thealleyboy

Ash: All the comments above are good ones... Let me add that the electrical cooling system (fan, thermosswitch) should also be considered if you are troubleshooting/overhauling the cooling system. The first thing about your post that jumps out at me is "all the fluids are good". It makes me wonder if your cooling system is really faulty at all. Overheating, {especially if to the point of steaming} would most definitely suggest a coolant loss condition, and this would be readily obvious. Also, when you said the engine is running "hot", is it the temp guage or the presence of steam that makes you beleive this? If it's only the steam, I would suspect some other fluid burning on your hot engine. Keep these thoughts in mind as you further pinpoint your problem. good luck, John

Oh I see... The back side is ideal for going "naked". All you'll need to do is fill in the cutouts where the bumper slides into the unibody. The front may be a little more of a challenge. You'll have to decide if you want to keep the front valance (below the bumper). If you decide eliminate it, you can fashion just about any front end look you want. For example, you could do the "boxy" treatment. If you keep it, you'll be limited to the existing countours of the valance and fenders. good luck, John

Doc: I don't know the DL's too well, but some of the low-level model EA82's came with the "light-weight" front and rear bumpers. These are kinda cool because they were soild black, and were not intended to blend into body side molding. The more common "heavy-weight" bumpers had the molding and 2-tone paint treatment. Either style can be customized, but the lightweight type might be better for lowering, since they are physically less bulky. I think they would be easier to blend in, or contrast, depending on your color scheme. Sorry I don't have any pics yet, but you might want to look around and see which style appeals to you more, before doing your project. good luck, John

Skeet: On Alleywagon '04, I'm using Truck and Implement Paint from TSC (Tractor Supply Co). It is an oil based enamel made by Valspar. It is available in spray cans, quarts and gallons, and a clear hardener is also available. There are about a dozen or so basic colors. This is a good looking and durable paint. Levels out nicely, and has good enamally gloss - even without a clear coat. It is non-metallic, however, so it has that "stock car" look. I would reccommend this on a utilitarian type Sube. You can touch up, and even replace entire panels, and keep it looking great. You should be able to do a really nice job for well under $100 if you prep it correctly. good luck John

Skeet: The OEM racks came on lots of the EA82 era cars, including Loys. I would post something on the marketplace Board. I'm sure someone has an extra one they can spare. As far as paint and effects, you can alter the look of your car drastically by experimenting with different color combinations, and changing/eliminating trim. For example, on "Alleywagon '04", I painted the pillar between the F & R doors body color (instead of black). This gives the car more of an "old school" Sube look. I'm also thinking of eliminating the side moldings, or perhaps changing the color to bumper gray, or something. The contour at the rubber molding is a good break point if you want to go 2-tone. Wheels, grill and both bumpers are also cool places to get creative with paint. good luck, John

Al: If you just got the car, you gotta give it a chance to air out. Some smoke is normal if it hasn't been driven regularly. If you've had it for awhile, and this smoking just happened all of a sudden, then yeah it's probably burning some oil. You've got to figure out just how much is burning. You need to drive it awhile and check it constantly. Believe it or not, oil burning is considered normal on some cars (but not necessarily our Subes). The Pcv is an obvious quick and dirty check. If you replace it, and it continues to burn oil at an unacceptable level, you'll have to decide whether you want to spend your $ on oil, or in dealing with your motor. Bottom line: your motor is gradually wearing out. An overhaul/replacement is the only fix. good luck, John

Definitely consider 5 speed, s/r or d/r - unless you prefer A/T's. As far as engine mechanical, I would recommend keeping the fuel delivery system stock - whatever car you decide to go with. SPFI is the superior system, but you may end up with a mess if you attempt to convert from carb to FI. Everything else should be a straight forward swap. The Loyales had some plusses, but the GL is the better car overall, IMO. I would save as many spare parts as you have room for. The price of the car may or may not be fair. You really need to do more inspection & troubleshooting before offering only 1/2 of what they are asking. good luck, John

