The Beast I Drive

Oh also Lumpycam has a EJ25 in his Gen 1, ran low 15's in the 1/4 mile too, running RWD. -Bill

Actually the problem was worse on my mom's 86 GL than on my 87 GL, and I tried the same rims on both. Of course, on mine I drove it like that for a while, so they did some of their own grinding on the calipers... -Bill

Right rule of thumb, if its a wheel from an EA82 car it will fit EA81. If its EA81 it might fit EA82, but some of the earlier ones wont, Ive had the rubbing issue Monstaru refers to. EA71 wheels will fit EA81, but EA82 stock steelies will grind really badly on the rear trailing arms if you try to put them on a Gen 1. When it comes to custom wheels or other wheels like Wagon wheels, the only way to know is to try them out. -Bill

You need a timing light, but to get it to start just move it to somewhere in the middle of the adjustment range. Then start it and adjust while running using the light. Make sure you disconnect the vacuum advance while doing this. As long as it was not installed a tooth off you should be able to time it properly. -Bill

Cool, Ill check it out. I am just curious, Im ditching the 3at when I get another 5 speed D/R. I have the pedal assembly and all the stuff needed to swap the trannies. Automatic=lame. -Bill

Here's mine 1976 4WD wagon, no engine, 4 speed S/R, 4" lift (not done by me) 1973 Tailgate wagon, 1400 sittin in the rear, no tranny 1980 Brat, EA81, 5 spd D/R, front 3" lift, rear 6" lift, work in progress all 3 together -Bill

Since we are on the subject of 3at 4wd, does anyone know why mine violently bangs into neutral when I try to make a tight turn off road in 4wd? I hate it, it takes all the fun out of snow and brodies -Bill

I went over the idea of dual Webers with the guys at an old school import autoparts store near me, for anything less than a bored and stroked and boosted beyond belief 2.2 a pair of DGV carbs would be way too much carb. I plan on running twin IDF carbs on my 2.5 hybrid, they can be choked down to 34 from the 40 they come with. For a 1.8 or so I think a pair of the old Holly 1bbl glass float bowl carbs would be sweet under the hood, or a pair of Rochesters or Strombergs. -Bill

Well i want all the traction i can get, plans are to put a 3.9 clutch LSD in the rear, and I have rear discs off a T wag that are goin on, the stock ones drag right now :-\. The cutter brakes and rear LSD should make snow a lot more fun for me but I'll prolly have to wait till next winter to find out. If I have it done this spring it will see plenty of mud and mountains though -Bill

I prolly wont get to test them out until spring when I get the hatch running and a windsheild in it, they were just too small for the Beast, but they are perfect on the hatch. I need to make some spacers though, they rub a bit on the drivers side rear trailing arm and front strut, but not too bad. -Bill

It has been done, I seen it in person. I think the person who did it was billybobgoatboy here on the board, i think that is his user name, something along those lines. His is a sweet ride, so talk to him if you can. Should be pretty self explanitory, cut frame where the motor hits, fab up a box from some 12 gauge or so sheet metal and weld it in where you cut the frame. Boom, done. Proceed to install EJ powerplant. -Bill

If your car has the EA82 coilovers on it it probably has a broken torsion bar, because that is usually the only reason people will do that to an EA81. If you take off the EA82 units and set the car down, look to see if sags lower than it should or leans to one side. If this is the case, and you still want to use your Ranchos, then you will either need to replace the bad torsion bars in your car, or get a new torsion tube assembly. Otherwise you will need custom mounts or longer coilovers to get your 4 inches of lift in the rear. -Bill

If I can con my freind out of his digital camera for a day I will take some better pics, but right now my phone takes horrible indoor pics. It does fine outside, but indoors the pics get all grainy and blurry. -Bill

Glad it was coolant in the bores, couldve been a mess if it were something else in there -Bill

Im gonna do something similar in my '80 Brat, but I have all the boots and knobs to make it look factory This one I dont care at all if it looks stock, it just needs to look good and be functional, cuz nothing on this car is stock anymore -Bill

That one is an Indy shifter handle, got that from Jerry, Hurst makes one like that too, and I have a B&M in the Beast that I bought about a year ago. -Bill

Wow, I dont know why I didnt think of that, great idea! Ill have to go find another E brake handle at my favorite junkyards. -Bill

In that pic, the 4 blocks on either side of the diff drop are for the torsion tube. Im betting you put them on the mustache bar mounts. Scotts kit you dont need to lower the mustache bar, that plate with the oval is all you need to lower the diff. -Bill

It sounds like something in the motor locked up, better inventory all your tools and all the parts you swapped out, if something is missing...:-\ Then you might want to invest in one of those pen microscope dealios, easier to look through the spark plug hole to check rather than tearin the heads off. -Bill

Maybe you dropped something into the heads when you had the manifold off that or the starter could be toast, had it happen to me once, but I had the e brake on and forgot it was in gear, so I didnt push in the clutch... did it sound like it came from in the motor or the starter itself? Does it repeat every time you attempt to start it, or was it just the once? -Bill

I got the 5 speed D/R in my Hatch recently, so I could set up my shifters. I personally love the way it came out, Ive got it twin sticked, and my Hurst Indy shifter assembly on so here is some crappy cell phone pics, no I dont have a nice camera, spent all my money on car parts Made a custom bracket and modified a few shifters and a lot of linkage to make it work flawlessly Im waiting for some switches (bulk order) and some guages and relays and stuff to clean up that wiring nightmare there on the floor and it will all go into my custom dash that I have yet to build. I stipped about 50% of the wiring so far, and there is more to go on that yet. There is a ton of work to do on this thing but the Mud tires and lift keep me motivated -Bill

Mine is disconnected, more flex, a little squirly in the wind at high speeds, but I am also lifted and my steering rack is going bad Overall i like it better without the bar -Bill

My 31/10.50 Bighorns stick outside the fenders about 2 1/2", on redrilled Toyota wheels. Still needs more bashing on the front inner fender cuz they rub when steering is locked either direction and under flex. -Bill

Those are my 27" ATV tires, which currently reside on my Hatchback that I am building. They were too small for the Beast, as i have already cut the fenders on it for 31" tires. They were on a mud racing Brat, and were pretty unstoppable. Ill get to see just how capable they are once I finish up the hatch. -Bill

-Bill