GeneralDisorder

Get the Fel-Pro sets - www.rockauto.com has them for a good price. Other than Fel-Pro and OEM, a lot of gaskets out there are junk. Still use OEM for oil pan, intake manifold, and oil pump rings. GD

Coolant passage in the block, and top mount starter - buy all your parts for an '80 wagon with the 1.6L - that should get you what you need. Glad the disty has found a home! GD

Look under the manifold - see if the water passage is cast into the block, or there is a seperate pipe that bolts to the block and the water pump.... Or another way - pull the water pump and compare it to an EA81 water pump. If they are the same, it's the later EA71. If they are different then it's the older casting. Is the starter on the top or the side? That will tell you something too. There was like three different EA71's - the early one in the Gen 1 body's, the later one that went into early Gen 2's (like 80, 81), and then the "fat-case" which is a strange animal with the starter on the side like an EA81. That came in the later STD hatchbacks (85-89 for sure, possibly 83/84 or so as well - I'm not totally sure). There were even JDM EA71's that sometimes made it here from late-80's vintage - hydro lifters and other fancy things can sometimes be found in those. If you have weird seafoam green valve covers, and gold stickers written in japanese only.... all bets are off Being that the later EA71's (80 and up) were rare, and even almost unseen after 81, there isn't a lot of info around about what things were like on them. The 82+ ones being the rarest, and only offered on the lowest of the low end models like the STD hatch, which came as a FWD 4 speed, with NO options. GD

Interesting..... so you say you *pulled* the wire and it idles? I ask because that solenoid should be powered in order to open the idle circuit. Pulling it's wire should cut the idle circuit completely, and kill the engine... How fast is your idle set? Maybe the idle circuit is actualy clogged and sputtering fuel instead of spraying it properly.... just a guess. If you adjust the idle screw high enough you will actually open the main throttle and it will "idle" off that instead.... just usually pretty fast. GD

I'm no expert on the SPFI (just learning about it myself), but it sounds like a sensor issue perhaps. I know the O2 sensors get old and slow, and I've had one fail completely on a feedback carb once - original sensor - 150k on it at the time. Maybe check or try another MAF, and the coolant temp sensor is also a good one to check out... the TPS is sometimes an issue, but I would think your problems would be more pronounced. Just a guess. Remember - it may *seem* like timing, but the fuel computer controls that.... GD

Perhaps a vacuum leak - spray some carb cleaner around the manifold and see if the idle increases or smoothes out. Easy test to rule it out. GD

One thing of note - Subaru just lays out the models of each brand of plugs that will work. Classically, the subaru being an import they were shipped to the dealer with no plugs (being on a boat from Japan, they didn't want the cylinders to rust). It was up to the dealer do decide which brand of plugs to use. My 86 sedan for example came off the lot brand new with a set of Champion plugs :-\ GD

Interesting - usually I find that the carb base or the manifold gaskets are to blame for coolant loss. Perhaps it has someting to do with aftermarket vs. OEM head gaskets. GD

Rear diff is the same - Hitachi R160. So you just need to make sure that either you already have a 3.9 ratio rear in that Imp, or get one from the junk yard. Should bolt right up tho. Axles too. Front axles are a different story - not sure on the Imp spline count. May need to put different DOJ's on the front axles. GD

And what were your symtoms then? (also - turbo's are a different animal....) GD

Basically the ignition system is designed to do one thing - ignite the fuel. If it does that, then it's working. There is really no sliding scale here. Different plugs, different coils etc are largely gimicks to sell you stuff you don't need. I use the cheap NGK's and have no problems. I had a set of those platinum jobbies that came from a used engine I got (owner had just put them in trying to get it running ), didn't make a bit of difference. Besides that - weird slots or grooves, and strange metals on the plug electrode surfaces make it hard to clean and re-gap them later. Give me plain old plugs, a proper gapping tool, and some sandpaper any day. Maybe they last longer or whatever, but they would have to last a REALLY long time to justify the cost. The NGK's are like $1 each :-\ I replace the plugs when I get a vehicle, and then NEVER again. They can be cleaned and re-gapped easily, and should be anyway at every few oil changes. I've never had to buy a new set of plugs for a vehicle that I have not just bought. Eventually (takes a LONG, LONG time), the electrodes will wear away to the point that cleaning and gapping is no longer possible, but I have not reached that point with any of mine. The Accel coils used to be good but are now produced in mexico. The failure rate on them is extremely high lately. Junk. Napa sells a unit that is from the same plant that Accel used to use for theirs... do a search there is a whole thread about this. The coil resistance is matched to the ignitor resistance - using a different coil for "more powerful spark" which is of dubious use at best anyway, is just asking to burn out your ignitor. The stock coil's work great, last nearly forever, and are cheap at the junk yard - what more can you ask for? Get a universal V8 8mm plug wire set and make yourself two sets of plug wires from it. The stock wires are 7mm and I've had arcing problems with older wires. I just use the 8mm universal sets cause they are cheap, and the 8mm wires stand up a little better to time and fluids. GD

