GeneralDisorder

RTV is fine also - neither will likely ever leak. I also use the flange sealants - Loctite 518 or Permatex equivelent, but RTV is often easier to find and it's actually closer to what Subaru uses. I *prefer* the 518 but RTV is still ok. GD

They all spin clockwise - which is tighter. The tendancy should be for them to tighten with the rotation of the engine rather than loosen. But as you say - if they are torqued properly (sufficiently) then there's no problem. If you don't have a sense for how tight they should be then by all means - use a torque insturment. I haven't torqued a crank pulley or cam pulley bolt in many years but I also haven't had one come loose either - not just talking Subaru's either. GD

Don't worry about the timing belt cover seals - many of us run without the outside covers anyway. You can RTV it if you like but it's not really needed. Moving the cam pulley's is fine. Your engine is non-interferance anyway (meaning mechanically nothing can hit even if the timing belt is broken/gone). GD

A 20 cu ft cylinder is really rather small - personally I have an 80 cu ft cylinder on my welder and I feel that I could have gone to the next size and wouldn't have been sorry about it. I got really lucky when I bought my cylinder 6 or 8 years ago - the welding supply I frequent must have been having real good times because they were running a steep sale on tanks - I got my 80 for like $70 with gas. Now with the economy no one is running sales on tanks anymore. . My Oxy torch setup was rediculous - like over $200 for my O2 cylinder alone! As I said - check around for a place that will *rent* you a bottle for a year, etc. It will save you money and trips for refills to have at least a 40 cu ft bottle. A 20 will not last long at all. Especially with you being in the "practicing" mood. A good day (maybe half a day) of practice and you'll dry up that bottle. Refill pricing doesn't increase linearly with the size of the tank - it's cheaper per cu ft to fill a larger tank so you save money there. Check craigslist for used tanks - just make sure they aren't selling you a rental tank . In this case it pays to shop around. GD

Make sure the valves have been adjusted - should be done every 105k. If it's not done they can hang open an exhaust valve and burn it. GD

A good used assembly from the junk yard is the answer to your problem. These rarely fail and Subaru was kind enough to make them easy to change so it makes a used pump a viable option. If you can't pull one yourself - try this site: www.car-part.com GD

They are not plastic where the bolt engages them. I put them on with a low impact setting and call it good. They also all spin the direction that would tend to cause the bolt to tighten not loosen. GD

Gas sheilding IS a setup for thicker metal. It's just an all-around more pleasant process. The only thing that I would use flux-core for is farm welding with a portable 110v machine. Where it's superior penetration and ugly appearances are far, far away from my garage and my cars. You already have the punch to do 1/4" in a single pass (maybe 5/16") being as you have a 220v machine. You don't need the flux-core and you definitely won't like the price of the stuff - solid wire is cheaper so you save on wire which more or less pays for the gas - in the end it's a draw. When you consider your time to chip and clean all that slag..... it's a no-contest win for gas shielding. Flux-Core has it's place - but it's not in a garage where bottles are not a problem from a portability or storage standpoint. GD

You can't do that with Flux-Core - the slag inclusion will be outragous. He's using gas in that video - see how clean his welds are (I mean the metal is clean - his welds look like dookie)? Flux-core leaves a coating of "slag" (the burnt remnants of the flux used to sheild the weld puddle from the air) which has to be chipped off with a hammer to expose the clean metal - you can't remelt this slag back into your next weld or you will create a weak "pocket" of crud in your weld - if you did that method with flux-core I would almost gaurantee you a leak in your exhaust if not half a dozen or more. And his welds look like absolute garbage using his "method". I can run nice clean beads on new exhaust tubing using .023 and 75/25 on a low setting of my machine. It's all about your technique with sheet metal - you have to move to avoid burn through but not move so fast that you don't get good penetration.... this is what welding is about and that guy on youtube makes *me* look good - and I'm but an amature compared to the people I've learned from. GD

You've got a good start with the 220v machine - eventually you'll probably want something with a bit more features than the old Clarke but that's a much better starting point than a Chinese machine - and converting it to the Tweco stuff was a good move. I have a Thermal-Arc MIG machine made by Tweco's welder division and I love it! Learning with flux-core..... hhhhmmm. Can't say that's the best way to learn. Flux core is not well suited to small-guage work - for sheet metal type work you really want .023 and pure argon gas (carries less heat). Less heat means less spatter and burn-through. Exhaust falls into the same catagory as sheet unforunately. Flux-core has excelent penetration and is just fine for a lot of stuff - 1/8" and up it will run very well if you can stand the slag, spatter, and just generally uglier welding it produces. If your plan is to do exhaust I just don't think Flux-core is going to cut it. You'll have to turn the machine WAY down - if it can even go low enough. I'm sure money is a concern - but have you priced a 75/25 bottle rental? You can buy one at a later date but renting for now might be a good option. The machine may already have a regulator? If not they are relatively cheap. I wouldn't buy cheap flux-core. That's just a recipe for disaster. I will sometimes buy cheap solid MIG wire because it doesn't matter nearly as much. I would run whatever brand your friendly local welding supply sugests as a "good budget wire" - ask for that. Personally I don't like the Harbor Freight auto-darkening helments. I have one - I use it for friends/helpers when I'm welding and they are around. *I* use one of these: http://www.weldsafe.com/weldmark-5-1-4-x-4-1-2-variable-shade-auto-darkening-lens-Welding-Supplies-pr-415.html It's a $100 insert for a standard $30, 5-1/4" x 4-1/2" helment. Then if the helment wear out you can just swap it to another and you can also swap over to a full-size non-auto shade. These have a larger veiwing window than the HF models. Anyway - it's the cheapest route I've found that works for me. I love mine. GD

