GeneralDisorder

The dieseling is not a "problem" per-se. It's a result of quite a few factors - engine design, timing, idle speed, idle mixture, climate, ect. It cannot be avoided in all cases with the Subaru EA engines - that's why the stock carbs have anti-deiseling solenoids. You can adjust the idle speed/mixture and the timing and get it to stop most of the time but it will often return on a hot summer day. The solution if you want it gone permanently is to get the anti-dieseling solenoid for the Weber - they are about $40 and they simply replace the main idle jet holder on the front of the carb. Takes 5 minutes to install because the wireing for it is already there. You just screw it in, crimp a female spade terminal to the existing anti-diesel solenoid wire and hook it up. The #4 cylinder tap could easily be one of the lifters on that side. Solid lifter's should be adjusted every 15k anyway so you might want to adjust them again. It only takes 30 minutes or so to check and adjust them all. If you have a set of long metric feeler gauges they make the job a bit easier. I also use a "midget" wrench set to do the adjustments - came with a Craftsman mechanic set I bought years ago - tiny little things just perfect for the valve adjusters. I've also done it with a 6" crescent but it doesn't give as nice of a feel. GD

You need not have bought a new distributor - they can be rebuilt. A used one that's rebuildable generally runs about $25. I usually have a few sitting around. These guys do all my distributor work. Usually runs about $75 to $100 to have one completely gone through. http://www.philbingroup.com/ For the coil buy one from the dealer. You are almost certain to get the wrong one if you go to any other parts source or aftermarket. You don't want to damage the ignitor - trust me. GD

Last set I did took about 4 hours. You take a few measurements, go to home depot and get some 1"x3/16" flat bar, cut 8 2.25" sections, drill and tap a hole in each one for the EA81 rail bolts, and then weld them to the EA82 seat bottom. I wrap the area in wet towels so I don't have to remove the covers. Then you just bolt the rails on, and bolt them into the car. It's straightforward and simple. Welding is the prefered method of attaching the brackets as it is both secure and low-profile. A bolt-head will not fit between the rail and the existing mounting holes. Possibly a socket-head cap screw or using 1/4" flat bar and counter-sinking them would work but I'm tall so I don't want anything thicker than it has to be. GD

You can get an electric choke for the Weber's for about $40. I sugest you do that rather than mess with the manual. I put a manual choke on the stock Hitachi that was on my hatch - it worked but not as well and confused the hell out of my woman. GD

Some welding required for all but original EA81 seats. The closest thing to bolt-in anyone has found is the late 80's Isuzu Impulse seats. Three of the four holes line up with the stock rails. Good luck finding a set GD

While it's possible to turbocharge a carb, it's a mess to do it. Carbs work on principles of differential pressure, venturi, emulsion, ect. When you start changing the incomming air pressure these things change dramatically and some of them break down entirely. There are two basic types of carbed turbo setups - blow-through and draw-through. Both have advantages and both have severe problems as well. 1. In a blow-through setup you push air through the carb. This changes the pressure inside the carb to higher than atmospheric under boost. There are all kinds of problems with this setup: a. Either the carb has to be very well sealed, or has to be contained inside a pressure vessel. It's generally easier to just put the whole thing inside a sealed box and avoid spraying air-fuel mixture out of your throttle shaft bushings when the boost comes on. The Maserati BiTurbo used this method. b. Fuel pressure has to rise linearly with boost pressure. Otherwise the float bowl will not be a consistent level or the boost will just slam the needle shut against the seat and you'll starve for fuel. c. Because carbs are designed around differential pressure, and you are cahnging that with the turbo, you will have a very hard time tuning the carb to run well both on and off boost. In the case of the Maserati they used a sequential turbo setup that made it much easier to keep the engine under boost most of the time - the rest was mostly idle and that circuit is seperate so much easier to tune. 2. In a draw-through setup you pull air through the carb. This is easier in that the carb works as normal because it's not exposed to the pressure. This would seem to solve the problem except for the new one's you create: a. The intake runner's have to be quite long to go from the carb, to the turbo, and back to the engine. This has all sorts of bad implications for tuning. The carb lags a bit behind the engine demand. b. You now have highly explosive air-fuel mixture INSIDE your turbocharger, and intercooler . One good backfire through the intake durring tuning and you'll blow the intercooler up like a bomb. This is what makes the draw-through setups dangerous and for all their problems the blow-through aren't nearly as likely to put you in the hospital or burn the car down. GD

The driveability of the SPFI has no equal in the carb world. Weber's are nicer than the stock Hitachi but the SPFI is so plentiful that you really can't go wrong either way. The SPFI will give you performance like a Weber, better fuel economy, and availibility of spart parts. I highly reccomend either one, but the SPFI will give the greater return for your investment if you are concerned about money. It will likely be cheaper, take a bit longer to setup, but will return that time investment in improved driving and economy beyond what the Weber can do. Obviously I suppose I'm a bit partial being that I wrote the conversion guide but I'm here to help if you decide to give it a try. My next one is going to be an "SPFI in a box" type conversion where all the electronics and electrical components will be in a water-tight box in the spare tire area. GD

You are correct - long bolts put high stress loads on the capture nuts - they were not designed for this and that should be taken into account when properly designing a lift. It's a poor design. On all my lifts I have used the original bolt's to secure the blocks to the body and then separate bolts to secure the suspension components to the blocks. This avoids almost all the unnecessary stressing of the capture nuts and the uni-body. On 4" lifts this is super easy as the lift blocks are just 2" sections of 2"x4"x1/4" wall channel. I gusset the channel on the open sides as well leaving an opening to slip the bolts through and get a ratchet/breaker bar on them. GD

