GeneralDisorder

Test.... try going up a hill at about 25 MPH in 2nd gear, and then change to 5th gear. The engine should lug down when you release the clutch. If it doesn't, then your clutch is going. You can also just pull the engine and take a look at it. You will understand when you see it...... Pulling the engine is easier if you have a hoist. Pulling the tranny is less complicated, but it's heavy, and unless you have a couple friends - difficult to re-install. GD

No. Although I fail to see how you read through this thread and still had that question... GD

Red Line (brand name) is a high performance gear oil - it does help with bad syncro's sometimes. I run it in my wagon's tranny, but at $8 a quart you are already well on your way to the cost of another tranny by the time you fill it up..... (3.5 quarts I think...) GD

You definately have a problem. Check to make sure it's running on all cylinders (pull each plug wire and listen for a difference in engine sound). Check those fuel delivery issues that everyone else brought up. Check your air filter too. Is the engine original? If it is it would be a hydraulic lifter model, and does not require a valve adjustment. If it isn't, then it could be a solid lifter engine and maybe the valves are in need of adjustment. On the valve cover there should be a gold sticker that will say to not adjust the valves..... if you don't find that then you may need to look for some other indications.... Also - check the adjustment on your throttle cable, and make sure the vacuum secondary on the carb is opening. Don't expect to ever do a burn out in this thing - even on gravel - the early subaru auto's were pretty horrible about power transfer. But I did 80 MPH down the freeway in a Gen 1 automatic - 1.6L. And frankly, with the 3.7 gear ratio, you should be able to hit 100 MPH if the engine were in decent shape. I hit 110 one time in my 2WD 5 speed wagon - same gear ratio. GD

Beleive me, the 4 speed's are starting to dissapear. The 5 speeds are quite abundant in the yards, and people are throwing away good EA82's daily because of broken timing belts that cost more than the car is worth to fix. The tranny's are often fine. The yards here consist almost entirely of EA82's, and now a few legacies, and the occasional impreza. EA81's are difficult to find - the local u-pull-it's here currently have 1 (tigard), 3 (foster), and 2 (damascus). And there was a gen 1 Brat at the damascus yard, but it might be crushed now... GD

Down here in Portland, they pull the gas tank out and put it in the trunk of the car, so it's REALLY easy to get to the sending units. hehe. Our yards are filthy with soobs - I could probably go pick up 3 or 4 sets of rear discs if I wanted them.... GD

The clutch kit should be a little over $100 (it varies quite a bit depending on if you buy a rebuilt one or not, and where you get it), and you can do it, but it requires pulling the engine or the transmission. I personally like to pull the engine, but on an EA82 the trans might be simpler if you don't have a hoist. An engine hoist would make the job a lot easier. Someone who has done one before could do it in probably a couple hours. If you haven't, then set aside an entire day, or maybe a couple or them - like a weekend maybe. Once they start slipping like that - they tend to go VERY quickly, and when they do you will have no forward movement at all. In other words you would have to be towed home. If it were me I would stop driving it till you can get the clutch done. GD

Very common. Nothing you can really do except replace the tranny or rebuild it. Either the syncro is gone, or one of these fell out: They are syncro "alignment" dodads - Both McBrat and Myself have found these stuck to our drain plugs.... Mine still works - grinds on the downshift into third. Mick's was operable, but made some horrible noises apparently. GD

A 5 speed D/R would probably be better, and it's shorter too - so I imagine it would be easier to fit in the back.... If you can widen the track of your rig, you could use the EA82 rear axles that have an outer CV instead of a DOJ - the CV would allow for a steeper angle. GD

As for alignment, there is no alignment adjustment on the EA81's except the toe adjustment on the tie-rod ends. There is no need to remove them at all, and even if you do remove them, just mark the thread with some finger-nail polish, and make sure to thread the new end on the same amount. I've never had to have an alignment done on an EA81 as long as the ball joints, tie-rods and bushings are good. You don't need a press for anything on the suspension of an EA81 - front or rear. The use of one is time consuming, expensive, and uneccesary. If you want to follow the book and not take the advice of board members who have done it too many times to count, then by all means - but why ask in the first place then? GD

