GeneralDisorder

That wasn't mearly directed at you taprack - sorry if it sounded that way. It was directed at all who claim what you claim - your "side" if you will. This is simply a discussion, and if It sounded like an attack on you personally, I'm sorry - I was mearly trying to create a "heated debate". It appears I have inadvertantly gotten it a bit too hot in here.... please accept my appologies for that. You sound like an intelligent fellow, and I was hoping that you might see my point if I made it a bit finer. I made it too fine apparently. Just for the record - I'm not angry - I simply used a debate technique that I probably shouldn't have. Known as a "strawman" argument. It's more or less where you introduce a non-sequitor into the argument designed to provoke an emotional response. Probably not the wisest decision on my part. Once again - sorry. Still tho - I would like to see any technical data you could come up with. Feel free to prove me wrong. I still think you can't..... hehehe. GD

It's not a loyale then unless it's been modified. GD

No. Subaru, and Peugot 504 and 505 wheels. A few aftermarket's, but they are mostly rare, and no longer availible. The bolt pattern is 4x140mm GD

Actually - even some of the early subaru's used seperate advance, and retard lines. I don't think that any of them were connected straight to manifold vacuum, but who knows for other Brands. I agree with what your saying in principle tho - the engine will run very nice at idle - since you have a ton of advance. But as you increase throttle, you will lose advance - exactly the opposite of what you want under load. GD

Yeah - just take your belts in, and have them get you a "similar" size. Shouldn't matter. GD

Actually - the FSM's I have don't note any difference in the Distributor advance curve for 2WD vs. 4WD. Only a single graph is given. By chance, I have a 2WD disty in my wagon (it was a 2WD car!), and I can't say that I notice any difference. The Hitachi units seem less prone to malfunctions arising from shaft wear as well, so given the choice, I think I would stick with the 4WD disty. I have yet to see any hard evidence to show that a difference exists, and I can't come up with any myself..... maybe someone has an FSM that shows this elusive disty? At the very least it seems that not ALL 2WD distys have this "better" curve..... craig - your pretty quick with a scanner - you want to show the graph in your 83 manual? GD

And interesting supposition - and I would tend to agree that this is certainly possible. Especially if the HG was almost gone anyway. Might have pushed it over the edge. GD

5th should be slightly higher than 4th on the 82 D/R - about what 4th is on the 83+ 4 speed actually, and while you can indeed cruise on the flat and level with it, there's no acceleration, and any tiny uphill grade will eventually require a downshift to regain your momentum. Being that I'm running 28's on 15" rims could explain some of my lower mileage than your hatch Zap - you are running 27" swampers on 14" pugs IIRC (Jared's old tires right?) - that and my power steering is probably not helping matters any. I am guessing that Bugaru is getting 16 because of that silly Hitachi. Even with bigger rims and tires, and PS, I still beat him with the Weber. Can't imagine our Weber's are that much different - aren't all of us (Me, Zap, and Qman) all running the official kit from Redline? Hhhhmmm - wish I could get mine up to 25..... GD

If it's grinding, then it could be that your clutch is not fully disengaged - maybe you got some dirt in there.... if that isn't your problem, then I'm sorry to say that your transmission is probably gone. That said, it sure sounds like the clutch, since it goes into gear while not running. GD

You could probably get away with a 1500 or 2000, especially if you use it with a snatch block. GD

That's no problem at all Ed. I have become very intimate with the vacuum system of late. Fixing vac leaks and such on my Brat.... I think the poor thing was built on a Monday. It's got so many problems that I work on it a couple times a week it seems. GD

I did try it - I got less top end from it - for the reasons I stated above. I tried it both ways, and although I am not saying that it is totally wrong to do what you have done, I AM saying that what you have done is incomplete, and ignorant (of the principles of operation) at best. For it to run correctly in this manner, a recurve of the mechanical advance, and a redesign of the vacuum mechanism would be required. Your "modification" is making your idle smooth in spite of another problem I would guess. This is what I experienced - the engine would run with a high amount of advance at idle in spite of a quite large vacuum leak that I had not discovered. It ran MUCH smoother with the manifold vacuum because it MASKED the other problems that I had not fixed. But after doing some research on the subject, and reading a lot of FSM's, I determined that this simply is not correct, and switched it back. I looked for my rough idle elsewhere, and did in fact find, and correct the problem. Now it runs just as smooth on ported vacuum as it did when I had it switched to manifold for a brief test run. Why is it so difficult to understand that the engineers DESIGNED the friggin distributor to run on ported vacuum? Do you think that the exact same design and configuration would work for both a vacuum source that rises in pressure as RPM's increase AND a source where it drops? No - of course not. The same design could not possibly handle both, as it has no way to know which it will be using. It may run, but it is not running correctly. You sir, are wrong. And a simple "switch of the hose" proves exactly nothing - other than you can switch a hose. Where is your technical data to back up your claim? I have provided mine for all to see and critique.... please prove me wrong if you can - I want my Brat to run better too. That's what this forum is for. I don't, however, like disinformation - intended or otherwise. GD

The 5 speed won't be any more effecient than the 82 D/R. You will never use 5th gear, so you have a 4 speed just about the same as the 82.... GD

