Frank B

Shell casings(brass part of ammunition(bullets)) work well to punch out holes too. but they don't hold up well so have a handful. For the smaller bolt holes like the ones in the carb base gasket, I just used a paper hole punch from my desk drawer.

Here's an online source. http://www.autopartsworld.com/new/product_availability.asp?product_number=S1016-54497&web_brand_id=nippon-reinz&web_name_id=carburetor-base-gasket&year=1983&web_make_id=subaru&web_model_id=2wd-models-1-6-and-1-8&x=57&y=10

Nope, the EA82 carb base is larger. Once you get some in your hand, trace it out on a piece of paper and file it away. Next time you need some just get some gasket paper and a razor blade. They are cheap, but as you have discovered, they are hard to get.

Yes they can stick. There are are handlfull of springs inside that drum that get week or break, and several pivot points that need to be greased regularly. The piston inside the wheel cylinder gets nasty after years of use too. The hold down springs, or nails, can break and jam up the shoes. They may just need to be cleaned?? Or just bleed out. Get your hands on a repair manual, read the brake section, and have at it. You can rebuild the entire rear brake system in your car right now, and chances are you will never have to do it again. You may find that it is all stock back there! Get new shoes, new wheel cylinders, two cans of brake cleaner, high temp brake lubricant, some brake fluid, and a hardware or hold down kit which will have all the springs and such. If the adjusters, the square headed bolt sticking out of the back, is hard to turn, spray a ton of penetrating oil on it so it doesn't snap off. If you have it all apart, try to get some anit-seize or just grease on the threads so the adjuster will turn easily next time. Do one side at a time, so you can use the other side as a reference. You will be amazed at how well your vehicle stops with operational, and properly adjusted rear brakes.

A coolant system pressure test is where you pressurize the coolant system, if it holds pressure, your head gaskets, other gaskets and heads are fine. The leak down test is a compression test but you hold the pressure longer to see if the cylinder holds the pressure. If it doesn't you have bad rings, bad valves, or valves not seating, or a cracked head. I would hold off on the leak down test right now because worn rings and or valves could mis-lead you at this point. Coolant has a higher boiling point under pressure, so a new rad cap, 13psi, is a cheap fix, and worth replacing anyway, as well as the thermostat. They really should be replaced regularly anyway since either one could toast your engine. Alos be sure to run a 50/50 mix for your coolant. Water disipates heat better than antifreeze so 100% antifreeze isn't a good idea. You could go as much as 70/30 if it gets super cold there.

Gotcha

Good point on the expansion. Another thought, Even though too many of us are typical Subaru owners, by that I refer to the commom trait to re-engineer our vehicles, I think all this work can be avoided by just using sealed bearings and synthetic grease. Some members have posted about using bearings with one seal on them to act as a second barrier to keep the dirt and water out. That's probably the best idea. Also, I think that the reason the front bearings wear out more than the rear is simply because of the heat generated by the brakes, and the load of the front wheels being the driven wheels under "normal" driving.

Then what was creating the signal? I always let it run for 5-10 minutes before I drive off on a cold start, that should be enough time for the O2 to get up to temp. The coolant isn't, but the exhaust is hot.

I had this thought the last time I replaced front wheel bearings. What made me think of it was remembering when I replaced the axle bearings in a Yamaha Banshee. They are known for burning up bearings like crazy, and I do mean burn up! I had to replace the axle, carrier, brake hub, as well as the bearings and seals. ANyway, the trick with Banshee bearings is as simple as drilling two holes, one with a zerk fitting. One is in the carrier for the zerk, the other is through the spacer so grease can get on the axle so it's easier to pull it out next time. I used a knock in fitting, no threads to cut and it's solid. I think both holes were 3/16" . What's interesting about this, is that the banshee bearings are close to the same size as the Subaru front wheel bearings and it's basically the same set up. Seal-bearing-spacer-bearing-seal. The guy went through bearings every couple of months in the dirt, and after a dozen runs when he started drag racing it. It's been two years after I did the job, and he hasn't heard a peep out of the bearings. He said he just gives it a few pumps every couple of runs. The only part that wasn't stock was the axle, only because he wanted a wider one. Valvoline durablend high temp grease. It may be bettter to use a small length of pipe and a 90 degree fitting to bring the grease fitting out to where it can be accessed. Which would be 1/8" pipe which may be too big of a hole in the spindle??? I have seen some fitting on equipment that were designed for remote access. They used the small plastic line like you see on oil pressure gauges. maybe something like that would work?? Even if it was bad to load it up and push it past the seals, it would make it easy to grease the bearings upon installation for sure. Install bearings and spacer, pump it up untill all the aire is out, then install the seals and axle. Whenever I grease up something. It seems like the old grease is thinner and pushes out easier than when the new grease starts out. So I can't see how it would hurt the seals unless you go crazy with an air gun.

