Ross

I would be checking spark plugs, ignition coil, distributor first.

If there is enough rust to prevent the ball joint attaching properly, you should replace it. The tapered shaft should just slide in, without having to force it at all. Dunno about ea82s, but the ea81 ball joints sit below the knuckle as morganm describes. I would presume the ea82 ones are the same??

If you are using oem HGs, then you should re-torque the bolts. HOwever, if you are using Aftermarket gaskets you may not need to, as most of htem are 'monotorque' nowdays.

Yeah, good cars. Done a fair bit of damage to my soobs at the 'ol waimak too. Friend of mine sunk an '87 out there a few years back too. Try to stay away from it as much as possible now, i'm too short on cash for that. At the moment two out of three of my soobs (79 and 81) are not going, and the '83 turbo has the non turbo motor from the '81 in it while it's motor gets a recond. Now it seems the '83 needs new cvs (at least three of them) and still need to repace the horribly noisey gearbox, which is also from the '81, and has around 320,000 hard kms on it. I'll get there eventually, then its time to get the '79 going, and maybe get rid of whats left of the '81.

Yeah, its not too bad with a rag around it. When i came to do it, i found the fuse box is all written in japanese and got fed up with trial and error.

Hey, I also live in Chch. I have been a soob enthusiast since i was about 16. What soobs in particular are you interested in? From your other post, it sounds like you like 4wding the older ones, i have done some interesting camping trips in some of mine. You should bring your soob along some time.

Same christchurch as me?? If so, have you looked in to the legality of lifts? As stated before, check out back yard boys, Austrailian company that makes lifts for old soobs. You should be able to find their website on google. i'll also be lifting one of mine one day, when i have the money.

If there are two sensors on the oil pump: The bigger one that has a 'can' about 30mm in diameter is for an oil pressure gauge. The smaller one is where you hook up your light.

What did the engine sound like? If it sounded ok, it may be a bad pressure sensor/bad wiring??? Perhaps you should connect a pressure gauge to it and try running it again?

As McBrat said, its for an 80-82 wagon. They got those bands in '83.

I'm using an air compressor filter as a pcv condensor, however i have noticed no significant gains in economy. I can't really see why you would, unless there is something wrong before hand??

Cvs are the things on either end of your front drive axles with the rubber boots on them. They are where the axle bends. To check for torsional play, try to twist the drive axle in between the two cv joints, and make sure that there is no realative movement between the axle and the cv (ie you should not be able to twist the axle with the car on the ground). Not sure how clear that is??

I'd say that your oil pressure is pretty good for that thin an oil then. My ea81t used to sit at around 20psi at warm cruise before a rebuild.

I believe the MPFI engine has a CR of around 9:1, as opposed to 9.5:1 for the SPFI.

yup, i'd go with a stripped axle nut leading to a stripped hub spline. One of my axle nuts stripped itself completely off once, never did find out why. Very nasty.

New engines often have smaller clearances in engine bearings etc, giving higher oil pressure than older cars with the same oil. My ea81 (320,000km) is around 75psi cold, 50psi cruise and 20psi warm idle. Thats with 20w40 oil though, you may be running thinner? I wouldn't be too worried about those numbers, as long as it doesn't drop below 10psi no damage should occur.

The shop i had my cams ground recommended "sharply" accerlerating and decelerating between 40 and 80km/h 5 times in 3rd after fully warming the engine up. I will probaly follow a similar procedure, but i will not be interpreting "sharply" as full throttle (perhaps on an N/A engine though?). They also recommend never to let the engine idle below 2000rpm for the first 10 mins. As for fuel economy, the best thing you can do is raise your compression ratio. SPFI pistons give you the highest comp ratio.

Jeez... thats amazing!

geez, you must have some patience! I'm thinking since the ea81t one is painted all over, i might use some thick filling undercoat and sand that off to give a nice finish.

This is a good start, but just because you don't feel/hear anything doesn't mean its not cvs. They can be tricky things. Also feel for any torsional play in the cvs, thats a good indicator that its bad.

so the noise is present when in gear with the clutch disengaged?

All cars with front wheel drive must have cv joints, due to unequal joint angles.

I think 5th is 0.725, so it is overdrive by quite a bit.

That would be sweet! Do it!

Any manual 2wd car should be 5 speed. I have no experience with 2wd cars, but doing a similar swap in a 4wd car you need: Pedal box clutch cable flywheel transmission crossmember Crosmember/radius rod mounts center console Have i forgotten anything?