subarunuts

Bad lifters would cause your compression to be higher, not lower, as the valve would not open as far as it should. You need to check three things for compression - valve seats, rings, and head gaskets. Rings are new.... did you make sure the gaps are not aligned? Did you check to see that the valve seats or valves are not burned? That is where I would start. Tear the heads off and have the valves checked to make sure they seat properly. I'm assuming you used new head gaskets? I prefer the Fel-Pro perma-torque's myself. I've pulled compression as high as 200 - 210 off an EA81, so your numbers are all on the low side, and definately not within that 90% mark of each other.

Brat's have a "transaxle", so the 4WD lever connects to the transmission..... Do you have a driveline going from the trans to the rear end? If not the lever isn't connected because someone installed a 2WD trans.

It can be done on the car, yes. It's best to remove it so you can be sure there are is no spatter left inside the diff before reinstalling. I used brake cleaner as it leaves no residue to clean the gears. Since I used a Lincoln 220v MIG to do the welding I could not comment on the rod type.

Do you have an OEM PCV valve? The aftermarket ones are known for sucking oil into the intake. Valve stem seals on subaru's rarely result in large amounts of oil burning.... they can cause compression loss, but due to the design of the engine there isn't a lot of oil around them to get sucked in. That, and I've never seen one go bad either. Tought little guys. Can't remeber if it applies to your model, but check the ATF fluid - could be the engine is sucking ATF into the intake.

EA81's are even simpler than your EA82 to work on.... that's one reason. I've done things on EA81's that I would think impossible on any newer engine in the time it took me..... 20 minutes for a front crank seal.... 30 minutes for a radiator.... 30 minutes for a water pump.... 5 minutes for an alternator... etc. They have their issues too tho - just like any aging vehicle. They eat axles like candy - I've since gone to NEW axles as the remanned units seem to all be junk - same goes for junk yard stuff which more than half the time are the same remmaned crap, just half used up. The wiring connectors are simply some of worst for that time period. I've taken to replaceing any that I come across with GM waterproof stuff from the same vintage. The Hitachi ignition, and alternators are just garbage.... replaced the alt with a GM too, and switched to the 2WD ND stuff for ignition. They may be easy to work on, but a lot of the time you would save ends up being lost to fixing multiple problems, and having to redo things multiple times because of bad aftermarket parts, or use of junk yard parts. It's a trade off, and one that only a mechanic can afford to make. If you don't work on them yourself, then they are not a good choice at all. Personally I have a thing for Brat's. I just like em. Not sure why.

Just bolt on a starter and run a compression test. There is no way to check the internals other than that without complete dissasembly, and if you are going to pay for it, or do it yourself you might as well put in new main bearings, rod bearings, and rings. Especially if you already have a new gasket set. But a compression test will tell you if it's going to start or not. Now if it needs head work (unlikely as usually the EA81's wear the rod and main bearings long before they need head work), then that can be done with the engine in your Brat anyway. So best to just run a compression test (wet/dry), and install it if it's good. Make sure to use a NEW oil pump, as they generally only last about 100k or so. New sending unit is a good idea too. These engines live or die by that oil pressure guage. Bad oil pressure will send a rod through the block in short order. You can run them dry of coolant, but not oil.

Welding is pretty easy actually. Weld the spider gears to each other at each corner (4 welds).... I like to use a nice grade 8 bolt and jam it in the gears at the point where I make the weld. Never had one break yet. Don't weld the gears to the carrier as that is cast, and brittle. The gears are hardened, and will make a much tougher weld.

Does it smell like anti-freeze? Does it look green? Might be from your windshield too, so make sure before you go all out. Also, if it is the 'freeze then it could be either the core, or the heater core valve. The valves are notorious for developing leaks if the system has any corrosion in it. The rust and scale will chew up the seals in it. Replacement *technically* requires removal of the entire dash, but there are methods that do not require the complete removal. People have cut the side off the heater core box, and slid it out from underneath then sealed it back on with silicone. Looks knarly, but you can't see it with the interrior put together anyway.

Is it 4WD, and manual or auto?

Decent write up I found: http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/axle_rebuilding.html

It's notorious for the bad mounting as you describe - the manifold has no reddily availible adaptor to go to the weber, and the 1bbl is very hard to find parts or rebuild kits for. It came mostly as a feedback version on auto's and 2wd's.... some 4wd's 82 and earlier.... depends. The feedback systems are complex monstrosities for an engine that really doesn't need it - ecu, sensors, etc are rather complex for what most people are used to when they see a carb. Not neccesarily a bad carb, but the lack of parts, it's comparitive rareness in the vehicles that remain on the road, and in JY's today, and the complexities of the feedback system all contribute to it's bad reputation. Is it deserved? In a sense yes.... even were it technically better it's now not a good choice since it's serviceability is questionable. It's simpler to just switch to a weber... or better yet mount up some EA82 SPFI instead. If you have a feedback C/W then you'll already have the O2 sensor port in the y-pipe even.....

