GeneralDisorder

YEAH! What he said.... darn you guys for making me rethink my post! I restate my former analysis - remove the head. GD

Oh - it's not stuck. I just drove down the hill actually..... Here's some video of it that Nick shot: http://members.dsl-only.net/~sawlid/atlas/atlas0003.wmv http://members.dsl-only.net/~sawlid/atlas/atlas0004.wmv As for putting the image in the post, you have to first host the picture somewhere on a server that the board can access. Then you just hit the little "picture" icon on the post form and give it the address of the image. That picture above was taken by Nicky Nighteyes (another board member), and he posted it to his web page. I just went there, right clicked on the image and selected properties - grabbed the address, and stuck that in my post so it would resolve to the image you see above. GD

Nice bike Hehe. Too bad your don't have a Brat in the US - a Brat driving female type would be quite popular around these parts.... (well - at least among board members). Since we're posting pics, here my latest: GD

More spark doesn't increase power. It just assures that the mixture will be ignited more frequently. If you want more power, then you need more fuel, and more air. GD

DOH! I had you figured for a guy! Hehe. Funny how that seems to happen on the internet. Not many women on the board that want to know about tach's and such. A few, but percentage wise we have them out-numbered. GD

www.thepartsbin.com has them. They come individually tho (it says it's a pair, but it's not), so you need to buy two. $3 - $4 each I think..... The "ring" you describe sounds like the one used between the y-pipe and the rest of the exhaust back to the muffler.... GD

Actually - that's pretty easy. Any aftermarket one from your local parts store, or www.summitracing.com etc should work. You'll just have to figure out where to mount it. They run off the coil signal from the distributor, so a bit of wireing will be needed, but nothing difficult. Do any Brat's over there have a tachometer (english word for RPM guage)? Our GL model's had them here, but since you don't have the T-tops, it makes me think that all you got was the DL model's. DL's don't have a tach, or an oil pressure guage either. You should install both while your in there. The oil pressure guage sending unit screws into the bottom of the pump. There's a plug in there right now - all you have to do it remove it and install an aftermarket sending unit for whatever guage you buy..... GD

That's cool - we love having people around that are into soobs in other countries. I see questions all the time that go unanswered because we don't have enough people hanging around from places other than the US. It's difficult for us to find information on anything that Subaru did outside the US. Basically we have to talk with people like yourself. Also - I have to say that your english is quite good for a non native speaker. Better in fact, than some US citizens I have met GD

This is true - leaking manifold gaskets could be the culprit. Jack up the rear end and see if leaks into #2 instead. And if you do have to redo the manifold gaskets, use a proper amount of RTV on them. A nice thin bead will do the job nicely, and PLEASE use anti-seize on the manifold bolts in case someone ever has to remove it again.... GD

Yeah - tailgates are expensive here too - that's what you mean by "rear door" right? Man - if shipping on smaller items isn't too bad...... GD

Pretty sure I wasn't given the wrong one. The "lip" is just the way it was constructed - it fits in there just fine, has the right temp rating, and has the jiggle pin. Even came with the correct gasket, so I must conclude that it was indeed intended for my application. It's just crappily designed, and made as cheap as possible. Like I said - it worked, but not as well as I wanted it to. GD

Stock tires here for a Brat is 185/70r13 Only DL 4WD's and 2WD's got the 175's Could you take a picture of the rear end of your Brat? I know in Austrailia they don't really have rear bumpers, but instead have two "bumperlets" on each end. It's kinda interesting. How are prices in the Junk Yards over there? Especially if no one wants them, and you have lots of parts If you had the body work done professionally, I don't see how they would know that it didn't come with the halo-twin roof... GD

Try a 25/75 mix. Not good to run straight water. It has too low of a boiling point, and doesn't contain any of the suplements (such as zinc!) that prevent corrosion and deterioration of your cooling system. Straight water will destroy your system in short order. Also - use distilled water if you have problems with minerals clogging up the system. GD

A VERY tight engine could pull numbers like that. Either way, looks like you'll have to pull the head. Could be gaskets - did you use OEM or aftermarket? Some of the aftermarket stuff is junk. Felpro gaskets have always been good for me... GD

Lots of stuff can make the engine warmer - bad EGR for example will increase combustion temps. Low oil pressure will cause the oil to not remove as much heat. Incorrect coolant mixture will reduce cooling ability (no - you should NOT run 50/50 in CA). Clogged passages in the block and heads. Cracks in the heads that allow combustion gasses into the coolant (small cracks might not be noticed, but can cause overheating and a slow loss of coolant). Any small leak into the cooling system that causes it to not fully pressureize. Another big one is aftermarket parts that aren't up to snuff. Water pumps with stamped impellers instead of forged impellers like the stock ones. Crappy small thermostats.... etc, etc. Also the guages are not known to be totally accurate, and the sending units go on the blink now and again. A full system check with independant sensors is in order. GD

It's a 1" lift, but only if you use tires of the same size ie: 185/70r15's. (15-13)/2=1 GD

