GeneralDisorder

Actually the difference in octane ratings is purely one of how it's calculated by the laws of the country you are in. There are two common ratings (RON and MON) and some countries use one and some use the other. By govenment mandate here in the US we use the average of the two. That makes our ratings quite a bit lower than Japan for the same grade of fuel. So our 91 is their 105 or whatever..... That said, the EA82T should run just dandy on 89 or higher. Higher is prefered but they have a knock sensor and fairly low boost pressure's stock. 91 is prefered but you won't notice the difference much at all. In other words - octane is not your problem. Not even remotely. JDM has nothing to do with how it will run here - the fuel inejction system is USDM and the compression ratio of the engine is still 7.7:1 - requireing the same octane as the original engine that came with the car. GD

I think the SPFI cable will work, yes (if it's an EA82 we are talking about - the pedal end is different on EA81's). The adjustment nut's and the end of the cable is a larger diameter but if you can work around that the barrel should fit the Hitachi wheel. Otherwise the cables aren't real expensive from the dealer - I think around $20 give or take. Obviously they don't stock them but they can usually have them in a few days. You could always tie a string to it and run it in the cabin for a temporary control. GD

They work OK for the price. They aren't the caddilac of welders obviously but they are common enough (due to the cheap price) that there are lots of mods you can do to them to improve their features and welding characteristics - lots of good write-up's and such can be found over on weldingweb and other forums. The MIG torch and cable is cheap on them but it's also cheap to replace - parts are readily availbile through HF if you just call them. Shipping is fast, etc. There's a lot of plusses to them from that standpoint if you are handy with electrical and into modifying things with bigger, better fans, better diode bridges, etc. I have the 110v version of the same machine - gas capable, etc. It was my first MIG welder and I did add gas and tweak it a bit. Worked OK till I wanted to weld serious structural stuff. They can't handle much over 1/8" on the 110v machines. And the 220v machines won't handle as much as the big-name 220v machines will. Typically they over rate the machines. A 220v HF machine will not do what my 220v Fabricator 180 will do. If you want to step up to something decent but a little less than the Lincoln/Miller stuff take a look at the Thermal-Arc offerings. It's Tweco's welder division. My Fabricator 180 was $625. I like it a lot. I can weld up to 3/8 no problem and that's about as thick as I typically go. Plenty of good used machines out there as well. Take a shot at craigslist and see what you find. Lots of people trying to make a few bucks on machines they don't use right now with the bad economy. One of the biggest overlooked costs with 220v machines is getting power to them where you need to weld. You need a decent extension cord and that's a few $$. I built my own from 8/3 SOOW cord - it was still around $100 for the cord, end's, and such. If they don't get the amps they need they won't weld worth beans. If you can find a gas bottle on sale you might get a decent sized one for $80 or so. Gas regulator will come with the quality machines - not sure about the HF one. But that's another $75 cost if it doesn't. GD

Dealership. They aren't terribly expensive - best to get a new one. You don't want it binding. GD

Yeah - I don't like em much so I don't see many either. But it's helpful to remember that Subaru has never made a turbo with a carb. In fact very few car manufacturer's have ever done that. Although the Masarati BiTurbo comes to mind...... GD

No choke or carb on the turbo engines. I agree - start with plugs/wires/cap/rotor. Turbo's in general don't like large plug gaps as the high cylinder pressure's tend to cause misfireing if the plug gap is out of spec. When warm the mixture will lean out and make the problem more noticeable. Also might be a good idea to get a resistance reading on the coolant temp sensor - the computer may not know it's warm. And have you checked for codes? The ECU might be able to give you a head start on troubleshooting if it's got codes set in the memory. Clean the MAF if it has a hot-wire type. Electronics cleaner or MAF cleaner will do the trick. Check the timing - the timing information should be on the hood sticker - it varies depending on the year for the turbo's. GD

You need the '84 factory service manual (it's a single volume) and the 85 to 89 Brat/Hatch wireing supplement. Those two will cover everything for all the 84+ EA81's. They did not print Brat specific FSM's - the Brat is a carry-over body style from the '80 to '84 lineup and as such continues to use the '84 FSM. Only wireing changes were made after '84 as all new development was concentrated on the EA82 platform. GD

