GeneralDisorder

Yeah - some german bike had one of the EA63's - the 1.4's in it. There was an article about it, and a big post on the board a while back. Do a search - maybe you will come up with it. GD

Sorry to hear of the demise of your engine Ed - I wonder if it could have been averted if only the coolant had not escaped. I must say tho that the EA81 in my Brat took a lot of punishment - I ran it with nearly no coolant at one point and the guage rose to the bottom of the red. The HG's did not blow, but it seemed to have warped the heads a good deal. At least having them milled was an upgrade of sorts as it increased my compression to 9.1 The engine is now running cool like it should, and no coolant has gone missing since I did the carb base gasket. What had happened is I had pulled the carb off, and it came away cleanly from the base gasket on the manifold. I neglected to use a new gasket against the manifold because the old one seemed in such good shape. It was, however, leaking on the underside of the gasket. I took me at least an hour with a razor blade and some sandpaper to get the 20 year old gasket loose from the manifold. I used new gaskets both above and below the plastic spacer, wire wheeled the base of the carb, and used gaskachinch on every mating surface and gasket - worked great, and hopefully when I need to pull the carb next time the gaskachinch will allow me to reuse the gaskets. If Ken doesn't want that engine, and you don't either, drop it at Rob's and I'll take it when I pick up the engine he has for me. I may have a use for it, and I do have an extra set of heads here.... Fel-Pro HG's are only $14 each. GD

Well - it seems that it was the carb base gasket all along. So I pulled the heads and put them back for almost no reason at all. Although I did find a slight combustion leak between cylinders 1 and 3, and the previously mentioned bolt issues got corrected and anti-seized durring the process. And of course the heads got milled so my compression increased, and the warpage is gone.... GD

I had a 78 with an 82 carb on it, and it ran fine, so I don't think there are any real issues. You might consider swapping the jets from the EA71 carb into the EA81 carb. Depending on the EA71 you have, you might even be able to swap the whole manifold. The later EA71's (fat case, hydro lifters, EA81 bell-houseing) had the same manifold length as the EA81. Oh - and you might need to use the throttle linkage from the EA71 carb too... GD

My Brat, and my wagon both had KYB factory struts and shocks. It's a mixed bag from what I can see. GD

Factory stuff is all gas to my knowledge - generally made by KYB or Tokiko (whoever that is). Just my ovsevations from looking at a lot of struts and shocks on Subaru's. GD

On the other hand, I can attest to three different sets of EA81 heads that were warped far beyond the limit. I have a set sitting in my garage, the set on my brat right now (had them milled flat again), and another set that's on an engine Buagru pulled from his hatch. In each case the heads were warped at least .006, with the limit being .002..... I have another set of heads in my garage that are not warped at all, and have the same mileage on them as my Brat's heads. Go figure. I will also say that my Brat ran just fine with heads warped three times the allowed limit, and the head gaskets were not blown. I thought they were, but was mistaken. Had them milled anyway before assembly - cost was $35 per head (same price for ANY aluminium head). Used brand new Fel-Pro gaskets, and nary a leak to be seen for the 1000 miles I've driven so far. I'm not careful with it either - I shift at 6,000 every time. GD

4 x 5.5" in case anyone is wondering. 6 lug chevy and toyota rims are 6 x 5.5", and this is why we all do the 6 lug conversion, or drill two holes in the chevy rims. Depends on the rim type if you can drill the rim or not. GD

Did you clean the contacts in the starter solenoid? If it's clicking then it sounds like the contacts are dirty. I also had this happen to me once, and the positive battery cable was almost broken in half at the battery terminal. GD

Just decking the heads .020 will pull the compression up to 9.12:1. Addition of the 1600 pistons should raise it even more. GD

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