GeneralDisorder

The problem is that unless you have a lift, your body needs to be right where the damn jack is so you can get your head, and arms up over the tank to unhook the top lines. And as far as I know there aint any access panels to it either. I don't have any carpet in the back of my wagon, and I welded D rings to the floor for cargo straps, and there's nothing there but corrugated metal. The sending unit is on the rear of the EA81 tanks so there doesn't need to be an access panel for it. GD

Should be a straight bolt in of the long block - with the exception of welding up the AIS ports on the heads of the carb block. GD

Nothing you can actually buy. Just have to make something fit. I got a 3x5 in the passenger side, and about the only thing for the drivers side would be like a 2" tweeter :-\. Have to custom fit anything you buy of course. GD

On the other hand, Rguyver had SPFI, Turbo, and NOS on his lifted hatch (NA EA81 hatch). Didn't blow it up - ended up selling it to some guy (but kept the NOS setup), and I beleive he now has it back again. The SPFI didn't like positive manifold pressure, but he had a second injector rigged up to it to compensate.... apparently it was pretty quick. But then he also knows what he's doing..... he currently has an EJ20G in his lowered 5 lug Brat. Don't attempt stuff like this unless you know what you are doing, and are willing and able to fail (possibly messily). GD

RAM sells kits too. Also Delta Cam could probably set you up as well. They have all that valve oreiented paraphernalia, or can get it. The MPFI/SPFI springs are stiffer than the carb versions too. That's one reason for the 500 RPM higher redline. GD

The boot slips off when you unscrew the tie rod end. It's not - they never wear out. GD

Been done, bad idea as they bend easily. Drill some chevy rims or find some pugs. Even if you used them, you would still have to cut the fenders AND lift it for 29's. Trust me. GD

4,000 is nothing for the EA engines. The aircraft guys run their EA81's at 7,000 all day. That's their "cruise" speed. My Brat w/5 speed is at 3500 RPM at 80 MPH.... that's a bit too fast anyway, and the RPM is no concern. And I rarely shift any of my engines before 6,000. GD

All GL manual tranny Brat's were dual range. DL's were single range as were auto's. GD

Any 83 is desireable - not quite as much as an 85 through 87 (hydro lifter), but still as desireable as most other gen 2's. The GL's are going to be more desireable than the DL (no t-tops, single range). Do the 5 speed conversion. GD

Autozone. About $25 per front wheel with new seals. Timken brand. The rear's (4WD) are about $60 per wheel with seals. Be prepared tho - they are press-fit. You will need a brass drift to pound out the old bearings, and a tapered drift to pound the new ones in. Technically, by the book they are supposed to be put in with a press, but it's not required in practice. Also helps if you put them in the freezer overnight after you have packed them. GD

None of the interior colors will match. Only 80/81 Actually, the fenders won't fit from later models as the cut-outs for the side markers aren't the same, and the antenna is on the wrong fender. Partially true - the wireing is WAY different - you would need both FSM's to sort it out, and even then it's a nightmare. Also ALL GL's had the tach, oil pressure, etc - even 80/81. Only the DL's came without so there would be no reason to do this anyway. GD

well - yeah it's just like driving the 82 4 speed, but with an extra overdrive gear. None of these trannies are particularly good for "race" applications. The syncro's aren't built for it, and the 5 speed has TWO overdrive gears GD

Nope - philbin opens them up "like a tin can" and replaces the diaphram with universal rubbber material cut to fit the specific application. I've seen em do it. You can't source new one's anymore. GD

The guy at CCR that used to do the bushings (they don't do disty's anymore) said he ruined about a dozen before he got good at doing the bushings. Apparently if they aren't reemed out perfectly straight, the new bushings will fail real quick..... I wouldn't trust a place that's never done it before. Philbin does a LOT of distributors for shops around here - they just happen to also do electric motors and such too. GD

I love it. Major points, in order of importance: 1. far, far better linkage. Smoother shifting, less play 2. Way better mounts. The 4's mounts are tiny, and just generally suck. The 5's mounts have twice as much rubber, and the 5's is lighter besides. 2. 3rd gear - it's between 2nd and 3rd on the 4, so allows decent RPM at 25 MPH. 3. Lower "Lo" gear. 1.59:1 compared to the 4's 1.45:1 4. Better clutch combinations possible - XT6 for example. 5. Better T.O. bearing design (see #4). 6. Easier to find parts for 7. More rugged - due to the improved linkage, there's no tendancy to partial engagment of reverse (resulting in eventual destruction of the reverse shift dog), and the syncro design is superior so 2nd and 3rd don't grind like the 4's do. 8. Longer lasting. I have several 5's well over 200,000 that still shift like new, and one that's over 300,000 without any noticeable degredation of performance. On the other hand I have 3 blown 4's in the garage - all with less than 200k on them. As for your question about gearing - there's no appreciable difference between the 83+ 4 speed gearing and the 5 speed D/R gearing other than the addition of 3rd gear between 2nd and 3rd on the 4. 2 is lowered a bit, and 4 is raised as well, but the gear *range* covered by 1 though 4 and 1 through 5 respectively is not altered enough to notice at all. Acceleration is improved simply beacause you don't have to wind out so high before shifting, but the top speed is going to be the same with either one. GD

