GeneralDisorder

There is an issue I've noticed with the choke spring on the 85/86 Hitachi - the end of the spring where it attaches to the lever that operates the choke plates has a "hook" that wears through and falls off. The spring can then no longer close the choke plates at all, and the thing will run like poop till warmed up. If the carb has been rebuilt then the choke housing should already have screws replacing the original pop-rivets... anyway you'll have to either replace the choke housing with another, or rig a manual choke to it somehow. You seem to have some fabbing skills, so shouldn't be terribly difficult to make a manual choke work (can get "universal" kits from like autozone for $15 or so I hear). It's VERY hard to find junk yard replacements for this part as the spring is almost never intact. I've found a few that were presumably from garaged cars where the choke was rarely used, or replaced at some point. Once I went looking for one for a friend of a friend, and spent most of the day in three yards - I think I took at least 10 carbs apart - I found 1 in good shape, and another that was only partially worn :-\. It's definately a strike against the EA82 Hitachi, as this part always fails - and it's probably over $100 from the dealer. Maybe give em a call, but don't hold your breath. As for getting it running decent - an italian tune up can do wonders for sucking the crud out of the carb - run it up to 4k rpm, and cram a shop rag in the carb - that will create enough vacuum to suck out anything that *can* be sucked out. Beyond that if it's still fubar, you'll probably want to pop the top off the carb and blow out the passages with compressed air. Fixes in a can aren't my cup of tea - I prefer honest work with real tools . Have you checked for vacuum leaks? Spray around with some WD40.... I have an EA82 Hitachi that ran OK - that's not to say it ran perfect, but it did alright for the few K miles I had it on there. It was a feedback unit, but it should run without it - you can have it for shipping if you want, but I don't know if you would get it in time :-\ GD

There is nothing wrong with that - as long as it ran, the firing order in the book just shows one of 4 possible orentations of the wires on the cap. You just have to stab the disty into the block with the timing marks lined up, and the rotor pointing at one of the wire electrodes - as long as you run the fireing order off that wire, it doesn't matter which tower you start with. Does that make sense? Unlike a lot of engines that have a spade drive for the disty (like off the cam), the gear drive of the EA series engines allows for four possible correct orientations. I would attribute your smoother running and more power to all the other things you fixed/changed while in there. GD

Yes - the slight cable slack is important, as is the hill-holder cable, or a return spring to keep the bearing from riding on the pressure plate all the time. I agree - aftermarket cables suck - I've been getting mine at the dealer and strangely enough they are cheaper too. Like $13 for the last one I bought. $17 if your dealer doesn't do wholesale for you. And make sure to route the cable under the coolant hoses, and the steering linkage. GD

An 82 guage cluster is a direct swap for your 84, and is already orange/red in color. Just have to find one. Or the 80/81 cluster is also orange/red, and has really cool guages that sweep vertically instead of the usual arc style all the later soobs use. It will physically fit perfectly, but the wiring is different. I put an 80 cluster in my 84 wagon after the digi-dash blew. Had to redo all the wiring and make an adaptor harness, but it's possible. Would be a lot easier to go from analog 84 to analog 80. GD

Maybe from the dealer - pocket item at the JY... $279.79 from www.rockauto.com GD

Do you have the dust plate on the bottom of the bell-housing to keep out major junk? And do you have the rubber cover for the timing mark hole? And how's the condition of the clutch fork boot? Also - are you using a goodly amount of grease in and around the bearing? Should be on the shaft, and on both spots where the fork contacts it. They do go out more frequently if you are running through water and mud and stuff, but the rubber covers, and the bell-housing dust plate help a lot. Try using an OEM part if you have been using aftermarket stuff. I think a lot of the bearings are just crap to begin with. If you are running a 4 speed, I hear you can use the 5 speed clutch and flywheel setup, and run a Nissan 720 release bearing... so I've read in other posts anyhow. Might be more rugged - IDK. GD

Being these are in the rear, and only do about 30% of the braking duties, I doubt you will see any real improvement by using expensive pads and rotors. The stock proportioning valve is going to limit the line pressure back there anyway.... just get some decent semi-metallic pads and be done with it. Accept the rear discs for what they are - small, and an excelent self-adjusting replacement to the mostly crappy rear drums our cars usually were equipped with. GD

Just a sugestion for "next time", and I know it's really more money, etc.... but I think it would have been cool to have them powder coated black, and then spray the red over the top. Couple places around here that will do rims for like $20 each. But I do like the color scheme - reminds me of the 60's tires. Awesome color choice for your hatch. GD

