You'll need to know this in order to get the right module/pick-up coil for your distributor, if everything else checks out.... Sure hope this helps, your Beetle looks amazing ! Keep us posted with your progress! -Rob

I'm currently running those modded heads on my otherwise stock motor, and I believe I'm already doing 85-90 hp from the head job alone: honestly, I simply couldn't believe how much stronger the lil' thing was from that...then again, if you've only got 70 hp to start with, I guess a gain of just 10 hp FEELS damn signifigant !! It made me want to immediately split the case and throw a lumpy cam into it...and so on. I've been daydreaming about SPFI, actually... and maybe even a tiny turbo to blow thru it I'd certainly be the only kid in my neighborhood with a EFI BRAT! Do you have the scoop on how to make the disty compatable with the EFI ?(ummm, they're not interchangeable, are they? I'm pretty ignorant about SPFI EA82's... )

I'm wanting to build a mean little 1.8L , and hoping someone here can suggest sources for parts ! I plan on using the pistons from a SPFI EA82 to bump my compression ratio up some...and I already have the heads taken care of...had them ported & polished, installed larger valves, heavier springs, titanium keepers, and took .030" off their faces. I got the stuff for my heads @ PAECO here in Birmingham,AL....though what they can supply is limited to (some) of the engine internals, i.e. :s.s. valves, copper head gaskets, ect... Anyone here know where I can get a hi-perf. grind cam, a Weber carb, and any other items (or tips + tricks) that I can use to push my little N/A Boxer to 100+ hp?

Andy- Welcome ! I've been told you have to be a SPECIAL kind of crazy to love the EA81's or the XT's... and I luv 'em both! I'm the proud owner of "84 BRAT GL, done alot to it, probably the prettiest ( and maybe the only ) one left down here....I've put 49k on mine in 2 years! Daniel is quite correct-they will go and go and go ! The BRAT is my 3'rd Soob and my favorite, hands-down! You wouldn't believe the places I've been on 13" street tires! Once pulled my pal's F-150 out of the mud with the lo-range-I'll never let Brian live that one down ! Good luck man, Rob