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  1. Was referred to the site by a kind gentleman who sold me a set of studded snows on factory steelies in Lacey - thanks again! First car (and what little mechanical experience I had) was an 86 22re Toyota PU 4x4. When I lost reverse, decided to take a chance and trade for an 89 Loyale with the 4x4 high low - despite having a blown headgasket. Found a guy on CL named Able who has been working on subarus far longer than i've been around town. After finding a running motor in Seattle ($150) he came down and did the swap, along the way I fell in love with the genius that is Subaru engineering! Once the car was running (with blown head gasket motor in the garage) he came back and showed me how to replace the front axle and hub assembly. Car has been on the road for two months now. Replaced the thermostat (there wasn't one in the salvaged motor...) and on my first run down to lacey the car got close to 30 mpg - my excitement is now through the roof LOL. Have also replaced the front rotors; calipers are operable so were left original for now. When we pulled the original motor (car has 275k) there was no coolant, wasn't surprising as the passenger head gasket was blown, with evidence the previous owner tried a white stop leak (visible once the intake was removed, as well as all over the underside of the motor). Having drained the caramel frappacino looking oil out of the block, I am curious as to the actual condition/damage done to the motor. This is why I came to the USMB. I have a chilton manual and have read up on removing the cylinder heads, but am looking for advice on the issue. Ideally, I would like to rebuild this motor and learn how these things really tick - not comfortable taking this thing to elk camp in the fall on the current motor, however well it may be running. Reading online, it appears my options are a regasket/reseal kit, or a complete rebuild kit. Being on a tight budget - with a few other loud hobbies - I am hoping to do all or most of the work myself. Have a friend who worked at a garage with machine shop nearby if the heads need to be resurfaced. What would the first step be in diagnosing the damage (can I do a compression test with the intake manifold off?) I am most concerned about removing whatever crap the PO added to the coolant system - is a complete tear down my best or only option? Dont mean to ramble, but thought i would throw out a line before pulling the valve covers..
  2. Just finished up some engine swapping and have an extra EA82 engine and a lot of engine parts. Including: - Short block 100$ OBO (NOT rebuilt. about 150k miles, cylinders are clean almost no ridge, was running, doesn't even need rebuild - just put back together) - Heads 25$ each OBO (needs valve job) - Long block 140$ OBO - Oil pump - Water pump - All pulleys - Valve covers - Some timing belt covers and the tensioners - Flywheel - Oil pan -Engine mounts - Ask if you don't see the part you're looking for, I may have it NO -Alternator - Intake manifold - Carburetor - Transmission - Radiator - Power steering - AC - Distributor email chasewell@gmail.com I can give you pictures or more history or information about any of these parts. Suggest a price for the little stuff if you are interested, let me know if you want the engine for a different price and we will discuss (via email)
  3. So I have recently acquired a 94 loyale and upon inspection and diagnosing the engine needs gone through in short. The engine is pulled and ready to be worked with. Now originally I was just gonna do a regular spec rebuild nothing special new gaskets rings pistons valves etc etc well I got to wondering why not build it up a little? Its not a race car and I know im not gonna get anywhere near 200hp but I figured it could at least push 130-140hp. So has anyone done a build on an ea82? Or know of where I can get larger cams and pistons or any "performance" parts for a fuel injected ea82 and just more bang for my buck?
  4. HEy all, I was trying to fins out is it possible to entirely swap out the ea82 engine and replace it with ANYTHING, other than an old model engine. Price is whatever, meaning if the Trans has to be new too, thats cool i just want to know about size and a secure safe fit. Thanks.
  5. Well. I took an EA82 engine to be re-manufactured today. It is the right engine for my 1988 GL and though I had considered replacing it with a EJ22 I dont have the money and I'm just not ready to go there as far as complications and more unknowns. Now, the guys at the shop did not seem too enamored of this particular engine type. They feel it leaks, it runs hot because the cooling system was not modified after the EA81 to give more cooling to the EA82, and it does not give a lot of power for its size. I hear them I totally hear them, but I also think these cars with this engine do tend to go forever. I also got the idea that what may fail if anything on a rebuilt engine is the heads can warp or crack, and the head gasket go, because of the fact that this engine runs hotter than other types, and that the water pump is on one side so the engine does not cool evenly on both sides and causes it to warp. Because of this I am considering a radiator upgrade, or an oil cooler (just heard of those). Does anyone else have an opinion on the EA82 they would like to share? or have you replaced with a EJ22 and if so what is your feedback on that. I sure would like the extra horses. I just cant afford them/deal with all that right now....
