GeneralDisorder

No - it is NOT reverse thread. Get an impact - they are cheap at harbor freight.... GD

Carb, and possibly vacuum leaks. GD

You have to market it to the Datsun crowd. GD

And how certain are you it's the original pump? BTW - Subaru reccomends every 7k miles for oil changes - still does on new ones too. GD

Adjustable SPRING PERCHES - ride hight for you non-tech minded. Also stiffness is mostly a function of springs - the dampening effect is what the shocks give you. So you don't bounce all over the road. You are thinking of air shocks - those do the job of the spring as well, and are adjustable for stiffness. If you get the GR2's your car will sit just like a 2WD - low. And you won't be able to do anything about it. At least if you get the Monroe's or just a cartridge for your existing strut assembly, you'll retain the stock height and adjustability. GD

Yikes - no longer availible huh? Well I'll take a look at my pile, but chances are it's been tossed out - that was a couple years ago now. Hhhhmmm - maybe a bit of plastic hose from the Home Cheapo.... I would take that bushing to the Cheapo and look around - I always love doing that anyway - find the weirdest stuff that way IIRC, I had to wrap the little guy in electrical tape to get a tight fit into the tranny hole. It's still like that, and been many, many miles. GD

If the engine died after losing OP, then it's almost certainly shot. It's a major mechanical issue at least. It could be any number of things - you'll just have to wait and see. I would say 90% chance your shortblock is wasted. Sounds a lot like when I blew a rod in my wagon - looked a lot like junkies picture there - only more bits and peices cause I had two rods blow, and destroyed most of the pistons, as well as a softball sized section of the block. GD

The STD hatch had a 4 speed 2WD tranny. Weirdest thing. Of course those were stock with an EA71, but we often refer to them as the "EA81" by body type. He didn't say what it came from so I'm assuming he doesn't know. Would be hard to tell as the later STD hatch's had the side mount starter and all.... still a 4 speed 2WD though I think (or some were 4 speed, single range 4WD apparently). GD

I get them from Discount Import Parts - It was either $60 or $65 for the OEM pump (Parut brand - same as the dealership part). They always get them for me the next day. They don't have a web site - they have two locations here in Oregon - call em, maybe they will ship: http://portland.citysearch.com/profile/8492110/portland_or/discount_import_parts_inc.html thepartsbin.com lists them for $90 - probably the same part, just inflated price. drivewire.com (same catalog as thepartsbin) has em for $88.52 rockauto.com shows a beck/arnley for $86.79 GD

More precisely, the bushings in the distributor are shot - they can be replaced cheaply. GD

Depends - they made both 4 speed and 5 speed 2WD EA81 trannys. You'll have to run it through the gears and check. If it's a 5 speed, it's the same trans as the EA82 - they never changed them. GD

Their performance (mainly at idle) degrades considerably after 100 - 150k. The pump rotor wears internally, and can't produce adequate pressure. Seals help very little - by the time the seals are cooked - it's time for a new pump. The pumps are cheap - $65 for the OEM Parut brand pumps from a discount house. Easy to change - about 20 minutes start to finish. I've said this over and over...... you make the call. GD

Did something similar on my wagon, but had to build boxes for them as the power window equipped doors have the motor right where you would want to put the speaker :-\. Works ok if you build little bump out boxes for them. Oh - and on wagons, and sedans you will lose the map pocket. GD

I've adopted the general rule of replacing oil pumps every 100,000 miles. After throwing a rod through the block on an EA81 due to bad oil pressure, I don't mess around anymore. Do as you like, but I would replace the pump, and I'm on at least my 10th subaru. anything less than 15 psi at warm idle (and I like to see more like 20 - 25) and the pump needs to go. I don't reseal pumps - on the EA81 it's just an excersize in futility, and on the EA82 it takes so damn long to get the pump off and replace it that the extra $60 for a new pump rather than just a seal kit is well worth it in my opinion. 15 - 25 psi warm idle, and 40+ at 2500 RPM warm. Any less and something is amiss. Period. GD

