GeneralDisorder

All those sizes will fit, and at one time or anther probably came standard on various models. You have to understand that not all models had the same size stock. 2WD EA81's had 175's, and 4WD's had 185's for example..... GD

Chop saw can be had for $50 or less from some of the discount places - or find a used one. Grinders are $20. If you can borrow someone's MIG setup for a few days, and you plan it right you can save some serious $$$ over buying a kit. But of course you need skills too - if you don't have skills with this type of equipment, or know people that have this type of stuff, then you might as well just buy one. GD

Well - sounds like the water pump is gone, so you will have to get a new one. Pretty easy to replace. About a 2 on a scale of 1-10. Unfortunately, since you have run it without coolant there is a good chance that you have blown a head gasket, and probably warped the heads. You should pull the heads and check them for warpage - if you find any have them milled, then put them back with new gaskets (I like the Fel-Pro ones myself). I'm making this sound WAY easier than it really is. You should invest in a manual, as this is probably a 7 or 8 on the 1-10 scale. GD

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that small body lifts are totally managable if you have access to just a few tools. You absolutely need a chop saw. And access to a welder to make the strut towers. But the rest is basically 3" or 4" x 1/4" wall square tube. The only really sticky parts are the steering linkage, and the strut towers - the rest is cake. GD

Die grinder, and get a new bearing - $13 from Autozone (Timken brand). GD

You could have just PM'd me, jeez. To answer your question - it's difficult to tell. The best indication is a sticker on the valve cover that says "Do Not Adjust Valve Clearances". Other than that you could drop the oil pan and compare the lifter bore's. The hydo lifters are removeable, and the solid lifters are not (without splitting the case). But I'm not sure you can tell the difference just by looking. There are casting differences between the small valve heads and the large intake valve heads. But as the larger intake valve was standard on 83+ engines - even solid lifter models - this is not a determining factor. The intake valve is 2mm larger in diameter in case you are wondering. There is a slight casting difference in the hydro lifter block. Where the heads mate up on the bottom there is a spot in the solid lifter block for a bolt that would go through the small intake valve heads..... on solid lifter engines with large valve heads there is simply no bolt (they did away with it on the head), and on hydro lifter blocks they also eliminated the hole on the block. There is still a protrusion there, but it's not as wide. Without pictures this is difficult for me to explain, so I'm not sure it will help you.... GD

Yep - they even had feedback versions. My friends 82 Brat had one originally. Now it's a Hitachi. GD

Only feedback carb models had 02's. Regular carb'd models do not. They made both from 80 to 89. I have an 84 wagon with an 02, an 85 Brat without, and I just parted out an 88 hatch with one. Look on the float bowl of your carb for the model number. For an 87 non-feedback it will be a DCP-306-26, and for a feedback it will be a DCP-306-24. Also you can look for the feedback computer under the dash on the drivers side. GD

I use a chisel and a hammer, or a brass punch and hammer. There was a web site that had the tools pretty reasonably - do a search on it. GD

No carbed XT's. GD

I just pulled a bad alternator from my 84 with the digi, and it's interesting to note that the digi didn't complain a bit about the alt, which was still working, but WAY over voltage, and pushing quite a bit of AC current. I transplanted the bad alt into my Brat and watched all the idiot lights twinkle. I noticed the bad alt on the wagon because the bearings were starting to go (too much muddy water I suspect), and it was making horrible noises. The idiot lights were very faintly glowing (had to put my hand up to the dash to see them), but otherwise there was no indication from the dash that the alt was on the way out. In the Brat it was painfully obvious that the alt was going, as the lights glowed very bright, and the voltage gauge climbed to the bottom of the red while going down the freeway. I think the problem with the digi-dash's is not that they are particularly susceptible to bad alternators, it's that they give almost no warning of impending demise of the alternator. I wouldn't have known it was producing such dirty current if it hadn't made noises that caused me to check. Fortunately it didn't harm my dash, and since i have two roo's I have plenty of extra alt's lying around. I think that the simple addition of a digital voltage guage for both AC and DC would give plenty of prior warning before the dash actually blows. If the DC fluctuates more than .01 volts, or the AC being put out by the alt jumps, then it's time for a new one. I'm also not entirely sure my digi is original. The alt in the car was not original when i got the wagon, and I have a suspicion that the dash may have been replaced with a more robust version. Possibly Subaru addressed this issue in a later revision of the part? It just seems odd that I'm now on at least the third alt that I know of, and I have one of the only perfect EA81 digi's I have ever seen or heard of..... GD

