GeneralDisorder

You really need to dissasemble the governor and dress all the edges of the moving parts. When you think it's moving pretty good.... do it again. Keep filing on the edges (whetstone and a drill works well for this) till there is NO friction or stickieness at all. I'm guessing this is the cause of your problems. Shifting problems like you describe are almost always the governor. There's a walk through with pictures in the online repair manual... GD

Stock is always nice - then you don't have to worry about the engine bay matching, and the door jams etc. I will be going with the stock color on my Brat (Marina Blue), but I have to say that if I had one of the truely nasty color's like the saffron yellow, or the baby dookie brown (rant: man, the word filter spoils ALL the fun!), I might have to reconsider that approach..... At that point I think I would go outragous, and probably paint it orange or yellow. Maybe use the old 60's mopar colors. Sublime with black accents, or Hugger Orange with black.... etc. GD

You could also fix the choke on one of the ones you have. The Hitachi's aren't bad carbs really. Complex, but not bad once you get used to em. Drill out the rivets in the choke housing, and see if you can't figure out what's up inside there. There's a brass pin that keeps the housing from being adjusted, if you remove that you'll be able to adjust the choke and possibly stop your problems. However - my gut feeling is that your problem is not the choke. All 4 carbs having the same problem seems unlikely. Sounds like maybe you need to replace your fuel filter..... GD

The governor looked good eh? Did you dissasemble it and make sure that all the little parts slide smooooth? Really can't tell much just by looking. Seriously tho, those trannies are known problems. I would convert it to a manual if you have the time and resources. GD

The way I see it, you are changing the oil to remove the impurities that the *engine* has imparted to the oil by the very nature of the way engines work. Small metal particles, carbon, blow by, etc. I do not see how any change in the type of oil would cause the engine to impart fewer impurities into the oil. Especially in the case of an older engine. Thus by 2k or 3k miles the same amount of crap has been secreted by the engine into the oil, and should be removed.... regardless of what type of oil you are using. Does a cat impart fewer impurities into it's litter box if you change brands of litter?!? This is of course an over-simplification, as there are some trace quantities of junk in a non-synthetic oil (in synthetics too actually - at least acording to Castrol, who's synthetic isn't really!), but I think you get my meaning. You couldn't possibly reduce the amount of impurities by 3 fold simply by saying the oil comes with fewer impurities to begin with, And just changing to cleaner oil from the bottle is not going to reduce or eliminate blow-by or other sources of contamination. Especially in an old engine with lots and lots of sludge and shellac'd oil sitting around waiting to contaminate your 4 new quarts of don't-drop-the-soap-expensive synthetic oil. I say line your pockets, not those oil execs. GD

Compound Bow, or Cross Bow. Aim to stick it through both butt cheeks - that will get his attention. Silent too.... finish the job with an aluminium baseball bat to the head. Closed casket for sure.... that is if you don't bury him deep enough. This way no one finds any spent shell casings, or lead on his person. If you want to do it like a pro, get a silenced .22 pistol, and a small nylon bag to catch your brass. Dress in all black, or camo depending on the location. Body goes in the back of the vehicle he's trying to steal, and him, his truck, and the car all go in the local lake, or to your friend at the wrecking yard. At least you can fanisize about doing it. If you actually use any of my sugestions, I don't want to know about it...... GD

Saw a car at the JY with an amsoil box/wrapper in the back seat.... had 290k on it. EA81. Make of that what you will. I personally use chevron 10-30 or 20-50 depending on mileage. In my mind, EA series engines are not precision machinery, and will likely go 300k+ with any brand of oil if proper respect is given to amount, viscosity, and regular changes. And once I hit 300k+, I've gotten more than my money out of the engine, and a new car is in order. Unless it's something special like a Brat, then I'll carefully rebuild an engine for it. It's a bit like toothpaste really - brand doesn't matter so much as actually using it regularly (and hopefully changing it each time!). Same logic goes for filters. Another point is that the simple fact that there is anything to debate about at all speaks to the quality of todays widely availible oils. I'm not saying there's not uses for *extremely* high quality oils out there, I'm just saying that this probably isn't one of them. It's like the bottled water craze - our city water supplies are so damn clean that it's almost a crime to charge for bottled water at all. It's all a lot of smoke blown up your backside for the most part. Having said that, I probably wouldn't buy the K-mart special 5 gallon 10-30 oil. It's suspect simply because of it's cheap price.... the adage "you get what you pay for" appies somewhat as well. GD

The stock ones are pretty wimpy for any off-roading. Bugaru wiped out the one on his 1600 wagon without a lift even. Creamed it on a stump. Doesn't offer much protection, but I guess it's better than nothing. GD

It's not a CV - it's a double-offset joint - the major difference being that a CV has no movement along the shaft, and a DOJ does. You can pound all you want because it's unlikely you will break one. I like to go after them with a brass punch and a BFH. Removing the lower shock bolt should give you more than adequate room to remove the axle. It can be removed from either end first, but I usually pull the wheel side off first. It's rust welded on, and nothing but beating like hell will get it off. An acetelene torch to get it red hot, and then beating on it before the stub equalizes in temperature can work too. If that doesn't do it, dissasemble the joint itself, and remove the axle shaft leaving only the cup in place on the diff. Down inside the cup is a grease plug. Remove that plug (screwdriver and hammer), and then you will have access to the end of the stub axle. You can then lubricate, and pound on it from the inside, and if it comes down to it, you can buy the special tool to remove the bolt that holds the stub shaft in the diff, and remove the whole stub.... but it would be easier to just get another diff and axle cup from the JY if it comes to that point. Put the mustache bar back up, or you won't have room to pull the axle. It needs to be at close to it's maximum angle to be pulled.... GD

