GeneralDisorder

It's not a small task - you need a complete reinforced subframe to hold all the components - custom drivelines - custom steering linkage, and custom shift linkage. I'm probably missing a few things. There's a reason only three have been built so far (that I know of)......... Also - the crawl ratio is good, yes - so good in fact that you end up breaking other components - like diffs and axles.... the added torque is a lot for the stock soob axles and diff to handle. GD

Yeah - some 83's did - it was halfway through 83 that they switched, so you never know. I would swap out to the vented ones, since they did come on 83's, and they are a direct bolt on. GD

Well - that's a sticky question - Gen 1 wheels will fit an 82, but not an 83 *sometimes*. Depends on the wheels. The difference has to do with 82 having solid rotors, and 83 having vented rotors...better measure them carefully. GD

I'm gonna try and plan for this ahead of time - hopefully I can swing it. If nothing else I'll be down Sunday to play a bit and get my bumpers, etc. Not sure I can swing an overnight deal. Money is tight and the friend I want to bring with me probably can't do that either. My bumpers are looking SWEET!!! GD

I don't think it will work on the Brat. I will tell you how to remove the one on your Brat tho - don't even mess with the headless bolts - just remove the four nuts at the rear of the assembly where it bolts to the steering column, and slip the whole unit off. A decent pair of needle nose pliers will do it. I did the last one with a leatherman. Oh - grab the spring loaded wires for the tilt mechanism with some pliers, and pull on them to slip them off the column - makes it much easier to work on. Take the ign. lock to a smith and have it repaired - should cost around $20 - $30. This way your door key remains the same too... GD

Yes - the cat *could* be plugged, but before checking for that, one should check the heat sheild to see if it's loose, or has rocks in it. That "marble" sound can be a lot of things - ping, exhaust leaks, rod knock, piston slap, lifter tick, etc - etc - etc. Each one sounds a bit different to the trained ear, but to the untrained ear they could all be described as "marbles" rolling around or "ticking" or any number of adjectives. The truth is that we are all simply guessing here, and while we may be correct, we are just as likely to be wrong. All the sugestions given are appropriate things to check, but as always "your mileage may vary" GD

Not correcting this, as it is true for a SOA clutch cable and PP, but some aftermarket cable's I have run across have threaded almost all the way back with a brand new PP. It also depends on who made the PP. The interaction between these two parts (cable, and PP) from different manufacturers seems to differ widely sometimes. Generally I have been able to make it work by adding washers and such - a goat rope for sure, but it works. GD

First - what car are we talking about? Mostly on the cable operated cars like we discuss a lot in this section of the forum, you simply need to tighten the clutch cable on the end under the hood. There should be a large nut, and a smaller stop nut on the cable end. If the stop nut was loose, the cable can works it's way loose, and you will have the symptoms you describe. Also - inspect the cable for seperation - the cables start to fray on the end near the clutch pedal under the dash, and also if the cable was run improperly OVER the steering column (it should go under), then the splines on the steering shaft can eat em up and cause them to wear out in that area - it also dries up the grease in the cable, and causes premature failure. I have had a cable break on me after I tightened it because it was loose due to the fraying on the pedal end, not clutch wear. GD

That's a good point skip - it very well may still be a fuel issue even if it revs at idle. I'm thinking the "rattle" in your cat may be a loose heat sheild or rocks stuck in the heat sheild... have seen this before. Also, I have never experienced a "plugged" cat - I'm guessing that can be caused by excess oil burning perhaps? But otherwise, they last a LONG time - the one on my 84 DL has survived for 320k miles, and still passed DEQ...... GD

If your just talking rebuilding, and not customization, then CCR is your best bet: http://www.ccrengines.com/ I hear from many board members that it's cheaper to buy from them, than to do it yourself. This of course doesn't apply if you intend to add custom ground cams, or the like, since they will not do that. They will build an EA81 with EA71 pistons, and a Brat cam that with a Weber should push 100 HP or so, since these are all subaru parts.... They do ALL subaru engines - old and new I think - check out their page. GD

He swapped the wire - not the plug...... GD

I wouldn't bother opening it up - if it chewed up the dipstick, then I would write it off. Especially since the 3AT's aren't all that expensive to replace. You should be able to source a good used one for under $200 I should think. And for that price, taking it apart is not worth the work. Putting the D/R in from the 84 would be a pain - for one thing there isn't an EA82 driveline that will fit - you would have to have a custom driveline made..... the driveline from the 84 *might* fit, but I would imagine it would at least interfere with the carrier bearing on the 86. Also - clutch componetents would have to be mix-matched - not a problem, but certainly a consideration. Also - the shift linkage would be really interesting, and would require some fabrication I think, as the 86 doesn't have the 4WD selector lever mount like the 84..... would be messy. Better to find an 85+ 5 speed D/R. The 4 speed would suck for freeway anyway.... GD

Make sure you inspect the gear in the tranny for wear - ruining another gov would be a waste. I have seen tranny's that will eat a gov a week cause of bad front diff's. GD

