mbrickell

USPS has boxes that are Priority Mail FLAT RATE boxes. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. $8.20 or so for anything you can fit inside to USA destinations. A great deal for heavier items. You can get them free, as well as other priority mail stuff from USPS. On their website, you can order priority envelopes, bags, boxes, stickers, etc at no charge and they will even drop them off at your house for free. I figured this out about a year ago, and probably have 25-50 of the boxes in various shapes at home just in case now. A fantastic deal. Check it out. Some of the PM stuff is flat rate, some is not, you weigh it at the little automated mail ATM and throw it in the hole in the wall. Quite convenient, and open 24/7 at least here.

I don't think a 3mm difference would be a HUGE deal. If the seal was cheap, I'm one of those anal people who would just redo it, but probably could leave it this way. Is the crank itself new? I guess over time the original crank can actually get a slight groove worn in it from the old hardened seal. When the seal is replaced with the stock size, since the crank is fractionally smaller in the exact area where the seal rode, there are leaks since there is not a tight seal. This is not a given, but I have seen it before. You are probably good. On the other hand, this is one of those cases where even though the chances of it being messed up are real small, the consequences of finding out we are wrong later are large enough that it would probably bother me to continue without just redoing it. It would suck to have to do it again after it was so easy at this point.

Typcially there is a small hole on the water pump housing that will weep fluid, often when cool after shut down. This is often a sign of impending water pump issues. Since they are cheap I think, might want to get one now for when it happens so you aren't scrambling.

Being that my experience is primarily VW: I have seen countless VW Rabbits, Golfs, etc with no timing belt covers. They go forever with no issues. On these cars, the cam and intermediate shaft seals weep oil and the cover holds it in. Then eventually the timing belt that is soaked in oil deteriorates prematurely and fails. Plus, having the cover off allows you to eyeball things periodically much easier. If ( when ) I have to do my Loyale TBs, the covers will remain off. My 2c Matt

Well, if super finished appearance is not the key, and protection is, try to find what in the military they call CARC paint. This stands for chemical agent resistant coating. CARC is good stuff, usually comes in desert tan or olive, maybe others. It is meant to last through chemical attack, etc. If the fumes don't kill you putting it on, you'll enjoy it. It will last forever. Your car will look like it should be in Iraq. You can apply with a brush, roller, etc. I'd imagine there is carc paint laying around at every reserve base or guard unit in the world. Maybe someone would hook you up with some. Maybe a google search or ebay would turn some up. They also make special paint for sailboats, ships, etc for marine environments. Being in Maine, you could probably turn some if this up. Would probably be around after WW3. A marine supply shop might be worth a look. What about that white paint they use on oil tankers, barges etc. That stuff is nuke-proof, and probably available in a place like Maine.

I always have wanted an XT turbo. Alas, never one around Kansas City, and the few that I have seen are rusty like swiss cheese. Aside from that, maybe an EA81 hatch 4x4 stick.

How noisy was the engine before you took the heads off? ( valves ) Don't know how cheap lifters are, but if they weren't too bad and I was planning on keeping the car for the long haul and had the heads off anyway, might just be the time to replace. Again, I might think different if they were pricey. Matt

I replaced the rear hatch on my VW Golf with one that was the wrong color. I went to an auto body supply shop and they mixed me up a couple spray cans of factory color. I sprayed the hatch in my driveway and clear-coated it. Looks darn good for me not having the time to put much effort into it. On your car, I'd do the same. Get some factory paint in cans, get some clear, get some primer. Strip off any easzy stuff like signals, handles, etc that you want to. Mask off the glass real good. Sand stuff and fill dents etc with filler as you wish. Prime, dry, then color, dry, then clear. If you want, you can wetsand in between, but I didn't care. If you use a light color like white it will be way more forgiving than a dark color. I think you could do a pretty good job actually. My dad once painted an old Ford truck with a roller and house paint! Actually, it was surprisingly presentable. The keys are as follows: Mask well and don't skimp on this step. Remove parts that you can first. Realize that paint wont hide things, so do body work if this bothers you. Don't lay on paint too heavy and get runs, many light coats better than thick ones. Lighter colors are easier. Clear it afterwards. Let coats dry in between. Practice on a car that it does not matter if you make a mistake until you get good.

