GeneralDisorder

The IAC is mostly for cold-idle. It's basically a solenoid valve and you need to verify not only that it's working but that it's getting proper voltage. It may be getting a poor signal due to a high-resistance ground or connection in the harness. A bench test will tell you if the valve works (pulls in and stays in), and then you need to check the voltage in the car. Beyond that there is an adjustment for the IAC port in the throttle body on the side of the TB - looks like a big flat head screw that's recessed into the body. That is how the idle air port is adjusted and you may need to close it off some. Additionally, make sure you haven't adjusted, or someone in the past hasn't adjusted the throttle plate stop screw. That is NOT the idle adjustment and should never be moved or adjusted in any way. There should be a white paint mark to indicate it hasn't been moved. GD

You can look at my SPFI write up - should be very similar. Just do a search for the link as I am away from my computer just now. GD

That is entirely incorrect. The AIS (Air Injection System) takes advantage of the exhaust pulses to pull in fresh air to combine with the catalyst in the converter. It's a passive form of smog pump and has nothing to do with the anti-afterburn system which is seperate and prevents the carb from dumping tons of fuel durring closed throttle coasting. In fact the AIS can actually CAUSE backfireing (afterburn) if enough fresh air is allowed into the ehxaust stream and the mixture is rich enough. The systems are, however, unassociated. The AIS does not affect performance. In fact NONE of the so called "emissions equipment" components affect performance save for one - the Hitachi caburetor itself. It's a big peice of crap and if you are looking for performance you will end up figureing this out on your own. All the ancillery systems are "passive" and other than making the engine bay look cleaner, removing or altering them will gain nothing at all. GD

If the emergency flashers work then the flasher module is working. There is only one module. Still could be a wireing issue. Is there any evidence of the windsheild leaking? Often when you have interior wiring issues with the EA series cars it's because of water intrusion from a leaking windsheild seal. Usually in the corners at the bottom. GD

You have bad ball joints. Steering with the gas and brake is a classic symptom. Replace them before your wheels fall off. GD

Of course not - many vehicles don't have AC. The AC dries the air which makes the defrost work a little bit better. It also serves to keep the oil in the AC system circulating and the bearings from being damaged by months of non-use. GD

That means little - just because a company makes a low-end product like Fram for the consumer market doesn't mean they don't also (likely) make high-end filters for the industrial markets and can make whatever you want. They are made to Subaru's specifications and THAT is the factor that needs to be considered. My company builds and sells compressors (among other things) - if you want a cheap POS - we will sell it to you. If you want the custom hot-rod of compressors - we'll build you that too. It's about what you ask for. Fram IS cheap crap, but any good manufacturer has more than one level of product line to sell. My dealer is less than $6 for filters, so yes you got totally hosed. My Napa is 4.99 for the EA81 filters, and $3.99 for the EJ filters. WIX OEM of course. GD

If you can't move it by sucking on it - it's bad. It needs to be able to respond quickly to small changes in manifold vacuum - just a few inches of mercury. You should be able to suck about 5 or 6 inches and it should be responding to that. Max vacuum signal to the pot is around 20 inches or less due to the ported vacuum design and the limits of what the engine can pull. Likely the rubber inside has shrunk or something. There are places that can rebuild them. I had one done a coupe years ago for about $20. As they are no longer availible that seemed like a good way to go. GD

The neutral switch will not cause your problem. Start looking at your fuel system. Run a D-Check and see if you get any codes that way. You could have a bad TPS or maybe several things wrong. GD

What do they do when they aren't working? On constantly or nothing at all? It's likely to be a bad flasher module as the switches don't often fail. Probably a failing speedometer cable or speedometer head. It's very likely that your heater core is clogged. You can try flushing it but that rarely works. There could also be a problem as previously stated with the mechanical control - there's a heater control valve that operates by a cable and rod system - it controls the flow of coolant (or not) through the core. The valve is located on the drivers side of the core down by your feet - follow the heater core hoses into the cabin - they attach directly to this valve assembly. Check to see that the valve is operating when you turn the knob. GD

