GeneralDisorder

I didn't have to remove any spacers since I'm currently using the whole EA82 in my Brat. The original engine is slowly being rebuilt. GD

Mostly the heads. They are DOHC, larger valves, ect. They also have stronger pistons. Burly engines. The 22T has more potential in raw displacement of course, but requires more work to get there. For $2500 you can get the 20TT's and be running 275 to 300 HP without touching the long block. Both are closed deck (the early to mid 90's stuff anyway) so both are very strong. To make massive power, the 22T's need to be swapped over to different heads and pistons and ideally the piston skirt spray nozzles need to be removed (they have a tendancy to fall out and are entirely uneccesary). So to do them right you have to completely dissasemble them. So there's a lot of good reasons to prefer the EJ20TT's if you want a drop-in as they are cheap and have a lot of ponies. GD

There's no difference in the *engine*. No the exhaust won't fit but who cares? Run a (very) large single turbo using US market exhaust peices. The twin turbo block is a fine peice of machinery. GD

I have a factory 93 loyale y-pipe on my Brat as well as the EA82 from the same vehicle. I had to cut the heat sheild for the cat back on the passenger side to clear the radius rod plate on that side. Also the runners to the heads will be longer as the EA82's don't have spacers under the heads. So you would have to remove any spacers you still have in place for it to fit properly. The transmission bracket might work *if* you remove the spacers. Anyway - it wasn't a direct bolt in for me. It works though. GD

Discount is where I bought them as well. I do get a discount through my employer (one of the ancient technicians I work with owns 20 - 30 vintage VW's and setup an account there years ago ), but I didn't think it was that much. Perhaps they increased the price slightly *and* my discount accounts for the rest. Anyway - still cheap. I was paying $100 each for the GCK's and loving life. The EMPI's seem better if anything. They even come with axle nuts and cotter pins GD

A lot of work. Electrical, fuel, frame rail mods, etc. Not worth the trouble. GD

Yes - I'll be having one of those. Thanks for making them up. GD

Nope. You got took. EMPI axles (new) are $58. Bearings and seals are $25 per wheel, but are rarely done at the same time as the axle. They last a long time. 30 minutes to install the axle by a tech that knows what he's doing. $112 is still a bit lower than I would expect, but if you are doing simple jobs like this at a discount to engender good will towards potential return customers in this poor economy.... I could see it. GD

Both are metering ports for different puposes, but yeah - you can't T them together or connect them to each other. They will cause all sorts of weird (undriveable) behavior. GD

Yeah - the metering ports make things REALLY weird when there's leaks there. You can cap them off if you like - they don't do much. GD

Bumping this for an update. In frustration of trying to figure out the mileage issues I was having on the hatch (23 or so), I pulled off the metering port vacuum control valves and capped the metering ports. This made no difference at all so we can safely assume they are of little importance. At the end I was running all the mods in my first post as well as no metering ports or associated plumbing. I then couldn't handle the insanity any longer and installed my Weber (virtually brand new - bought from redline a few years ago for my wagon - less than 10k on it). Mileage actually got a little worse - dropped to about 21 or so. My mileage issue turned out to be a clogged catalytic converter housing. The honeycomb disintegrated and left behind some metal straps and some wire mesh that surrounded and held the honeycomb in place. This got all wadded up in the cat discharge pipe. I removed that and the mileage immediately increased to 25.5 on the next tank with the Weber. I have removed the muffler and mid-pipe and shook them but nothing dislodged. However I feel that there may still be pieces of the cat inside the muffler and once I fab a pipe to replace it it's going away as well. Straight pipe's on EA81's aren't all that loud anyway. I'll see if that helps. I know the Weber is capable of over 30 MPG in it's current jetting as I have achieved that with it on my wagon when it was 2WD. I expect around another 1.5 to 2 MPG increase by freeing up the exhaust. That should translate to very close to 30 MPG with the original Hitachi..... I haven't decided if I'll put it back on or not. SPFI is calling my name and my 91 SS will be on the road soon for daily driving duties. GD

Well - have you removed the top of the carb and inspected the top cover gasket and blown out the passages? You very well may need to replace the top cover gasket and you may as well rebuild the carb in the process as I haven't found a source for the gasket outside of an entire kit. GD

Probably not. Your problem is almost certainly manifold gaskets or carb base gaskets. Why? Do you suspect it's leaking? They rarely fail. Sure - those take 10 minutes. Coat them in RTV and let the dry - they will be more effective. Also easily done in 30 minutes. Same advice as valve cover gaskets. Get both from the dealer ONLY. Redline sells an adaptor plate. Install takes an hour or two. Tuning will take a few weeks. Unless it needs it I wouldn't bother. You can do it without pulling the engine - just remove the radiator and pull the engine up and forward. Yep - every 15,000 Atsugi (OEM). 30 minute job. Are you? Or is it vacuum leaks causing a lean idle? Straight pipe it. Sounds better and cheaper. Gut the cat too. Cut a door and dump the contents. Weld it up and bolt the heat sheilds back on. No one is the wiser. Word to the wise - EJ swaps are best left to those of us that have mechanical backgrounds. Fabrication skills are a requirement. Only the most basic components are availible from a select few vendors (like the adaptor plate). Welding and metal working skills and tools are almost a must. 150k is nothing for the EA81. Most last long past 300k if maintained. The engine internals are almost never a problem - the reason they get crushed is the fuel and ignition systems. People understand little about carbs these days and don't wish to pay more than the car is often worth for expert repair of these systems. The engine's are bulletproof. Not even close. The engine, adaptor plate, and exhaust mods are almost an afterthought to the *actual* work which is the electrical and fuel systems. You are MUCH better off with an entire donor car to pull the harness and fuel system components from. The Brat's fuel tank is not baffeled so a surge tank has to be fabricated. The entire harness removed from the car and merged with the injection/ignition systems from the EJ harness, ECM mounted, etc, etc. LOTS of people get the engine IN the car. Many, many fewer people get them wired and running (and the ones that do take months to do it). Much more realistic for you. 1/10th the cost too. You need the whole car. Prefereably running. For reasons previously mentioned. Your compression is likely fine. Buy a $10 gauge and test it yourself. If you can't do *that* yourself you won't get past speculation on an EJ swap. Being you mention salt it's possible the y-pipe was swapped from a 2WD. You are just as screwed for EJ swap cars then because they are the same years. 90 to 94 legacy for an EJ swap, or 90 to 94 Loyale for an SPFI swap. These are NOT basic wireing diagrams. The ECU has a LOT of pins. Doing the wiring *right* almost requires removing the cars existing harness and merging the parts you need from the legacy harness. More power leads will be needed, and the existing wireing splices and plugs need to be R&R'd to insure you don't have any problems. The EA's are notorious for bad electrical connections and I assure you - you don't want to deal with them AFTER you have hacked the piss out of the wireing. GD

