TheSubaruJunkie

Mike... I MISS MY BRAT!! hehehe, im still kicking myself for selling it, but Im glad its doing you good. I just took the car back to get smogged and they couldnt smog it cause they say its idling too high. Idling is fluctuating between 1200-1300rpm and stock is 700rpm. The mechanic said he tried to drop the RPM but the ECU is overiding it... and it wont drop. Any suggestions? He didnt do an idle test, but he tested it at 2500rpm and it failed HC. Its allowed 140 and at 2578rpm its blowing 276 -Brian

We left eugene at 7am and arived at Olympia around 2pm. Im thinking I want to be at the show earlier than 2pm So i might be sleeping overnight in portland. Of course... if theres going to be a huge caravan crashed in Eugene I see no reason to pass you guys by We'll see what happens. -Brian

You guys are going to overnight in Eugene? I was going to try to get further before I crashed... but Eugene to Oly isnt long... maybe I'll catch up with you guys there. -Brian

I was looking at the V700's when I bought my tires... but the price with shipping was more than a local tire shops... so I went with a generic tire and the RX is happy. Anyhow, im sure those tires will be plenty for you. -Brian

Im speaking from experience. Dont forget, I stuffed my Turbo Legacy into a guard rail :\ Albeit the damage was nothing like yours... it still scared me into buying good tires when I bought my RX. -Brian

Betcha a set of 15x8 with Falkens would make it harder to skid into an object -Brian

Ive loved the dual front ebrake since I saw it in Mike W's hatch. From what I understand, its a difficult art to master on the trail. -Brian

IS that bad boy dual carbed? WOW! I Want one. -Brian

Unbolt the power steering pump from the engine, and leave it, and the lines, in the car. That way you dont need to worry about bleeding anything later. -Brian

Nothing special about the flares That is a pretty truck, too bad she cant remember who lifted it. To my knowledge gen1's are pretty hard to lift. -Brian

Raven is right. There's no need to get too involved. Examine the piston sleeve when you have your heads off. If its a blown head gasket it will be apparent when you remove the head. Im not sure if youve seen this pic yet, but this is from a car with a bad headgasket: and this is what I found when I pulled the head off: You can see wich piston it was that had the blown gasket. It had been driven long enough for the water jacket to leak water into the oil chamber and thats where the milkshake came from. I paid $97 for a EA81 complete engine gasket kit from Napa and spent 2 weeks (with a full time job) rebuilding the top end. I had thought about doing my rings too... but like Raven said, if I were to do my rings I might as well do the crank bearings as well. And I wasnt prepared to split the block and spend an extra 4 weeks trying to get it all back together. oh... and this is what I found when I removed the other head from the block: I doubt your engine has gotten this bad yet. Unless you have clouds of blue smoke comming out the tail pipe, dont worry so much about your rings. -Brian

Easiest would be to leave the tranny in the car. Just remove the radiator & A/C condensor. Unbolt the engine from the tranny, then unbolt the engine mounts. You'll need to put a jack under the tranny and preload it. Dont lift the tranny until you start lifting the engine out. Getting it all back in could be alittle trickier. I havent done a EA82T pull, but ive pulled a couple EA81's and a EJ22T and always left the tranny in the car. -Brian

Does she still have the car? more recent pictures would be awesome! -Brian

Im just going to revert the car to stock again and get it smogged. I need one more silicone elbow anyways. -Brian

I think this shop just got alittle scared. The car is still registered in Oakland where i bought it, and I told them the test was for purchase of the car (for DMV purposes). The shop was a smog & repair shop, however I trust these guys to a certain degree and even tho they dont know much about Subarus, they do know their stuff. I doubt they were after my walet like some other shops Ive visited. Russ.... if you have any paperwork from when you registered it as a legit vehicle after it was salvaged, thatd be all i'd need. If the guy has internet access I could prove to him in 2min that is the stock engine Ken, there are a few subaru only shops outside of the city. One guy up the hill from me is very reputable to the legacy crowd. Maybe I will take a visit to him and see if he does smogs. -Brian

In CA if you swap the engine in your car you need to make sure the engine you put in is as follows: 1) available for your specific model in the same year 2) from another CA emissions vehicle 3) not altered in anyway, shape or form. Since I had a Saab 900 Intercooler that wasnt bar aproved on an engine that isnt verified as a correct replacement, the shop decided to stop the test instead of taking the car to a refferee to have it examined. Since the RX has any ole EA82T it wont be difficult to prove it is the correct engine. And when I remove the intercooler it will look like it. It will even say SUBARU TURBO on the top of the intake so they do not forget -Brian