Yes - the throttle linkage is on the other side on a DFEV. This shouldn't cause any real problem on an EA81 - EA82 I don't know about, but I think it can be made to work at the worst. As I said - the carb is a mirror image - everything is opposite, but the same rebuild kit works for both - they use the same jets - same adaptor plates, and a very similar (but not the same) air filter. The beutiful thing is that these came stock on early ford's, and can be found MUCH easier at JY's. So for the little added issues like the throttle linkage and the air filter, it's worth it to save a couple hundred $$. GD

On the heat - reduce your coolant ratio - 50/50 is great for -30 temps, but in normal conditions, 30/70 is more appropriate, and will heat better, and cool the engine better as well. GD

I'll add to this one. Some early Ford's used a VERY similar carb - it's actually a Weber 32/36 DFEV. Uses a different air cleaner (ovalish opening), but uses the same adaptor plate as the DGEV. There are some other slight differences, but the carbs even use the same rebuild kit. It's basically a mirror image of the carb, with a different air cleaner. The air filters (that look just like the ones we use for the DGEV) are availible through EMPI, and everything else should work. The early ford 2.3L engines found in rangers, and I think some pinto's had these stock from the factory. AND best of all, they are jetted correctly for our 1.8's (go figure - very crappy 2.3L I guess...). GD

Sorry - there's no way I can tell. I have no idea how many were produced with versus without. You can easily tell for yourself - just check under the drivers side dash for the computer. If you have a computer, then you have a feedback system - no computer means no feedback. Should be a black or gold box with a green or red LED on it. It will look very computerish..... I can tell you that of the selection of cars I have owned from 83 and 84 (I'm an EA81 guy), most were feedback. Even my friends 82 Brat had a feedback system. However - my 85 Brat is not...... just depends on where the car was originally sold. California cars are always feedback I believe. GD

Depends - if your car has a feedback carb, then no. The feedback control systems, which are a big part of the emmissions stuff, will no longer function. If on the other hand, you have a carbed car with no feedback system, then yes, it is completely possible to save all the emmisions equipment. Which amounts to the cat, and the AIS for live systems, and the evap canistor for the passive system. All of which can be kept. In my experience, running my Brat both with the AIS, and without, it didn't help matters much, in fact on the second run with a functional AIS, the HC's were actually higher. Go figure. Personally I could give a crap, and I'll pull it off just to stick it to the man when I get my P.O. box out in no DEQ country...... LOL GD

You an a friend can lift the engine out, and put it back in.... problem with the tranny is that it takes three people if you don't have a transmission jack to put it back in. It *can* be done with two people - using a rope around the tailshaft of the tranny, and closing that in the drivers door, but you still need someone to lift the front of the thing while you crawl under it, and manhandle it into place. I would pull the engine. Actually - if your good, you don't even have to pull the engine - on an EA81, you can simple pull it forward - with the radiator removed, there's enough room to pull the engine forward, and off the tranny. It's tight, but if your only replacing the release bearing..... should be able to do that without pulling anything. Just a thought if the clutch is still good. GD

Only $21 here - good for 2 years. Our stations are run by the state, and owned by the state. So what we have is a bunch of state employees that could care less about the visual. I could almost certainly get away with a Weber here. But I don't need to, as only *some* of our zip codes are within the testing area. I'm just getting a P.O. box out in an area without testing, and I'll be good. GD

Those are where the transmission fluid lines would go if you had them - as was stated above, it's a universal radiator, and those lines are not connected to anything in your cooling system - for the simple reason that you wouldn't want to mix coolant and ATF. These only apply to automatic tranny cars. GD

5 lug conversion comes from an XT6 ONLY. You have to swap all the brakes and the lower control arms etc - it's a lot of parts. Generally quite expensive too, since XT6's are pretty rare. GD

You can run the SPFI on a carb block - no problem there. In fact - there's at least one guy who has put the SPFI on an EA81. You will need to change the disty, and get the complete wireing harness / SPFI assembly from another car. The ECU has to be wired in, etc. It's certainly doable. Now as for running turbo on and SPFI..... it can be done at low boost levels. In fact the same EA81 that has the SPFI, also had turbo added later if I recall. Get a hold of rguyver - he's still around sometimes. He can tell you all about it. GD

Grind the "Weber" writing off the casting, and modify the stock air cleaner to fit. Paint the carb black to make it not stand out so much - run a bunch of vac lines around in dizzying circles all about the carb - they will never know the difference. Hell - I live in soob country, and the guy said my 85 brat didn't have an AIS. And my Brat has them on BOTH sides. These guys don't know diddly. And if they get wise at one station, just go to another. Not saying *you* personally don't know anything Russ - but the typical testing fob is not exactly a college grad - and if you run through enough times, you'll get one dumb enough to be to your likeing. And if you can't - I'm sure you can find one that will take a bribe. Grease a few palms - it works wonders. I'll tell you if I was working at that job, I would be taking some bribes for sure. And don't give me that crap about camera's - they can't hear what your saying, and it doesn't need to take place where a camera can see it. GD

Best theft deterrant on an old soob is to lift it. They take one look and move one - figureing that this guy is probably slightly unbalanced, and it would be a real bad idea to get caught by him.... In my case this is actually true - if I catch some tard trying to make off my stuff, there's gonna be hell to pay. As my drill seargent used to say - "keep stomping till the police arrive" I know - I'm just an unbalanced person - with some violent tendancies. But hey - it works for me. GD