If your cooling system is in good shape, then test the temp with an aftermarket guage. The temp guages are not renown for their accuracy. I changed the guage cluster in my Brat, and the temp dropped 1/4" on the guage, and the oil pressure dropped by half. The voltage went up to where it was supposed to be. The original cluster had 135k on it, and the one I put in had 137k. Go figure. I'm going to install some digital guages for my temp, and probably a mechanical oil pressure guage..... GD

Likely the heads are warped if it was overheated, but the HG's are probably good if it's still makeing power. I wouldn't worry about it. Your carb is probably at fualt for the bad idle. The Hitachi's are notorious for that. In my experience, warped heads make little to no difference once they are torqued down with a new gasket. I pulled both heads from my Brat, and neither gasket was leaking but the heads were warped more than 3 times the allowed limit by the FSM..... If you do pull the heads, then have them milled (should be around $30 a head), and use new Fel-Pro head gaskets. They are only $14 brand new - don't buy the cheap ebay gaskets - you will be dissapointed. Plus the Fel-Pro's don't require retorqueing. Do a compression test to make sure your gaskets ARE bad before you pull the heads. Rebuild the Hitachi, and make sure you find ALL the vacuum leaks. This will cure your idle problem I should think. GD

Sounds like the engine was shut off in a position where maybe the ring gaps lined up and let oil into a cylinder (small amount would do it). If it doesn't do it again, then I wouldn't worry about it much. GD

Yep - cable is about to go. Best to buy one from the dealer. I've not had very good luck with after market cables. They don't last as long. GD

These guys are "willing to attempt repair on most any small DC Motor" or something like that. They do a great job, and are cheap. www.philbingroup.com GD

You mean like these? I'm sure it's just a trim level. God only knows what specifically tho.... Now - if you find one of these.... GD

From their web site. GD

As for removal tips - I just did this job on Saturday, and I can say that removing the windshield (10 minutes with a utility knife) will really make getting to the bolts on the top of the dash much easier. Of course you can't do this on your car, but at the junk yard it certainly would fly, and make your visit more enjoyable. With the windsheild out, it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to get the dash out. I had never pulled one before either, but if you know where all the bolts and nuts are, then it's actually pretty straightforward. Remove the surround, and the guage cluster first, as well as the drivers side kick panel. Remove the glove box door, and insert. And remove the passenger kick panel/shelf. On top of the dash remove the vent louvers, and there will be three or four bolts underneath that hold the dash down.... various nuts and bolts underneath that hold the dash in place, and of course all the wireing has those wraps on it that hold it to the dash. Couple of zip-ties in there too. I just cut those. GD

Yes - the 5 speeds will bolt up. There's some modifications that are needed. Do a search and you will come up with lots of info. Ratios are very similar. The low range of the 5 speed's (except the RX D/R) is slightly lower than the 4 speed. But the difference in crawl ratio is small. The 4 speed is about 20:1, and the 5 speed is about 22:1.... GD

Huge pain in the ***** - you have completely different wireing, and since you do not have a tach, wireing that up will be needed. You would be better off taking the wireing harness from the donor car and just replaceing that at the same time. It's quite accesible with the dash removed. And while your in there, you should at least inspect your heater core, as that will be accesible as well. Alternatively, I have an 80 GL cluster here with the tach and everything that will fit in the dash you are looking at..... GD