  6. Hey guys I want to build up a brat with a swapped ej22 turbo as a rally racer but was wondering how well they hold up and if the hatch or the wagon or anything i'm forgetting would be a better option. Also i just want to hear everyone's opinions.
  7. Hello to fellow subaru ehtusiasts, i am writing from Thika in Kenya. I recently rescued a Subaru Leone forgoten/ abandoned in a friends farm shed. after consulting my 'Tree shade' mechanic he sugested i replace the old engine with an ej15 engine. after scouring around i did find one for about 300 $ but with no ecu n harness. i was planning to visit an accident write-off yard to get the ecu and harness.. or am i better off overhauling the ea82 engine?
  8. Hi Any help would be much appreciated. I have been trying to get this car going again. I have a 87 Subaru GL 1.8L ea82 carburetor engine Manual Transmission. I am doing a timing belt replacement. Plus, I decided to change the cam and crank seals at the same time. I was following the basic Chiltons book while doing the change. I removed the old belt in the initial part of the change. Now as I am putting things back on, and ready to put on the new timing belt, I am reading to have the cam sprockets positioned differently then they are. On the Driver side my Cam sprocket is DOWN. On the Passenger side my Cam sprocket is UP. Now that I have the timing belts off, how do I move my cams to the proper position to finish belt install? I'm nervous about how they should be correctly moved, all instructions simply say line it up with no in-depth details on how. Here is the DRIVER CAM with hole DOWN: http://s12.photobucket.com/user/luckyme218/media/car/photo1.jpg.html Here is the PASSENGER CAM with hole UP: http://s12.photobucket.com/user/luckyme218/media/car/passcam.jpg.html
  9. I did some searching and found stuff stating that it can be done. but I've not found any proof of it being possible and what customizations have to be made. I've got the xt6 5 lug swap done. I know the outer front axles will work there. but the trans is a female not a male like the xt6 correct? I'm thinking I would have to run impreza axles. and then comes the gear ratio matching with the rear end and driveline length I believe is shorter. if anyone has any info on this I would love to hear it. I'm going to continue clicking on the search button in the meantime! forgot to mention I'm going to be doing a ej20t swap from a 94-96 sti
  10. Hello everyone, new member, purchased a '92 Loyale wagon to get us up the mountain (and our driveway) in the winter. Car was running great for the first few weeks of ownership but just lately has started to run a little erratically. So far I've cleaned the MAF sensor and have installed a new WIX brand air filter from Napa. First start in the morning it used to run at a high idle until the accelerator pedal was depressed then settled into a lower idle, which from experience is how it should run. Reversing up to the driveway and then going up the driveway it ran great, no hesitation or stalling. Now when it's started in the morning it'll run high idle for about 10 seconds and want to cut out. After about 30 seconds warm up I go to reverse and it wants to die unless I keep the revs up and ride the clutch a little. Same going up the driveway it wants to cut out and hesitates. Also when driving around town it doesn't run smoothly, there's a distinct hesitation when accelerating which dissipates somewhat if you increase the revs before changing up gears. So I'm thinking possibly fuel filter clogged or possibly the TBI injector faulty or maybe the air bleed valve or similar is not working properly? Or could it be an electrical problem? Any guidance or suggestions much appreciated.
  11. My son and I got the tires and wheels on Smokey the Subaru. We bought a set of Toyota 15" steelies and re-drilled the rims. Re-drilling was made easier by using an old hub I had from replacing the front hubs last summer. I also created a template in Adobe Illustrator that I set up on the 4x140mm. I've attached it here for anyone else who wants to use it. subaru_lug_template.pdf Re-driling went pretty well. It was smarter to use about 5 different sizes before ending on the big 1/2" bit at the end of it all. RapidTap makes it a lot easier to get the job done! We got about a 2.5"-3" lift just from adding the wheels and tires. They're 235/60/15 snow tires we bought from a used tire place in Salem, Oregon. I had some tires to trade in from another rig and was able to get all 4 tires plus mounting and balancing for about $100 out of pocket. We went with snow tires because it's almost snowboard season around these parts and I'd rather have the studded snow tires on for his safety over mud traction right now. They certainly clog up with mud quickly but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. The front tire rubs on the front side of the fender ever-so-slightly when you turn the wheel about 20%. Beyond that though we haven't noticed any real issues. We'll likely trim the fender a bit but I'm not convinced I want to spend the money on a 2" lift right now. We'll see... Happy young man...
