GeneralDisorder

Your description of it steering with the gas pedal was what lead me to the ball joints. I had this same problem when I first bought my Brat from Zapar - he was kind enough to tell me what the problem was, and after checking, it was indeed the ball joint on the passemger side. It would steer to the right on accel, and steer to the left on decel..... it's easy enough to check, just jack the car up, and have a look at them - if the boots are ripped they are bad, or if you can feel any movement with a prybar between the lower control arm and the knuckle they are bad. That said, I agree with others that a binding axle could cause it to want to transfer more or less power to one wheel. But I have never personally experienced that. Also could be bad front wheel bearings - these will usually make lots of noise tho, indicating they are bad. Steering play is generally indicative of bad tie rod ends, or a bad rack. Sometimes on lifted rigs it's a bad linkage enxtension..... GD

Ball joints GD

That listing is very confusing - it doesn't seem to have a listing for the 4WD tranny's - except the Brat. And to my knowledge, 82 trans were the same as 83+ except for 3rd and 4th gear - which are more like the 5 speed 3rd and 4th. I have both - an 82 in my lifted 84 wagon with 28's, and an 85 in my stock Brat. The difference is pretty noticeable in 3rd and 4th - for off-road it doesn't seem to matter much. 1st gear should be the same on all 4 spd D/R tranny's.... and if that chart is correct, then the listing for the Brat should be about right - 3.636. But there's no listing of 5 speed D/R tranny's in that chart, since they weren't availible till 85..... Also - you should note that the 82 4WD cars use the 2WD clutch. So you will want to be replacing that with the bigger 4WD one, as big tires don't get along with the 200mm clutch disc. I found this out the hard way...... GD

If you have the original trans, then I would keep it. The 81 and 82 D/R have better gearing in 3rd and 4th for a lifted rig. Basically, if you swap to a 5 speed, you will have the same thing, but with a useless 5th gear that you would not use. If your's was an 83 or later model, then I would have said go for it, but you have a rare year, and a slight advantage in gearing already. You'll be just fine with a lift, and big tires. The owners manual's do not list the gear ratio's BTW. At least none of the 5 or 6 I have lying around do.... GD

Yes - rotate the pump while removeing it rather than prying. Be careful..... the crank pulley is 22mm, also a 13/16" will do the trick. I seccond the oil pan and valve cover gaskets. If you gonna be in there - might want to do a valve adjustment too. Pretty easy, and should be done every 15k anyway. GD

Valve covers, and the oil pan gasket. Same as EA81's actually.... do em up with high temp RTV, and they won't leak..... for a while. As for the drain plug - get a new metal crush gasket every few times you change the oil. They are cheap, and I usually buy 10 or 20 at a time.... GD

I already know mine - it's 19.2% It's not hard to figure out on your own with a little math. Basic percentages, and a little geometry is all that is needed. GD

Zap mentions their removal technique on one of Unhatched's stubs here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3157&highlight=rubicon GD

If you don't remove a rear axle for pavement travel, a sharp turn can litterally blow the axle apart. At the very least, it will almost certainly break. The axles are not very strong. The stub axles can break too, and with the higher crawl ratios of the t-case modded folk out there, these seem to be a weak point. I think Jared said he has broken 4 now. It's not *as much* of a problem for us without the t-case, but they can still break. I saw one that Qman broke - twisted it right in half. GD

Bugaru and I have found some wonderful trails down here about 1.5 hours from hood river..... we would love to show you all around up in there. We can go in search of closer stuff to the event location, and have a good knowledge of what's around that area too. Since hood river is so close for us, we would be happy to assist in any way we can. On another note - Bugaru and I are planning to go mudding this next weekend - if you guys are comming down anyway - maybe you would like to play too? Maybe we could organize something.... GD