Yes, there is a considerable difference. Since the turbo heats up your air, the cold air entering is most likely going to exit the turbo at the same heat as any ambient air temp. The intercooler cools the air before it enters the intake manifold, which is much more important. Even without a hood scoop to vent my intercooler I can tell a much larger difference than when I replaced my intake alone. -Brian

With compression numbers like that, you probably have a head gasket problem. Pull the engine, spend $100 on a gasket kit, and rebuild the top end. If you still have low compression on #4 after that, then its a ring. -Brian

Dave. I think i heard about the C.A.R.B. when i was at the smog shop today. The dude kept pointing to my Intercooler saying "saab" and "no carb sticker". I remember when I put my Accel in the brat it had a white decal that you had to put under the hood for CA cars. I can print a sticker -Brian

There's a reason I buy a different Subaru when my current subaru's tags expire. The RX is due (actually overdue as of 05/02/05) for its smog test, and in order to get new tags it needs to pass some of the strictest california emissions test to date (thanks Grey Davis). Since I got the car from Russ, and hes a cert. smog tech, i didnt worry about taking the RX in today. I took it to a reputable shop not far from where I work. I took the car there and dropped it off with no worries. Ive talked to the shop owner before and got quotes... so I had no worries when i left with no RX. Me and my roomate piled into his car and went to run some errands. When I get the call that my car is ready, the 1st thing the shop owner sais is... "How much do you like this car?" Of course, by reflex, my reply was "I love that car more than life its self... why?" I had no idea if he wanted to buy it, or was preparing me to tell me it was a wreck. He replied with "well, are you sitting down?" Anyhow, to make a long story short, he tells me the Serial number on the engine doesnt match the VIN, and the title is salvaged from Oakland. "Duh" is what I replied. I didnt feel like talking about all this over my cell phone, so I told him i'd be there in 15min and asked him to wait for me. When i got there, i was greated by him and the mechanic (who actually performed the test). The shop owner kept repeating "red flags" and such... after he entered the VIN in the computer. I told him to explain these red flags and lifted my hood for him. He said the red flag was that the VIN didnt match the serial # of the engine. I asked where he located the serial number and his mechanic pointed out a sticker on the bellhousing, between the tranny and the block. I felt like an idiot because it was apparent, but I still didnt understand what that had to do with smog. So after that his mechanic points to my intercooler. The shop owner asks "isnt that where the spare tire goes? Does that look like a spare tire to you?" So after a short debate, the mechanic stormed off... but I wasnt finished with him so I followed him into the shop and continued to question him. After a long discussion I found out that with the salvaged title and non-matching serial for the EA82... if he were to run the test it would send a "red flag" to the A.R.B or something. Which is who regulates smog shops for california... or something powerful (hopefully russ can fill in). I asked the mechanic if he ever got to the sniffer and he told me no... that he aborted the test as soon as numbers didnt match up. I promptly thanked him, and told him how much I apreciated that. Not only did it not send a red flag, but it also didnt charge me a thing. After I got back to the shop owner I agreed to remove the intercooler and prepare the engine to stock. The mechanic agree'd to smog it and if it passes its all green. No red tape or anything. I'll update as time passes. -Brian

Thanks Craven, i knew i read that here on the USMB. ive read it before and that is why Im looking for an alternative to Accel. Dont think I want anything advanced as Double Sparking. it still has to be CA aproved Anyone else have any other recommendations? I was hoping to go buy everything today and do the tuneup today. -Brian

Just buy a hatch and cut the rear of the roof off -Brian

here are a couple pix of my various stereo installs: Most recent in my RX: Here is my setup in my old '83 Wagon: Here's a shot of my stereo console in my old '86 brat: And here is the current setup in my '84 lifted wagon: As far as speakers, i usually replace the door speakers with 6.5" or if you want 5.5" speakers. You may find the speaker to be too thick, if so you can buy spacers for your speakers so they stick out enough for your window to roll down. Right now, in my RX i have 6x8 3 way speakers in the front doors. On your '84 you might not be able to fit anything that large, but a dremel really helps -Brian

Im kinda hesitant on buying an Acell now after all the horror stories, and I've seen a few pictures of MSD under a couple hoods. Can anyone help me with a list of compatible coils for the EA82T? Im also going to be getting new wires and disty parts. Pretty much a complete tune-up before I get my car smogged. -Brian

Might be a bright idea, i would suggest using a larger hose from the tank to the 1st pump. Then a slightly smaller one to your 2nd pump... then stock size to the engine. That way the 2nd pump should always have plenty of fuel to feed. -Brian