Metal fatigue probably. I would wager they got loose and you wheeled too far before inspecting and tightening all your lift blocks. Under normal circumstances, with the bolts all tight, that would be nearly impossible to accomplish. But if the bolts work loose a bit they can apply forces that the body wasn't designed to handle when they bounce in the holes and pull sideways ect. You should check and tighten everything after every run, and several times durring the first outing with a new lift, or modifications. GD

It's there for a reason. It likely serves a pressure relief purpose of some sort. Without it I would expect either the engine to starve for oil, or the oil to bypass the filter. I haven't looked closely enough to see what it does but I would never attempt to use a pump without the spring. GD

About 210 to 215 at the highest. Around 220 you start breaking down the oil quick and engines that run that hot will generally spec out synthetic. Since it's a new engine I would be running synthetic anyway. I wouldn't shop for a gauge at shucks - get a decent Autometer 3 gauge setup so you can monitor Coolant Temp, Oil Pressure, and Volts (or amps if you prefer). GD

Easiest way to do it is to change the front engine sub-harness over to a complete front harness from an SPFI car. That involves pulling the dash out, but it's a lot better than trying to hack together a conversion into the existing harness. You'll need the harness and the computer and maybe some other peices - anything you find attached to the SPFI harness you should grab in case you need it. You may find you need to use the SPFI fuel pump but the turbo pump should work I would think. It's higher pressure but the regulator on the SPFI TB will step it down to the required 21 psi. GD

Stock thermostat is 192 degrees - the fan switch is generally around 10 degrees higher than that. 200 degrees is fine. The gauges aren't known for their reliability but you had better install a quality aftermarket gauge as the EA82T's are known to not handle overheating well at all. I would also reccomend you replace EVERY cooling system hose in the vehicle. They are too old to rely on if they are original. That includes the small hoses that run to the TB, and the coolant supply and return hoses from the turbo. One weak link and you'll be looking for another engine. GD

Having a column machined would cost just about a fortune - the splines are what kills the idea. Besides that there is just no need for it. You just cut and add the neccesary length to the T-bar that connects from the u-joint to the rack. In the case of power rack's it's even easier as you just add a second u-joint. One thing you will find out real quick - you won't like not having power steering with big tires. Everyone that has driven with PS on lifted Subaru's agree's that the difference is amazing and would never own another one without it. GD

You do know there is a filter screen in the Weber carb top behind the nipple right? I would be checking that. GD

I'm pretty sure the brakes won't bolt on but if you use EA81 brakes I don't see why they wouldn't. The only other area of concern for me would be the tie-rod end fitting the knuckle. GD

I'm sorry - I misrepresented that one. They are about $100 from the dealer and about $15 to $20 from Napa. Still worth replacing though. GD

Yes they did. Not too hard to find if you lookout for them on craigslist. There is some question as to whether the D/R coupes were using the 1.2:1 low range or not in N/A trim but that's easy enough to tell by looking at the diff. GD

That is very common as Gary says. I will add though that if you are doing the work yourself CHANGE THE DRIER. They are like $20 from the dealer. The dessicant inside protects the system from contaminants that will acidify the refigerant and eat the orings and shrader core's. The driers are less expensive than the refrigerant you are going to put in the system so it's a worthwhile investment. GD

I work with Zep products all day so I know them best - I would probably start with a citrus based degreaser like Big Orange, and after that soaks in I would spray it all out with an evaporating degreaser like ID-Red or Aerosolve. Similar products can be found at the local autozone or the like I'm sure. GD

USRM to the rescue: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49952 http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54203 Contact Bratsrus1 (Jerry) - he makes a kit for $100 that makes the install essentially a bolt-in. He lives in Yakima so you could probably just hook up with him and avoid shipping. GD

The problem is that the ER27 (your 2.7 - 6) is rare and the parts for it are expensive. Couple that with the fact that it's really too long to fit properly in an EA series engine bay and it's a lot more cost effective to install a common EJ22E and get nearly the same power with a much easier install, cheap, availible parts, and newer technology. In the end the biggest thing that has stopped most conversions to the ER27 is the cooling system. Without lengthening the front end, or locating the radiator on top of the engine there's just no place for it to go. GD

A lot of scrap places will pay decent for the things. I've seen places advertise $100 a piece for them. The have some precious metals in them like platinum and palladium. GD

Actually they both are converters. Some models had two. Some only had the first one at the y-pipe junction. The models that only have one have a resonator where your second cat is at in the mid-pipe. GD

IIRC, on the EA82's that's a flange that uses two 10mm bolts to secure it to the head correct? It probably could use a new gasket. Otherwise you can cut the flange off the pipe leaving about 1", flatten it with a hammer and run a weld across the seam. Make sure you get the mating surfaces clean and use something like loctite 518 or 519 on the flange. That's the catalytic converter. The valve you are trying to fix supplies it with fresh oxygen to facilitate the catalyst action and increase it's performance. They are stainless steel, so keep that in mind when you are working on them. I generally remove the heat sheilds, cut a flap out of the top so I can dump out the contents, then weld it back up. The heat sheild covers up the welded flap so no one is the wiser come inspection time if you have such a thing. Often the guts are either broken and rattling around in there or just gone - leaving only the wire mesh and some bracketry to get sucked into the outlet side of the housing and screw with your backpressure. GD