NorthWet

ICs are heat exchangers, and in that capacity they are limited. Anything that you do to lower the temp of the IC's mass does little after a few seconds. (I guess that I could figure out the approximate BTU/calorie load in 100+Cdegree air at 200CFM+...) My point is that there is a LOT of heat energy that needs removing, and precooled a/a intercooler won't last long, and A/C evaporator as the IC will be unable to keep up with the thermal load. If you used the A/C to precool a reservoir of water, then it could possibly last through longer episodes of boost. .02 USD

Oddcomp, check out this thread about having injectors cleaned and flowtested: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=35326 Later!

When I posted earlier in this thread, I considered adding a point made by someone else, and basically restated by MorganM here: The most "active" segment of Subaru owners is the offroaders, and it is difficult to get them to pony up the bucks for something as simple/inexpensive as a lift kit. If the lift kit market is thus limited, what are the chances for anything more technical and expensive? The realist's answer is: A Snowball's chance in Haydes.

Transmission gears, even straight-cut ones, are pretty high-tech; helical gears are even more so. If you are willing to put up with whine and inefficient power transfer, a very well equipped machine shop might be able to make a straight-cut gear pair. It is unlikely to be cheap. That is, assuming that the shaft spacing would allow it.

What fuel injection can offer is accuracy. A carburetor is always using weird physical effects to try to determine how much fuel needs to be added to how much air in order to get a burnable mixture. The heart(s) of the carburetor, the emulsion tubes, are things that the average person doesn't even know about, let alone do anything about. Until you get into full-on Webers, Solexs, and Dell Ortos, you can't alter the emulsion tubes. Carburetor mixture depends on float level, main jet, emulsion tube, air jet, venturi size, aux venturi size, discharge nozzle, intake manifold design, how many cylinders the venturi is feeding, engine speed and volumetric efficiency. Too name just a few variables... Whew!!! Carburetors are black magic, and although a carb'd system seems uncomplicated next to EFI, the carb inself is anything but uncomplicated. EFI, on the other hand, uses physics to set the mixture. It measures air mass and engine speed/load, and injects the proper amount of fuel to provide the desired mixture. Any physical variations in sensed values are compensated for my the feedback information from the EGO sensor. (If the EGO is giving inaccurate info, then compensating and accuracy go out the window.) How many professional race cars still use carburetors unless required to do so? That should tell you which gives more power. Carburetors seem less intimidating, until you have accumulated a small tackle-box full of jets and emulsion tubes. And are cursing that yet ANOTHER brass float has cracked and your oil pan is full of gasoline.

Isn't there a pin on the ECU that is grounded or not depending on manual/auto? *edit - OK, that pin's state would be determined off of the ECU in the wiring harness, so not germaine to this thread. oops. end edit*

Spending $5 for a new headlight instead of $20 for a used one every time a rock gets kicked up into your headlight??? Works for me, but I would probably go rectangular.

Compressing the intake charge takes tens-of-sackloads of power, yet we accept that penalty. The A/C takes just a few HP/KWhr. Yes, the use of A/C intercooling has been discussed before. My personal take is that using A/C on its own is inefficient, using "highly refined" cooling power to remove bulk heat. I would use something (like air-to-air) to remove the bulk of the heat, and then use an A/C-enhanced air-to-water to lower the temp to ambient or even below.

I would have removed the manifold and done it right. Well, at least I would have RECOMMENDED that y... er, your friend ... remove the manifold. That is the only way of knowing that you have definitely removed all of the foreign object. The other methods are uncertain, and at some point you have to say "good enough, I think" and give up. BTW, same thing can happen with flour, cornstarch, or fine sawdust. If they did, who would win Darwin Awards???

The axle nut is the castle nut. IIRC, some/most manuals mis-state the torque value as around 102 ft-lbs, and should be around 140 ft-lbs. The washer just underneath the nut is slightly dished, and needs to be placed concave side towards the cone-washer/axle. I wouldn't blindly trust Les Schwab or other such places to diagnose problems that are quirks with Subarus. If you want to reuse your bearings, thoroughly clean the bearings to remove all old grease, then lightly lube the bearing before checking them for problems. Greases use different bases (chemistries), and the bases are often incompatible; mixing these different greases can cause lubrication failure. Very important to remove all old grease unless you are sure of what was in it before.

Why do you feel that you need to replace the bearings and seals? Noise in this area can be caused by loose axle nut, especially after just doing axle service.

How about a leaking oil pump, filter, sender, and/or other plug/port on the oil pump casting?

Deep cuts are NOTHING, but paper cuts REALLY HURT!

Ditto.

I have a yard, too, ya know! Hey, maybe THIS would be the candidate for your "special" Brat project, and you can let my wife buy yours???

(Actually, me, too. I just didn't want to sound like I was mechanically negligent... )

The tailgate that I might be looking to replace is pretzeled; almost anything would be an improvement. BTW, if he wants the carcass gone I might be able to find a place where we can pick the poor thing clean until it is just sunbleached bones.

Have you SEEN where the oil is leaking onto the exhaust? Are you sure that the smoke that you see is from extrernally leaking oil? Are you sure that it is engine oil? A couple of possibilities is that it is ATF, either externally leaking or being sucked into the intake sysetem from a ruptured vacuum modulator valve, OR it might be oil being sucked through the PCV system into the intake.

Sorry, I guess my post was a little terse and could be viewed as being a little hostile. That was not my intent. I just don't care for people that try to get their 15 minutes of fame by writing articles that tout wonder cures using what looks/sounds like bad science. Most of these "super power, super mileage" claims prey on peoples' paranoia that Those Who Are In Power are trying to keep information from them. Logically, if an oil company could provide a fuel that improved fuel economy by double-digit percentages, then they could all but corner the market. They could sell less fuel for higher prices and make a greater profit then selling more fuel at lower prices.

I would be EXTREMELY concerned about the damage that caustic oven cleaner could cause to the gaskets, rubbers, plastics and possibly even the aluminum engine surfaces. Engine degreaser is designed for engines, and oven cleaner simply is not. Caveat Emptor.

Yes, we have heard of it: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=39342 I looked through your linked article, and although my Chem and Physics training was a few decades ago, the reasoning still sounds like BS to me.

Gee, I get several years out of mine, and just replace them because I feel that I should before they rot away!

OOPS!!! (I really wanted an "embarrassed" emoticon, but oh well!) OK, I didn't follow the link, and I assumed Gen 2 Brumby/Brat. Thanks, Ross!!!

By any chance is the tailgate still available? And (*insert laughter here*) rear tailights?

I can deal with that. Almost everything here prior to the Legacy was just called a Subaru... the Brat being a notable exception. Anyways, my impression was that his was an earlier chassis-style (originally with EA81) and modified with an EA82 engine. If that is the case, I would think the Brat/Brumby/MV suspension parts would fit.