GeneralDisorder

Yes, that's the general idea. Sadly, the early z-car u-joint axles are not useful for a subaru as they don't have enough stretch, and also cannot be used on the front end due to the need for CV's on the steering axles. Mainly the change to the R200 is because of the R160 stub weakness, as well as the availibility of air lockers for them. GD

I have to agree to some extent with the above, but I must add that independant CAN work if done properly. The Hummer H1 is a good example. The axles ARE fuses. I've broken more H1 axles than I care to remember, but the saving grace is with 12 bolts the axle drops out and drops in again in about 15 minutes. The automatic does help (all H1's are auto's), but the trucks weight just under an a$$load, so there is still a LOT of forces on the axles. Mostly I've broken them trying to climb boulder ridden mountain sides under full lock turns, etc.... Independant is definately still my choice (anyone that's driven the H1's much would agree), and when I get around to it (and my funds get around to it) I'll most likely be using some combination of porsche 930 CV's, R200 diffs with air lockers, and a Samuri t-case with 5:1 gearset. There is some engineering that must go into the axles, but it's nothing that hasn't been done already. The R200 is already set up for flange mount half-shafts, so it's basically a marriage of the two (subaru, nissan truck), with some custom control arms to start, and later add the 930 CV's with a slip yoke.... yeah it's a mess. Safe to say that with the stock diffs and axles you will be sorely dissapointed as they are not up to the EJ22 and t-case. Sorry. GD

Check ball joints, radius rod to control arm bolts, radius rod bushings, transmission and engine mounts (common), and of course lift blocks/bolts. GD

Should work similar - the EA81T had a recall to replace the oil-cooled unit with a water cooled unit, which I beleive is near identical to the EA82T unit. Of course the recall kit came with hoses and fittings to plumb the coolant supply in as well... GD

Axles won't be much of a problem if you get NEW axles that are well built. You are going to destroy a LOT of diff stubs. Rooinator was having that exact problem with his. When you get up into the 30"+ tire sizes, the Hitachi R160 isn't going to cut it. The R200 from a nissan (same as the STi rear diff) might be a better choice, but you are going to need custom flange mount axles. GD

www.carbsunlimited.com GD

Clutch can be replaced, or you can find a whole compressor pretty easily. It's the brackets, tensioners and such that are difficult to find - you have the "dealer" installed AC system, it's the only one that fits with a body lift, and it would be a shame to see yet another one go to waste. GD

I've never measured overall thickness, but there should be a good 1/16" of material above the heads of the rivets. That's how I usually judge them anyway. If I had the thing out, I would probably replace the pressure plate and maybe the disc if it was worn down too close to the rivets. I've had a lot of weak pressure plates that don't grab hard enough anymore.... GD

Why are you removing the carbon can, and the EGR? There's little point to removing either, unless you like smelling gasoline, and making more work for yourself. Keep the AC compressor - that style will fit with the lift, and you can use it as an on-board air compressor. Those accell coils are junk BTW - very high failure rate after they switched their production to Mexico. Carry your original as a spare, or better yet just put it back in. It will probably never die. GD

Also, when fitting what are essencially truck tires, you need to do contact patch tests for proper inflation pressure. Inflating to 35 psi like the sidewall sugests is not going to be correct for a light subaru. It's also helpful to know the optimum aired down pressure for off-road. In my case with 28" tires on my EA81 I have to air down to about 7 psi for best traction. GD

There's ignition timing marks (the ones with many lines, and numbers on them), and valve timing marks (the three you mentioned). Crank over to the 0 (zero) mark on the ignition timing lines, and as you come up to the lines hold you finger over the #1 plug hole. When you feel air being pushed out you are on the compression stroke of #1. Then just crank it till the mark is on 0. That's TDC for #1. Put the disty in pointing at whichever plug you want to be #1, and time the rest accordingly. There are 4 correct ways to install the disty, you just have to move the wires around to make it work. GD

+1 on the power. Samuri's and Yoto's wheel all day on 33"+ tires with around 100 HP. The sammi's only had about 70-80 stock, and even with the modified swift engines people put in them, it's still only 110 or so. And the Yota's running the 22R and 22RE are pushing around 140 - same as the EJ22. Another example - the military Hummer. 160 HP diesel. And the H1 weighs around 6,000 lbs. All about gearing. More power won't help you. A 6 will just make it too front heavy. Speed = broken suspension, and blown tires. You want nice slow crawl speeds unless you are building a mud-bog machine, in which case you don't want a transfer case, and you'll need at least a blown pontiac 400 SB in there.... GD

