el_freddo

Also, any play in the distributor shaft? Cheers Bennie

Try using some metal glue or permanent locktite on it to fix that ring in place. Cheers Bennie

Are you sure it’s 25 degrees before TDC? I remember my MPFI being 20 degrees BTDC. Might be worth adjusting and seeing if the behaviour changes. Cheers Bennie

Reversed fuel lines is a good suggestion. Quick way to check is to disconnect the fuel hose from the filter in the engine bay, put a container under each hose and prime the fuel lines. Which ever container has fuel in it is the direction the fuel is flowing from. It should be coming from the filter Cheers Bennie

Go the L’s! The cheap ones are the best and end up costing a lot more for all the right reasons! My $500 L series (back in 2004) is still kicking but not much in her is original! And she’s been all over the place in my part of the world. Got any other plans for your L? Cheers Bennie

I once did an MPFI conversion on my L series before I found forums and saw the light in the EJ conversion world. Mine would surge sometimes when accelerating, other times it would pull like an EA82 freight train. Didn’t matter about the load or throttle position, sometimes it happened, sometimes it didn’t. I recall that if I took my foot off the throttle and back on when this was happening it would clear up. I never found out what the issue was but I suspect it had something to do with the smaller carb fuel return line that my conversion inherited (this was swapped out when I did the EJ conversion). It could be worth removing the fuel cap and blowing compressed air back to the tank through the fuel return line to remove any restrictions in the system. The other thought is that it’s some solenoid that’s sticking - probably one to do with the fuel tank ventilation system, definitely in the emissions control stuff! Shame you cancelled the inspection, I was hoping it would be there to pass and live on, even if it limped over hills for now... Cheers Bennie

And they’re better than a carb, even though it’s a “Stone Age” EFI system... Cheers Bennie

No. Only when changing gears if the clutch isn’t used properly. Thus a low mileage gearbox could have a crunchy gear or two if it lived in a city driven vehicle - lots of gear changes for that amount of distance. A country driven gearbox with high kms could have very good synchros due to few gear changes for the distance driven - many kms at cruise speed in top gear. At the end of the day it all comes down to the driver and it can be a gamble. Certainly the choice of oil, it’s condition/age (what’s already in there) have an impact on what the gearbox feels like to change gears. Cheers Bennie

Fair call. Use whatever you can fit. Easiest to fit is a replacement unit with two inlets and one outlet. Probably harder to find. Hardest to fit is the much more widely used single in/out port units. You need to modify the Y pipe to make it a 2 into 1 then fit the cat converter. Probably easier to have a shop make new extractor pipes to replace the stock Y pipe. Cheers Bennie

Geez that second pic of the pulley is pretty full on! I hope you find one, I’m sure someone will have one of you can’t find it on a parts site. It might come with a whole engine... Cheers Bennie

Subaru’s have cone shaped synchros Cheers Bennie

Well I just learned something! Doesn’t the ECU supply power or at least read the resistance voltage from the O2 sensor? Cheers Bennie

There’s a big difference between knowledge and opinion - this threads seeks opinion, which could be included as peer pressure/fitting in with a group or scene, which comes with its own underlying fears (or anxieties - pick your label). Fear/worry... you asked about removing something you know or at the very least suspect is something required by law. So yes, fear had you ask the question whether you knew it or not. If it was a question only about which catalytic converters is best to replace an old dead one and how to go about it, that’s one for knowledge and know how. Cheers Bennie

You can’t see the friction surfaces without disassembling the shafts and gearsets. Not an easy task I reckon (I’ve not done this). With synchros you’re looking for some roughage on the friction surfaces. They stop working when they’re smooth and don’t create friction to slow or speed up the gear that the driver is trying to select. That’s when the crunch happens same as when changing gear without the clutch and you don’t rev match properly. You could pull the synchros and have them lightly bead blasted - I’ve heard this is a good method to bring them back to life. But the effort (or f’-it) to get the synchros out usually isn’t worth it. Cheers Bennie

Agreed. I wouldn’t be caught without one over here. Minimum fine is $10,000. If you’re really pressed and just need a cat converter to say you have one you can put a unit from a larger displacement engine on the little Subaru engine. Flow through should be better and generally the cost lower due to the higher volume of these units sold when from a popular vehicle. Cheers Bennie