el_freddo

Intake definitely has gaskets. Coolant crossover pipe is worth removing to replace the two O rings under it. Make sure they're genuine Subaru items Cheers Bennie

Shame it's a 2wd as previously mentioned. AWD in the snow = awesome. Still, sounds like a good deal in your area! It's like the ea81 - keep the oil and coolant up and she'll be sweet. One exception is that you keep a good quality cam belt kit on it at the appropriate intervals Any pics of the beast? Cheers Bennie

Tie rod ends and inspect/replace rack ends too. Then a wheel alignment. Or just do the shaft and ball joints, do an alignment and leave it be. I would replace bearings unless they looked like the grease was dry or they're making noises when driving. Cheers Bennie

Different dizzy's shouldn't make a difference so long as the replacement dizzy didn't come from an injected engine. The wiring will be the same from carb to carb dizzies, that's the important part. Given that you've got backfiring, your dizzy is wired in properly. It could be the order of the spark leads, timing is too far out (talking a tooth or two out). Definitely check the dizzy for shaft play. You should be able to at least get it running with a bit of shaft play. Running on the road won't be as good as it should be, but you'll notice that if it is an issue. Cheers Bennie

Test connectors will be above the drivers feet - you have to remove the kick panel to find them. Cheers Bennie

Seems like you've got a place to start... And that's at least something. I'm hoping you checked those fusible links properly - they may be solid/not broken but they can still be dead. All the best with it. Don't give up! Cheers Bennie

Looks good mate! Rear flare: thought of a 70's inspired inverted duck tail upward "scoop" from the lower body edge up to meet the flare? With some sort of similar scoop on the front end, either the flare or the front bar, it'll look schmick I reckon! Cheers Bennie

I was going to say do yourself a favour and get the O2 bung hole welded in before you pull the existing exhaust off the vehicle. But if my eyes see it correctly on my phone, it looks like you've already got one in there - winning! Cheers Bennie

That'll be fun in the pits... Chirp chirp chirp You move fast mate! Got the short shifter mod done too?? Cheers Bennie

I can't access Ausubaru.com/forum via my phone (that I'm on now), but if anyone is using an old version of internet explorer or Firefox you'll be able to access the address above and look at more than one page a day. On that site one of the members (Bantum) has posted details of these rings for 3D printing. Follow the link and I believe you down load the details then go nuts with the printing Cheers Bennie

Yeah no bent valve there for sure! If you're going by a tapping sound it seems to me as Subaru Scott said - valve adjustment. Tapping can be due to the section of the arm that comes in contact with the valve wearing oddly (I can't remember what it's called), this wear doesn't allow you to ever get the valve clearances just right to get rid of the tapping sound. I've got one arm like this on my ea81. You can remove the rocker arms (Which requires two head bolts to be removed) and have the surface refaced to remove this adjustment issue. Or just live with a bit of the tappety-tap. It's an ea81 after all - and nothing like the "tick of death" of the ea82 Cheers Bennie

You're not the first to attempt this - a google search should easily dig up a how to list of instructions. Either way, spool or weld, it's gearbox opening time, just the rear housing needs to come out to access the centre diff. Cheers Bennie

If you haven't pulled the head how do you know it's a bent valve? Have you tried adjusting the rocker arm clearances? If you're worried about getting the wrong valve, ask the shop you buy from about their return policy, and if they allow you to return an unused item I'd be ordering both valve sizes. I reckon the issue is either a bit of get on stuck on the valve seat or the rocker arm clearances. Best of luck with it. Cheers Bennie

108.0 fm is the highest my head unit goes to knucklehead. Triple J Melbs is the last station at 107.5 that I can remember. I think there used to be an old pirate radio on 107.9 but I never listened to it... Cheers Bennie

Also be looking at the other side of the car for these issues. This side that's run in hot could be doing more work than the otherside - but that's usually noticeable from pulling one way or the other under braking loads. Cheers Bennie

The caliper slides will not be smooth in operation, as in one side or both are stuck/have excessive friction. These can be removed, cleaned up then have some high temp grease applied to them. I'm not sure the exact grease to use, hopefully someone will be able to share that info. You may see your brake pads wearing oddly in a different angle other than parallel to the metal brake the pad is mounted to. I need to check this same issue out on my brumby :/ but it's not getting THAT hot. Cheers Bennie

That's funny about those frequencies you're able to access Subasaurus, we have the same sort of thing on those frequencies too! Knucklehead, I've always used the side, it's more uniform in thickness and can cover a larger area. Only thing is it's a cover, it can't hold weight. Cheers Bennie

Head to exhaust I use high temp silicone. Works a treat until you knock your exhaust on a rock when offroading. Cheers Bennie

I don't know if I mentioned this before - I've used the side of an old oil bottle for fascia panels. It's a nice black with a "neat pattern" through it depending on where you cut the oil container. And the plastic is easy to work with which is a bonus. Cheers Bennie

Yeah mate she's beaut! Cheers Bennie

Nice. Glad to hear you got a whole exhaust setup as I would pin the issue on the catalitic converter letting go. As for extra fuel usage who knows what's up with that unless the O2 sensor is no longer getting the same heat to keep it inside its optimal operational temp range, which could mean you're running in a fuel enriched loop/limp mode. Cheers Bennie

Sounds good mate. Keep a posted on the updates! Smash it with pics too Cheers Bennie

As the Lucky Texan has mentioned - check your cam belt tensioner. Remove the cam cover on the lhs and see if the tensioner bounces. If not then the stethoscope onto it to listen for the knocking sound. I'd be particularly suss if you replaced the tensioner with a non genuine item. We had one making noise after 10k km. Cheers Bennie

Winning! Extending the bash plate outwards and blocking all the holes will also help with drawing air through the radiator too. Something I'm still aiming to do - and have "proof" that it works after our trans continent trip in 2016 during the peak of our summer. Cheers Bennie

I've never touched one of those little or age seal things in the back of the crank on an ea81. I've always been told to leave them. Are you sure the rear seal was put in correctly? I've never heard of a sump gasket saturating the clutch in oil. And I've usually found the oil pump is the culprit as the reason for an oil saturated sump gasket. Not saying that the sump gasket will never leak, just that it's worth investigating the oil pump thoroughly. Cheers Bennie