Tires for sure (even 4 good temp spares would work for a short trip), but the rest is dependant on where it was parked, the environment and such. I bought my 86 sedan after sitting for 3 years. Jumped it, drove to the gas station and put 10 gallons in, and drove it 20 odd miles home. Since then I've put 8,000 on it. It was parked in good condition tho, and only because the guy broke a screwdriver off in the ignition switch. The feedback carb was crapola, so I threw on a Weber. The tires were shot, so I got some used ones. My rule is if the tires still have air in them and ok tread, drive it. If they are flat don't bother trying to inflate them. All in, I'm $100 for the car, $109 to register it, $190 for the Weber+Rebuild kit+Adaptor, and a case of oil and some filters. It's my daily. I pulled the timing covers off as I'm unsure of the belt condition. They look alright, but I keep and extra set with tensioners in the trunk, and with no covers I can change em with a 12mm deep socket in about 20 minutes. I re-tension the belts every so often too, but I'll just run them till they break. GD

"Runs and drives fine but needs HG" Hehe - probably intake manifold or carb base leaking. These engines never "run fine" with a blown HG. At least none of mine ever have. GD

You can do the bearings on the car - just remove the axle (there's plenty of write ups on this - search), and then the bearings are right there. Just crank the wheel around and *maybe* remove the lower control arm to get better access. They just pound out with a punch, and drive back in the same way. Make sure you grease them properly, and with a quality grease. If they come greased, wash that stuff out as it's only for shipping to prevent corrosion from sitting on parts shelves (doesn't apply to sealed bearings of course). GD

All Brat jump seats are the same - even Gen 1's Yep - have to pull the axle. Then the bearings just drift out with a brass punch. GD

Gotta love the old soob feeling. They just feel so..... right. It's like the $1 whopper. It tastes better cause of the price. GD

Sure - EA82, 1800. Got one on my 86 Sedan. Daily driver. GD

But he says it runs into the pan - and the engine runs good.... coolant can't get to the pan from the manifold, and it would run terribly if the HG's were so loose it ran into the pan as fast as he can pour it. Probably wouldn't run at all. GD

Did one for that POS sedan I got for $200 - actually a little less. I may have a friend that would sell you one for pretty cheap. Have to get an adaptor plate ~$38, and maybe a couple jets and a rebuild kit. Glad you got it runnin - sounds like a nice engine. GD

You are lifted - that's not great mileage, but I usually get about 20 MPG with my lifted wagon and a Weber. The big tires suck the gas. Normal. Danny - Get a weber. GD

Yeah - I just don't want the ECU to give off an error code by not having it connected. I'm connecting the ECS light in the dash as well, and I would like the ECU to report correctly. So sounds like it's most likely the same... I just don't want to blow up the ECU with a weird signal at some enormous voltage. GD

Unfortunately, the 1.2:1 low range will be useless. The 3.7:1 diff ratio, and the 1.2:1 low range basically make the RX tranny useless for off-road. It's low range will be 4.44:1 effective ratio, where the D/R is already 3.9:1 even in high range, and 6.02:1 in low. Driveing in high range will be harder, and you'll have virtually no crawl ratio at all. GD

Serious vacuum leaks - how is your EGR hooked up? Is it working? GD

He has no O2 - 4WD 49 states carb. GD

Freeze plugs poped out of the heads. Were they even in place when you installed the heads? Should be able to put new ones in without much trouble. GD