Not true - they changed in 83.5 to a different pedal bracket with a change in the cable as well. The cables are not easily interchangeable without changing the entire pedal assembly. Aftermarket cables suck - you'll be changeing it again. Remember to route it under the steering linkage and heater core hoses. GD

You are correct - disconnecting the vacuum line is just as good as building a block-off plate. As long as the valve is not leaking it will be closed and effectively IS a block-off plate. All this talk of making special parts makes my head hurt. Cut the business end of the valve off and weld up the hole - block-off plate.... check. Cut the end off the pipe that threads into the head leving about 1/2" of the pipe left. Crimp the pipe flat and run a weld bead across it. EGR passage plug.... check. EGR does not affect performance IN ANY WAY. Blocked, unblocked, working or not. Got that? It merely lowers combustion temps to prevent formation of certain exhaust oxides. Personally I clean the valve and leave them be - I'll often reroute the vacuum supply directly to the carb to avoid the solenoids that the stock system employs. I have run them blocked and not - working and non. You will notice no change in performance. Trust me you need to look elsewhere - Weber or SPFI. GD

That's a STD hatch. It's going to be a 4 speed, single range 4WD. EA71 (1.6 liter) with about 64 HP. As stated by others none of the parts from the GL10 will really help you here. The front hub you need is different as is all the drivetrain parts. If the GL10 has a manual transmission it could be made to work but as it's probably push-button it wouldn't be worth it. There's a good reason why there aren't many STD hatch's left. They stank - looked neat with the twin round headlights but no amenities, no dual-range, and small engines. The real killer is they have no tach and no oil pressure gauge - the latter causing the demise of many an older DL and STD model Subaru as push-rod engines like a new oil pump every 100k miles or so - but you wouldn't know that since you can't monitor the pressure without the gauge. You'll spend far more than the hatch is worth getting it rolling again - probably to find that the engine is toast. You can't even get most of the engine parts for the EA71's anymore and even CCR (a leading Subaru engine rebuilder) has discontinued support for them. Subaru doesn't even carry the head gaskets anymore. A much better bet would be to find a decent condition EA81 (GL) hatch here on the west coast and fly out + drive it home. They are plentiful and cheap and you'll spend far less time and energy getting your plan off the ground. Then again - you might want to reconsider your choice of "old Subaru" for your "fun" car that you might wreck. Get something newer and more powerful. There's little fun to be had rallying with 75 HP and even less fun when you wreck or break something and can't find the replacement part you need to save your life. Compared to a more modern Subaru such as your's or my 91 Turbo Legacy driving my hatch is like driving a truck. GD

Likely a head gasket yes. They aren't hard - an afternoon job. Do them on general principle - if they aren't bad, or only slightly bad, they will fail soon anyway with all the overheating you have done to it. GD

The stock rubber fuel lines on a carbed model aren't high-pressure rated. If you simply install the FI pump without upgrading all the lines they will burst and you will be very unhappy (possibly dead). It sounds very much like you have absolutely no idea what you are doing or why. This, coupled with the rather bad tempered nature of the EA82T will result in your ultimate abandonment of this car somewhere on the side of the road - if it ever runs. Now - to see if I am right yet again GD

33 Ohm, 5 watt resistor will do it. If you want the thing to function then any 12 volt solenoid valve will work. Or you can just plumb the two lines together. All it does is purge the vapor from the charcoal canistor - you can yank the canistor and vent your gas tank to the atmosphere. Likely your 20 year old activated charcoal canistor is junk anyway and non-functional as they are intended to be replaced about every few years. Disabling the system with a resistor is both effective and economical considering the cost to make the system function. Bypassing it with a resistor in no way affects how the engine runs. GD

You have ignition or compression problems. When the idle HC's are over 1000 PPM like your's are it's a sure sign that you have an idle "miss" - when the ignition fails to ignite the charge in the cylinder the entire amount of raw unburned fuel is expelled into the exhaust. This is supported by your observation of a miss every three or four seconds and an unstable idle. You need to find the source of your miss. Until you fix that you don't have a hope of passing. This could be a weak spark, low compression, or a severely out of adjustment idle mixture. It could also be as simple as a vacuum leak - spray around with carb cleaner - the idle will change when you find the leak. GD