Too difficult to fit, and parts are too expensive. Has all the same head problems of the EA82 since it's an EA82 with two more cylinders. Go with the EJ - less fitement issues, and with a few mods they can have just as much HP. If you want a 6, then use the EG33 from the SVX. At least that engine is bulletproof, and has enough extra HP to be worth the effort, and is narrow enough to fit between the rails. Beleive me that the bell-housing will be the least of your worries fitting a 6 in there. GD

Just a guess, but it may be for the turbo oil supply on the EA81T. They were originally equipped with oil-only turbo's, and later under a recall were fitted with oil/water units. Unless you have a use for it, I would imagine it's safe to just plug it. GD

If the engine is original, then it's got solid lifters. Which means it can't have "TOD". At least not in the sense that term is generally used. Solid lifters just DO make noise. You can help the situation by doing a valve adjustment (required every 15,000 anyway), but they will always be somewhat noisy. GD

Yeah - I took the one on my Brat apart once for a cleaning. Didn't help my slow wipers, and it actually looked pretty good inside. And here in the NW, we get a LOT of rain, so I can't imagine it was not used a significant amount. Make sure to use an electrically friendly grease on the rotory contacts. GD

I haven't seen that before, but water intrusion can cause serious problems with those sockets. The current and water mix causes accelerated deterioration of the zinc coating. If the thing won't seal on it's own, I'll generally use just about an a$$load of RTV on them. I've had to do that on several of the hummer's turn signal housings down at the motorpool. GD

Mine was "frozen" after sitting for a year when I got it. A little lithium grease on either end of the cable, and it started working again after I pounded on it for a while. Definately best to lube that sucker up real good. It also helps I noticed to give the catch tab on the door some adjustment so you don't have to push the lever down so hard each time you use it. GD

Just tap it over to 7/16"x14 or 7/16"x20. I prefer the 20 myself. Then I use a bolt with a lock washer. This size is large enough that it will never strip again, small enough that your tap will thread right in without any drilling required, and small enough that should you for some reason desire to put it back to stock size, can still be fitted with a heli-coil or timesert later (I have never had to do this). I bought two taps (one nice, and one cheap), and cut the tapered end off the cheap one and made my own "bottoming tap" that will cut the last few threads in the bottom of the hole for a perfectly threaded hole. Use stainless steel bolts, with flat and lock washers. GD

New adaptor plate. GD

Yes - they can pop out of the joint and "flop around". Likely it will not hurt anything too much, but there was definate evidence of "floppage" on one I had that did that. Very messy. GD

I put an 81 GL Brat trans into a Gen 2 Brat (82) and it fit like stock. I just had to turn the 4WD linkage 90 degrees.... you'll see when you look at it. It's threaded, and turns easily. No problems with mounting. 81/82 have a different 3rd and 4th gear. They are lower than the 83/84 4 speed. GD

A few HP useage in the alt isn't uncommon, but not enough to really worry about. Racers used to put a disconnect switch on the dash to kill the alt for 1/4 mile runs. But even then it didn't make a huge difference - it was more to kill the drag on the engine so it would rev up faster. GD

The 4EAT is an auto, and completely different. We aren't talking about auto's here, but yes it's a legacy auto trans basically, and it's got a viscous center coupling rather than a diff in the typical sense of the words. And it can be locked with the right application of voltages. Just like the later auto in the legacy. Most turbo's had the push-button single range, or the regular D/R. Only a few later models had the FT4WD. It was a top-of-the-line option only. GD

For fear of causing further damage to my EA81's, I drive an EA82 as my daily. My Brat is potentially worth too much at this point to use as a daily in my mind. I see it as an investment, and one day may be a down payment on a house or something. My wagon of course is too primitive, and the tires too expensive to use as a daily. It does have serious bumpers and guards to prevent as much damage as possible, and to make easy replacement without searching the entire globe for parts. The EA82 is perfect - runs nice, cold AC, and cheap as dirt. Plus it's worth less than $1,000 even in nice condition. I could walk away from an accident, just shrug my shoulders and laugh at the other guy crying over his crushed expensive car. GD