skishop69

Hahaha I know right where that Brat has been sitting and for how many years. I ran across it going to a friends wedding, took the plate down, had a friend trace it and called the guy. Same story and at the time he wanted more than I was willing to pay for a non running auto. That and I already have 3. lol If you want some help, lemme know. I'm off 512 & Canyon.

The stock EA82 SPFI pistons are 9.5:1. Rods are still available, or were a couple years back when I did my XT GL10 motor. Had to replace the crank and rods thanks to my lead foot driving and old rod bearings. Whoopsie! lol I will always stay EA81, rebuild stock EA82's when necessary, but I would never mod and EA82. They're a great every day motor providing you monitor your cooling system religiously, but there are too many poor design choices to make them stout enough to withstand modding without serious upgrades costing more than lightly modding and EJ and swapping. I am figuring in driving style of having a modded motor based on you built it to pound, and you will. If you don't pound it, it'll survive, but not as long as an EJ.

An exhaust leak upstream from the O2 sensor can cause you to fail with excessive O2 readings, but has nothing to do with NOX. Octane rating of fuel has nothing to do with it's BTU rating (energy and burning temp). Octane rating relates to how well it will withstand detonation, IE: combusting prior to ignition due to high compression and elevated temps.

It's not that expensive to rebuild the engine if you assemble it yourself. $300 for the kit. Pistons, rings, oil pump, bearings, lifters (HLAs) and gaskets. $60 to turn the crank, $10/hole to bore it ($40). Maybe $200 to have the heads done and of course, you'll want a new water pump, timing belts, tensioner and pulleys. Should be about $700 roughly though it's been a few years since I've done one. If the rest of the car is in good shape, it'd be worth it. If not, like Dinky said, find another one.

EA82 is the engine type. They have plastic timing belt covers on the front of the engine. EA81 engines have no timing belt.

EA82 I assume? Have you checked the timing belt to make sure it hasn't slipped? Timing? Carb'd or FI? Compression test?

+1 Change it. Ever driven a car that went from steering to little or none? No bueno! lol

I too lived in Saudi Aurora. lmao Didn't have to emission my 78 Brat when I lived there. So Cali did away with the 25 year rule too, huh. Not really a surprise as the tend to be the first to tighten things up then others follow suit. Rat b*stards! lol Greg, that Brat is sweet!

Saweet!

Actually, the EPA (Dept of Ecology) sets the minimum laws for emissions that the states have to follow. If the states want to enforce more strict laws, then they can. Strange that Colorado would when Cali is always been the tough rump roast on emissions. lol That's all I was getting at. When I lived there, that law wasn't in effect though it's been a number of years. I know Co. was always tough on the underhood inspection if you didn't pass the pipe test. I wasn't meaning to offend.

Per the EPA, vehicles over 25 years old do not require emissions. Even Cali follows that. We have similar collectors laws in Washington. They get all cranky if you're running your car around all the time. Of course, there are way too many people here abusing the collectors system to get out of paying higher tabs. I'd love to have on for the Brat, but I drive it too much. lol Can't stand to see it sit.

No direct fit bars are available. Anything you use would have to be modified. Best and easiest would be custom built. That's what I did and it only took a few hours.

Oh yeah! Forgot about that! Of course, I try to drive through Butt (intentional lol) as little as possible. I did have a Brat when I lived in Denver. I bumped the timing up 4 degrees and it wasn't so bad.

You could have some junk in the float bowl as well. Getting in and blocking up the idle circuit or the idle circuit could just be blocked. Take the mixture screw out of the base of the carb and blow compressed air in the hole. Install the screw until it bottoms out lightly, then back it out 1.5 turns. Start and run. If it idles, adjust the screw in and out until the idle is smoothest. I haven't had my carb apart in forever, but isn't the fuel shut off solenoid only on the California models?

You won't have any issues. Unless you plan to drive through Denver on the way.... I have gone from Seattle to Montana several times in my Brat, and 4th Of July Pass is the highest thing you'll encounter between here and NYC. No issues at all.

If they're not tight and won't tighten, then yes, they are likely stripped and it is a captured nut. I wouldn't go cutting things open to replace them. There is really no reason to remove the mount. Almost every other manufacturer rivets or welds them in. If it were me, I'd stitch weld it in place and be done with it.

What do you mean by 'loose'? It doesn't go straight up and down or is it moving inward and outward?

Side to side and back and forth are ok. You should not be able to twist it or move it up and down.

Looks great!

If by loose, you mean a little sloppy, then yes, this is normal. If it's really sloppy then it could have popped off the pivot, but I doubt it.

Backfiring during a shift after revving it up is indicative of a small exhaust leak somewhere in the system. When under a load, the exhaust system has pressure. Usually 1-2 pounds. When you let off the gas, a small amount of vacuum in the exhaust is now present. This vacuum sucks in cold air through the leak and it's now getting 'instantly' heated by the exhaust gasses and expands rapidly. The expansion builds high pressure and when it exits, you get a 'backfire'. If you can't find a leak by listening, use a long piece of fuel line with one end to your ear and use the other end to probe around exhaust system unions. Or just get a mechanics stethoscope from the auto parts store.

Yep. Way too low. You've lost freon somewhere. I suppose it's possible that somehow your TXV has stuck open and is not allowing the system to build pressure, but I have only seen one do that in 20 years. They almost always fail closed.

E85 has a lower BTU rating than gasoline. Diluting high octane gas with it will lower NOx and sometimes CO2 readings. Since it has a lower BTU, it will burn cooler reducing combustion temps and thus NOx. You have to use very small amounts as E85 is deadly to rubber components.

+1 If your O2 readings are high, it's because you're running lean, IE, not getting enough fuel or the EGR is not functioning correctly. You're NOx readings are high because running lean causes higher than normal combustion chamber temps. The EGR system was designed to cool the combustion gasses under specific load conditions. If the valve is not working or the lines are plugged then it will not do its job. Over advanced timing also causes excessive temps as well. You have a set volume of air and fuel being compressed then ignited. Once ignited, it expands in volume. Ignite it too soon while still compressing it and now you're no longer compressing the fixed volume, but depending on how far in advance it was ignited, you are compressing 1.5-2 times the volume. The more volume you try to compress, the higher the combustion temp and the more resulting increase in NOx. I doubt it's carb related since you didn't mention anything about a lack of power or poor runability issues.

+1 Man if we had a nickle for every shot tranny mount replaced and for all those that are shot and not been discovered yet. They were poorly designed to augment the pitch stopper set up. It gets adjust improperly then the tranny mounts get stressed and tear or the self lubricating chassis oils them up and they tear.