scoobiedubie

Used cylinder heads are cheap from the junk yard. Then you don't have to put in all that work, and possibly fail.

Rear is easier than the front.

Move up to 11mm x 1.25 Install them in place, with exhaust pipe attached, otherwise you might not be able to get you exhaust pipe on if your new studs are not exactly right.

You could pull the driver side camtower cover and check the cylinder head bolts for tightness. The compression test on that side will determine whether you should focus on the intake manifold gasket or the cylinder head gasket. Low compression and loose cylinder head bolts, may only required retorquing those bolts. Or it could require a new cylinder head gasket. Low compression and tight cylinder head bolts would point toward the cylinder head gasket. High compression and tight cylinder head bolts would point toward the intake gasket.

The distributor probably needs rebuilding, as the vacuum advance relies on some ball bearings rolling between two plates. The bearings wear a groove in the plates that then bind up. The counter weights can get worn as well. 85 and 86 distributor are problematic. White smoke is coolant. Coolant gets into the exhaust from a worn intake manifold gasket, loose cylinder head bolts allowing coolant past the cylinder head gasket, and a crack at the fin between the exhaust ports in your cylnder head. You said that the oil looks fine but you did not say how you determined that. Did you simply pull the dipstick or more importantly, drain the oil and look for metal chunks?

If you want the engine to run as quiet at possible, then you daub a little rtv gasket maker around the edges of two other contact surfaces that surround two other oil passages between cylinder head and camtower.

Napa has some really cheap timing belts and some good timing belts. The cheap ones do not last long, as I understand. Napa also does not necessarily rebuild everything that they claim is rebuilt. If they take it in as a core deposit and it seems to work OK, they may just clean it, paint it and put it back on the shelves.

You can probably buy another used Subaru of the same year, for less money than you are about to spend to get your car running correctly. Reason being is that you don't do the work yourself. Ordinarily, 85 to 94 GL/Loyales are too expensive to repair, if you are hiring a auto mechanic to do the work every time. They are totalled before you bring them into the mechanic, due to what he is about to charge you. Either learn how to tighten cylinder head bolts, check timing belt installation, check timing, install spark plugs, check spark plug wires, clean distributor cap electrodes, and check vacuum lines by yourself, or sell it and find an 89 Loyale or later that runs right, because they get much better gas mileage.

Check your cylinder head bolts for tightness. They usually release slightly and allow a oil, coolant and/or pressure leak.

Spark plug wires may be mixed up.

Those bolts rust up easily and seize tight. Buy a used intake manifold from 503-936-9579 or 503-985-7110 .

Jack up the front on both sides, and let the front wheels spin. See if you have the same sound. Do some tight turns and see if you have the same sounds. If the sounds stays the same in tight turns, then it is probably the bearings. If the sound changes when you take load off of the wheels, then it is probably the bearings.

86 Gl-10 turbos are high maintenance as they require some fiddling every couple thousand miles, for one thing or another. Subaru shops are trying to get them off the road so they will make it as expensive as possible, to fix it. It is not a car for somebody who has not owned a Subaru Gl/DL/Loyales, because you have to do all of the maintenance yourself, if you want to keep it.

Better get yourself a spare distributor that works, as they can go out at anytime. Better add a double core radiator too. Let me know when you are ready to part it out.

Be sure an not attempt to insert a short cylinder head bolt, into a hole that requires the longer cylinder head bolts. You strip out threads in your block, real fast. Be mindfull of the three oil passageways between the cylinder head and the camtower. One requires the metal reinforced Subaru O-ring. The other two require a very light amount of gasket maker. Do not be shy about using some gasket maker in the lower half of the camtower cover gaskets, and at the lower camtower cover bolts. That is the location of one of the largest oil leaks. Replace those cover gaskets as well, if they feel a little stiff.

The EA82T cross-pipes tend to crack just below the bolted coupling to the turbo. The cross-pipes came in 3 sizes as measured at that crack. 1 1/4" ID, 1 3/8" ID and 1 1/2"ID. The smaller ones tend to crack sooner. The larger one has better power. None are available from Subaru. You might as well start hitting the wrecking yards now, or the Subaru mechanics who salvage Subarus. The crack makes the turbo worthless as the exhaust will not spin the turbo blades fast enough, or at all.

The solenoid is in the vacuum line system. It is a cube of about 1 inch on all sides, with two plastic nipples that break off real easily. It sits behind the thermostat housing and just to the right. It is beneath the shiny aluminum intake air gismo coming off of the turbo.

Code 35 is "EGR solenoid switch fixed in On or Off position. Solutions are: repair harness to solenoid, replace EGR solenoid or replace Control Unit

If you have vacuum line leaks caused from broken plastic nipples, it won't idle very well. You have two vacuum pumps on the right side of the engine. There is a lot of connections on top of the engine, that break easily. And then you have a vacuum line connection to the distributor.

The cylinders should all be over 125 psi, not 100 psi. Your reading could however be caused by the gauge that you are using. 86T's are problematic. I have one. The distributors go out. The hot wire to the alternator gets fried, brittle and breaks, and the last few inches need replacing every 10,000 miles. The capacitor by the coil goes out. The black fusible link goes out. The PCV valve gets clogged, which sounds like what the problem is. The distributor cap points need frequent cleaning off of the corrosion. A bad spark plug may also be the culprit. It needs a double core radiator. The radiator thermosensor/auxiliary fan switch goes out. It has too many heat shields that trap the heat around the turbo.

Roofs are pretty effective.

If it stays on, you should be attempting to read the trouble code on the hidden computer above your knees. And do it before you turn off the engine. I was not aware of any red dash light that comes on automatically at any particular mileage, without there being some kind of issue. I have an 86.

Looks like you have more damage than you described. The bottom seal on the door appears to have been pushed in by several inches.

Do you have a LSD or open slip differential? If it was a limited slip differential, it would have LSD printed on the ID plate. Open slip differentials are more forgiving in turns on pavement, but can bind up. You can hear a LSD break loose in turns on pavement. I avoid using 4WD on pavement, unless on snow or ice. Gravel is OK for 4WD.

It will pass without the 2nd catalytic converter.