GeneralDisorder

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

Not entirely true. The old hoses are coated with refrigerant oil, and will not leak the R134a. However - since your system currently does not have a charge, then you ALREADY have a leak that will have to be fixed before you can go charging with R134a. Find the leak, or if the hoses look good then just replace the o-rings in the system. Follow the directions on the R134a TO THE LETTER. You use less of R134a than you do of R12. As long as you have no leaks in the old hoses, you just need to replace the o-rings and you should be able to charge the system with R134a. GD

The 1.6L VW beetle air cooled engine, which is known to go over 1 million miles in some cases, has no oil filter AT ALL. The Subaru engines are direct decendants of this engine - with water cooling and some other added bits. The worst quality oil you could find (used, from a junk yard for example), and no filter at all would probably not hurt a Subaru engine appreciably as long as it was full, and changed once a year. GD

The two goals are at odds. You cannot rally-x a rig that's lifted. They simply will not allow you to. Rules ya know. They are scared you will roll it. EA82's are not good for off-road. The timing belts and especially their tensioners cannot stand the dirt and water. They also tend to have Head Gasket problems, and noisy lifters that can be difficult to get rid of. Breaking a timing belt, or losing a tensioner bearing on the trail would be increddibly bad. I have enough problems with the one bearing I have exposed on my rig - the power steering idler pulley. I've replaced it twice now due to mud and grit from the trail. At least if it goes I can drive with no PS belt and get home..... The EA82 will fit in the 80 - barely. If you lift it tho, the frame rails will need to be cut and reinforced to clear the engine, as it will drop about 3" lower in the bay. The distributor must be removed from the engine for installation as it nearly does not clear the brake components on the firewall. It can be re-installed once the engine is bolted in place. You would be much better off finding an EA81 to install. They are pushrod engines (no timeing belts), and do not have the lifter or head gasket problems that the EA82's have. And if you do that, then the only thing from the wreck you can use is the trans, which is not worth $200. If the transmission is a D/R 5 speed, then that's exactly what you want. You will also need the driveline from the car, or have the one from the 80 lengthened to fit. If you use the one from the 85, it's a two peice affair, and must have the center carrier bearing mount welded to the underside of the car. GD

Here's the reason. My own post actually: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=16277&highlight=OEM GD

So do you want to rally-x or off-road? BIG differences. GD

http://www.deltacam.com/ There ya go Jerry! GD

You shouldn't have too much trouble with the swap, but I'm sure something interesting will crop up. For one thing, with a lift you want one of two trannies - thats either the EA82 5 speed D/R, or the 81/82 4 speed D/R. With a lift and big tires the 83+ D/R has horrible gearing for third and fourth gear. The 5 speed's 5th gear is useless as well, but at least you have the other 4 so it's basically a 4 speed. There will be wireing differences, but as long as you keep the EA71's alternator you shouldn't have much trouble. The 80 has an externally regulated Alt, and the 82+ is internally regulated. Other things you might encounter are differences in the oil pressure, and temp sending units. Might have to use the EA71 units for the guage to read correctly, but I would need to check the FSM specs to be sure on that. GD

Did you just buy the one on ebay for $50? Unfortunately, if you want to off-road with it (as in lift it, etc), then you are going to need a dual range transmission. The 1980 came with a 1600 (EA71) and a single range 4 speed. The problem you will encounter is that the 1600 can't bolt to a dual range transmission because of differences with the bell-housing. So you will want the EA81 (1800), and a dual range tranny. Might as well be a 5 speed since you have to go to all that work to do it. Since your in vancouver, you could come along with us sometime - check out our site. We are all in Portland. We off-road at least once a month. www.atlas4x4.com I'm sorry to say that unless you have at least 3" of lift, a dual range trans, and some knarly tires, we won't even consider allowing you to bring your rig out on the nasty trails with us (spending hours pulling unlifted rigs out of the mud is no fun for anyone!). But you are welcome to ride along as a passenger in the mean time, and there are plenty of smaller trails you could go through even without a lift. Low range is a must though unless you like replacing clutches. Contact me, and we can talk about lifts and such - I've got some sources for lifts and parts and such that will give me good deals. And our club has some fabrication ability and what not as well..... The Hatch Patrol is alive and well too - I'm a member up there as well. It's just that they are too far to go play with often. Especially with a lift and mud tires. Hours on the freeway in a lifted EA81 wagon is not cool. GD

Probably wanted to bring back a prime example of east coast rust for his Subaru museum out here. People will walk by and say "look children - that's what real rust looks like - aren't you glad we live in a civilized state that chooses not to prematurely abort young subaru's?" Either that, or he just had to save at least one lucky soob from certain death by a salt induced rust coma. GD

That's what skid plates are for. Don't RX's have skid plates like other 4WD EA82's? GD

Dat's not what he asked for GD

Basically - I think he needs to dismantle the car down to the uni-body and have the whole friggin thing zinc plated. The way he drives, he needs it. GD

Try running the stop sign over - no sign, no problem right? GD

Yeah - we already changed the oil twice - used cheap stuff and Fram filters. hehe. Pulled the valve covers and cleaned those out. The PCV lines were getting clogged with water/oil mix. It runs, but it won't idle. Too many contaminates in ocean water - plus all the sand and what not. Weber rebuild kit is in the mail - we'll have it back on the road shortly. The part that made me laugh was when Nick bent the ignition key because the lock had rusted up. Little graphite and it will be ok, but that's some deep arse water to have rusted the ignition lock..... GD

There's no bend in the wires - There usually isn't on any set I've used. Push the end of the wire out of the boot and insert it into the cap, or onto the plug. Spray the wire and boot with WD40 and slide the boot down over the cap connection or the plug. The WD40 makes it much easier to slide the boot around on the wire. It's also non-conductive, and displaces water. All of us off-roaders use it to dry out our distributors when they get wet. Totally safe to use it on ignition parts. As for the coil - you can test it with a ohmeter. Sounds like carb problems to me - something stuck in the primary jet perhaps. To check spark, remove a wire from a plug and insert a straightened paper clip. hold it near a good ground and crank. A good hot spark will be a bright blue color. A weak spark will generally be orange and not very "thick". If you have a bright blue spark then don't worry about the ignition system. GD