GeneralDisorder

Why not save your pennies, fly out here for a vacation and bring home a west coast gem. 4WD GL's command almost nothing out here - hell my local yard had an 88 GL D/R running driver for sale for $550 last month - probably still there - that's how bad they are wanted . Come to the next WCSS, get all fixed up for your ride back, and have a nice vacation at the beach while you are here - isn't that worth the extra $1000 it would cost? And I'm sure you could save that much in a whole year am I right? Don't buy a messed up DL and screw with 4WD swaps - I've been there and done that and let me tell you it's not all that it's cracked up to be. I think maybe myself, Rob (Turbone) and a handful of others are the only one's that have done it and it's not as simple as those who have never actually put tools to bolts would make it sound. GD

Ok - AND XT6's. I always forget they were still being made.... GD

It's a relative thing - relative to age. They were good engines in their day but most now need a lot of maintenance and they always needed timing belts every 50k - that was just the nature of the beast. Being in Florida you are going to be have issues with parts availibility, cooling system maintenance, and finding anyone that still has the skills to work on them. 17 MPG on premium?!? First - why in the world are you running premium? And second, unless that's a Forester XT with the 2.5 Turbo you should NOT be getting 17. Hell that's what I get with a lead foot on my 91 SS Turbo.... something is wrong if you are getting less than 25. GD

They are not an interferance fit - if you have to actually HAMMER on them something is wrong. It's just a bit of impact to dislodge them from any varnish that might be holding them in place. On well maintained engines and at reassembly they can be pulled out and inserted by hand. It's a finesse thing and you have to have a bit of feel for it. Slight force isn't going to hurt anything - it's jut the piston slapping the bore a bit. GD

Hey! I remember that thread! Cool. GD

If you have to ask about an AC idler pulley killing the deal on buying an '88 GL.... then you shouldn't own one. You don't have the skills to keep it on the road. +1 to what Cougar said - the 88 won't get enough better mileage to justify the added cost of maintenance on a car that's now 21 years old. And EA82's are just a pain in the butt. GD

Yes it is possible - but please post this in the new-generation forum. This forum is for pre-1990, Loyale's and Justy's. GD

Slide hammer and a hook. Or just a hooked bit of flat-bar with a hook on the other end to hammer on. There are more exotic tools out there but a slide hammer is how it's done at the dealerships (not that they rebuild engines, but that's the OEM tool for the job). GD

Remove the y-pipe and isolate the problem. It is likely to be the inner pipe - that section is double-layered, or a heat sheild. Tack weld the offending bits in place and reinstall. Should be a simple fix - no reason to replace it if it's not leaking and is otherwise functioning normally - they are pretty expensive from the dealer - probably $200 to $300 or more. GD

Fel-Pro is not a good choice for the intake and exhaust gaskets. The dealer is the ONLY place to get those if you want them to last more than 10,000 miles - specifically the Fel-Pro intake gaskets are simply paper and the OEM gaskets are graphite impregnated metal - coolant flows through the manifold so you want something that's going to withstand the pressure - the paper does not in my experience. EA81 and EA82 carb/SPFI manifolds call out the same part number for the intake gaskets. For the rest - the cost difference is negligible so I would get them all through the dealer. On EA water pumps I generally just use a very thin layer of Loctite flange sealant (518 I think) or you can use RTV if you don't have any 518 around. The OEM gaskets for the water pump are just paper so I prefer the flange sealant personally. The front main is just a lip seal - probably nitrile but I have had issues with aftermarket seals not having a good fit on the OD. Use a bit of Loctite 242 (I use the 248 stick form) on the OD of the seal and make sure you drive it in sqaure and flush. Valve cover and oil pan gaskets are cork - the OEM cork material is much denser than the aftermarket stuff and holds up much better. RTV is important here - it is not called for in the FSM but coating the cork in a thin layer (as thin as you can get and not see through it) and letting it dry creates a protective rubber layer that will repel oil. The cork gaskets seal very well but have a short lifespan if not protected in this way - the oil soaks into the cork and breaks down into varnish - causing the cork to shrink and become brittle over time. The RTV prevents this and also makes them reusable if you do it right. Most people use WAY too much of the stuff - one standard squeeze tube of RTV should do a dozen oil pans or more. Use SPARINGLY - the stuff can clog oil passages and filters if it breaks off and gets sucked up. GD

I know what you mean - my box looks just like that. I work directly with a couple of really filthy tech's and their boxes are crammed to overload with everything immaginable - drawers dedicated to nuts/bolts/fasteners (we have a very extensive shop supply area for that stuff), and others just full of dirt/filth/porn etc. Somehow I imagine their homes are like this as well GD

