GeneralDisorder

Not sure about the MPFI, but I know on the SPFI, connecting the battery backwards will immediately destroy the ECU. There's actually a warning about this in the FSM. GD

Yeah - I doubt you will be able to find anyone that carries those - the dealer does not service CV's - they only replace them so it's unlikely they even have a part number for those. A junk yard would be your best bet for those. GD

DOH! No, no, no. That's not how it's done. Take the inner control arm bolt loose (14mm on the engine cross-member), and the sway bar link (12mm, and rubber bushing). Pull on the rear of the wheel - it's very easy and the axle will just drop off the trans (once the pin is out). GD

right - you don't need to burn it all - only enough to overheat. You are losing coolant somewhere - it could be the bypass hose on top of the pump, but likely you would see the dripping. Often times the pump's fail as a result of running low on coolant - the seals get hot and dry and crack open. GD

You mean the retaining wire on the cup? You should DEFINATELY replace that. If you don't sometime you will be turning sharply and come off at curb or something and the joint will come apart. It can happen. GD

Yes - you could just put the hose clamp on with the axle in place. I was just assuming you would want to clean up the mess, and the rubber should be clean and free of grease where it meets the joint. But the clamps will do the job. I have used them on my lifted wagon - even in the rear where I have all suspension lift and modified axles. Been though the mud pit at the show, tall thick brush, etc. No problems. IF you can get them, a marine boat supply would have the stainless steel clamps with the rounded edges. A normal 1/2" wide clamp works fine, but if you can find some, the older VW bug and ghia boots used some really nice 1/4" wide hose clamps for their boots. That's where I got the idea BTW. GD

Heck - my 4 speed's do that while wheeling in low range up steep hills. The oil drains to the rear of the trans, and the straight cut gears whine like that. If your's does that on the flat and level, I would say you need some decent oil as it's not doing it's job well enough. I use redline - they have a formula for older transmissions that helps the syncro's too. GD

Once it gets past the seal, the grease is shot in the bearing, so it's not long before it's a gonner. GD

That's BS - find another autozone. SubaruJunkie just bought some a few weeks ago, and I bought one no more than 4 months past.... I wouldn't touch some "duralast" crap. A board member at the show was on his 2nd "duralast" alternator, and it was already making horrible electronic squeal - only 2 days old. I would ask them what the core charge is for... that makes no sense because GCK certainly doesn't want it back. What are they doing with your core? GD

Not usually the case - if it takes an hour to go through enough coolant to start overheating, then the "cloud" wouldn't be obvious at all. I've been through this more times than I can remember. A little overheat after a water pump failure can easily turn into head gaskets on 20 year old EA82's. Intake manifold is also possible - I've had them so bad that it looked like I had water mixing with my oil in the valve covers, and actually did have a small amount of steam in my exhaust. Barely enough to be noticed by the trained eye though. GD

There was 4 and 5 speeds, 2WD, part time and full time 4WD (AWD), dual range and single range, push button and lever actuated, three different bell-housings, all manner of gear ratio's and rinal drive ratios.... just a crapload and I doubt I could even list them all. What specifics are you looking for, and what engine do you want to mate it with? GD

No - wire wheel works good actually. You use a soft (thin) wire and just go slow and careful. It will shine up the surface, but it won't hurt it unless you make a career out of the job. GD

That's Austin's old wagon - I think he sold? it. It had an EJ22 in it.... Anyway he drives an imp. wagon right now. GD

So far, the best axles I've come up with are the GCK axles. Order them from autozone for $100 each no core charge. After using these, I no longer trust ANY rebuilt axle. I don't care who did it. GD

That chart has nothing to do with the subaru specs for the transmissions - it's just giving you the "type" of transmission it is - 3 or 4 speed, FWD, or 4WD, and electronic or not. Doesn't sugest what will fit what as many of those have different bell-housings etc. I don't know of any manual transmission charts, but there are a LOT of them. GD

There are a few members in the Reno area - but the ones I know of are at the show right now. You should do a search on here for "axle replacement". You'll get all the info you need. They are relatively easy to do. GD

That's some sort of weird looking Air Suction Valve. You'll find that two bolt flange on the underside of the head near the exhaust port - it's on the side of the head facing the fender. Although I haven't seen one that looked quite like that. Interesting. GD

It's burning it - probably either intake manifold gaskets, or head gaskets GD

Go to home depot and get some stainless steel hose clamps. That's what I use on all my off-road axles. They never leak on me. You don't have to remove the axle either - just dissasemble the inner joint after you pull it off the trans and do it with the axle still in the knuckle. GD