  12. I don't know an incredible lot about these cars, I just did an engine swap yesterday from 1991 Loyale into my 1987 GL. My '87 had almost 300,000 miles, still ran, but, it was time for a fresh motor, so, I put a 120,000 mile motor from my friend's totalled loyale in it. (It was rear ended) It started easily, ran great, accelerated easily, it was a fun little motor. But, I was driving and suddenly the motor just stopped, sputtered out. The engine was warmer than it should have been, so, I thought I might have lost head gaskets, but, no smoke, no coolant spew, and it didn't sound like I grenaded the motor. It just died and refused to start again. It turns over easily, no wierd noise or hesitation, it just won't start. I checked the oil when it died and it didn't look like milkshake (when coolant enters oil). So, I don't think it's headgaskets. I thought maybe I lost a timing belt, but, if I remove my distributor cap the distributor still rotates when I turn the engine over, which indicates timing. I know these cars have two timing belts, so, could I have lost te passenger side belt? I kind of think it would run, but, just run like spoob with half the timing. I don't know though. Anybody have any answers?
  13. So my 87 carb'd GL has had cooling system issues since I got it. Due to an old clogged radiator. couple weeks ago I broke some of the fins on that old radiator and it started leaking. This was my GL's first cooling system leak. Got around to replacing the radiator while on a trip in Pennsylvania. I noticed along the drive that when the system was topped up with coolant I would have James Bond types of smoke (steam) clouds coming out of the back of the car on the highway. That's no good, so I replaced the radiator while I was there. Problem solved right? No. On the drive back to Jersey I still had occasional giant clouds of smoke out the back of the car on the highway. WTF right? Car stayed cool on the highway, got hot on local roads. Got the car home, haven't touched it in a week till now. Dug in and found that one of the bypass hoses had ruptured. It was leaking coolant on to the intake manifold and it would pool and eventually spill over right on to the exhaust. There's my steam out the back of the car. Documenting this for anybody searching issues like that. Steam out the back of your car and you're sure your headgaskets are okay? Chances are it's one of the small bypass hoses. The one that ruptured was the one coming from the thermostat housing. I've got replacement hoses for that particular hose, as well as another bypass hose that runs from above the water pump and wraps back and down just behind the driver's side of the Craptachi. I'm also replacing that small 90 * hose that comes from the top of the water-pump as well. I do have a question though; considering I have my air-box off and all these vacuum lines exposed, I've been trying to find GD's guide on what I can get rid of and cap off. Can anybody help me out there? It's just the stock Hitachi on an EA82. Thanks in advance. I HATE cooling system problems. Ugh.
  14. So, ive spent the last 2 weeks either waiting for parts or having to return parts because my local auto parts store always orders the wrong thing. Only to run into problems with the finished project... Here is the run down. Its an EA82 1985 subaru gl station wagon. Recent headgasket failure ( cracked heads ) non existent choke, and possibly a bad starter, and bad breaks. So i recently bought re manufactured heads, and a weber carb, and some shiny new brakes. My subi will be perfect after this! IF i can get it running. Here is what I'm 99% sure of. The cams are timed, the distributor is timed, ( enough to start ) and in correct rotation for TDC ( I have rotated it 180 degrees as i made that mistake and troubleshooted that issue. ) I have gas ( 2.5 psi worth from the fuel line ) I'm 90% sure i have no vacuum leak from the intake. as there is good vacuum there. I have excellent compression on all my heads. ( 120-140 ) So i think i have narrowed it down to spark. Which i have, on all wires but... The only thing i have to suspect is my ignition coil reads a little under spec, and my ignition control module reads as having interference. ( which it shouldn't ) But as i have spark im not sure if that matters. The other fishy thing is that my carb seems to spray alittle gas up through the choke butterfly as it turns over. It is so close to starting its not funny. But it just wont get there. Its just not catching/starting. Please help! I'm at wits end and i need this thing running before the end of the week.
  15. Hey all, I'm working on getting my 1987 XT turbo back in proper working condition. The car has the flapper style MAF but a spider manifold was retrofitted by a previous owner, so there are all kinds of wiring oddities I am still trying to sort out as I get it closer to running properly. It was pointed out to me that the knock sensor is currently disconnected; I looked for a pigtail to plug into it but couldn't find one. I did, however, find two broken wires coming out of the harness that crosses over the block...I checked my spare EA82T manifold as well as my ER27 and it looked like the knock sensor plug was a single-wire setup. So, does anyone know what those two wires might be for, and if they are not the knock sensor plug I am looking for, where would I find it on the harness? I haven't been able to find anything. Pics below for clarification. and the plug that appears correct on my spare manifold...
