GeneralDisorder

When you have the money (give it $400 at least) PM me and I'll tell you EXACTLY what to buy for the Weber swap. Personally I like doing them with a manual choke but that's up to you..... Then you give me $100 and I'll install it (you can help) and it will be correct. GD

Gasket scraper or single-edge razor blade. Then finsh with a soft wire wheel in a die grinder, etc. GD

On the contrary - that's a common thing to see on american stuff - especially vans and trucks. And Subaru has done similar things before - on the EA81's there are access holes to remove the rocker assembly bolts. It's a solid and workable feature that I agree should have been included. GD

The ASV works at all times - it supplies fresh air from the air filter to the exhaust stream (via a reed valve that is opened by the exhaust pulses) in order to improve catalyst effeciency. Newer style catalysts no longer need this extra oxygen to work properly. The ASV is Subaru's equivelent to a smog pump. Same concept. GD

Follow the metal tube from under the head to the ASV valve. Unscrew it from the valve, slip a quarter in the valve and thread the pipe back on. All your backfireing will vanish for $0.50 (do both sides). GD

No - not everything is this expensive. Service parts for a lot of the older american stuff is dirt cheap. I'm always amazed how cheap parts for my '69 GMC truck are. $300 for a Legacy heater core. The '69 GMC is $39.95 I suppose it's just because they don't sell a lot of syncro's and bearings for Subaru transaxles. Not a lot of demand for them so the cost stays up there. That and everyone down the line has to make a profit - Jatco, Subaru, SOA, Dealership, etc, etc. If some company here in the states found a large enough market for these parts and marketed them through local suppliers the cost would be greatly reduced I would imagine. GD

How can you say it's not too bad when you yarded out the entire drivetrain for an SBC? Mitsu's are junk mechanically and electrically. Period. You should know this having been that deep in one. GD

The AAV does nothing to prevent backfireing. That's not it's job. What? No. The ASV's job is to supply fresh oxygen for the catalyst. In conjunction with exhaust leaks it is very often the CAUSE of backfiring. In no way does it prevent same. No. Again. Durring a shift the throttle slams closed and the engine (taching several K) pulls fuel from the carb primaries due to high manifold vacuum under the throttle plates - causing a RICH condition. This exra fuel is mixed with fresh oxygen from leaks/ASV supply and ignites downstream in or near the muffler. Often blowing holes in the muffler in the process. The ASV just supplies an extra quantity of fresh air and thus oxygen. Cutting off this supply is typically enough to stop backfiring on EA's. Stick a quarter in the pipe that runs from the head to the ASV valve. Even with a leaky exhaust this will generally fix the problem and it's cheaper than fixing all the exhaust leaks. GD

The Isuzu Pup/Chevy Luv are NOT the same as the Mitsu MM/Dodge D50. They do both use the 6x5.5" pattern though. Completely different trucks though - the Mitsu/Dodge is a huge POS while the Isuzu's were really decent trucks - especially the Diesel's. GD

The backfire is a result of exhaust leaks. Plugging the ASV system will help or you can fix the leaks. Actual HP increase from the weber is minimal. It feels faster because the off idle torque is improved and acceleration due to the progressive linkage instead of the vacuum secondary of the hitach. GD

I wouldn't blame you for replacing the radio. Just do a nice job and use something like the Dual XR4110 that I and a few other's have used. It's worth it to do that but do it RIGHT. No hack job crap. GD

Constant pressure vs. yanking seems to work best. Pry back the edges of the plug hole covers and spray a liberal amount of WD40 in there. Long needle nose pleirs can help give the leverage needed. When you get to the point of needing to remove the plug you will have some fun with sockets and extensions. I slip the peices of my combo in one at a time and assemble them in the hole. Then once the plug is fully threaded out I reverse the procedure. It's a nightmare but it's just barely possible GD

No - I've had my hatch for about 4 years. And it wasn't ever listed for sale. I got it from a friend of a friend after it had been sitting in their driveway for a couple years with what they thought was a bad clutch. Turned out someone had installed the wrong cable for an '83. GD

Screw type - very simple. Just need a feeler gauge and a wrench. With the engine out it takes maybe 10 minutes per head. GD

I have never seen a FPCU fail. I doubt that's your issue. Sounds like the corrosion was the culprit. GD

That thing is beautiful. Don't touch it or change it. Regular maintenance only. Don't do a 4WD swap, don't paint it, DO NOT TOUCH. Drive - be happy about being able to drive. Read, learn. Someday you can consider tasteful mods, etc or pickup another one to totally devalue. You just aren't ready for a project at this point in your life and with the skills you have. Seriously - that's the BEST advice I can give you. Don't make me shake my head in disgust with some rattle can job or plywood wing on the back. GD

You should adjust the valves. See my current post on burned exhaust valves. The going theory is that it's a direct result of not adjusting them at the proper 105k interval. The engine has 169k on it and the damage is severe enough that it needs the heads rebuilt - which if you aren't familar with EJ's that means a head gasket job in addition to ~$200 in machine work. Not to mention hours and hours of labor. I just did a SOHC engine with the same burned exhaust valve problem. It did take a little longer to get there - 199k on that one. But the result was the same. GD