The EA81 mounts always shear like that for some reason... old rubber I suppose. Best thing is to either get some new ones, or make some of your own with some two part urethane. Can get new ones here: http://www.rockauto.com/

EA81's have the drain bolt, EA82's do not.

Probably time for a new radiator - most likely the only part of the radiator that is still working is the section immediatly behind the AC evaporator, as that section is protected from debris. Once the AC is turned on, the evap gets hot, and the heat flowing directly into the radiator from it overcomes the cooling system. Probably bent fins and debris and partial blockage of your radiator are to blame. Easiest way to check is get one of those laser temp guages and check the temp at various places on the radiator suface. This will tell you where coolant is flowing, and where it is not. But everything else being as you say, it's almost certainly the radiator that is at fault as that is the only point where the AC system and the coolant system are in close proximity.

I blew up an 84 EA81 - I'm convinced that what does it is a combination of bad oil pressure, and insufficient cooling. The rod bearings go if the oil pump's aren't replaced about every 100k - 200k it seems. Depends on maintenance of course, but after 200k, I've not seen an oil pump that can hit decent pressure - even after a reseal. The 84 developed a rod knock, and shot the rod through the top of the engine... unfortunately it had a digi-dash, and once the oil pressure was low enough to light the idiot light (started flickering at idle), the damage was already done. I resealed the pump and the light went out, but about 5k miles later the rod went at about 170k. In my case the problem was made worse by flooding the engine with muddy water on several occasions, and then driving home before changing the oil. I am 100% sure that had I simply replaced the oil pump when I got the car at 145k, and possibly the radiator as well, it would still be going.

The pump is located on a shelf near the fuel tank. Your issue sounds more like a carb problem than a fuel pump. The pumps are only rated at 1.5 - 2.5 psi, so it may not seem like a whole lot of flow.

Probably a wheel bearing.

Actually, if she has the turbo EA82, and your's is NA, then it's not a good fit. The Turbo's have dual-intake port's, and the NA's do not. Plus the compression ratio is too high on the NA (due to the pistons as mentioned above). The Turbo's also have larger mains for the crank. Basically it won't work unless she wants to drop the turbo, and have someone do a lot of wiring to fit your entire long block + intake and ignition into her turbo car. Lot of work for a car that she could replace for less than $1k.

Have to remove the engine from the vehicle, but yes it is possible to remove the pistons without splitting the engine. It's definately not easy or reccomended as it's difficult to push the piston out the top without making special tools to do it through the wrist pin hole. Frankly if you are tearing it down that far, you might as well split the block. You'll need a special tool to remove the wrist pins.... you can make one by making a hook out of some round stock.

Don't pull the engine - just pull it forward off the tranny. Remove the radiator for more room to do this. Clutch pack can be done without "removing" the engine or tranny from the car. Support it from underneath with a jack.

Replace the whole distributor - it's actually cheaper to get a rebuilt disty from most part houses than the ignitor module by itself. Then you also have new bushings, etc. I personally prefer the ND distributors as they put out a hotter spark, but they are more expensive.... if you find one at a local yard you can have new bushings installed pretty cheap. Just remember that the coil and the disty are a pair - you need a ND coil with an ND disty, and Hitachi w/Hitachi as the resistance values MUST match. Most of the ignitor failures I've seen were due to incorrect/aftermarket coils being installed. The ND ignitor is especially prone to this mistreatment, but it can damage either. Your symtoms are particularly pointing to the coil/disty as that's where the tach signal eminates. Dropping to zero with a loss of power indicates no spark durring that time.

The GM alt isn't that much bigger, and any grinding you could do with a $9.99 harbor freight angle grinder.... As for my setup, I didn't have to much grinding - just moved the outer bracket out a little, bent it, and redrilled the mounting hole. Flipped the alt over. It's rock solid even tho it's mounted upside down. I may eventually modify it to fit right side up. This is a 120 AMP GM single wire on my EA81. No pulley changes needed. Stock belt too:

Is the squeek when you turn? It's probably the strut top if that's the case. Most of those joints don't squeek, they just get loose when they wear.

I like to use a brass hammer - can get them for like $4 at harbor freight. They wear out eventually, but are good for smacking things harder than a dead blow will allow without hurting the threads. Thread the axle nut on backwards too to help keep the threads in good shape.

I know of someone else that hasn't recieved theirs either - you're not alone Flow.