  16. I recently replaced my timing belt and pulleys, oil pump, water pump, cam seals, main seal and thermostat (thanks for the videos miles fox!) When i first started the car the passenger side timing belt pulled backwards towards the firewall on the cam pulley and is was riding pretty close to the edge of the pulley. I turned the car off and loosened the tensioner and pulled the belt back to the center of the pulley. when i started the car again the belt went immediately back to riding on the edge of the cam pulley. any ideas? Also terrible gas mileage before and after this job circa 15mpg in the city any ideas on this? edit = car is a 5mt 4wd loyale with 261k, the repair was originally initiated from a ball bearing falling out of my oil pump. thanks!
  17. Hey all, I'm new here and this is my first post. I was wondering if there's a coilover available for the Loyale sedan? I've heard that some early civic coils will work but I'm not sure. Ideally I would like to be incredibly low, as low as possible on 14" wheels. I was also wondering about the Digital Dash I have seen online. Does this only come in the Turbo version? Only come over seas (non US)? Could I swap one into a non digital dash'd L? My build is going to be very early 90's Japanese style inspired. Sorry for so many questions, I'm new! spvcxshxp.
  18. I just put the EA82 in my 88 GL back together after a blown head gasket and now the engine runs fine but it's having idling problems that it didn't have before I took it apart (several months went by between starting and finishing, busy with other stuff). I have drained the tank of old gas and replaced it with about a half a tank of new gas and sea foam, changed the fuel filter in the back by the tank, and blew the carb out with some carb cleaner and sea foam. All of that helped a lot but none of it fully fixed the problem. Basically I was hoping it was just bad gas / something simple that would just clear up on it's own, but it doesn't seem to be. When I adjust the throttle (the only thing I touched when I took everything apart for the head gasket) so it idles at around 1000, it's fine until next time I start the car, then it's way too low or way too high. Literally just turning the car off then on again. I played with it and cleaned the carb more (without taking it out) and once the car was warmed up and was idling in a more predictable way and revving normally, I took it down the driveway and the accelerator kept sticking, every time I use the gas pedal, the engine only returns to around 2000 rpms until I lift up on the pedal with my foot. Maybe I have a sticky pedal, throttle cable, or accelerator; maybe carb dirt; maybe something dirty still happening in the gas tank or earlier in the fuel system. I have very limited cash and time otherwise I would be into doing more hunting or taking the time to properly clean the carburetor. Should I: Keep hunting for the sticky gas pedal problem? Take the carb all the way off and take it all apart and thoroughly clean it? Or would it be easier to just get a rebuilt carb and replace it? I have only cleaned little outboard boat motor carbs and a motorcycle carb once and I'm afraid of taking it apart and wasting too much time and not getting it back together properly. Would it work to get a used one off a EA82 at a junkyard / online or am I likely to have the same problem / more issues? What are other variables I am ignorant to? I'm new to Subarus and suck at carburetors, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if there are any helpful pictures I could take or any other information I can provide. Thanks
  19. Any tips on adjusting the front door hinge? Mine are slightly worn and the door is hanging a little low, so that means I need to loosen the bolts going into the body and not the door. With the fender off it looks easy, but can you get a tool in there without removing the fender?
  20. like the title says, where is it whats it look like? I converted to a manual rack in my lifted 87 gl-10 and there is about 3-4 degrees movement in the steering wheel, the tie rod ends are good, and were recently replaced. the rack mount bushings are also in good shape. the rack itself looks like it was replaced fairly recently, I wiped it off and it looks almost new. I'm sure theres something about it in my haynes or chilton but I haven't seen either book in quite sometime. I did a search but I came up empty handed.. Thanks for the help, if it matters the rack is from an 85/86. If someone has the info floating around( which I'm sure they do). I'll see about getting it added to the USRM.
  21. So, I own a 1990 Loyale with push button 4wd. I want to lower it using coilovers or springs(if possible) from a 90's Impreza. Does anyone have experience with this, or other bolt-on/spring swap projects? I'm not looking to cut springs, OR buy 1800 dollar coils.. Help appreciated. thanks!
