GeneralDisorder

I usually lift the engine up. On EA81's anyway, you pretty much have to. Gives you a chance to inspect other stuff too. GD

If I have earned one, I'll certainly be in as well. GD

The cross-member and steering are connected to the frame rails, and the strut towers really have nothing to do with it. Front end damage hard enough to tweak the frame would certainly involve the cross-member and anything attached to it. Like I said - I'm just guessing since I haven't seen your particular damage. GD

DOH! Brain fart. GD

Hatch tanks won't work - different size due to the smaller wheelbase. GD

Remove the tank and take it to a local radiator shop. They are generally equiped to deal with plugged up tanks. Likely the pickup tube is rusted solid, or stuffed up with varnish. GD

The tranny mounts are pretty easy to get to - you can get them out and back in without actually jacking up anything if you are a big strong individual. You might have to use a little persuasive shoving and cursing to get them back in, but getting them out is pretty simple. The engine mounts you will have to jack up the engine to remove, but only enough to remove the mounts from the cross-member. Shouldn't have to pull the engine or anything to do it. Might have to drop the exhaust off the heads to get it up far enough - and disconnect the pitching stopper from the firewall. When you do the engine mounts, it would be a good idea to do the oil pan gasket if you have leaks there (common) as it will be accesible durring the removing of the mounts due to the lifting. On the Brat - I would have to look at it personally to tell, but the axle's wearing out is pretty much normal. Especially with rebuilt units. http://www.cvaxles.com seems to be a decent choice among board members here. Or you can go my route and get lifetime ones from Autozone or Napa. As they are designed to operate at various angles, I doubt that minor frame damage would result in early failure. As for the rack - that is attached to the frame, and it's very possible that it's over-extending because of frame damage. Not much to do about that but to re-align the frame. GD

Keep it, lift it, and get a legacy as a daily. The EA82's are getting to be nearly as old as what you have, and they tend to be a bit more problematic than what you have now in some cases. Timing belts, headgaskets and lifter ticking to name just a few of the problems they have that the EA81 (what you have now) don't. Those problems seem to have been fixed for the most part on the EJ series engines in the Legacy and Impreza line. Just my opnion tho. GD

Could very well be Japansese... saw an EA81 coupe in a Japanese movie that was a "1600 GFT-5" go figure. GD

Yeah - you should keep your Brat. Also - since this is an 82, you have the 200mm clutch stock. Unless it's been upgraded already?? I know what the 200mm is like with big tires..... VERY BAD. The 225mm from 83 and up 4WD's is the one you really want. For that you will need the 83 and up 4WD flywheel tho.... better ask the new owner which one he wants..... GD

The color stamping does indicate a difference - but I can't tell you what it is on the EA82's. The EA81's have yellow for 4WD stuff (swaybars, springs struts, etc), and purple for 2WD stuff. GD

Carbed EA82's have a black air cleaner houseing...... GD

Check the rear main seal while your in there. Also - remember to use locktite on the flywheel bolts to prevent oil leakage, as they are tapped into the oil passage in the crank. GD

Check to see if it HAS any front axles. If one was removed, and the outer cup used to install the wheel, then you would get no sound. A broken axle should indeed make a lot of noise. Something like an impact wrench. The hub being stripped would initially make noise, but once ground up sufficiently, might quiet down a bit... should still be awful loose, and the wheel would wobble a bit I would think. GD

The four headlight soobs (like my 84 GL) have the high's and lows come on at the same time. Take a look at the 84 wireing diagram, and you will probably get the idea of how to adjust your wiring to be the same. Either that, or get the harness from an 84, or an 85 to 89 Hatch, and wire the healight parts of it in. GD

XT's are lighter by a goodly amount. The XT, being a sports car, would also have some other differences I'm sure. Maybe even a more effecient torqe converter. Those wagons are heavy, and not designed for speed - aerodynamics count for something too. It's the whole package you have to consider, not just the tranny. Not to mention everyones opinion of "fast" or "zippy" is different. The XT will even *seem* faster since your closer to the ground. GD

