GeneralDisorder

What are the PS parts from? I'll come pick them up and help you "delete" it if you like..... I'm only about 1.5 hours from you. Basically, you just pull off the belt, and then you can either plug the lines for the rack, or put in a non-power rack from another car. I vote for finding a non-power rack from another EA82 - they turn nice - almost like having PS actually. But even with the power rack, and no belt you will still be able to turn it fairly easily. I ran this way on my lifted wagon for a time - even with the big tires it was managable. GD

The 4th in the 81/82 D/R is a lot lower than the 5th in the 5 speed. I can actually use 4th in my lifted wagon, where 5th hardly gets used at all on Nick's wagon with the 5 speed. The stock 82 Brat I have here will tach at 5k in 4th gear at 85 MPH.... they changed the ratio in 83 for better fuel econemy..... the 4th gear in the 5 speed might be close to the 4th in the 81/82 D/R. Actually - they changed 3rd AND 4th gear. 1 and 2 are the same I beleive. Personally for a street rig I would go with the 83+ 4 speed. I have on in my 85 Brat, and it's just fine. Has a better top speed too. GD

A lift is not required for an axle swap - that's just silly. A jack, and one jack stand is all you need. GD

That's nice that you have one, but I don't want one anyway - I want an EA82 PS rack, and this post is about how to retro-fit it. The next time I tear a boot off-road, I want to be able to find good used ones at the yard, instead of buying them from the dealer to the tune of $64 each. It's a very simple concept really, and I don't understand why I can't seem to get this point accross despite having posted it numerous times...... GD

Good lord people - I WASN'T TALKING TO ROB. And yeah, I can find them now and then - I know where one is right now, but both it's boots are torn and it looks like hell. I would MUCH RATHER put in an EA82 rack so I can replace it easier later. I can get EA82 racks all day, and my post was asking about information related to putting one in my car..... not where I can lay my hands on an EA81 rack. GD

So is Jason trying to sell it? Or was he just exclaiming his happieness at having one for himself? I'm sorry - his post wasn't very descriptive.... GD

I wasn't talking to Rob. And I'll catch him in his cell here in a minute..... we both have Nextel.... GD

*reads post above (above you Rob..), and thinks silently on how to respond to this.... finally settles on:* On a usefulness scale of 1 to 10, the information you have provided doesn't actualy register. I am forced to assume from both the time/date of the post, and the judicious use of smileys, that you are probably drunk. You are, however, not forgiven. Rob - GL-10 what?? EA81 or EA82.... sign in to the messenger you..... GD

If you are going lifted, might I sugest you consider a welded diff.... the Subaru LSD's weren't really designed for an off-road type vehicle, and tend to break loose too easily with big tires.... plus a welded diff is much cheaper..... GD

Ok - the rack on my 84 wagon is either in need of a rebuild, or is shot from too much mud. The Drivers side boot was torn, and I didn't realize it till the damage was done. The EA81 power steering racks are nearly impossible to find, and it looks, from my inspection like the EA82 rack will fit with a little work. I'm curious if anyone has done this and what their results were like. I'll have to bend the lines, or fabricate new ones, which with a tubing bender and flaring tool shouldn't be that hard. My biggest concern is with the pump, and the tie rods. I'm not sure of the tie rods are the right lenght or not, but the outer tie rod ends appear to be longer than the EA81 ends.... which leads me to think that possibly the rods themselves are already the right length, and I'll just need to thread on the EA81 ends? Is the pump going to work? Correct pressure and volume? I would just as soon put in the EA82 rack no matter what I have to do to make it work as replacments are easy to find - nearly all the EA82's I see have PS - it's actually VERY rare to see it in the EA81's.... GD

The sqeaking sounds like possibly a wheel bearing. You can inspect them when you do your axle(s). I would say that if you have never done an axle before, and you are somewhat mechanically inclined, you could easily do one of the two axles in a weekend. That's including the wheel bearings, brakes, and all that other stuff. You should do a search on here for "axle removal" or something along those lines. There have been a lot of discussions posted on it in the past.... especially you should note that most manual's will say that you can't do it - that only the dealer can. Don't be scared by this as it's really not that hard. I do a full axle swap - from the time it's up in the air to the time it's back down in about 30 minutes if I'm really moving.... although I rarely am, and usually take my time - inspect things carefully, and perhaps adjust some other things while I'm in there. GD

HG's really are cake on an EA81. Half a day if you don't break an intake bolt.... GD

I concur - a cheap solution possibly. I would add that you should use ONLY a SOA valve. The aftermarket ones are notorious for sucking oil into the intake. It's very uncommon for EA81's to smoke heavily like that.... rings and valve guides typically last the lifetime of the engine. The bottom end gets sloppy, and EA81's typically die by blown rod when they are allowed to run long enough for mehcanical failure to occur. Usually they are sent to the junk yard long before this happens with bad carbs, or transmissions (those auto's were crap!). If by some odd coincidence it does turn out to be your rings or valves, then just get another engine. Fortunately they are cheap, and probably a board member will have one for you anyway.... GD

The HH was pretty standard one just about everything - even my DL single range 4WD has one. They don't seem to fail a lot out here on the left coast. Mine are both fine, and I have yet to replace one on any Subaru. Must be a rust belt thing. GD

Huh - last time I was there I had my disty rebushed, and the vac can rebuilt - both together cost me $55..... that was about a year ago tho. I just passed their shop the other day - little hole in the wall. You wouldn't even know they were there if you weren't looking for them. They do goo work tho - even painted the vac can and shined my disty for me. GD