I've been meaning to do this for a while - my stock 4 speed transmission mounts were flat like day old soggy cereal. I had previously filled them with urethane, but the rubber underneath was just too far gone, and they disitigrated on my last off road venture leaving my transmission sitting directly on the cross-member - I'm not kidding when I say METAL-ON-METAL.... disturbing to say the least. I abhor the design of these crappy EA81 mounts, and I was loath to spend $38 each on new mounts. I found some cheap aftermarket direct fit ones for about $10 at rockauto.com only to get a phone call from them saying they were out of stock, and they called the manufacturer.... who is also out of stock and has no ETA for more. That left me with little alternative but to design something new Here it is - the path to transmission mount enlightenment - EA82 mounts for the EA81: (lots of pictures and write up on the subject) http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/4speed_mounts.html Here's a teaser photo for those with slow connections: GD

No. The Brat is an EA81 body, so it's going to be just as hard as any other EA81 body car. Exhaust (engine cross-member) and wireing mostly - have to move the hill-holder, etc, etc, etc. Cleaner and more power to swap an EJ22. This has all been covered - use the search. GD

All 82 - 87 Brats (Gen 2) have the EA81 - the Turbo model (83/84) has the EA81T. 81 GL (Gen 1) Brats also have the EA81, 81 DL's were still the EA71. GD

That, and the fireing order is completely different - makes them run smoother too. GD

That's funny - I just put a whole wagon front end on an 87 three door like two days ago.... not specifically an RX, but they fit fine. I used the lower valence, hood, and fenders from an 85 wagon. Everything more or less lined up perfect (a few anomolies, but to be expected as this coupe was wrecked, and has a totaled title ). I had to pound out the front end to accept the non-crumpled body parts, and had to do a spot of welding on the upper radiator support. Car was hit HARD and it smashed the radiator into the timing covers, and snapped the upper raditor support in half. Can't tell now tho I don't see why the RX should be different than any other three door, and I've never heard anyone else say that.... but who knows. Too me it looks like your radiator support on the drivers side there has been pushed in, and you just need to massage it out a bit for the holes to line up again. I had to do that on the passenger side of mine - and had to use a few washers on the headlight bucket, and front of the fender to keep the panels lined up on the outside of the car. It was a good 4 or 5 hours of work to make the car look right on the outside, but it's worth it - the car was cheap. Looking at your pictures more - the lower valence (skid plate goes over the oil pan - that's your valence) is always like that - especially if the valence is bent at all - you just have to wrangle the plates together and get the bolts started - they will hold it together. It can be a biotch. My sedan was a pain, but then I didn't really take any time to try to straighten anything - I just wanted the fender on. This coupe I did wasn't bad, but still had a gap I had to forceably close to get them on. GD

I think I know what you are talking about - I ran into the same deal on my ?wagon? (I think - might have been the Brat) when I went to fix the shifting linkage on it. I had the transmission out of the car when I did it, and IIRC (it's been a loooong time) I got the nylon "clip" for the bottom of the shifter, but the hole in the trans was way bigger..... I didn't really want to go to the dealer so I just looked around my pile of junk, and found the protective plastic cover that went to the bottom of the 32/36 Weber DGV carb I bought (brand new redline kit). The plastic "feet" on it were the perfect size to fit into the hole in the tranny, and then the nylon clip just slid right inside of it (the plastic feet are hollow if you cut them off the thing). I doubt this will help you in any way, but I figured I would explain what I did.... might give you an idea . GD

Lookin good - I assume that bit in the front is for a winch? And the smaller holes for the turn signals? Looks plenty strong enough - my only sugestion from experience is to consider running your skid plate to the bumper as the radiator support on mine just keeps getting flatter and flatter :-\. I also reinforced the cross-member mount for the skid plate too - if you have power steering it unbolts, and I ran some 1/4" steel gussets on the inside of it to keep it from collapsing. GD

Nope. GD

Yeah - people slide into curbs and such - it can be the torsion bar plate or the actual control arm. Check the mounting tabs on the torsion bar tube. GD

Sorry - I stand corrected. GD

The Monroe versions have the adjustable spring perches like the stock units - the GR2's do not. GD