Ok - so I've done a bit of research on this one, and I've come to the conclusion (like I thought in the first place) that ported vacuum is what we want for a stock distributor on an EA81. Some people have claimed that full-manifold vacuum is better, however this just doesn't make sense. The problem is that the disty's mechanical advance mechanism will only advance a total of 15 degrees. Full manifold vacuum drops off at high engine speeds, and the mechanical advance is supposed to take over. But with a distributor designed to accept ported vacuum (where the vacuum rises with higher engine speeds), the mechanical advance is not great enough to reach full advance. You will only reach about 23 degrees of advance (8 plus 15), versus the 33 that the engine was designed for. Thus you will not be running nearly as effecient as if you had the extra 10 degrees from the vacuum advance - which you will only get if you run ported. Maybe the disty could be modified to run correctly with full manifold vacuum, but a stock one surely is not designed for it. The drawbacks of never reaching full advance, and of having higher idle emmissions from haveing TOO MUCH advance at idle (which will make the engine appear to run smoother), are not assets to the EA81. I suspect that this goes for EA82 carbed engines as well, but I'll leave that one up for discussion. Any comments? I would like to know if my logic is somehow flawed... GD

Big tires bring the mileage to it's knees. But the Weber does better than the Hitachi. I have 28's on a wagon, and I got 17, and Bugaru has 27's on a hatch (lighter), and got 16 with the Hitachi.... Seriously - my wagon is not a my daily drive despite it's having a better sound system, and power steering... because frankly it's a slow pig on the freeway, has the acceleration of a cement truck, and I have to redline it before every shift. I can't shift to 4th gear till the speedo READS 60, and my actual speed is about 72. And I'm running the 82 D/R with the lower 3rd and 4th gears. Bugaru has the 83+ trans, and basically can't use 4th at all unless he's on the flat and level and then he still has to get out and push.... GD

Hook it to the same thing your disty is hooked to. You can tee it off that line if you like. I'm not totally sure that both the ports on the front of the Weber are ported. I think one is under the throttle plate, and one is above. Basically, you want the one that's above the plate for both the disty, and the EGR. Despite some claims that have floated around here about using full-manifold vacuum for the advance, this is NOT a good idea. You will actually lose about 15 degrees of total advance this way, and your idle emmissions will go through the roof.... GD

Daily driver? Gas is expensive, and my wagon gets about 17 MPG. Bugaru's hatch got 16 MPG on the last trip to Medford. You might want to rethink that. GD

The 4WD clutch fits nicely on the 2WD 5 speeds. I have done it. No issues. And yes - 4WD conversion is possible.... take a look in my album for pictures of my wagon before and after..... GD

Yes - the EGR does not play a critical role in the emmissions equation for EA81's. You'll just burn the hell out of things if you don't use it. Actually - it does sort of - it acts as a measure to prevent destruction of what little emmissions equipment they have in the first place. There are two types used on EA81's - those with a connection for the anti-afterburn valve, and those without. The one without is better suited for use with a Weber, as you don't have to worry about that pesky valve, and trying to hook it up right with vacuum lines and such. All you need is ported vacuum to the valve, and your good. No need to block it off, or disable it. GD

Basically, it adds a small amount of exhaust gas to the intake stream (above 2k RPM's or so it begins to open) - the exhuast gas has a negligable amount of oxygen in it, and so cannot burn, and cannot therefore lean out the mixture like regular incomming air could. It maintains the same volume in the cylinders, and thus the same compression, but just with a less volatile mixture. Less stuff being burnt = lower combustion temps. It's a balancing act.... what's really funny is that the EGR removes oxygen durring the stage where the gas enters the combustion chamber, and the AIS puts the oxygen back in afterwards in order to assits the cat in converting the remaining HC's. As to placement on the EA82.... that I couldn't comment on. On the EA81, it's centrally located on the manifold. GD

Well - it depends on what's leaking - it could be the grease from the axle itself, in which case you just need to change the axle out. Or it could be the stub axle seal on the transmission. Either way you need to pull the axle. Do a search on the board here and you will find TONS of info on that. Both are pretty easy to fix, but if it's the side seal that's gone, you should inspect the front diff for any play, as that will be the deciding factor on weather you will be replacing the tranny as well.... GD

I would leave the EGR connected. The weber has ported vacuum for it, and all it does is reduce combustion chamber temps - which will save your exhaust valves, and your cat from being burned to a crisp. I suspect a bad EGR valve was the start of all the problems I had with my Brat - it took out the cat, and the AIS valve - which subsequently wasted my carb with molten plastic. And I think on my Weber'd wagon I have burnt the exhaust valves from running high RPM's with a non-functional EGR. She's started to smoke a bit under hard acceleration..... still has plenty of power so I'm guessing it's a valve issue. No biggie, since I'm building a better engine soon anyway. GD

Same basic situation, yes. Lines and hoses may be in different locations, but the tank is still located above the rear diff, so removal is pretty much identical. GD

The bearings are pretty easy to get in and out - last two sets I've done, I did with the hub still on the car. A brass punch helps a lot. If you have to, get a grease needle, and squirt fresh grease in the bearings (remove the seal to get better access). Or just pull them out, grease them good, and put them back. I just grease needled the ones in my wagon, as the grease in there looked pretty munched. The bearings aren't making noise yet, but it sure gives me a little peice of mind to know there's decent grease in there. And I was changing an axle anyway, so it was a natural thing to do. If you had to do it, changing them on the side of the road isn't out of the question, as long as you have a copper or brass hammer, and a brass punch to drift the old ones out, and pound the new ones in. And all the other usual tools to change an axle.... Used ones from the JY wouldn't be a bad idea to have as spares for your trip.... GD

That's not a bad idea with the copper tubing. Glad it worked out for you. For the most part, Subaru made them pretty easy to work on. There's only a couple thinks that are really a pain - the heater core is one, and the gas tank isn't great either. Still - both are things that you don't mess with too much, so not a bad trade off. GD