I've noticed that by the time the muffler looks like that, the mid-pipe is usually shot through with holes too. Damn rusty thin metal is real hard to weld too - I got the job done, but my welder doesn't like super thin metal like that, so it looks like a mess. Whatever - it's under the car anyway. I threw on some paint just to keep it from doing it again but really the rust is from the inside anyway. For mufflers - you can find stainless steel stuff on ebay - buddy of mine put one on his Audi - pretty nice actually, and no worries about rust. GD

Nope - that's what I used - complete with lock washers and everything. I tightened it.... a lot. Any more and I would have stripped it out. The problem is there is no real interface between the rod and the sleeve. It's a smooth surface, and they WILL slip against each other - it's only a matter of time before it works loose again. The problem is not the size of the bolt, or how tight it is - the problem is the hole in the shift rod wearing out from friction against the bolt. One reason the original setup used a spring pin was to minimize the wear. The design is flawed, and repalcing it with a bigger, harder bolt will not fix it. The rod and sleeve need to lock together, and need more surface area to do it. Thus my idea with the set screws. Really not that hard. I've done the "mod" you are refering to on three transmissions - all have come loose eventually. Like I said - best to get the rod and the sleeve to interface on more than just a small surface - and grabbing into the steel of the rod is the only way I can see to do it. GD

Or ya could just buy brand new rims - my 15" white wagon wheels were $27 each from Tire Factory.... I would imagine they can get 14's too. New rims hold the bead better and almost never leak - very smooth bead surface and powder coated too. Plus they look.... well... new. GD

The tranny will slide off the clutch - you don't have to take the pressure plate and disc off if that's what you mean. Pulling the tranny is a biotch - get the car as high as you can in the air, and start unbolting stuff. As for fixing the shifter slop - it's real freakin hard to get it to go away (I've tried the drill and bolt style - in fact a lot of the pictures out there were from my work on my wagon). I'm pretty much done with 4 speeds, but I had an idea - grind two or four flat spots on the shift rod, and then drill and tap the sides of the shifter sleeve for some 1/4" set screws - you know the kind with the hex drive? You can get them at larger NAPA's and a good hardware store should have a nice selection. This has the advantage that you can use several of them (I was thinking either 4 or 6) which will spread out the load, and the set screws have a dished inset on the bottom that will "bite" into the flat spots on the rod and lock it solid. I may give it a whirl one of these days just to prove the concept, but it should work, and will be a hell of a lot better than a single bolt. GD

I doubt they make a "universal" kit for the weber - just head down to your local VW import shop - I'm sure EMPI makes a kit - just ask around. They are common as dirt. GD

Since the weber isn't technically legal either, they are easy to find - common swap actually. Redline makes a kit for it. But as has been pointed out - you just need fused ignition operated power for the choke housing - little bit of wire, a relay, and a fuse will cost less than the manual kit, and it's nicer to not have to worry about the choke. GD

You do not have a "breakerless" distributor - you have a crank angle sensor distributor - it's just a sensor for the ECU - like the O2 sensor. Other than providing a path for the spark from the coil and ignitor via the cap and rotor, it doesn't directly do any timing or spark. ALL the crank angle sensor distributors are the same internally - some have different connectors, but they are all the same. All the fuel injection cars (ALL of them) use this same unit. The ignitor is a more likely (and cheaper from the junk yard) culprit. Try that first. It's under the coil on the coil bracket. GD

If you have the resources, it's best to pull the engine and do a reseal. For the oil pan at least, use ONLY the dealer gasket - others are vastly inferior - I had one last only a week! You *can* do the pan gasket in the car (have to unbolt the engine mounts, and jack it up), but you can't really do the rear main seal easily, and the valve covers are easier out of the car too. The valve covers you can just RTV and reuse, but the pan gasket should be replaced. The front and rear crank seals, and the cam seals should be replaced as well as the oil pump seals (requires removing the timing belts, and cam sprockets - take the plastic belt covers off and throw them in the trash. Most likely they are all leaking a little. It's a subaru thing - if you can live with it just leave it alone. They mark their territory but it's not usually detrimental - it looks like a lot but it's really not. GD