It's really quite simple Brian: The large white wire and the smaller white wire both go to the fusible links - otherwise known as the "main junction". The large wire is the alternator output, and the smaller one is the sense wire used by the alternator to adjust the voltage output at the main junction. The last wire (white/red) is primarily the feild excitation source, but also functions as a sort of malfunction indicator as the 12v supply is routed through the charge indicator lamp. When the alternator is producing no power the feild windings act as a ground and power flows through the lamp. When the alt is functioning there is potential on both sides of the lamp - if the output drops to lower than battery voltage the charge indicator will again illuminate. Incidentally, the feild excitation wire is not needed. The alternator will self-excite once it reaches a fast enough speed. But it does sound like you have some serious rewireing to do in order to make it work as stock. GD

Coating the cork gasket in RTV works well. Prevents the cork from absorbing oil and being cooked. GD

There's some sources that claim 74 HP for the hydro lifter engines vs. the 73 HP of the solid's but there's other sources that discount it. The short answer is *no* for the US market. Other markets had variations on the EA81 that produced as much as 108 HP (JDM dual-carb RX engine). The differences in the RX engine was largely in the head castings, valve size and placement, cam, and the compression ratio (pistons). Unless you count the EA81 Turbo's made in '83 and '84. Those had 95 HP. If you want big power from an EA81 you are pretty much stuck doing it yourself. GD

Too bad I haven't been online - could have fixed that in place and drove it out. You should replace the other ball joint as well - it's probably worn out anyway and gives you a good excuse to check everything on the other side. For parts around here it's tough to beat Discount Import Parts in Milwaukie or Beaverton. Their prices are usually the lowest and they carry high quality parts - often OEM for our cars. GD

Parts availiblilty might make you rethink using it as a daily driver. The pre-1980 Subaru's are getting near impossible to find parts for - the dealer doesn't even carry the head gaskets for the EA71 engines anymore. Besides that the 4WD is high-range only and can't be converted to a dual-range transmission without also upgrading to the newer engine due to major differences in the bell-housings. Frankly they are small (really small), poorly appointed, 63 HP, and no low-range.... nothing to offer unless you are a collector or enjoy the search for parts like windsheilds and gaskets. Your windsheild can still be found - but the gaskets can't. There was a group-buy on them in the historic forum last I checked but without a new gasket you'll have to have a shop glue it in and it will look like crap. Consider a Legacy or even an EA81 car for a daily instead. The Historic stuff is better left to those who can restore them at their liesure. You can restore, or you can drive, but you can't do both. Take it from someone that has 2 restoration projects currently and three more drivers. There's a reason us old-school Subaru fans end up with a whole fleet of the things. GD

Junkyards are your friends. And to answer your question - yes, in 5 years time we expect parts to be more difficult to find than now. The 70's Subaru's are already seeing this as Subaru of America is out of virtually everything for that vintage. It is doubtful that anyone will pick up the manufacture of these parts in the future. There will likely be a small aftermarket in Brat specific parts as Brat's are collectible. Other than that there will be nothing. The saving grace for the 80's Subaru's is that you can retain the body and with minor (or somtimes major) fabrication you can use legacy components. I fully expect at some point I will have to forgo the EA series engines and go with the EJ22's for powering my EA series bodies. Basically, everything will have to be custom. Which some of us are prepared to do. But if you don't have the skills or the time it really isn't viable to drive them past 30 years. Your muffler example is an excelent one - there was no need to buy a direct replacement. Dozens of aftermarket mufflers will fit easily. All it takes is a little welding - exhaust shops will do it for a reasonable fee. Is it cheaper than a direct-fit? No - but that's the cost of owning a collectible vehicle and it's exactly this collectibility that will drive what little aftermarket we will have in the future as collectors with the capitol and the desire will have the jigs and molds created for these parts. The fact that they are becoming desireable and somewhat expensive will be the force that brings parts back into limited production. So for some parts it will simply be a waiting game. GD

An EA82 set will work fine. The lengths should be largely the same. As for your coil wire - I sugest you relocate the coil. I put the SPFI coil on the drivers side where it's located on the EA82's as that allows you to use the EA82 coil wire. GD

The NGK wire sets are more than sufficient for a stock ignition. GD