It's a little more involved than just bolting it in - the non-power cross-member's have no provision for the power steering lines, etc. While it could probably be done, everyone that has gone so far as to remove a cross-member and put it on the bench next to a power rack has decided it wasn't worth the time and hassle. I've seen at least one post with side-by-side pictures in the last few months that showed it was a pretty messy proposition. GD

I can never remember which is which - the EA81/EA82 switch's got reversed when they changed from 4 to 5 speed If that's the case, then 91Loyale's sugestion is good - it's probably not in 4WD, but the rod is closer to 4WD than it is to 2WD so it's bumping the switch in the transfer case. If it's the lifted wagon in your avatar - that's probably your problem - someone has lowered the transmission and not properly redone the linkage to match the new location of the body. GD

Here's how I always setup mine - if your's is an EA82 it could be slightly different but I do them very similar for both. That's the factory cable bracket - I just chuck it in a vise and bend it how I want it then mount it under the carb base nut. This is on a manual choke DGV-5A, but EV/AV are identical. Just in case you were wondering if it's the same carb since there's no choke housing. As for your specific problem - that is not common. They typically open plenty far if you use the Hitachi throttle wheel on the Weber's shaft. It works just like the stock carb for all the one's I've ever done. GD

The blue just indicates where the race was probably welded - perhaps durring a remanufacturing process or maybe even primary manufacturing. The orientation of the inner race for the DOJ should be evident by the wear patterns of the inner and outer race - look for the locations on the two races where the balls contact and line them up. Also - I beleive the concave side is toward the spring clip - but check me on that with the wear pattern. GD

Very similar to the Phase II EJ25's, yes. With the exception that the tensioner is a completely different (and crappy) design that it's best to just replace when the belt is done (@ 105k intervals). GD

I think you can turn off signature display in your settings page somewhere - I'm sure that must be it. As for the idler bearings - Subaru at some point "upgraded" all the lower idler's that were single-row bearings to double row. Not that it seems to matter much - especially if you replace them every time you do the belt (I do since I often buy the aftermarket "kit" that contains everything under the sun - better safe than sorry for the price IMO. If I were buying dealer parts I would still change them every other belt change like the water pump. The aftermarket kits seem to come with only the single-row idler's - again I haven't had a problem with one yet (OEM or otherwise). As for failures - I've seen the cogged idler's fail most commonly, followed by water pumps. When the water pump goes it will often cause enough drag on the belt to pull back the tensioner and cause the belt to skip one or several teeth on the cam sprockets - leading to very rough running or a no start. EJ22 belts are pretty simple beasts - I leave the lower smooth idler off and install the belt - then I install the lower idler, pry the tensioner over and lock it down, then pull the retaining pin. That's what works for me anyway - I'm sure there are other methods. Oh - and as for sealant on the WP gasket - that depends on what type of gasket you use. The OEM gasket uses no sealant, but most aftermarket one's are paper - which is fine. I hold them in place with a very light coating of RTV. The old EA engines used paper gaskets for the WP and I've even used nothing but RTV alone and I've never had a problem with any of the methods as long as it's done with care and a good eye. Just don't use anything with the OEM graphite/metal gasket - it doesn't need it. GD

Your question *technically* belongs in the Historic section, but as it deals with engine rebuilding it's probably going to garner more attention here anyway. I don't know if the EA71 would bolt up - but it's entirely possible. The EA63 and EA71 are very similar in design. You are going to have a hard time finding parts and rebuild components - I know that Subaru no longer has any head gaskets for EA71's and I doubt they would have much of anything for the EA63's - though you should check there first - if they have anything their parts are prefered. Try www.rockauto.com - they have about as extensive a collection of parts as I've seen online. Another option would be to source a complete EA71 and transmission - it should more or less drop in without much difficulty as the later 70's 4WD's had this setup. GD

The radius rod's could be dealt with - either by using modified EA81 radius rods, or by moving their mounting point on the radius rod plates. As I said - it would be a lot of work to do it the right way and have the cross-member bolt up like it would be stock. But it's something I might consider for a 5 lug conversion - in conjuction with a bunch of EJ parts. Though I would probably look at swapping in the Legacy stuff instead. GD