Well - I doubt they will even touch a body lifted soob, but who knows. Also - there actually is no adjustment possible for the camber - is this a PK kit? If so, your front strut's are probably adjusted all the way up causeing the bad camber situation. It's funny that there really is no alignment on a soob other than the tie-rod ends. Toe adjustment is all you have - the other factors are part of the suspension. Bad springs could cause negative camber, but positive is because the struts are too strong. The positvie camber will wear the outer edges of the front tires...... but those swampers are HARD rubber. and can take the abuse. If you really want to fix it, increase the size of the lift blocks on the engine cross-member by 1" - if they are 3" now, use 4" blocks. If they are 4", then use 5" blocks. You can make your own blocks or call PK - I'm sure he could hook you up as well. GD

Start beating. You might have to disconnect the lower coil-over mount to get enough angle, but that's it. Dropping the diff is not necessary. GD

Maybe their prices changed - still the same on their site tho.... http://www.philbingroup.com/rebuilt/special_services.htm Was your VAU a dual unit? It does say $45 for those..... Mine was a single so only $25. GD

VAU's can be rebuilt - only cost me $25 last time I had one done. Seems silly to buy a new one when you can just do that. GD

Let me straighted some of this out.... 1. Clicking axles are caused *usually* by the outer joint, which will NOT generally cause vibration at freeway speeds unless the damage is severe. The inner joint (which is a Double Offset Joint (DOJ) - not a CV joint) when it goes bad will do so rapidly, and cause massive vibration at nearly all speeds over 20 MPH - they will click and clack and sound like something is seriously wrong (think rod knock noises here...) going in ANY direction - turning, straight - doesn't matter because the DOJ doesn't swivel when you turn like the CV. To summarize, your clicking *while turning* is almost certainly an outer CV joint, it is not the cause of your vibration, and if the clicking isn't severe and the boot is still good it can last a LONG time in this state. Think 10's of thousands of miles.... it will not hurt your performance in the slightest. If the boot is bad and the grease dries up, then it could fail sooner, but you will have plenty of warning before it does. If it fails, just throw it in 4WD and go straight home - it will make awful, horrible noises, but it shouldn't damge anything you won't be replaceing anyway.... and you steering won't lock up - that's just BS. Clicking axles are not a good representation of the overall condition of the car. Older Subaru's eat axles like candy, and it has nothing to do with maintenance or care. Hardly a month goes by that I don't put an axle in someone's Subaru - sometimes 3 or 4 a month. 2. $750 is insanely expensive. You can get BRAND NEW axles for $90 each, or remaned units for about $65. An axle would take an experienced mechanic about 1 hour for each side, and even at dealership rates that's only about $200 in labor (that's an overestimate - more like $150 - $160 I should think).You can do it yourself and save a lot of cash. The tools to do the job won't cost you what the labor would to have somone else do it. If the clicking isn't too bad, and there is still grease in there, buy a boot kit and a tube of grease and pull the axle out - clean and reboot it. A boot kit and some grease will run you less than $20. 3. Tires and rims..... you shouldn't need ALL new rims - maybe 1 if it's bent too badly, but unlikely - even the big chains will straighted a steel rim with a hammer and rebalance it. You can get a set of tires for about $80 at the discount places - true they are cheap tires, but they are better than nothing, and will last at least 30-40k with careful driving. If you do need a rim or two, you can get them brand new for $25, or get one from a junk yard for $10. 4. Brakes - they are so easy to do that if you do nothing else yourself you should do this. You need only a couple tools (12 and 17mm wrench, jack, and lug wrench, and the little tools that spins the caliper piston back in) and the pads are like $20 for a complete set. Rears are like $10 for the shoes. A tube of anti-squeal compound is a good idea to.... and probably some brake fluid. GD

"Half that's missing" is not very technical - I don't know what you are saying. The EGR "system" consists of only one part - the EGR valve. That's it. It could be causeing a vacuum leak - the remedy for that is to remove and clean the valve, or replace it. It's really that simple. Sounds like you are confusing "EGR" with the rest of junk in the engine bay that people mistakenly call "emmissions stuff". The only emmissions thing on an EA81 that will make any difference on a tail pipe test is the cat, and it's ASV system..... and you can pass without those pretty easily. You just need a tune up, and to fix all your vac leaks. GD

And what exactly is wrong with your EGR now? GD

It's obvious that you don't have a working knowledge of what you are attempting to discuss - pull a wheel off the front of your Brat and ask these questions after you see how things are set up down there. GD

The carb's have a big kidney shaped black air cleaner housing right in the middle of the engine compartment - the SPFI has a flat filter in a houseing on the passenger side near the front.... pretty easy to identify. The SPFI is pretty stout, but can be difficult to troubleshoot when it has problems..... The best bet for a carbed car is to swap out the Hitachi carb for a Weber. Easy to work on, simple, and reliable. Don't forget to replace the timing belts EVERY 60k - you will not be happy when you have to be towed because one broke (easily fixed, but still a pain)..... GD

It's far easier to just buy a turbo car. You shouldn't have any difficulty doing way over 70 with the engine you have tho.... You have 95 HP - My Brat only has 80 HP, and I've had it up to about 95 - smooth as silk. You just need to replace those bad axles, get your tires balanced, and get the engine running smooth. Unlike other cars, the older Subaru's don't have HP to spare - every bit counts, and losing a small amount can really suck. They are just fine if you make the needed repairs and maintenance. Turbo isn't what you want in an older soob if you aren't mechanical - they tend to be finicky at times, and don't have much more power than what you have. Your's is 95 HP, and the Turbo is 115..... GD