Yeah, hopefully it was all leaking from that hose. I would definitely keep a close eye on the coolant level for a while. It's possible that the overheating may have caused further damage, but a blown hose usually relieves enough pressure to save your heads & gaskets. good luck, John

If you want to have it done professionally, try a window treatment workshop, or commercial interior supplier. It is essentially the same as a wind up blind. These are repairable, and there are places that service these routinely. good luck, John

Sounds like a classic blown HG to me... Try a compression test and check back with the results Good luck John

Skeet: You should replace the one side that is going out, but the second is not necessary. However, if you want to service the front axle, it might be a good idea to do both axles, as well as any other front end parts that are worn out. You could also do the bearings, disks and shoes while it's all apart. I wouldn't pay a shop to do this. $750 is a lot of jack, IMO. For two axles...are you kidding??? If you have time and space, consider doing this yourself. The process is well-documented, and some Board memebers have some special tricks for doing the axles quickly. You'll have around $300 in parts for a basic front axle overhaul. good luck, John

Skeet: You sound pretty ambitious, and that will be helpful as you develop your skills. However, those skills do need to be developed before start getting in over your head!! This car is a perfect one to learn on. If you get it up to speed again, you will have learned much of what you will need to know for more complex projects. I'm talking about going thru each system, in a systematic way, and getting everthing fixed or caught up on maintenance. A Haynes book and this Board is all the reference you'll need. You may want to start building your tool set too, if you haven't done so already. What you'll end up with is a reliable transportation vehicle, and knowledge you can apply to your next car (preferably a Sube, of course). Don't get your hopes up too high as far as making this thing a screamer. That's not what the Loyale is all about. You really do need to step up to a turbo in an EA82 to get respectable performance. good luck, John

You are getting good MPS's. You can skip the major tune up for now. As far as struts, you can hardly go wrong with any brand you choose. Any "standard" struts will give you OEM specs. Not sure that "premiums" will give you any noticible difference. I would question whether they even need replaced on a newer Sube unless the car has been beat to sh*t. Unless one is blown out, they should be adequete. Give those another look before you go replacing them. good luck, John

Jim: I dont think it's the dash switch or the resister pack. You could test the switch by bypassing it. A faulty resister will give you one speed only. My guess is a fuse (possibly inline) somewhere in the circuit, or possibly a problem at the A/C connection. Cougar's reccomended tests (at the blower motor) will cut the toubleshooting down to size in a hurry. Good luck, John

Ed that's interesting. I know of an 86 Brat that has the 3.7 LSD. I always assumed it was original, but apparently not. I've seen a few around, and judging by the types of models (base) they've been on, I have to believe they were transplants. Does anyone know which models the LSD's came on originally? John

I'm not sure you can test it without professional equipment. There may be a way to do it common tools (vaccum guage, compressed air etc) but I have never attempted it. My best advice is to go by the guage in your dash, if it has one. Do you remember any unusual drops in pressure? Since it's off, at the very least, you are looking at cleaning it up and replacing the seals. Ofen times this is enough, as those pumps go a long time before failing. At the other extreme is replacement. I do this whenever the opportunity arises, but it's probably overkill in most situations. The advantage is that you are upgrading the system as a whole, and are making the car more reliable long term. good luck, John

Keith: I wouldn't be in any hurry to wash it. Even laquer needs time to cure. If it's enamel, I would wait 3 months min before doing anything with the paint. Think of it as a wound that never completely heals...take your time. Consider yourself lucky if you don't have to deal with corrosion. One very big hassle you don't have to get sidetracked with. Enjoy your Brat for what it was intended for. good luck, John

Dan: Sounds like you are on the right track. There are many ways to make this type of repair, but the essentials are the same. Visual appearance is where you have to make some decisions. Just make sure all the rusted surfaces are prepped, and each layer of metal is completely sealed. The smallest pocket will start you chasing rust all over again. Good Luck, John