Pictures: GD

I see what you are saying - I would have to see that in action to beleive it. The EGR is only open for part throttle cruise and should be closed or closing when you close the throttle (the port for the EGR is "late ported" above the throttle plate). There are too many variables to consider to try and reason that one out in my head - closing time of the EGR valve, relationship of EGR to throttle plate position.... and how the ECU reacts also since on EJ's the EGR is partially controlled via a solenoid valve..... GD

That's the only issue with the theory - which occured first, the burned valve or the zero clearance..... Here's my thoughts: 1. The other valve in the same cylinder looks just fine and in fact still has the factory clearance on the lash. If a lean condition caused this you would expect the cylinder to be cleaner (due to burning off of the carbon), and at the least you would expect both valves to show signs of damage. 2. The forward valve in the #2 cylinder is down to about half it's lash adjusment. Probably also due to wear. It is not burnt though it does have a slightly different color to it so it's probably running hotter than it's brother. 3. The amount the burned valve has receeded into the head at this point is MUCH more than it would need to have receeded to cause the zero-lash. In fact the margin of the valve has been reduced by (eyeball guess) .050" to .100". It took only .010" to narrow the clearance to zero. There is 5 to 10 times that much material burned away off the face. I would say the clearance reduced to zero and *then* the major overheating started and dramtically accelerated the wear to the face, and eventually led to a section chipping away. 4. The seat looks great. This is exactly what happened with the last engine I did - the seat was fine and the head shop replaced the valve and just lapped it in to the existing seat. Of course it still remains a mystery as to why the forward #4 exhaust valve wears faster than the other's. Though assuming this engine has never had the valves adjusted - it went 60k over the adjustment point. I would be willing to bet that if the valves had been adjusted I wouldn't be looking at this engine today. GD

It is - but that listing doesn't show which *trim line* got which engine. ONLY the STD model hatch (pretty rare) got the EA71. No other Leone body got the EA71 after 1981 (in the US). All '82 through '89 DL/GL/GL10 Leone body Subaru's in the US got the EA81 from the factory. And in fact the 80/81 EA71 won't even fit due to a completely different bell-housing so EA71's that will fit into the '82 to '89 Leone's are relatively rare - being made only for the STD hatch or imported. And in any case that listing is wrong because they made the STD hatch (all hatch's actually) till '89 in the states and the EA71/EA81 continued in other countries till at least '94 that we know of. EA82 stuff is generally refered to as the "Loyale" body to distinguish it from the Leone which were sold at the same time from '85 to '89. GD

Start with a 10 amp - if that blows then go higher. GD

I would tend to disagreee with that - the replacement head gaskets for the EJ25D are basically a "thick" turbo gasket and once installed correctly..... well I haven't heard of a repeat failure on any of the MLS stuff. I agree to an extent. But how many broken EJ belts have you actually seen? How often is it even asked about beyond speculation on this board? I can't remember the last time I actually saw a post about a belt breaking and I have personally seen seized idlers and water pumps that DID NOT break the belt yet I have not come across an actual failure personally. It's not really an issue since even with a chain you are going to have to be in there for *something* every 100k (seals, water pump - chain tensioner - those silly VVT actuators.... etc) . Since the belts last just as long - it's really a moot point IMO. Belts are quieter and cheaper than chains when they *do* need replaced though. I'm really not conviced of the superiority of chains these days - I think that the pendulum is swinging that way because consumers feel better about chains right now. The "belt interval" has become a marketing albatross even though it hasn't *really* been an issue for over a decade. Reliability has never been better for timing belts than it is right now. The "belt technology" has cought up with engine longevity. Chains had to get there as well - heck the 350 SBC in my '69 GMC had a worn out timing chain at 100k. Looked worse than any EJ belt setup I've seen at 100k. The "chain technology" just wasn't there back in those days. GD

I think the main problem is going to be the gearset in the FWD tranny. The gears are narrow, not shot-peened, and basically just not designed for that much power. There's hope that the slip at the wheels will put some "give" in the system but then you are just letting all that power go to waste.... put large enough tires on it and then you are back to narrow, weak gears as the weakest link. My prediction - somewhere north of 200 HP you are going to get the tires nice and sticky - and on the shift from 1st to 2nd it's going to rip every tooth off the 2nd gear set. I've seen it on AWD's putting down less power. Ultimately - if you can't replace the gearset inside it (maybe with something from a turbo AWD box), then it's just not going to hold. That tranny was designed for 110 HP. Then there's the problem of grip - over 200 HP and light cars that were once "fun" with FWD and 100 HP become a pain to drive because the slightest tap of the skinny pedal breaks the tires loose. I helped install a frankenmotor (high comp. EJ25 with torque cams) into a Brat (lighter than your coupe) with a 5 speed D/R (FWD unless it's in 4WD) and it almost has too much power to use with only FWD even with upgraded tires. It's probably somewhere around 180 HP. More would be unusable in it's current config. I'm all for building stuff - I just don't like build stuff that breaks. Most people here would probably say I over-engineer my builds. But I rarely have a problem with my designs and I'm about as anal as they come about wrenching. It's an engineering attitude that comes from a previous life. GD

The entire west coast is rust free unless you are ON the coast where there is salt in the air. I own three EA81's and non have even a spot of rust. I also have a '69 GMC truck that's got no rot at all. GD