With enough modification, an EA82 cross-member might work. As you sugest the cross member would need to be cut in half. The mounts for the rack would have to be scarfed off and rewelded most likely. It's all down to how much modification you want to do. EA81 PS cross-member's are out there. I have one car stock with PS, and I have a couple of EA81T cross-members that I'm going to use for PS on other projects. GD

Neither will bolt up without modifications as they are wider from frame rail to frame rail. It's easier if you do a lift at the same time but you are going to move the tires out about 1.5" on either side if you go with anything other than an EA81 member. It would be best if you sourced an EA81 power steering cross-member. They can be found. GD

Classic wheel bearing. You will rarely feel play in EA series wheel bearings because there are two and likely only one has failed - unlike tapered roller bearings on a spindle the entire assembly will not loosen till BOTH wheel bearings have failed and not just a little wear either - you would have to have serious failure on both bearings to introduce any play to the wheel. Additionally the parking brake is on the front wheel and most people forget to disengage the parking brake when checking wheel bearings - the brake locks the rotor/hub/wheel to the knuckle and no play will be felt. Front diffs rarely fail, and the noise couldn't possibly change when steering if that were the case. GD

The 4WD switch is attached to the linkage inside the cabin. It's just a little reed switch that is hit by the linkage when you pull up on the lever. Pull the console out and see what's up with it. Might just need to be bent a little. GD

Mileage is a poor measure of an engine's wear. Religiously maintained, never driven till warmed up, nearly all freeway miles, etc, etc - the EJ22 could easily push well into the 500,000 to 800,000 or more range. They are very well designed. As an example - I just resealed an EA82 (1.8, Throttle Body Injection) from a '94 Loyale. It was quite literally "little old lady" owned for it's entire life - I met the original owner, and she sold it at about 225k to her neighbor who put another 25k on it. It overheated (once) and the shop told her it was head gaskets. It was actually a blown water pump bypass hose - but it was due for a reseal anyway as it was leaking oil from the front crank seal, etc. Upon tear-down though - it's the cleanest EA82 I've ever seen on the inside. The oil pump was pristine, cylinder's still have factory hone marks, etc. It probably never saw over 4,000 RPM in it's life. I could easily see this engine making another 200k with the condition it's in. And that's a 3-main bearing EA82 - not the superior 5-main EJ22 - which tend to last longer under most circumstances. It's all about maintenance and how they are driven. Poorly maintained - none of them will last 100k. I had an EA81 throw a rod at 145k due to poor maintenance - didn't keep up on oil changes and the oil pump wore out. I have a customer with a '90 Legacy. Orginal owner. He runs Mobil 1 through it. I removed it for a clutch (it's FIRST clutch job) at 253k and resealed it at that time. It looks brand new inside and runs like a frieght train. He loves that car - it's never had a major mechanical failure. Just timing belts and seals. GD

I agree - it's probably the wire to the sending unit. I had an EA82 that sat for a number of years and had the same problem. I ended up just running a new wire up to one of the body connectors on the passenger side kick panel. Trying to find the bad location in the wireing harness was too much work for what the car was worth (beater '86 GL with 250k on it). A new wire fixed the problem though and it never returned as long as I owned it. GD

Yeah - it's easier to find them if you call places. Things that are super common like that don't even get sold online most of the time. It's like looking for a specific bolt - few people go looking for that online. GD

Yeah - both true. Don't know what I was thinking last night. You can't use the 3AT for RWD - that's probably what I was thinking. GD

Yeah - based on the stock cam profile I would agree. Longer durration and less overlap. Those replacements are going to work better at lower RPM than the stock profile and probably will result in less HP up high due to the small overlap. Either that or it's a turbo grind. The small overlap would tend to agree considering the fairly large overlap of the stock cam.... and larger durration and lift is helpful. If they aren't a turbo grind they would probably work well. GD

Looks like you do nice work. I'll try to get a measurement on the Subaru hood for you. That's probably pretty close to the stock height. I'm not in the market but there might be some people on the board here that would be. I've thought about making something similar but I lack the carbs and haven't any experience with dual-carbs of this size/style. GD