Thanks Zap! I think I'll get one. Ok - as for welding the diff, I just did that, and my research sugested that welding the side gears together is the best approach. Some people have welded the side gears to the carrier, but this is less strong as the gears are tool-steel, and the carrier is cast I think. At any rate, it's best to weld similar metals for strength, and gear to gear will get you that. Basically, we (Bugaru and I) just decided to weld the thing at each place where the gears come together - so four welds on each side. We removed the diff from my car (20 minutes if that), and drained the gear oil. Inspected the diff to make sure we were welding something that was in good shape in the first place, and then gave it a good cleaning with brake cleaner. Brake cleaner leaves no residue, so that was our reasoning for using it - we wanted the metal as clean as possible. I didn't have my compressor up and running, but I would sugest using compressed air to get it all dry and ready for welding. We just let is sit overnight to make sure it was throughly dry. The welding process itself was pretty quick, and we found that we got great penetration on the welds, so I have no fear of my diff ever breaking. We used a Lincoln 220 volt Mig setup, with 100% CO2. I think the 100% CO2 mixture gave us more penetration, but a little bit more splatter to clean up. We conjectured that a mixture with more argon would result in less splatter, but after seeing the results, I think I would rather go with the 100% CO2, as the welds seem insanely strong. After that, I filled the diff with motor oil, and worked it around till I got all the splatter ground up, and drained out. Filled it with gear oil, and installed it in the car. I've taken it out on some rough stuff twice now, and it's been awesome so far. I'm not a welder, so if anything I said was incorrect, please feel free to correct me. Bugaru did the actual welding - I just helped with the prep work, and such. Just reporting what I have experienced.... GD

Just a quick question on this topic - anyone know a good place to get the special socket for the stub bolt? Do you just unbolt it, and slide the stub out? Or do you have to remove the side seal and what not to get to it? GD

My mileage went in the toilet, and I can tell you that Bugaru had the same effect. My car was 2WD, with stock tires of 175/70r13's. I have a brand new weber, and before the lift and tires I got 32 MPG on the freeway. Now with 215/75r15's I get about 17 MPG. Bugaru with his 205/75r15's gets a little less than me at about 16.... mostly due to his crappy hitachi, and 84 4 speed trans. I have bigger tires and more wieght, and I still get better mileage with my weber. There's really not much you can do about it, except build a higher compression engine, putting out more power. The tires are tough for the little 1.8 to push down the freeway, and your mileage is going to suck. That's just how it is. It's still better than most big trucks tho. GD

As I recall, Audi had AWD long before subaru did. The 1981 quattro rally cars had AWD, and 200 HP 5 cylinder turbo's.... in fact, till Audi got out of the sport, Subaru didn't stand a chance. Not that I like Audi's, but I do have to admit they were first. GD

Right - being a STD model, it would be a 4 speed, 2WD, EA71, with an EA81 bell-housing. It's still considered an EA81 car tho. And as sucker king noted, you will have to see what fitment issues you have with your particular tunnel. There was different tunnel sheet metal not only for each type of tranny, but they even changed it from year to year. I can tell you that Automatic 4WD tunnels are plenty big enough.... and that 2WD 5 speed tunnels are not - without cutting or beating, it's not even possible to install the tranny really - it won't slide onto the engine. You WILL have to install the 4WD lever mount, as it isn't present on your tunnel. Also - your clutch is different, and so is the size of the throw out bearing in the flywheel. You will want to swap over to the 4WD 225mm clutch instead of the 200mm 2WD clutch. You need the flywheel, clutch and PP plus new throw out bearing and release bearing. Believe me on this one - the 2WD clutch isn't even driveable on the street with big tires, let alone off-road. 2WD's don't have the front skid plate - so remember to get that too. For off-road, the EA71 isn't going to cut it - hell, even the EA81 is barely enough with a weber. You will want an EA81 engine. Also - your struts will have to be replaced with adjustable ones from a 4WD, as you will want that extra 1" of clearance they give you. If I were you, I would get that 88..... GD

I agree with you CIS - I was previously refering to Setright's comment on the difference between 4WD, and AWD. I just sort of tossed in the center diff thing cause it struck me as a possible difference between the FT4WD and the AWD. I think the difference is just a different center diff in the case of the locker / non-locker tranny's, and that either could have or not have one. So it seems that FT4WD and AWD are indeed basically the same. One thing - a locker in the center diff, will make the tranny either 4WD (when locked) or AWD when unlocked. A simple 4WD tranny actaully disengages the rear wheels, and has NO center diff whatsoever - you cannot lock what isn't there. AWD and FT4WD cannot be put into 2WD mode (at least not within reach of the driver), has a center diff which may or may not have a locker in it. 4WD is either 2WD, or 4WD (and in the case of D/R, 4WD hi, and 4WD lo), has NO center diff, and acts just like an AWD tranny with the center diff lock ON when in 4WD mode. That is how I understand it anyway. GD