What exactly have you "yarded" out? Emissions systems account for only a small percentage of all that stuff. You really need to understand the operation of the Hitachi before you start removing stuff. GD

1. Did you use OEM gaskets? Aftermarket are VERY different and inferior. 2. Did you chase the threads both in the heads and of the bolts (wire wheel, etc)? 3. Did you oil/anti-seize the bolts before torqueing them? 4. What is the range of your torque wrench? in/lbs or ft/lbs? 5. Did you tighten them in a star pattern, starting with hand tight, 7 ft/lbs, and then the full 15 ft/lbs? GD

Given your experience level I would highly reccoment against a swap of that magnitude. The EA81 is an excelent engine, and a poorly done swap does nothing for the value of a collectible vehicle. See my SPFI swap here for small *taste* of what you are getting into with fuel injecting a carbed vehicle - let alone an engine swap on top of it. http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/EA81_SPFI.html I would sugest doing the SPFI swap or installing a Weber. And get a new mechanic, there is very little emissions equipment on the EA81's. He's obviously scared of vacuum lines and there is no reason to be - 75% of them are not emissions equipment related and have to do with the smooth operation of the Hitachi. The stock Hitachi carb is well designed if somewhat complex - but it's driveability is excelent and they generally last well past 150k without any real maintenance. However - there are good reasons to swap to the Weber and it does simplify the engine bay. GD

That's a nice thought but you can't run u-joints on an IFS. They simply don't work that way because they aren't constant velocity. U-joints can't run over 15 degrees without severe vibration and that doesn't allow for turning without massive binding - the two joints need to be at equal and opposite angles to cancel out the velocity changes - that is only the case with the wheels straight. Porsche 930 CV's for example, can run close to 45 degrees and are quite strong - that's what most of the baja bug community is using now. GD

I'm running EMPI axles right now and they have been fine. Not sure who has them online but EMPI's web site might have some links. GD

For the record I use the control arm bolt and the sway bar link because they are easy to access, and far away from the grease boots which both the ball joint and the tie rod end have. Mess with those too much and you are very likely to puncture a boot. Plus they are often quite a pain in the butt bieng the ball joint is slotted pinch arrangement and the tie rod is a mechanical taper fit. Both are prone to rusting in place in a severe way, and both are easy to damage when removing (not an issue if you are intending on replaceing them, but definately an issue if you are just going in for an axle). With the control arm loose from the engine cross-member the whole knuckle assembly is free to pivot and move on the strut top and the leading rod bushing - both of which are rubber and afford a lot more movement than you need to pull the axle free and drop it. It rarely takes more than 30 minutes to do a single axle. That's *my* way and my reasoning - having done it several ways and found what works and what doesn't. Each car is different though and there are cases where a different approach is useful if you run into severe rust along the way. GD

Yes - there is no idle adjustment on SPFI's. You just need to clean and verify the function of the IAC as mentioned by dave. DO NOT adjust the throttle plate stop screw. It is set at the factory and according to the manual cannot be reset if changed. GD

Subaru's are picky about axles that's true. But I have yet to experience this mystical "bad new axle" that seems so common around here..... yet I have probably installed more EA axles than most. Anyway clicking is classic of poorly torqued axle nut's, worn cone washers, or loose lug nuts. I would guess they didn't get the axle seated properly and the nut is loose. Take it back in and advise them to check it out for looseness and insist they allow you to inspect the cone washer personally. ANY grooving is very detrimental to it's mechanical locking abilities. It works just like any other taper lock device and should be smooth and undamaged. GD

Roll pin. Inner control arm bolt. Sway bar link. Pull axle off tranny. Drive axle out of knuckle. Reverse for installation. GD P.S. I've done a LOT of these. In case you didn't realize it for yourself.

The whole tail light assembly has to be removed to get the lens off IIRC. All the bolts are accesible from behind the plastic bits in the cargo area as well as the bulbs if you are just needing to change some of those. GD

1. Water is a natural byproduct of combustion. As the exhaust cools, water vapor drops out and condenses at the tailpipe. It is normal for most tailpipes to drip slowely. 2. Your problem is almost certainly the intake manifold gaskets or the throttle-body/carb base gaskets (o-ring in the case of TB's). GD

I can do 80 all day long if I wish in my 4 speed hatch. It's stock besides the Weber - which really only helps the low end. GD