  22. Not sure if anyone here remembers when I last posted about my cold idle issue. Needless to say, it hasn't been fixed. I've been able to tolerate it the past few months, but now it's getting ridiculous. I've started taking auto tech classes, and my class starts at 7 am, so I have to deal with it every morning.... Please read everything carefully. Car is my '90 Loyale, EA82 N/A. The problem I have is when the car is cold, it doesn't want to idle. I start it up and have to rev it at 2000-3000 RPM for ~5 minutes before I can get it to idle at 500 or so. It's good enough to get going, so I leave. However, EVERY time I push in the clutch (or put it in neutral), the RPMs fall so fast that the engine stalls. When changing gears, this isn't a problem. But if I'm coming to a stop, I must heel-toe and feather the gas to keep it from stalling. Then, randomly, it'll idle normally. Just like if someone flipped a switch, it'll idle fine. It used to take 5 minutes or so before this happened, but now it takes up to 30 minutes!!! My school is about 30 minutes away, and sometimes I can go most of the trip there before it idles normally. Funny thing is, if I've been driving for 10 minutes or so, turn off the car, then turn it back on, it'll idle fine. For example, if I stop and get gas before school, it'll idle normally when I start it back up. The few minutes it takes to fill the tank is enough for the car to decide to idle. I know what you're thinking, it's the IACV or the CTS. I've replaced the CTS twice and the IACV twice. I've cleaned the IACV a few times, but it didn't help. The only part I've noticed that had a difference was the water pump. I swapped my longblock and it came with a new water pump on it. That water pump failed in 400 miles, but during that time, I never had an idle problem. I put my old water pump on and I soon saw the idle issue again. I've never heard of a water pump causing an idle issue, have you? Here are some of the things I've noticed: The issue doesn't seem to be related to weather much. It'll have more problems idling during the winter, but I still notice it during the summer. The issue doesn't seem to be related to how long the car has been sitting. I mean, if it's only been sitting for less than 3 hours, then it'll probably idle. But I've had it idle fine after sitting for 8 hours, and I've had it not idle at all after sitting for 4 hours. The issue doesn't seem to be related to coolant temperature. The temp gauge will reach it's normal range in a few minutes, but as stated before, sometimes it'll take 30 minutes before the car will idle. However, I believe once the temp gauge reads normal, I can turn the car off, sit for a minute, turn it back on, and it'll idle fine. In the video posted below, I took off the IACV hose with the engine running. Made no difference. Disconnected the CTS. No difference. Disconnected the IACV (electrically). No difference. I'll try the tests again with the engine warm, if that's when I'm supposed to do it. My CEL is on, but I believe it's for the purge and EGR solenoids, if I remember correctly. Been a while since I've checked; I'll check again. Anyways, any ideas? Please feel free to ask questions to help with diagnosis. Feel free to tell me any tests to do, and I'll do them (assuming I have the tools for it). When I posted this before, someone stated something about testing a pin on the connector on the ECU. I never got confirmation on what pin and what numbers I should be getting. I'm just kinda stumped as to what it could be, especially since the two most probable causes are not likely to be the problem. My gut feeling says it's an electrical problem, but I don't know where exactly to start with that. I really want to test and diagnose this, rather than doing the "shotgun" method to fixing it: throwing parts at the car hoping one will fix it. Here is the video that kinda shows the cold start. Before you say anything, the oil pressure gauge reads low; always has. And I did adjust my belts after the video. http://youtu.be/KwjWYgybeLc
  23. So recently I replaced the factory adjustables on my 86 EA82 wagon. I had the old adjustables cranked to the high setting to help clear my 215/70/15 tires. The new shocks had a spring perch that sat a bit lower, (3/4 in.) on the shock than were it was in the high position with the adjustables. So hears what I did to mimic the extra preload/height of the old ones using the new shocks. I did need a pair of old spring perches from another non-adustable EA82 shock set. lucky for me I've got tons of suba-spoob everywhere. here's the pics, pretty self explainitory New perch knocked off the new strut. Flipped over and slid back on Old set of perches slid on "correct" way to make lip to hold the spring Finished, spring perch raised about 3/4 inch from factory setting. Note this mod takes away a tiny bit of the "uptravel" of the shock. About 1/2 inch. Which for me is fine since I don't want the tire to be able to "stuff" too far into the wheel well and rub.