Well - MorganM is talking about EA82's, and his information is mostly incorrect. You have EA81's so I'll copy a post that I made to someone else doing exactly what you are doing..... I've done the EA81 4WD swap, and I can say that I will never do it again. Too many problems. I've posted about it before, so here's one of my old posts: You can do it. The tranny tunnel on the 2WD manual's is REALLY small, and you will have to cut and beat to get even the 4 speed in. The five speed would be a nightmare from hell to fit into a 2WD manual tranny tunnel. I think the 2WD auto's were bigger - possibly. Even still - you will have to beat on it for a 5 speed. Possibly not for a 4 speed if it's an auto. I never did get mine right - I lifted it instead and solved the problem that way. Check out the pics on my conversion: http://usmb.net/gallery/albuo57 http://usmb.net/gallery/albuo55 You have to cut the shifter hole bigger, and mount the 4WD lever. The front struts are different, the sway bar is different, and the whole exhaust from the Y back is different. Here's a parts list I put together (more parts like the pedal assembly would be needed for an auto swap): 4WD gas tank 4WD rear torsion bar and trailing arms. Rear diff / diff hanger / diff hanger brackets Rear axles Rear drum brake assembly, and axle ends Driveline Transmission 4WD Rear exhaust heat shield (there's a cutout for the diff hanger bracket) Complete exhaust (at least from the Y pipe back) 4WD front struts 4WD front sway bar 4WD shifter, and shifter mount (welded in, but the welds can be drilled out) 4WD interior console's and boots (and their mounting brackets on the floorpan) All the nuts and bolts for all these parts If you have any detailed questions - PM me. GD

DOH! When I drained mine to put in Redline the same key fell out (just one). But I've been off-road many times thus far since then and no problems. Third gear's syncro *somtimes* grinds on the downshift, but not badly. GD

Many of the vacuum lines and such have no clamps - I wouldn't worry about them unless you can verify by spraying carb cleaner around the connection that it is indeed a leak. It's unlikely that a leak is caused by no clamp - usually a leak is caused by a crack in the line, or a completely disconnected line. The EGR valve is sometimes guilty of this. You must understand tho, that in order to effect how the engine runs the leak must be pretty big. Small leaks are normal, and will not cause you much trouble. I can guarantee that if you spray carb cleaner directly on the throttle shaft of the carb the idle will increase ever so slightly. This is not a big deal unless there is a LOT of slop in the shaft. The throttle base is the cast iron bit on the bottom of the carb that contains the throttle shafts and plates. It bolts onto the carb, so is easily replaceable. You just have to make sure and get the linkage correctly set when you put on the new (rebuilt) one. A $30 rebuild kit for your carb, and possibly a rebuilt throttle base should be all you need in the carb arena. Fix whatever vacuum leaks you find, and you should be able to put it back in service for less than $100. Could take a bit of time to tinker with it, and if you don't have that then a Weber would be no better. They take time to properly install and adjust if you have never done one before. I agree with the above statements that you should find a shop that can do reliable carb work. The dealerships for the most part have no clue how to work on these carbs. They are just too old, and no one is trained on them anymore. Too bad you aren't closer, or I would take a look at your Hitachi. There just aren't a lot of people around anymore that take the time to learn how to properly fix them. Everyone seems to throw new Weber's at the problem instead. GD

Cool - so how is the SPFI fuel pump hooked up? I'm curious about the hard lines from the pump to the engine bay handling the increase in pressure. Since the Brat was originally carbed, and ran with 1-2 psi, and the SPFI pump is rated at over 40 psi (something like that anyway). I'm going to put the SPFI from an EA82 on my EA81, and will be in a similar situation as you. I had thought to mount the pump in the engine bay and feed it with the carbed pump but maybe that isn't neccesary? Any data you could provide on the strength of the original lines, and their ability to hold this extra pressure? GD