EA82 rear axle is too long for an EA81 rig. GD

EA81 Turbo's (coupe's included) never came with a manual. Finding one with a stick already in it will be nearly impossible. I say you get that coupe from Rob, and do the conversion - or heck. Drive it down here and I'll do it for a small fee and some beer..... As for the terminology thing.... I'm not sure either of us are totally correct, but I must have heard "radiius rod plate" somewhere, and it seems to fit. I don't see how that plate has anything at all to do with the struts..... unless "strut" refers to the radius rod. hehe. I'll look it up one of these days just to kicks.... GD

All the same - no differences in spline count between any of the trans types. Even the EA81T's had 23 spline axles. Length too - no difference there either. GD

Yeah - but the SUB4 heads are way different - custom cast - they are dual intake AND exhaust, and they have two spark plugs per cylinder. Really crazy stuff. The RAM heads are just dual intake, and are not custom castings - they are heavily modified stock heads. GD

You shouldn't run seperate headers, there needs to be a collector where the two pipes come together for the exhaust pulses to syncronize, and aid in balanced scavenging. Expect to lose about 10 HP if you go with totally seperate headers. And I have no idea where you would put the O2 sensor if you decided to go that route. You can still run two pipes - just run them from the Y back. Seems silly to me, unless you are just going for looks. A large single pipe is better - less to replace when it rusts out. No one makes any aftermarket for the EA cars really. XT's included. Especially the EA82's. At least the EA81's have a following in the aircraft community. The EA82's are to finicky about timing belts for those guys. GD

I'm sure as heck going to try . Gonna build me a tig welder from an alternator and get some bits for my die grinder. $1000 can buy a lot of labor if I'm working for myself..... GD

Do you mean "radius rod plates"? GD

Incorrect Junkie - the 2WD EA81's ALWAYS had the 200mm clutch disc. The 4WD's also had them up till 83, when the 4WD only was upgraded to a 225mm clutch. No 2WD EA81 ever came with a 225mm clutch. I can cite 2 examples for that - one being my own wagon - 84, with a 200mm (now replaced of course). And Jon-of-Scio's 88 hatch - also 200mm. Both are (or were, in my case) 2WD EA81's. And please people - no more of this silly standard measurement stuff - these are metric cars, with metric parts..... GD

You will have to have one made. And you can't bypass the O2. The engine won't run right without it. Why would you want to anyway? GD

Nothing from the 85 suspension wise will fit. If the rear coil-overs are the adjustable type, they could be used for the style of lift we run, but we usually get them at the junk yard for $15 each anyway. Chances are they are not adjustable tho. The DOJ cups from the rear axles of the 85 can be put onto the axle shafts of the EA81 rear axles to get a little more stretch to the axle. Good for the coil-over rear lift conversion, but again - I usually pay no more than $5 each for them at the junk yard. You can use the dome light if it wasn't crushed in the roll-over :-p. A $2.50 item if I ever saw one. The alternator and the starter are the same as EA81 alts and starters, but not the same as the EA71 stuff, so you could use them later if you decided to keep em. Both together wouldn't cost you $50 at the junk yard. $150 is still a little high, but depending on how far it is from you, and if you have a place to part it out, etc then it might be a good deal. Have to figure your gas and time in there too. There is a drain plug on the bottom of the gas tank to drain out that nasty old fuel. Put some fresh in there. Chances are that it needs a carb rebuild. Figure out that ignition switch problem, and get a rebuild kit for that carb. Either that or just dump the engine out and start in with your conversion. GD

82+ are all internally regulated. GD

It's built into the alternator. You check it by running the engine and testing the output of the alt... or by removing the alt and having it tested by some place like Autozone (it's free there...) GD

Sending unit on EA81's is on the back of the tank. 3 or 4 nuts hold it on. Make sure you have less than half a tank when removing it. Can get very messy otherwise. Note that there are at least two different sending units for EA81's - one for digi-dash, and one for analog. The DL might be different too - not sure. GD

Get one from a junk yard. GD

What you describe seems normal - all my soobs have acted this way. When the light comes one, you are down about 10-11 gallons. It is a 14.5 gallon tank, but the way it's set up, you will never use more than about 13 gallons of it. I've actually run out of gas in my wagon, and when I filled it it only took around 13 gallons total. That means that even with a 14.5 gallon capacity, the pickup tube apparently can't get the last 1.5 gallons out of the tank. I pretty much know that in my lifted wagon, when the light comes on, I have *maybe* 30 miles before it starts to sputter and die. Which works out to about a gallon and a half the way that thing eats fuel. (18-19 MPG). GD