Using ATF as an engine flush has been a "backyard" mechanic trick since shortly after the beggining of time. Do an internet search and I'm sure you will come up with tons of arguments for or against it. My opinion is in line with Caleb's - it's a light detergent oil a lot like MMO or Seafoam. Using it has basically the same effect. I personally use MMO, and occasionally Seafoam for things like this, but the difference is probably negligable. GD

You won't toast your tranny - at the most you will break an axle. They are the weakest link. GD

Brat tank is 14.5 I can go at least 300 on a tank in my Brat... I'm getting about 28 MPG right now. GD

Just so you know, the vents are the same for all the 82+ EA81's... really hard to find in good shape tho. GD

Absolutely - I was refering to total advance as the sum of all possible advance in the system. Ported vacuum also rises in pressure even with a fully opened throttle plate. I want to say that it's a linear relationship, but I'm not totally sure on that. The rising vacuum comes from the low pressure that develops in the venturi of the carb - which is there regardless of throttle position. It's actually a function of the speed of the incomming air, not the throttle plate position per se. But the plate position does of course change the maximum flow rate, so of course has an indirect effect on this value. At wide open throttle, and high RPM's, the intake air speed should be at it's maximum and thus the vacuum advance unit would be fully deployed. In the case of manifold vacuum, at wide open throttle, there is no appreciable vacuum present in the manifold, so the advance unit is not deployed at all. I hope I explained that ok.... hehe And I do concur that this is an excelent debate thus far. GD

If it doesn't have power windows could you grab the drivers upper door panel for me? They come off really easy..... GD

If it's in any kind of decent tune, you ought to get at least 300 miles to a tank, and still have about 2.5 gallons left (that's figureing 25 MPG). But I understand what your saying. I am getting about 28 MPG on my Brat right now... still trying to get it higher if I can. GD

Haha - beat you to it Mick! You can also tell by the bumper, the hatch latch, and the rubber seal..... :-p GD

Not a Brat - wagon for sure..... 83 or 84 ..... can I have the rear axles??? GD

The links are all about GM cars.... none of them quote anything specific to Subaru's and in the last link the guys is quoteing something he read somewhere with absolutely no references that I could find to this source... Stated right in the article on corvette forum: And: This man knows what he's talking about - he's very careful to state that the whole system must be taken into account when making modifications like these. And as I have stated before, I'm talking about stock disty's, not special recurved ones, with different vac can's. Another point I would like to make, is that nobody drives at idle. While it may help you not to overheat (not a problem with a well tuned cooling system) at idle, and it may run smoother (also not a problem if the engine is in good overall tune - no vac leaks etc), but it doesn't do much for driveability from there on. Basically, it comes down to - do you want the additional advance when the throttle plates are open or closed? I want it when they are open (low manifold vac, high ported vac) for best acceleration performance. Having it come in when the plates are closed (high manifold vac, low ported vac) certainly makes for nice smooth, cool idleing, but that isn't a problem on a properly tuned EA series engine anyway even running on ported vac..... so I see little point in running this way unless you redesign the system to use a different advance can that fully deploys at a lower vacuum, and a mechanical advance that can make more advance without the vacuum assistance. I think the mechanical advance comes in so quickly (1700) because it's not actually full advance - it's only a total of 23, instead of 33 when the vac advance fully kicks in from the rising ported vacuum.... that probably happens at the typical 3k - 4k RPM's. I need to get a vacuum gauge to take some detailed readings on that tho. I will test the advance without the vac unit using my light tho to see when it does in fact come in. GD

you'll need at least: pedal box clutch + flywheel driveline (different length for manual) rear differential (unless your going to an RX style box) shift linkage interior consoles I probably missed a thing or two..... GD

For your oil pressure, get an oil pump reseal kit - $9 from the dealer, and takes about 30 minutes to install. It will help imensly. GD

The tunnel on the turbo's may very well be larger. The floorpan sheet metal is a different part number for every model / transmission type. I could imagine that they made the tunnel bigger to accomidate a turbo exhaust, but I have no way of knowing for sure. The tunnels also changed by year of manufacture, and there is no way to know what you will find in there. Just have to rip into it. Rear main's are cheap, at less than $10, and even if the clutch is good, at least change the bearings. Just remember on the seal to use silicone on the outer edge, and grease on the inner edge. Oh and remember to use locktite on the flywheel bolts to seal them off from the oil passage they are drilled into. GD

Yep - and if you DONT pass, then you must have reciepts from a mechanic detailing what was fixed AND a pass slip showing that you passed after the repair. HAHAHA GD

Go for it - should be a pretty straight bolt-in. GD

It's called "Gauranteed to pass" made by CRC I think. You can find it at NAPA, and some other places. Probably won't do anything for a carbed engine. It's about $8. Might as well flush it down the toilet with a carbed motor, as it really can't do anything for you. Make sure your timing is set correctly, your idle speed is at about 800-900, and fix ANY vacuum leaks you find. MOST IMPORTANT is to make sure your EGR valve is working properly. The EGR valve is responsible for removing about 15-20% of the COx emmissions. If this doesn't bring the CO down, then retard the timing to 0 degrees, or even a few degrees ATDC. You should pass no problem with your timing retarded that far..... assuming it runs well enough to get to the station. Might have to get out and push at the stop lights. hehehe GD