Heh heh...yeah, hammers and CV joints don't mix too well if you intend to use them again. The race inside doesn't like sudden sharp impact. If you had to, a block of wood between the BFH and part would help avoid damage...

From what I understand, they get noisy as they get old, worn, and lose ability to maintain oil pressure. Tap tap tap tap...

Hmm...my be wrong here, but it is my impression that CV joints are matched, meaning the parts are machined to work together specifically. Taking one apart and using some parts from one with another is shaky I think as far as long term durability. Again, not the expert here, but I had a conversation with an old-time mechanic who was no bs and I recall something along this line back in the hazy mental archives. I think this may be one of the reasons reman joints have such a crappy rep. I've seen outer Soob joints new go for $10 on eBay, so I'd just do that, really. Another note on this topic from the same guy: At the time, I was having him work on my Vanagon, and apparently the axles are the same length. When this shop would service axles shafts, they would switch them to the other side of the van so they would rotate the opposite direction. He said that the joints lasted far longer this way as the internal wear was spread out. Don't know if any soobs have joints that this could be done with, but I thought it was interesting.

Try http://www.car-part.com Negotiate. If I can get a transmission for a 1981 Peugeot Diesel Wagon shipped to me on a pallet from Oklahoma for a couple hundred bucks total from a vendor on that site, anything is possible!

Thank you!

http://www.ebay.com search for SUBARU CV BOOT

That is killer. Must do. If I had a Justy it would be a micro-pickup.

Some EARLY Omnis and Horizons had VW engines ( 1.6 or 1.7l )in the late 70's or maybe one or two years into the 80's. By the early 80's, no more VW engines. By 1990 no chance, definitely a Chry engine, prob a 2.2l? probably find manuals all day long at http://www.ebay.com -- would be the first place I would look. I would think that keeping an Omni on the road in Romania ( Omnis not being known as one of the best cars ) would be like trying to get Dacia parts in Kansasa City. Good luck!

no air suspension, a basic Loyale wagon 2wd stick shift, crank windows, no cruise... all electrical items work fine except the driver side motorized seat belt which is permanently in the back position. clicking noise not from there, though.

Yeah, there is one in my garage right now. ( not from SA, a 1983 US version )

Sounds a lot like an electrical item to me... the only other thing I could think of is something sloshing in the tank.

This place has some cool gauges: http://www.dakotadigital.com/

Have fun getting the TPS off. It is held on by two little screws, be careful not to drop them. I had to move the alternator and the AC compressor out of the way to get at the bottom screw. If I had a stubby small philips or an offset small philips, I might have been able to remove w/o the trouble. Not hard, just a pain. My Loyale has the alternator close to the TB, and the AC compressor toward the battery. If you have the opposite setup as mine, as some I've seen, where the AC compressor is on the TB side, harder to get at the TPS.

I just ordered an OE cap and rotor from Jamie at http://www.subarugenuineparts.com , very good service. I got a set of Bosch plug wires real cheap on eBay, think there are some on there now. I have heard to avoid aftermarket caps and rotors on the EA82s, so went factory on those myself. Plugs, I don't know...NGK probably.

Very hard, and very expensive, I'll bet. You probably have to swap/add/remove the following at least: Trans, axle shafts, ecu, trim inside car around shifter area, shift linkages and mechanism, pedal assembly... Sell the auto, take the proceeds and buy a similar vintage stick shift. That is, unless you have lots of free time, and a source of junkyard parts that are good for next to free, and you are real good at this kind of thing.

Section 2-7 of the online manual http://www.finleyweb.net/default.asp?id=142

VW Vanagons were boxers, but a few were inline 4 diesels. The diesel Vanagons had a specific engine mount system to allow the inline engine to be put in a space where the boxer engine went. I wonder if you could get this engine cradle used, and adapt it to allow a VW diesel to be put in an E81 or 82 car...