Is it an ND unit? It doesn't take much on those. Once you have the disty out, you'll probably notice maybe 1/32" of play. That's all it takes. Pretty funny when my 84 digi-dash was reading 7000 RPM at idle GD

Bearing check must be done with the parking brake off - it's on the front calipers. Most people miss that. Worn front bearings make a hell of a racket, but rarely result in anything you can actually "feel" besides humming. Have your tires balanced. Vibration could be worn DOJ's (inner CV joint), but unbalanced tires are more common. If the boots are torn the DOJ's are a possibility but frequently last 10's of thousands of miles even with torn boots. Some side-to-side play is typical, and usually not detrimental. It shouldn't be much though. GD

Bushings are shot. They are not user replaceable, and must be done by a properly equipped machine shop. Be very careful that the reluctor doesn't strike the hall effect sensor and chip it or you'll have 2 pounds of worthless scrap on your hands. These guys do all mine: http://www.philbingroup.com/ GD

Pretty common actually. The crank circuit has developed a condition where it won't pass enough current to engage the starter solenoid all the time, and a downward spiral of repeated starting attempts only make it worse as it heats up the wireing and damages the circuit further. The fix is actually quite simple - you install a relay in the crank circuit so that the existing circuit only needs to close the relay, and the relay powers the solenoid. This happens a lot, but seems more frequent on the automatics as the crank circuit runs through the inhibitor switch in the auto shifter. Regardless though, the fix is the same as the current demand of a relay is far less and the damaged circuit will be able to handle it with 100% reliability. There's a single spade terminal on the back of the starter - use that wire to close the relay, and run a new wire from the positive battery terminal through the relay and to the back of the starter. In the mean time, if you need to start it, the easy way is to get yourself a 4" bit of 10 guage wire, strip both ends, and then touch one end to the positive terminal on the starter (12mm nut), and the other end to the spade terminal. That will crank the engine and start it if you have the key in "run". And find a mechanic that knows Subaru's GD

If you can find them, I beleive the Monroe sets are adjustable. At least the front's are. I've seen them on ebay periodically. Also it's possible to put new cartridges into existing struts that are already adjustable. But you may have to hunt around for the right size cartridge, and it will require some welding and cutting most likely. GD

Weld, then knock down slightly with a hammer so there's a shallow dimple. You don't want bondo exposed on the inside, and you don't want the bondo very thick - as thin as possible. Thus the welded hole, and a shallow dimple to fill. GD

Front or rear - just to clarify: Front's are struts, rear's are coil-over shocks. Struts have the ability to turn via the strut "top" which has a bearing inside it. Coil-over's do not. GD

Easiest way to deal with weird mismatched panels is to scuff up the whole car with a sander, and paint it all a flat color - black, camo, vietnam OD green, etc. At least that way if a bit flakes off here and there it's a simple matter to hit it with some sandpaper, and shoot some rattle can over it. That's pretty much how all our military rigs are - makes for simple maintenance that way. Seems like a good idea in the rust regions too as it makes repairs 1000x faster so you are more likely to get to them quicker You can actually make it look pretty nice if you do it right - use the truck bedliner for the rockers and do a two-tone flat scheme. You can also order bedliner in any color you like online. Makes a neat surface treatment, and even salt won't eat that stuff. Don't try to paint around stuff - paint it ALL. Chrome, plastic.... everything. Leaving only the lenses, mirrors, and glass unpainted. Make sure to prep all the surfaces and use a proper primer on plastics, etc. Anyway - just an idea to consider. Better than leaving it all trashy looking with 16 colors, and there seems little sense in doing a proper expensive paint job if it's as rusty as it sounds. GD

Call these guys - they can rebuild your vac can for about $25 (new diaphram rubber). In the meantime, you can just run without it. Or you can send them your whole disty, and they can rebuild the bushings and such. Last one I did was about $55 total - all polished up, and they will paint the vac can with high temp enamel. http://www.philbingroup.com/ They are local for me, but they service all the shops around here. Good guys to work with too, and the most knowledgable people I've ever met on distributors. GD