Could be just about anything - Hitachi's are finiky like that. If you really want it to work correctly tear the carb down and rebuild it properly - resetting everything to factory adjustment. Your backfireing is the only thing that's probably not entirely the fault of the carb - you are getting fresh oxygen into the exhaust probably somewhere in the y-pipe. Either the AIS valves are broken or there are holes/gasket leaks, etc in the y-pipe. GD

The filter in the engine bay is really a "vapor seperator" although it does have a filter element as well - the one that actually traps debris is the one before the pump back near the tank. How does that one look? Have you tested your fuel pressure? It would be worth it to throw on a $5 gauge and see what you are putting out. The stock fuel pumps only put out around 1 to 1.5 psi. Sometimes it's not enough for the Weber if they are starting to drop in pressure. Pull the supply line to the carb and wire the fuel pump to run - see what kind of volume you are getting into a bucket. No sense tearing the carb down till you know for sure the problem isn't simply poor fuel supply. GD

So your car is currently 2WD or 4WD? Are you wanting to go to 4WD, FT4WD, or AWD? For starters, you aren't going to keep up with that WRX unless you invest more money than a used WRX would cost into an '86 GL. You don't have the engine, you don't have the grip, you don't have the suspension, and you don't have the brakes. GD

http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/EA81_SPFI.html At the bottom of my EA81 SPFI conversion write-up you will find Snowman's original EA82 conversion write-up. About the only thing that's different is some of the electrical hook-ups to the car, the distributor mod, and the IAC mod. The rest is very similar so you can reference my write up for that as well as Snowman's. I have more pictures in mine than his does. To answer your questions - yes there is a computer, and yes you can swap the entire engine. Most of the modification have to be done to the fuel system and the wireing. There's quite a little bit of wireing involved and you will have to pull the entire front-end harness from the donor. The fuel system has to be upgraded to high-pressure hoses and fitted with the SPFI's fuel pump and wireing to run it. The hard-line diameter is different between the two bodies and you will have to get some adapters to convert to the required diameters of the new components. The return line is smaller but still seems to work fine for most people. Lots of folks have done it - don't be afraid to dive right in. The SPFI system is the best fuel system ever made for the EA series engines - dead reliable and simple too. GD

You need a reader. Seals fail - no engine is immune to it. Your engine is mostly known for it's propensity to eat head gaskets. Someone will know - I can't think of what it would be off the top of my head. The better question is why are you asking? And a picture would help. Dealer, or maybe eBay. There isn't a single FSM - there is a set of books - buying the whole set is expensive. GD

Change your plugs and wires. Your are probably seeing it mostly on hills and "loaded" because that's when the engine try's to richen the mixture for power and your are not getting proper ignition. These engines seem to like annual plug changes - the wires are cheap so I generally do both. GD

It can be done but Brat's never had power windows so likely the harness plugs are not there. You need all the stuff from a power window equipped coupe as they were the only large door body ever equipped with PW's. Your glass will work with the PW tracks. GD

There were pictures posted a few years ago of a Gen 1 coupe or sedan that was converted to electric. Wasn't cheap IIRC, but it was pretty neat. Retained the 5 speed front wheel drive and adapted an electric motor to it. GD

I would caution against resealing EA81 oil pumps - by the time they need it they are generally totally worn out. Replace the pump and see where you are at. You did put the spring back in that controls the pressure right? Did you inspect and measure any of the tollerances in the pump? Most of them that I have torn down are badly scored from people not replaceing the oil filters soon enough and dirty oil bypassing the filter and eating the insides of the pump. I have thrown away probably half a dozen that were totally chewed. GD

'86 on 2WD GL's and possibly some CA models. GD

Sounds like either the bowl is emptying under full load (low pressure, float adjustment, clogged filter or screen, etc), or you have some blockage in the secondary circuit. Check the spray pattern of the secondary - it definitely sounds like you have a severe lean condition when you open the secondary. GD

No - it's legit. Used to be a fairly common practice to bob them like that. Helps the departure angle quite a bit. Probably in Austrailia by the looks of the bumper, etc. Plus the picture's file name says it's a Brumby - that pretty much pegs it for certain. GD

The 170 AC should be in the primary, not the secondary - larger AC's lean out the mixture which is not what you want for WOT operation and the secondary is larger - requiring more fuel. You probably won't have to change the pump jets, but check the emulsion tubes to be sure they are F50's. That's the common one for our application so they are likely to be correct. GD

It just depends on what you are looking for. Oddball stuff in metric sizes is hard to come by in the states. I live in a large city (biggest in OR), and I needed some simple (so I thought) 6mm steel tubing. Had to get it shipped up from CA.... no one has a lot of this stuff and it's very often a case of buying the tooling and making it yourself. GD