Dan, I'm assuming this is some sort of resto project... The best looking & longest lasting repair would be to fabricate a patch, using metal with the same rib pattern. You will have to cut a rust-free piece from a junk Brat bed, and trim/modify it to fit that area. It does not necessarily have to be from the exact same spot, but the ribs have to follow the pattern in your bed perfectly. It will be tricky because it's on the edge of the bed. You'll have to pound out some of the ribs to follow the straight surfaces, and have to do some bending to get around the edge. The ribs on the patch will have to align tightly to those on your truck, so expect to do plenty of "tweaking". If it were mine, I would treat the existing metal as best I could, then weld the patch directly over the old. Cutting out the old is too risky IMO. You'll lose structural integrity, and the patch will look no better for your effort. There are other less sophisticated ways to patch something like this, and if that's what you're after, I (and others I'm sure) will be happy to comment on those methods. good luck, John

Rog: Sorry about your loss...hope you get a chance to confront the person responsible some day (a thief's worst nightmare!!) . I usually start by probing the bare wires independently (without the aid of a schematic). You can use a simple "light bulb tester". Just attach one end to the harness wire, and the other to chassis ground, and try various key positions. This will identify your hots pretty quickly. Then I usually break out the schematic, and verify the hots. For the speaks (if they are still there), you can rig up a homemade tester out of any radio with a speaker or headphone output. Referring to the schematic, you should be able to send a signal to each of your speaks. By process of elimination, you'll be able to identify ground, and any other leads. You may have a power antenna on that model. If you run into any probs, or need the schematic,email me. good luck, John thealleyboy@yahoo.com

Hey Kevin: Do you happen to know if rear quarters for the EA82 series wagons were ever reproduced over there? I have not been able to find an aftermarket source for RQ's anywhere. They are one of the weak spots on those cars, and can be tricky to fabricate. thanks, John

Lag, I have one of those models (an 89 GL Turbo Wagon). Personally, I am not a big fan of AT's of any kind. Even a base 2wd 5speed drives better IMO. But I will say the A/T's in those AWD models are the best of the lot. They also seem to stand up to abuse pretty well. My car was absolutely beat to sh*t, and the tranny still shifts smoothly at 130k. Fulltime AWD is a step above "on-demand 4wd" in dry conditions. If you were to get that car, I would focus on getting your motor together first. You may decide you can live with the A/T after all. I'm not in any hurry to convert mine, though I'm sure I will eventually. good luck, John

Steve: We'll definitely have to get out there in the next few weeks. It looks like we might be doing some C-Bus junking this weekend (your welcome to come up). Miles and I went out yesterday and found a fair amount of EA82 stuff, as well as a NICE 83 GL Sedan!! I intend to go back, and Jim and Miles may end up going too. If you need any Pugs (especially alloys), now's the time to speak up. All sizes and styles available. Miles or myself will be posting something on this soon. John

I would give strong consideration to overhauling the motor yourself - if the core is "rebuildable". This would be an excellent car to keep on the road, since you know the maintenace history from day one. But to get to that point, you'll need to pull the motor and dissaemble it, to see how much damage was done when it ran dry. It may not be a pretty sight. As far as rebuilding one of these, you shouldn't have any problems if you've overhauled motors in the past. Used replacement parts shouldn't be terribly expensive either. A lot of people on this board have spare EA82's lying around. Gaskets can be had at decent prices on the ebay. You may decide that a good used motor is a better alternative if you discover that the core is shot. Again, I would check around with board members. You should be able to find a solid used motor for MUCH less than $700. good luck, John

Yes, the equipment isn't very useful unless the the tech knows how to perform the test properly. I've actually had pretty good luck at those places. Maybe it's because there are lots of stores that do the free testing in my town. It's a quick and dirty way to size up the charging system, but it's probably a good idea to do your own testing to verify their results. I would take a used OEM alt over a remanufactured (for Japanese models) any day. Rebuilt units for American cars seem to be much better for some reason. Jim, does that car have the digi dash? That might take some serious effort to track down. In the meantime, you might want to hook up one of those cheapo aftermarket analog clusters (alt, temp, oil pressure etc) to monitor your cars systems. good luck, John