GeneralDisorder

It's *his* own personal hell. Clearly he's not secure with his masculinity, so eternal hell for him is being seen in a Brat. He can't drive his lifted Excursion anymore so in his mind everyone that looks at him is looking right through his clothes to his shortcommings. I feel sorry for people that spend their life compensating for what they feel society says they should have but don't. I have quite a few of them living down my street. It's sad . So the guy that just moved in down the street from me (drives a HUGE lifted yellow F-350 with Nitto's) was chatting with my neighbor and after asking if I was a mechanic working on people's subaru's for money (I'm not, but I have a lot of them) he said that I should work on some "nice" cars because Subaru's are for poor people..... you can imagine my reaction GD

You might still get spark with a bad disty - the optical sensor could be giving the ECU a strange signal. GD

Yeah - you can make a hook out of some thin bar stock and pull them out. I have a tool made by Shadow (he's not around much anymore on this board) that uses a split-arbor device to grab them and pull them out. It's an interesting device, but you need at least a small lathe and mill to make one.... Make your hook with a bend in the end that you can use a claw hammer on to "lever" the pins out. GD

Hey! what a small world - me too, and I have two of them! Plus I know how it works! GD

All hot-wire MAF EA82 FI distributors are the same - regardless of SPFI, MPFI or Turbo. Just don't get anything from a flapper-door MAF and you'll be fine. GD

I've done it, and not only that, but soon I'm going to offer partial and maybe full kits to do the coversion yourself - I'll be making wireing harnesses, and distributors as well as putting a few full kits together. I'm working on a write up as we speak - so far it's about 12 pages long with just the text, and I haven't added any pictures yet. I just finished taking about 30 pics and the write up will be ready for a version 1 release soon. A small demostration: GD

Pistons, and shaved heads. You can easily get 10:1 with SPFI EA82 pistons, and shaved heads. 100 HP would be easily acheivable with the SPFI, and a high-compression EA81 with a modified cam. And it would be perfectly reliable - no question about that. The JDM EA81 dual carb's were 108 HP stock on the same internals. Reliability isn't a problem like it is with the EA82's. The Subaru race spec EA82T's were 175 HP, and here's RAM showing 200 HP on an engine reliable enough not only for race, but for an aircraft engine. That's impressive and speaks volumes about the advantages the EA81 has over the EA82 in some very fundamental ways. GD

I've got 4" of "extra" stress on my EA81 rear axles. Since I swapped to EA82 DOJ cups I've haven't broken a single one - and that's with a welded diff. Been running them for about 2 years now. GD

On a stock EA81 - probably around 85 or so - as much as you get from a Weber anyway - better driveability, no finicky choke or jets to contend with, and the possibility of Mega-squirt for tuning more heavily modified engines. But the benefit isn't just power - SPFI runs at ANY angle as long as the fuel tank can suck gas. Won't sputter out on steep hills like a carb will so you have full power and correct mixture off road no matter how hard you shake the rig. It also already has a round air filter attachment that lends itself to simpler snorkel installations, and as you add modifications to your engine (better exhaust, high torque cam, SPFI pistons, etc, etc) the SPFI system is self-compensating for changes in engine airflow and fuel demand. The SPFI EA82 is rated at 90 HP but has larger valves, more compression, and cams to match. I would give the SPFI a good 10 HP increase over a stock carb on the EA81 (so about 85 or so), and as above - it's about the same increase a Weber will give you, but in a far superior package. GD

Definately - stock they were 95 HP, but with a little tuning and some head porting, etc they can easily outrun a stock EA82T at 115 HP, and I would imagine 120 or a little more isn't out of the question on stock internals. That supercharged RAM engine is using modified stock heads, full 9.7:1 compression, and 7 psi of boost with no intercooler. Try that on an EA82T GD

I second the mechanical secondary - much more "sporty" feeling than the vacuum units. That's one of the benefits to the weber over the Hitachi... along with being larger, and simpler in design. Although I prefer this: My plan is to offer some partial and full kits for the EA81/EA82 coversion fairly soon. GD

Oh! - yeah you could do that. Good luck finding one though. GD

There's really not much on the EA81 that can make that knocking noise other than a tossed rod - do a comp. check first thing. Harbor Frieght has comp. guages for like $10 if you need one. Or even pull the plugs, and use a drinking straw to verify that all the pistons are even moving..... GD

Check your exhaust for leaks. Probably just smelling exhaust. GD

Ok - in that case it sounds a lot like you snapped a rod. The metal hammering on metal, the loss of power, and the very rough idle.... sounds like a rod broke but didn't smash through the block like they usually do. Test each cylinder for compression. Drain the oil and see how many bits and peices you get out of it. Maybe you bent a push-rod, but that wouldn't really explain the continuous knocking. GD

Look under the engine at the exhaust - the ASV are large (3/4" or so) steel tubes that run from directly above the y-pipe flange, to an ASV valve on top of the engine. You probably have a functional ASV on the drivers side, and a blank spacer plate on the drivers side. That's the usual setup for a CA emmissions EA81. But look to make sure. You will see the plate - it's about 1" thick, and it's sandwitched between the head, and the y-pipe flange. Being you are in CA, you need to give CCR as much info as possible to insure you will have everything you need to pass. GD

Wait.... you have an EA81 in an 87 wagon? You *sure* this isn't an EA82? EA82's have timing belts.... GD

Any help you need is right here on the board. Feel free to PM me or contact me on MSN messenger if you use it. Once you have completed a timing belt job, I'm sure you will feel able to do almost anything to your soob. GD

That part is pretty easy. EA82 SPFI bolts on. GD

But he has an EA82T - it's an XT. GD

Valve covers have no breather line? That doesn't seem right. If the crankcase can't breathe the pressure will push oil past the rings and it will be burnt - that might explain the residue on your exhaust... GD

PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) keeps the crankcase from being pressurized by the pistons. It's a one-way check valve that allows the crankcase to breathe into the manifold. This keeps the combustion gasses that leak into the case from getting out into the atmosphere. Sometimes these valves can have a weak spring (or get stuck with carbon build up) and the engine vacuum will suck oil up through the valve covers into the intake and burn it. Since you have a manifold that does not have a PCV, this may not be your problem, but how are your breather tubes routed from the valve covers? Are they routed to the air cleaner or do they have their own filters like so many of the V8's like to do? Any evidence of leakage anywhere? The rings don't often fail on these engines.... if it's been rebuilt were the rings run-in properly to assure a good seal with the cylinders? How do the plugs look? Any evidence of oil fouling or burning? GD

Please - spread the love. I certainly try to... GD

I thread the nut on so that it protects the threads (just even with the top of the bolt threads), and then smack it with a copper hammer (I don't like brass except for drifts as it will shatter). This gives a nice dead blow, the copper deforms instead of the threads, and the added surface area of the nut and the bolt top keeps it from getting bunged up. GD

Loosen bolt, smack with hammer. GD