September 30, 200322 yr Well, my engine rebuild is coming along rather slowly. I guess that is because this is a hobby, I don't have very much free time, I am meticulous, and I tend to too much while working in the garage. Last night's progress: 3 pistons and rings installed, 5 pints of Guiness consumed. I'm not slow, just enjoying myself.
September 30, 200322 yr glad to hear thats you're enjoying yourself. What motor is that anyways? Did you tear it completly down or just to the point of the first pic? People ask me why I drink beer while I'm working in the garage. I just tell them that it helps my "lets get pissed at it and huck it across the room" mood. I bet you were feelin pretty good by the end of the night:brow:
September 30, 200322 yr Author I tore it down this far: I took absolutely everything apart, then I cleaned and measured everything with a micrometer. I had my crank reground, but other that that I reused everything and only replaced the wear parts. CCR Inc (you guys are great!! thanks!!) rebuilt my cylinder heads for me. As mentioned in another post, the "hardest part" is cleaning everything. I was feeling pretty good! The fourth piston is in but I missed the con rod when I installed the wrist pin, didn't even notice at first. I thought the fourth one went in too easy.....The hard part is knowing when to give up for the night and go to bed.....
October 1, 200322 yr Author Not much progress tonight. I reinstalled the fourth piston correctly, that's all. Too much other stuff going on. Good thing I don't need it running anytime soon.
October 1, 200322 yr Author That is a ring compressor. I am ready to tap that piston down into it's bore.
October 1, 200322 yr I'm about (in a little bit) to undertake that myself on an EA81. Got a spare engine I'm goin to build up and then swap in. I'll need: ring compressor, valve compressor, have a torque wrench, anything else as far as tools?
October 2, 200322 yr Author Other than the ring compressor the only other special tool that I needed was to remove the wrist pins. I made my own, it looks like this: Wrist Pin Tool I didn't need a valve compressor because CCR Inc rebuilt the cylinder heads. You will need some specialized tools other than a valve compressor if you elect to do your own head work. I recommend having someone else do that stuff. Torque wrench is a must. Make sure it is high quality and that you trust it. Good luck!
October 2, 200322 yr Jon, I have a ring compressor. I've only done god knows how many engines with it. I bought it at Harbor Freight for like 10 bucks or so and it works great! If ya need one, I'll let you borrow mine but then you're gonna help me on my engine when I rebuild it:D
October 2, 200322 yr cabooboo: sounds sweet to me, to actually say "hey, that badass car, I got to work on it's engine." sweet.
October 2, 200322 yr Toybuilder, Would you mind sharing info on your parts sources. OEM? Online? Local store? I've got an ea82 long block sitting in the garage for a winter project. How much $ should I budget for parts? Head rebuild? I plan on the same process as your going through now so any help would shorten my learning curve. Thanks
October 2, 200322 yr i got one of them 23 dollar valve tools from napa. its almost a piece of junk, but i got it to work. ieither its too tight, or the tongs wont hold ontop the springs. i would have to hold the tongs to the dpring by hand, and then work the lever with my other hand and against my knee to squeexe it, on a piece of cardboard in the driveway! (the mosquitoes in the garage were too much) since i had it apart, and my seal kit came with new valve seals, i poked the heads out with a dremel. works good for grinding cracks away!
October 2, 200322 yr Author Shop around for your parts if you have time, don't feel like you have to buy everything from the same place. I saved a lot of money this way. I bought the gaskets, seals, and bearings from a friend who has a Subaru shop. Gaskets are all genuine Subaru parts, and I would not recommend using anything else. http://www.1stsubaruparts.com is a good source for genuine Subaru parts. The bearings I used are made by NDC. NDC is Subaru's supplier of engine bearings, so even though they didn't come in a blue and white SOA box they are exactly the same bearings. I purchased everything else online, mostly from the Ebay. I am using Paraut oil and water pumps, also the original supplier of these parts to Subaru. I still have some parts to buy, like timing belts, which I will buy from 1stsubaruparts. CCR Inc rebuilt my heads, I think that they charge $65 per SPI head and like $150 per MPFI head (don't quote me on that, just rough numbers, call them if you want to know for sure). I don't know what other shops charge, I haven't seen any other prices. When I rebuilt my first SPI engine two years ago I had about $1200 in parts from the local dealer. This time I have about $400 in parts from various sources. Same quality of parts! I can't give you a meaningful answer about how much money to budget, as you can see, it could vary greatly depending on how much shopping you want to do. Parts sources that I have used: http://www.1stsubaruparts.com/ http://www.thepartsbin.com http://www.all-foreign.com http://www.ebaymotors.com http://www.gasketpro.com
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