  24. Hey all. I was in a minor highway accident yesterday in my EA82. Nobody was hurt, and it was rather low speed, but I've bent my front left quarterpanel up and bent the valence under the bumper. The bumper itself is shifted to one side but it looks okay. I didn't even crack a headlight. However, it leaked coolant immediately after the collision, leading me to believe that the radiator took some damage. I assume this is from the valence under the bumper coming into contact with the radiator, and hopefully NOT from the center support. But on to my real question: I found a good fender/quarterpanel at a pick n' pull nearby, but didn't have the tools necessary to remove it with me at the time. What size are the bolts used to attach it this piece, and does anybody have a good writeup on replacing body panels? This will be my first wrenching on this car and I'm hoping for some guidance. Thanks! edited to add tags
  25. I haven't really seen any threads or pictures of Toyota inclinometers being installed into Subarus, so I figured I'd post. Today, I got in the mail an identical pair of these Toyota inclinometers: In case you don't know, here's some details on these gauges. Toyota sold them in their '84-'89 4WD pickups, 4Runners, and Tercels. But only on the SR5 models. The 4Runner inclinometer also came with an altimeter on the left, whereas the Tercel ones (like what I got) just had a 4WD indicator light that illuminated when 4WD was engaged. Near-new inclinometers go for ~$200 on eBay, so they're not necessarily cheap. Although I believe you can get them for real cheap at a junkyard, if you find an '80s SR5 4WD Toyota. If you don't know what an inclinometer is, it's basically a tilt gauge. One gauge tells you how angled up/down your vehicle is, and the other tells how banked your vehicle is (helps to avoid rollovers). Seeing as most of the people on here offroad, I'm sure most of you at least know what an inclinometer is. The nice thing about this one is it's entirely mechanical, besides the backlighting (and the 4WD indication light). Inside, it's basically just a set of gears and weights. Just like a Subaru, it's a pretty simple machine. When I first saw a picture of one of these, I thought they were really cool. I don't offroad to a point where rollovers and steep hills are a concern/possibility. But I thought it'd be cool to have one of these in the car, especially since it'd be another thing to make my car unique. So in this thread, I'll be posting about the installation of this, and I'd like to hear your guys' opinions. How do I put this in my Loyale? Well, that's a good question. It does have this "case" which is comfortably close in color to my car's interior. That flat spot on the EA82 dash would be a perfect place to put this. The only problem is that the flat spot isn't very big as you go towards the passenger side, so the only place the inclinometer fits is right in front of the clock. For most EA82 owners, this isn't a problem, since these clocks rarely work. However, since this is my daily driver, I do have a working clock in there, and I'd like to not cover it up. As you might be able to tell, there is a gap under the gauges, which is quite noticeable (and ugly) in person. However, the real problem with this setup though is the angle. I guess the Toyota dashboards are sloped, because sitting on the EA82 dash, the gauges are angled upwards. This is a problem for the pitch gauge, as you have to recalibrate it. But when you adjust it a lot, it's range gets screwed with. Properly adjusted, the pitch gauge reads about +/- 45 degrees. When I adjust it to compensate for the angle at which it's sitting in the above picture, the range is about + 75 degrees, -15 degrees. I have to get the gauges to sit flat for it to work properly. Easy solution is to pull it out of the case. This, as of right now, is how I'm going to install this. Reason being is it's short enough that I can still see the clock, flat enough for the readings to be good, and a good contact surface for me to put velcro down to hold it on the dash (I want this to be as minimally invasive/permanent as possible). The only problem with this setup is it's not super good looking, mainly because of the white case. Solution? Well, I decided to paint it black! Took out all the components of the inclinometer. Pretty simple. Time for paint! I'm just painting the outside of the case black. I'm leaving the interior of the case white because 1) it doesn't matter since you can't see it, and 2) I'm not sure, but the white might help with the illumination. Another thing is the wiring. For right now, I'm not going to wire up anything. I'm talking the bulbs/wires out. If I were to wire up the back illumination, I'd probably just tap into the cigarette lighter wires. I always drive with my headlights on, so they'd be illuminated all the time anyways. And the lighter is a switched power source, so it wouldn't drain power. Wiring up the 4WD light could also be a possibility, although I kinda see it as useless. What I'm thinking of doing is swapping the 4WD indicator light for another gauge--perhaps a voltmeter--since it wouldn't be hard to do so. But I won't worry about that for right now. That's as far as I have gotten so far. The perfect place to install this would be where the radio is, since it's the perfect width. But I have a working radio that I use all the time, so I won't be doing that. Interested in what you guys think, and maybe if you have done something like this before. I think it's a cool gadget, and I also read that it can be used as a g-meter. Accelerating/braking affects the pitch meter, and turning affects the roll meter. However, roads aren't perfectly flat, so it wouldn't be accurate. I'll post more as I make more progress. Currently waiting for the paint to dry, and it's not easy buying velcro at 10 pm, haha.
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