That is kind of strange..... but here goes. 86 *should* definately be vented. The change was 83.5, so some 83's are vented, some are not. My 84 wagon, and my 85 brat are both vented. I had an 83 turbo wagon a while ago, and it was vented also - later 83 production. You'll have the change the calipers, bracket, and rotors - calipers are wider and bracket is specific. EA82 parts are unfortunately too big - the EA82 front discs are larger. www.rockauto.com has some decent prices on rebuilt calipers, or you could get the $40 (or less on-sale) kit from harbor frieght with the tools to reassemble them, and get a "rebuild" kit from the same site. Are you absolutely certain that someone didn't just put the non-vented rotors in by mistake, and the calipers are just way extended.... I'm not sure that will even work, but maybe they just changed the rotors and used the wrong part number..... GD

I wouldn't worry about the cylinder liner - they can spin if the engine has been bored (more likely if it's been done without a bore plate), but generally they do not. I've seen my share of blown head gaskets, and I've yet to come across a spun sleeve. Usually they blow, and as you are describing they still have about 15 - 30 psi of compression. Likely you'll be fine with just some new gaskets. Take .020" off the heads for a bit more compression (your manifold will still fit fine). I would also reccomend the Fel-Pro perma-torque gaskets. They don't need to be retorqued, and I've personally put mine through a complete coolant loss and severe overheat (I mean SEVERE - a lot like your scenario) with no ill effects. Also - you would benefit in the power and torque department from getting your hands on some 83+ heads. They have larger intake valves (2mm larger in diameter) and are good for several HP. Wouldn't be any more work, just have to get a set. I have a few sets, but shipping might be a little steep. GD

Once again - subaru's are NOT rocket science people - you don't need milling machines, presses, counter-sink's etc. A 1/2" variable speed hand drill, and a die grinder or dremel tool will do all your wheels plus a spare in an hour or less. I've done, and been party to doing, at least 3 sets of steel rims. Not a single balance issue or problem to date. The two stock holes in the rim are sufficient to keep your drilled holes in balance. Basically if you use the two existing holes, the two you drill WILL be balanced or the wheel won't even fit. The pattern (the subaru FACTORY hub) is already balanced, so your holes will be too. Work smarter, not harder guys - and remeber this is not the space shuttle. It's OK to trust your own abilities to line things up and center a drill bit - the holes are too close to the axis of revolution to cause any real imabalance in the assembled system. Be smart - use a center punch, mark where the center of the hole should be, punch it so the drill bit doesn't wander, drill with a smaller pilot bit first, measure again to make sure it's centered and drill the final hole. Bevel the edge a little with a die grinder..... and use a little cutting oil (or even motor oil - just go slow) to keep the bit sharp. Just trying to illustrate that anyone can do this - you don't need to pay a machinist, and you definately don't need a whole mess of tools for it.... GD

You can't fit under a 4WD touring wagon? Dang son - you're a big-un aint ya? Get the wheels off the ground and rotate them - both go the same way on an LSD, and go opposite on open diffs. GD

Not only that, but you don't just have AL in the cooling system - you have brass, steel, aluminium, zinc (in the coolant), plastic, RTV, rubber, etc, etc GD

89, so his ignitor is not in the distributor - it's under the *coil* in a seperate unit. Distributor is just the crank angle sensor, but you may have a problem there too.... although I've only ever seen those fail completely (ie - no spark at all). *edit - I meant to say coil here - not distributor - hehe* GD

I drilled mine by hand, and no balance issues at all. Didn't even have the tires balanced after I drilled them. The drilled holes are close to the axis of revolution compared to the size of the tire/wheel combo as a whole. At extremely high speeds (100+) it might be an issue but for most of us that is not a problem. I've had mine to probably 85 or 90, with no problems. As far as offset, Nissan and Toyota will give you a similar-to-stock offset, while chevy rims will stick out quite a bit, and require more beating and rubbing. I run the Chevy rims as I like the wider offset - it improves the handling on road without the sway bars (better articulation off road), and throws more mud off-road being they are not covered with fenders. And they look nicer IMO. GD

DOH! The cable from the dealer is like $13 - maybe as much as $17 if you have a crappy dealer. It should also be mentioned that this is only a problem on the 80-83 EA81's that have the older style clutch cable mounting. Might be helpful if you posted pictures of the difference.... GD

1 - Are you losing coolant? If so, any evidence on the ground? 2 - If you crank the engine with the radiator cap off (cold) does the coolant boil out? This will indicate cylinder pressure entering the system. You may have to crank for 20 - 30 seconds to get it to bubble out of the radiator cap - depending on how much the head gasket is leaking. If you are losing coolant, it may just be your intake manifold gaskets. I've had to replace them on every EA soob I've ever owned practically. GD