4x4_Welder

My old 82 DL almost got this treatment, but the body was too far gone- 14" whitespokes, and touring tires for a litle better grip. Ditch the drivetrain- VW bus tranny, five speed conversion, and adaptor to fit Ford 3.0v6- in the rear. EFI with single T4, .6 a/r running 8psi for 375hp, also water/methanol injection to run up to 16psi/525hp. Full cage to prevent flex, intercooler aft of the rear axle, ducted in through the bottom, out through the wheelwells, radiator and fuel cell up front under reverse fold hood. The whole engine package will fit under a window-level panel with a dry sump setup, making it look very stock from the outside, you can even keep the back seat. Mustang II front end, keep the crappy paint and cracked grill for effect.

I'm more familiar with trucks, but the principles are the same: Check your fuel pressure. Autzone has rental fuel pressure testers. Not sure on the specifics, but idle fuel pressure -should- be in the range of 35-45psi, a little higher with the throttle open or the vacuum line off the fuel pressure regulator. If the pressure is low, try changing the fuel filter. IIRC, it's right near the tank on that car. If the pressure reading goes up, and the stumble/dying problem goes away, that was it. If the pressure doesn't change, then it very well may be the pump.

It sounds like the thermostat is sticking, letting the engine get too hot before opening.

Factory gauges aren't really known to be all that accurate, so you may want to install an aftermarket one, even just temporarily. A good rule to follow is 10psi for every 1,000rpm. On mine, cold start and highway peg the gauge past 75psi, hot idle is around 25, and I have checked the accuracy of the gauge.

Sounds kinda like a stripped hub-

Yeah, I had less than an hour invested in removal, repair, and re-installation. Four brake booster nuts, two bolts at the rear, pull off the gas pedal, and it's out. Do I have to get a specific cable, there are two or three listed for that year. Anybody have this pedal assembly?

Gas, N/A: 1000ºF Gas, Turbocharged: 1500ºF intermittant Diesel, N/A: 850ºF Diesel, Turbocharged: 1200ºF General guidlines I have picked up over the years.

On my 81, I am having a continuous problem with the pedal support assembly deforming around the clutch cable clamp. I got the car with this pre-bent, replaced the clutch, cable, and removed and repaired the pedal support, but it is slowly bending again. Is this a somewhat common problem with these cars, or do you think it's just weak from having been bent already? All the clutch release pieces seem to be working fine now, except that I am having a harder and harder time getting full release. Should I just replace the assembly?

Next time that happens, send some down this way. It's like summer here, in the 40's and green.

Rover used a 5x 200(?)mm pattern, those look more like Lada Niva wheels.

81 GL, put the switch in intermittant, and the wipers just run. Turn it off, and they stop wherever they are at. They also seem to be a little slower than I remember the ones on my 82 being. Nothing in any of my books about this sort of thing, so I gotta figure it out. Does this sound like a problem with the intermittant relay or the motor? I haven't even been able to find a good wiring diagram or description of operation and power flow so I can figure out where the problem may be.

Did you make absolutely sure that the tap had the exact same threads as the bolt and hole, was metric, etc?

So if I swap both out together it should be ok then? I still have the later coil.

On my 81 GL d/r, I have a strange bearing noise on cold start up. It's a high-pitched squeal, and the tach jumps all over the place while it happens. I'm thinking it's the distibutor, but I haven't been able to isolate it. Has anybody had similar problems? Along the same track, if it is the distributor, I still have the one off my 82 DL 2wd wagon, is that distributor a drop-in, or will I need to re-wire things?

I'm only about 2-3hrs out from you guys, over on the Kitsap Peninsula.

Well, I fixed it. Turns out, the old pivot ball was worn about 1/8", not allowing the fork to sit properly. Also, the pedal support was weakend from having been tweaked, and immedietely folded over when I hit the pedal. I figure once I reinforce the support, it will hold up.

Always loved the EA81 style cars growing up, but they were mostly gone by the time I was driving, at least in the area I was in. I found an 82 DL Wagon 2wd in 2002, rotted pretty good, but ran, paid $150 for it, dragged it from CT to WA behind a lifted F-250, and it died out here. It started burning massive amounts of oil, I couldn't even drive it anymore it smoked so much. Now the engine is almost done being turned into an air compressor for my shop, the body is scrapped, and I have an 81 GL Hatch d/r. Now if only I could get the damned clutch straightened out, I'd be set.

Fabrication is no big deal, I am at the very least for the time being getting rid of the cracked factory y-pipe and cat, possibly going to a straight 2" system with a d-max muffler for a little better flow. Has anybody done any research on what size turbo works best for these? I have a turbo I believe is a T025 from a dodge 600 turbo, IIRC it's a .42 a/r.

I've been thinking along this line, but with a throttle body, one injector on each runner, and a Megasquirt controller. My question is, what size turbo would work best? I am looking for a lower rpm jump in power, I plan on wheeling the pee out of this thing, and I want reliability. IIRC, the stock c/r is around 8.5:1,how much pressure can I safely put on top of this and keep it on pump gas? Are there option to get it to around 8.0:1 to run more boost?

The old clutch was the original, at 186k, so I don't think it was an installation issue. The spec on the step is .900", mine is at .908", I don't think eight thousandths over would make it stick, maybe slip a bit early. I tried shimming the pivot ball out with a washer, snapped it off, so now it'll be Monday before I can get one (BTW, that's a $20 part at the dealer, and none of the Bremerton area junkyards have a Subee older than 83). Is the release bearing holder supposed to have divots in it for the fork, or is mine just worn?

I just got an 81 GL 2dr, complete with an 1800, low range and a 4-speed, but it came with a problem. The clutch won't release. I couldn't even move the release lever with a large adjustable wrench on it. When you step on the clutch pedal, it folds over the cable mount on the pedal support. I figured with the amount of free play, the diaphragm spring was broken, so I put a nice new Beck-Arnley clutch in it. It helped a little, but the release is still very hard, and I still can't release it with the pedal, it just bends the cable mount. The previous owner told me she put in a new cable, and that this was a progressive problem, but wasn't affected by the cable change. Has anybody run into this kind of a problem and found a solution to it?