impostor

Its really hard to tell by looking at it that it is bent. It does have a shiny spot where it was rubbing. It was difficult to remove from the head and when I spun it in a lathe it was pretty obvious where the bend was. I'll try to get a pic in the next few days.

So recently I picked up a nice 86 XT GL-10 that is nearly perfect but is leaking oil everywhere. I decided to do a shortblock out reseal. When tearing down the lh head I noticed the cylinder 4 exhaust valve is bent towards the top of the stem. It also looks like a few guides have dropped slightly. I was just wondering how common this is. In all the Subarus I've rebuilt I've never seen a valve bend at this spot. Also, amazingly, the rh head has no cracks between the valves. The lh head looks like a normal ea82 head.

On an svx, if it were me, I'd unplug the tcm instead. Removing the intake duct to access the connector is risky. The PCV nipples like to crack and the hoses might be brittle. I never saw that many Subarus in my days at the trans shop so I'm not sure if they default to second or third when there is no power to the solenoids, but at least this will help you isolate your problem to mechanical or electrical.

Former transmission guy here. If you speculate that it is an electrical problem just unplug the connector that goes to the trans. Almost every transmission has a mechanical fail safe if power is lost. The only oddball I've ever run in to is the Allison LCT 1000 used by Chevy in the duramax and 8.1 liter. Your problem sounds like something with the pump or filter. Is it an oem filter, and installed correctly? The clunk part is odd and it may be unrelated.

The latest two purchases are for my own personal collection. Sometimes I don't always buy smart but I worry where they might end up if I don't. I flip newer Subarus to fund my addiction. Over the last several years I've done about 30 or so and haven't lost money yet but I'm know I'm due for one anytime!

Agreed. I'll have to figure out a way to swing it. Timing sucks though because I just bought an 86 xt gl-10 and a few months ago picked up a 96 OBS with a v7 ej207 swap for an excellent price. It's only money, they'll print more!

Your stock pipe isn't too terrible. It's already catless. The only drawback is the corrugated flex section that 'hurts' flow a little bit. Not enough that you would notice. Our early wrx's had a catalytic converter and egt sensor in them that are known to break and be ingested by the turbo.

Is the distributor timed correctly? (I.e. firing on the power stroke and not intake)

Shoot, he's asking twice that.

More info. It was a trade in from the original owners 38 years later, and it was traded to the same dealer that originally sold it. They put it in their showroom for a couple years before the current owner was able to convince them to sell it. He has been working on Subarus since 1975.

Good days in this part of the country are rarer than solar eclipses. It's a 73 GL. The guy has his own shop but he's looking to get out of it to focus on his muscle car hobby. He bought it from a Subaru dealer in Idaho I believe, who had it on display.

I am usually pretty good with the market values, but this one is a tad older than I'm used to. Based on this one picture, what do you think? I have the chance to buy it but I have no other information yet.

Its just a generic o-ring. I used to work at a transmission shop so we had quite the assortment. So far its holding up ok.

Check for loose/disconnected grounds. A poor ecm ground will cause this with no codes, even though the tcm doesn't report a problem. A capable scanner would very helpful to see of the shift is even being commanded.

Just thought I would share my experience fixing the gear shift rail leak (finally). I have an '80 Brat with the top mount starter. I got sick and tired of smelling burning gear oil. I did a bunch of searching on here and it has been discussed before but I couldn't really find anyone that followed up after they fixed it. The big question seemed to be whether it could be done in the car or not. In my experience, it could not. I am at least fortunate enough to work at a transmission shop and right now we are sort of in the slow season. Today I had enough free time to tackle this thing. The 4wd shift rail is the deal breaker that makes it necessary to remove the trans. The top cover plate needs to be removed to access the rail, fork, and pin. There is also a spring and check ball for the detent. Once the pin is removed, the rail slides out of the fork and the little ball and spring come out also. Try not to lose them. Then, finally, you can remove the 4wd housing and change that little bastard o-ring on the gear shift rail. Hopefully someone else finds this useful. Sorry there are no pictures, I was doing this between paying jobs as I had time, and it was my ride home.

Ended up just rotating the ring gear 90 degrees. Working great so far.

I have the engine out of my brat to replace the crank and rod bearings and I noticed the ring gear teeth are pretty chewed up. I can't seem to find a new replacement anywhere. Even just a new ring gear would be OK. As a last resort I could rotate the ring gear but I would rather just replace the thing. Anyone have any leads?

I had a similar issue on the 93 turbo wagon I bought a few years ago with a blown up front diff. Check the throttle cable and make sure it has enough slack. The issue on mine was the idle set screw that isn't supposed to be messed with, was at some point. It was just enough to cause the idle switch to open and the ECM saw it was off idle. It would only go back down to 2000-ish RPMs even if I blipped the throttle. Not sure why it works like that but all I had to do was back the screw off a tiny bit until the switch closed (must use a multi-meter to check). I dont recall which two wires it is.

Thanks for the input guys!

What would have been the most likely stripe style and color installed on my 1980 BRAT? The color is 'spark blue metallic' and the original window sticker I have for it says it was a factory/port installed option for $39. I bought the car with a newer paint job and the stripes were not re-applied. I know custom colors can be made but I am going for originality on this one. I am really leaning towards the maroon without the door stripe.

Thanks guys. Mine has dowel pins but they fit a tad looser than I'm used to from the EJ world. Got it back together, now just waiting on valve cover grommets.

Also verify that the coolant temp sensor is plugged in.

Do I really need it to finish my head gasket job? The engine is out but not on a proper stand yet. I had read that installing the heads with the engine vertical will work.

To be more clear, I was wondering mostly about the head gasket material that works best on these engines. I've spent most of my time in the EJ world and know what works and what doesn't on those. I remember when people were having issues with the fel-pro's although I have had only good experiences with them.

What is the general consensus on a full gasket kit like the Fel-pro or ITM? I have a 1980 Brat with the EA71. It has a blown head gasket and I would like to just go through the whole thing. What would be the best route to go? Thanks, Jim