Well I just ran into town, 10 miles round trip. And on the way the reading hovered in the lean area of the meter, on the way back it hovered in the rich area. Never in stoich except at idle when I first started it. I'm confused at this point. I tried to watch it to understand what's going on and it doesn't make sense to me. Except when I first drove off when the engine wasn't up to temp yet. Then it behaved in a way I understood. Full throttle it was rich, off the throttle it was lean. I'll get it off later. Thanks for the replies

I had the same exact thing happen on an 86 carbed EA82, it was a sticking float. Mine didn't clear up, I had to open up the carb and actually bend the float tang to get it right.

That was the idea, to help tune the weber. Thanks for the input.

The HP may be different since it's in another country, different emissions, carb jets, etc. Your friend was right to steer you in the direction of the EA81, it's far more simple than the EA82, especially for a first time Subaru owner. The 1.6 EA71 is basically the same as the EA81, just a shorter stroke. It may be tougher since the power output is less??? Please post pics when you can, I'd love to see these international models.

Thanks Skip, I may try that. Will it settle down the eratic bouncing between one end of the spectrum to the other? Here's another question, when, or if I put a weber on this thing, I'm going to remove the ECM and such. Not the emissions stuff, just the ECM and maybe change the ignition(still working on that). Is there a way to retain the O2 for the use of the A/F meter without the ECM?

The car isn't FI, the A/F meter is on my hatch at the moment. I've never fooled with one of these before so I'm really not surprised that it's going to take more to get it right. I think I'll just pull it all off today, and resume when I can get a wide band O2, and a chance to learn more about it. Thanks for the replies. I'l get a pic of it today, because it does look nice on the dash . It actually looks better than the dash!

If it is HG failure, your almost certain to loose coolant. Usually out of the exhaust if it's a cracked head or a severe failure. I had a similair problem on a GL-10. I installed a 2 row rad and it stopped. Get a pressure test done on the cooling system and maybe a leak down test on the engine before tearing it down.

So I buy this air/fuel ratio meter off of Ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=014&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=330053082200&rd=1,1 It looks good, seems like top quality, the board, led's, wire, case, all of it. Anyway, I hook it up today just as the directions direct me to. Green wire to negative battery terminal, white to O2, bare wire to ground near the O2(I put a short screw in the cat heat shield), orange to ignition, yellow to dash lights.At first it seemed to work fine. It was at stoich when idling cold and as it warmed up it went towards the lean side a mark. While decelerating down a hill off the throttle, it's all the way lean. When floored it's rich, sometimes. But, when cruising down the road at a steady speed it bounces back and forth from full lean to almost full rich. Sometimes full rich, sometimes just stoich but very eratic. Is this a sign of a bad O2 sensor, or maybe a bad ground? This is my first so maybe I did something wrong. I'll probably just pull it off and try again some other time.

What year and model nissan did it come off of?

84 and up EA81 engines have hydraulic lifters and larger valves. The EA81 is tough, so much that it's uses in airplanes! Toss the stock carb and put a weber on it too, among other things. But you;ll find all that info if you do a search on this board.

I look up all my parts on Autozones website before I go to the store. Since I started bringing part numbers, I haven't had a problem getting the right parts.

Isn't it a unique yet awesome feeling!! That's what fed my addiction to this board! Helping, and getting help from people soooo far away.

It's been a while but if my memory is right, there are the timing degree marks for the ignition timing, then there are the three lines or marks for the timing belts. This should help. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50768

I third the soap, unless you have silicone spray around. The soap lasts longer and works great.

Oh, and I apologize for taking part in getting this thread off topic.

It's good to see you figured it out. In this it makes sense to leave it off. But are you going to fix it later, maybe if you have to replace a head gasket in the future you can get the right head on it?