The tap-tap-tap you hear is most likely the hydro lifters. They aren't getting enough oil pressure. This is quite common. Doesn't hurt anything - just makes noise. The car won't be a speed demon. And the Auto's are renown for have next to no power. With an 90 HP engine (in good tune), and the inneficient tourqe converter, you have maybe a 25 HP car. I recently had a 78 wagon with a 63 HP EA71, and a 3 spd auto. That car couldn't get out of it's own way with a running start! But it did do 80 on the freeway, so if you get your carb tuned right, it will be fine. Also - with 70k on it, the cat's should be just fine. You need a carb tune - probably a rebuild for it to pass emmisions. The Hitachi's are notorious for that... 20 degrees sounds a bit much.... I should think around 10 would be normal.... unless this is a turbo car?? As for overheating - bad juju - headgaskets will let go if you do that too often. Maybe your radiator needs replacing. GD

That's great because isuzu impulses were crap mechanically, and are often found in the JY - not on the road. Looks good. GD

It's been done already - the rims aren't strong enough - they bend very easy. Also - Stockton wheel will make you whatever you like. Another thing - one small correction: On the Chevy rims it's easier to just drill the rim. But the hub/rim debate has gone on before around here, and there's really no right/wrong to it. But everyone agrees that drilling the rims is less work. GD

I will continue to contradict anything that I think needs it. I have what I believe to be better information, and if anyone would like to dispute it, I will gladly accept corrections. But I will NOT retract what I've said. False or misleading information should be corrected when possible - that's what this board is all about. Matt's information is incomplete at best, and I treated it as such. He simply used an unfortunate choice of words like "need" and "you have to" etc. Nothing is set in stone, and if I had my car to do all over again, I could have saved myself a couple thousand dollars if I had known some of this stuff..... As Austin has said - Qman is the one who has done the most of these in this thread. His method is the one I am sugesting also (correct me if I'm wrong here Ken). It's also the cheapest - using mostly used parts or parts already present on your car. GD

Yes - I have a hookup with a machinist. He's using the old steering wheels and building off them. They will be CNC machined. He's making two for me now - they will be available soon - and yes, pics probably next week sometime. Initially he's making two, more if the need is there. All the money goes to him - I'm not making a profit here. GD

Don't worry - I've got some on the way. Price to board members will be $35 + shipping..... these are custom machined from aluminium. GD

Matt is a newbie to this stuff (not saying that I'm an old hand either, but I do know a couple things) - and he's giving out information that is neither accurate or cheap. $268 without a clutch or tranny?!?!? That's insane, and I want this person who is asking questions to know that it can be done for WAY less. Almost nothing beyond the cost of the tranny and driveline in fact - unless you need someone to do the little bit of welding on the carrier bearing tabs. Even that shouldn't amount to more than 20 minutes of work - $50 at the most. The weber's are all the same - you want a 32/36 DGEV (electric choke model of the DGV line). Same thing commonly used on a VW. You just need the proper adaptor to fit the Hitachi EA81 manifold. I wouldn't reccomend the Kit - get a used rebuilt carb, or rebuild one yourself, and buy the adaptor and the air filter seperate. You will save a bunch of money over the Kit - which comes with crappy instructions, the wrong air filter for a non-lifted car, and no linkage kit. There was a post last week by a place in Canada that said he could do a "custom" kit for like $325 shipped, with the carb you want (basically your choice of choke types), the adaptor, linkage kit, and the air filter size of your choice. Way better deal in my opinion if you really must have a new carb. GD

Gee.... that sounds familair..... LOL GD

Just an FYI - double check your codes with another chart..... I know there's some online somewhere - or maybe someone can look these up in the FSM. The haynes manuals and the chiltons seem to be wrong in many cases. One chart I had told me that my model code was a bad ignition module.... GD