Depends on what you want this thing for.... (my opinions, others differ perhaps) 1. Hardcore off road: Built EA81 + 5 speed D/R + Lift, tranfer case, etc. You can get a lot more crazy depending on your skill level with a welder. It's all about gearing and torque here. The EA81 is a beutiful engine for this - no timing belts, simple and easy to repair, and easily capable of 100 HP or more. Remember - older jeeps, samuri's etc are running around 60 - 70 HP. 2. Mild off-road: Aggressive tires. 3. Rally-cross: EJ22, RX 5 speed FT4WD (AWD) Dual Range, XT6 suspension bits, big sway bars, adjustable camber plates, roll-cage. You can get crazy here too. 4. Hardcore street: EJ22T Block, EJ20T heads (or 2.5 DOHC heads if you are really crazy), EJ series trans, LSD, XT6/Impreza hybrid suspension etc, etc. Note that going this route you will spend thousands of $$$, have tons of custom work done. But it's a cool learning exprience. Buy something else as a DD cause it will take a year or two to finish. Scary fast (well under 4.5 seconds 0-60), and probably not too safe. 5. Mild street: EJ22 or EJ22T wholesale swap (trans and all). 135 HP, and 160 HP respectively. Very decently fast really as the hatch is light. The straight EJ22 is more than capable of propelling a hatch far beyond it's braking capability. Just some off-the-cuff opinions on what would be a good start. Notice how the only engines worth even looking at are what you already have, and various iterations of the EJ20 or EJ22? EJ25's are breakable, and the first gen ones have serious head gasket issues. The 4 speed and 5 speed Dual Range both suffer from a weak reverse gear that is partially a result of worn shift linkages. Making the 4 speed usually the worse of the two as it has horrible linkage. The reverse on both doesn't always fully engage, and the uneven wear pattern causes failure of the gear teeth - usually right when you really would like to use it . Not good for high performance applications... GD

2WD axles will fit too, just different sized shaft and joints. Same fit tho. The rebuilt axles out there are mostly crap. Get the GCK "new" axles.... around here Autozone can order them. GD

Tranny gets hot - will melt the grease till it runs out anyway. Mechanic should know that..... Fish it out with a hooked bit of wire. Basically it's a twisted nightmare to get any tools or hands down that way.... dropping the tranny may be your best bet. I'm sure the mechanic got real sick of trying to get to it, and his time is better spent on newer cars (more money). GD

Ah - the lumber jack plaid. I've had a few with those seats. It was an 82 only thing. Very horribly ugly. Every EA81 vinyl seat I've seen has been cracked or was close to it. Cheap, cheap, cheap vinyl. You can have em recovered I guess, but I would get something with actual decent foam as the EA81 seats are increddibly harsh. Frankly just get some EA82 or legacy seats. Or pick whatever you like from the junk yard and make em fit. GD

Foam? No there was never any fabric up there. There is cardboard, and then foam on top covered in vinyl. Remember this isn't a luxury car. It's an econemy 4WD. GD

EA82T would fit.... barely, you'll have to move the hill holder, and actually mating the engine up to the trans requires you first pull the distributor.... and doing any sort of real service would (pulling the valve cover, etc) would pretty much mean yanking the engine back out. Once it's in, there's only about 1/4" between the valve covers and the frame rail, and if the engine mounts are bad it will smack the frame every time you rev it.... exhaust would be interesting as the EA81 engine cross-member isn't curved right for the up and down pipes to the turbo, and the EA82 cross-member is too wide. But the EA82T is a crap engine. They blow head gaskets if you look at them cross-eyed, crack heads, produce terrible power unless under boost, and even then it's only about 20 HP more than an NA EA82. With only a few mods, a built EA81 can match the EA82T in peak HP, and eclipse it in torque. Plus the added wireing complexity, and the turbo exhaust you would have to fab..... totally not worth the time or effort as it takes less of both to install an EJ22. You'll have a bulletproof engine, more simplified wireing, easier time with the exhuast, and 20 - 25 more HP without a turbo. It's a no-brainer really. Dash will fit - any EA81 body car will fit. Should be the same dash you have tho, so unless it's really horribly cracked, and you are putting in a pristeen one, it's really not usually worth the 6-8 hours it takes to swap em (no joke on the 6-8 hours). Recovered upolstery is a rip off unless you are restoreing it. Get some mazda protege seats - I hear they bolt in easy. GD