The reason I'm still sitting in the drivers seat is because I was seriously afraid that the car would tip over without my weight there. The picture doesn't actually do it justice. That is certainly the highest I've ever had one wheel.... And the reason I'm gunning it so hard in the 3rd video is cause I had already broken one rear axle at that point, so was running 3WD. A few seconds after that video cut off, the other one broke trying to get up that hill.... GD

You should be able to run a 205/75r14 (26.5" or so) with no cutting at all, and just a little beating on the inside of the front fender wells. You can run up to a 215/75r15 (28") with a little fender trimming, and a whole lot of beating. The swamper is a great tire, but please put them on some steels. You can run 14 or 15 pug steels, but finding replacments when you bend one can be a pain. I personally run drilled US Wheel 70 series chevy 6 lugs as they are VERY thick and strong, and are easy to get brand NEW for $25 each. The aggressive offset helps by giving me a wider footprint and looks cool at the same time. Also makes not having a sway bar a little less noticeable. Always nice to start with new rims, as they balance perfectly and look pretty too. GD

If your turbo runs hot, then your turbo needs fixin, not a band-aid like lower temp thermostats, and double row radiators. Ask yourself this: "did it overheat when it was driven off the showroom floor?". My guess - probably not. Besides that, the OEM 195 if it's anything like the EA81's you see above probably flows better than an aftermarket 180. But if you are going to do it, at least look at ALL the aftermarket ones you can find and pick the best. Maybe find out who OEM's the subaru ones, and see if they make other temps in the same size. But if I were you, I would be looking to figure out what is causeing you to need more and more cooling system as the engine ages. Band-aids like that will only result in cracked heads, and blown headgaskets if left unchecked. GD

We have seen them many, many times, but the price is simply too high. At about $2000 a set, not including carbs, manifolds or anything else. You really need the whole package anyway - a whole engine with all the aircraft parts working in conjunction. But that's like $10,000 for a complete drop in engine. GD

Check out the differences between these thermostat's. The one on the left came from the dealership, and came with a cool rubberized metal gasket, the one of the right came from Autozone I think. They are both rated at 192 degrees.... The one of the dealer is obviously going to flow quite a bit better, and the construction quality difference is just amazing. The dealership one cost me ~ $12. Can't remember what the Autozone one cost, but even if it was $1, I would still go to the dealer for this one.... After replacement, the temp is much more stable. Still about the same on the low end, but the OEM one keeps the needle in the same spot no matter what. I can be idleing or cruising at 80, and it's still in the same spot on the guage. With the aftermarket one (which is not that old, and certainly not bad), the guage would fluctuate quite a bit between idleing or cruising. Cruise was fine, but idle would heat up a little much for my liking - especially with summer comming very shortly. GD

I think he's wanting to know how badly they rust over there, and just how easy it would be to get used body panels from junk yards, etc.... Also - what is the availibility of replacement parts from the dealerships there? Subaru of America can no longer get some of the Brat parts because Subaru of Japan refuses to ship them over due to little demand, and high costs of shipping. From what I understand talking to my local dealership, the parts almost certainly exist somewhere since the Brat was produced for other countries till at least 94, but getting them to the states is basically impossible if you go through Subaru. If you could find a source of parts in isreal for us, I'm sure that some of us would gladly pay to have you ship them to us. Things like rear bumpers, and the rubber ends for them, rear mud flaps, and some other Brat specific bits that we are in need of here..... GD

Find another block if you need to bore it. The blocks aren't too expensive, and as has been pointed out, no one knows how to do it, and mostly the results are bad when people try. Just put in some SPFI pistons, or EA71 pistons, and call it good. Bore failure on EA81's is almost unheard of anyway - the bottom end's get sloppy, or you throw a rod (usually out the top of the block!) LONG before the rings fail. GD

Yeah - Qman has a couple EA81's that are built up. Lots of folk have changed out the cam's in them and what not. Even CCR will put in high compressions pistons for you if you like (EA71 pistons fit, and will raise the compression). EA82 SPFI pistons should works as well for this. I wouldn't go to the expense of having custom pistons made. Decking the heads to match the reground cam profile will further raise the compression, but don't go over .020, as the intake won't line up anymore if you do. Make sure the heads you got are the big valve heads that came on the hydro lifter engines like you have..... Delta cam up in WA does good cams for lots of board members - I think it's around $80 for a cam for the EA81, and they have several profiles availible. GD

Alloys are a no-no for off-road. Rather than bend, they tend to crack when they encounter a rock or other hard object. Generally this is catostrophic, breaking the bead on the tire, and making you very angry. Difficult to replace if you break it, and just doesn't stand up to the punishment. Steels are $25 each brand new, and you have your choice of size and width. This is a no brainer for a lifted rig that will see rock, mud, and tree roots. When you off-road, it's not a matter of IF you break/bend a rim, it's a matter of when. On Sun night, Nicky Nighteyes bent a rim and slashed up the sidewall of his wildcat off-roading with us..... GD