Yeah - from what I understand, the Gen 3's all have the same gas tank, and the tranny tunnel just has bits that bolt in and out for different tranny's. Subaru kept improving on their use of generic parts up through the EA82's. From what I've seen and understand, Gen 1's would be nearly impossible to convert to 4WD without major frame modifications and a lift, Gen 2's (EA81's) are difficult, but not impossible to do, as the frame is basically the same - a few of us have done it. Gen 3's (EA82's) are pretty easy from what I've seen, and it's been done to quite a few on the board here recently. GD

Couple if things - #1 The 4WD conversion is not a simple project. You will need more parts than you think, and the tranny will not fit till you have lifted the car. It's not just the rear end and driveline you need. You need the gastank from a 4WD hatch (must be a hatch tank), you need the complete exhoust from a 4WD hatch (could go custom here). You need a lot of little peices. The 4WD lever mount doesn't exist, so needs to be cut from another car and welded in. There's a HUGE laundry list of parts that you end up needing - a whole parts car would be wise. But then you have to ask yourself why you are not just driving the parts car??!? #2 If you do it, then be aware that the PK kit may have some fitement issues that need addressing, as this was a 2WD, and as such is actually quite different in a lot of ways. In the case of my car, the shifter was a real pain - I didn't do a PK kit, but never the less, be aware of this, and probably have a one-on-one chat with PK about what issues you may encounter. Just my opinion - being that I'm one of the few people on this board that has done this conversion on an EA81, and drive that rig on an almost daily basis, I can tell you that I will NEVER do it again. There are too many 4WD cars out there for cheap, and there's really no reason to bother converting a car unless it is something *very* special, or you already have all the needed parts lying around or soemthing. Feel free to ask me any questions about the full conversion. I think I have a list of every part you need around here somewhere. I know the list had at least 30 items on it or so..... GD

I just put an 81 GL Brat tranny into my friends 82 Brat, and I didn't notice any differences in the tranny casing. Basically, the only difference I could find was the 4WD lever mechanism was turned 90 degrees - but that was easily fixed, as it's threaded - just had to turn it with a wrench. GD

Not entirely true. FT4WD, and AWD both have center differentials to allow the system not to bind up. The FT4WD's have a diff-lock switch (at least some do), allowing you to lock the center diff - making it very similar to a regular 4WD. The AWD's I don't believe have the center diff lock... GD

There is plenty of need to downshift to first while moving - at least from a RallyX perspective. Lots of times 1st is the right gear, and I don't think I'll be stopping to get into it either..... GD

Tell that to the 125 HP Justy that holds the 1.0L class record at bonneville. From 1988!! GD

The hill holder has nothing to do with the parking brake. It's entirely hydraulic. It also doesn't work on the front wheels. IIRC, it works on one front and one back wheel.... or maybe just one wheel period. It was actually invented and first used by studebaker waaaaay back in the day. GD

There's no difference in the drivetrain of a wagon and a hatch. For the years you are looking for, they are both EA81, and with the exception of auto trans versions (83 and 84 Auto's had hydro lifters), all are 73 HP. The hydro engines are like 80 HP. Your hatch weighs a bit less, and also has a smaller gas tank. If you have $3000 to spend, and are looking for a reliable car, then get a legacy. The EA81's are indeed reliable, but they are all nearly 20 years old at this point, and repairs are inevitable. I own two EA81 vehicles in Oregon, niether of which have ANY rust, and my Brat has 130k, and my wagon 162k. Both of them have had a LOT of maitenence to keep them in top shape. It's not that they have a lot of miles, or that they weren't cared for - my wagon was VERY well cared for in fact. It's the age. The rubber is starting to go all over the place - the windsheilds both leak if you park them at certain angles. The tranny mounts are shot - the engine mounts will follow soon. Both of them needed the distributor rebushed. I have done ALL the axles multiple times on both rigs. The carbs didn't run right at all - The wagon has a Weber now, and the Brat a reubuilt Hitachi. I'm not saying not to buy one - I LOVE them myself. I'm just saying don't expect a no maintenence daily driver from them. The people you are talking to here are largely mechanics on the side that work on their own rigs. I would never reccomend an EA81 to anyone looking for a daily - unless you buy more than one, and have all of them ready to go all the time. Safety in numbers so to speak. And expect to spend quite a few hours with them getting them into shape. You'll have to install a decent stereo too - you can't hardly hear the stock ones at freeway speeds. GD

You might find a set of adjustable rear struts. Likely they replaced them with non-adjustable's. That might get you a bit lower. I'm not totally sure tho - maybe someone else will know for sure. GD