Have you cleaned out the air bleed and emulsion tube on the primary? Might have sucked something down in there. Sounds like the e-tube isn't working and you aren't getting a nice even spray pattern at the higher end of the venturi pressure.... GD

Yeah - it's amazing how expensive a decent compressor is. I used to be a compressor/vacuum pump tech. It was totally worth the experience I got with that job. I have the big daddy compressor in my garage - 22 CFM @ 150 psi - 5 HP/80 Gal.... Full industrial - it's a monster - just the pump weighs about 200 lbs. Best part - free after I did a $65 rebuild on it . I'm hoping that new right-angle impact will pretty much take off the crank pulley and cam bolts with a near-100% effectiveness.... we'll see. GD

Nope - never use a special tool. Actually I'm contemplating getting one of these since I do sooooo many of these flippin belts! http://www.ingersollrandproducts.com/IS/Product.aspx-am_en-36545 180 Ft/lb right-angle impact with a head height under 2" Too bad they are ~$275 Purchase of that little gem is not far off I think..... GD

OEM parts FTW . GD

I use a 12pt, 14mm 1/2" drive Craftsman socket all the time for head bolts. Never given me a problem. . Maybe I shouldn't be classifiying the Craftsman stuff in the super-cheap Harbor Freight socket catagory but it's no Snap-On I'll tell you that. . If I could afford to run all Snap-On tools I would - but sadly I can only afford a select few (such as ratchets). Entire socket sets are rediculously expensive. I do, however, use a Snap-On torque wrench now for my head bolts . GD

Yeah - a shop will charge a ton for head gaskets. Just the nature of the job. You could do it yourself (including renting a cherry picker to pull the engine out) for about $500 in parts and machine work (The DOHC heads are expensive to have worked on - runs me $425 to have a set fully rebuilt). Timing belt, water pump, etc should all be replaced at the same time. It's basically one step less than a full engine overhaul on your engine. Compression test won't tell you anything useful. A hydrocarbon test of the coolant will tell you if the head gaskets are leaking into the cooling system. GD

They are not reversed - that is the normal GM offset. GD

Chevy 15" 6 lug trailer rims. Redrilled to 4 lug. GD

Yes - GL/DL - but not a hatchback. The hatchback tanks are smaller. GD

Actually you could get digi's on GL's as well. My '84 GL wagon had every option you could get except 4WD (I mean ALL of them - digi, factory sunroof, velour interior, AC, cruise, power everything, etc) and it still is just a GL. No one can really figure it out other than it was a heavily optioned car - possibly a special order. The GL-10 was a "factory option package" that included a list options which changed from year to year. There is no set list of what a GL-10 included since it changed basically every year. And having a GL-10 does not indicate that the car has *more* options than a regular GL - the regular GL might be fully optioned as well. So really it just means it's more high-end than *most* GL's. Way back they also made GL-5's and even a DL-5 I beleive. In 80-82 we got GLF coupe's..... I've even seen pictures of a JDM EA81 coupe with a GFT-5 badge GD

It can't be inspected without a complete tear-down. And with that much overheating going on I wouldn't even consider using it without a full rebuild. GD

If you get an OEM thermostat it will only go in one way. The spring side should always point to the engine. So spring down for you. GD

If you raise the front using the strut spring perch adjusters (if it still has them - many have been replaced with non-stock struts) it should only be done for off-road as it will create a positive camber situation and will rapidly wear out your front tires on the road (outer edge wear - especially on turns). The rear adjust is safe to use anytime but the front should be left fully down unless you are not on the pavement. EA81's already have a tendancy to wear the outer edge of the tires in turns - jacking up the struts will just make it that much worse. If you want to level it a 1" lift on the front only would come pretty close to doing that but with such a small lift camber correction is not easily done. GD

Hhhmmm - my experience has been that they almost never leak - even when dissasembled and reassembled over and over and over...... So something is seriously wrong with your config.... and the fact that your car is so new and here in the NW (land of no rust) adds to the mystery - I see plenty of those that are 20+ years old and don't leak a bit. Strange things are afoot at the circle-k. Pics? GD

It happened twice that I remember - once on the freeway and another time pulling out from that ugly left off of 8th Ave. when you are leaving my place to get on the freeway. After that I didn't let it get much under 1/3 of a tank for fear that I would be crushed as a result of not getting out of the way of some rich guy's lifted Excursion (common in my neighborhood ). GD