El Presidente

Has anybody here ever tried the spark plug oba trick? For those that don't know, you take an old spark plug and bust all the porcelain out of it along with the electrode. Now you have a threaded tube that fits in the head and after that all you do is weld which ever quick disconnect you wan to use on the end of it. You use it by simply taking out a plug, putting this modified plug in and hooking your air hose to it and what ever attachments your using. One issue with this is that the air thats going in also has fuel mixed with it, but I've never heard of anyone having problems with it in regards to its affect on tires. The likely hood of something going boom is really low, unless all the air in there came from the motor. The solution for this is a injector kill switch, so that when your pumping air, no fuel is coming out of that bore. The air coming out also pulses, so running air tools is out, but it fills tires really fast. You used to be able to buy these things off the shelf, but I haven't seen them in a long time. Josh

The spool of wire will say flux core on it. It means the wire is actually hollow and filled with flux. You likely have paint,scale or rust thats keeping it from penning, sometimes just scratching the surface with a screw driver will give it enough bare metal to burn everything off. Check out the miller website if your looking for some good tutorials Josh

I'm only going off your description and picture,but I'd still try to weld it. MIG's work great for sheet metal, but you have to run the gas nozzle on your gun for it to work, which is just going to get in the way. I'd still use the flux core wire(your using flux core right?) If your running standard wire with no gas your weld wont hold for spoob. Are you running your electrode positive or negative? Keeping the electrode oriented correctly will help burn through crap in there. MIG=electrode pos. FC=electrode neg... Keep in mind on a flux core setup the gun doesn't have to be near the weld like a MIG setup. Situations like this I'll hold the wire and guide it after it comes out of the gun, which helps on really sharp turns and tight pockets. Keep a supersoaker(they don't make a mess like a fie extinguisher does) around for fires and have someone else there to spot them. Josh

Last heads I had done professionally, was Earls machine shop down in Des Moines. They did a great job and it only cost $100 to take .020" off a set of EA81 heads. Action Auto in shoreline is always a good place to go, but they're pricey. Have you considered just doing it yourself? I just did two EA82 HG jobs and resurfaced them myself. It works so good, I'll never go to a machinist to surface heads again unless I'm taking a specific amount off. Josh

Subaru and your Dodge are two completely different animals and you can't really compare them. They both have ups and downs and they both wheel completely differently. Your not going to tow an offroad trailer with a subaru, but you could a dodge. Your also probably not going to take the dodge on a 150 mile trip, wheel for the weekend and drive home again, all on one tank of gas. Your not going to wheel your dodge at 800rpm, but you will in a subaru. Your also NOT going to have fun wheeling a Ram Charger at any of the ORV parks around here because they are just too fat and wide. The trails are really set up for a 60"ish wms, like a yota, jeep or a subaru. Something like a Ram charger would be fun in the mud where its open, but if you get it up to Walker, your gonna come out a little narrower. EA82 SPFI +2" lift +215/75R15's(27's) = 25-27ish mpgs. A 2" lift is a good place to start because the commitment level is really low and easy to take off/put on. With 27's, you'll go pretty much everywhere a SAS rig with 33's can go. Sounds crazy, but its true. If you upgrade the motor to an EA81 or an EJ, you'll see mileage #'s go up. EA81's are more gutless on the street because of cam profiling, but you'll see awesome mileage and WAY better low end torque. An EJ upgrade pretty much resolves any complaints about power or mpg's hands down. If you ever have a chance to drive one, you'll understand. Buffalo, where are you located? NWWO is planning a day trip to walker valley on the 8th and it could be a good chance to see some rigs. Check out the offroad section for details. Josh

Stop being a girl and use a breaker bar. Josh

The head bolts that go through the rocker assembly right? What problem are you having? I think a 17mm and a 1/2" ratchet or breaker bar should knock them looose. Josh

Ok, 6/8 sounds good to me. Does anybody know how to edit the thread title? I cant seem to find the option since the switch to the new servers. I always liked the Pho King Restaurant myself... Josh

We do always go on Saturdays....we could do a sunday trip this time. What does everybody think? Josh

Same meeting place as last time, Jo-Anne Fabrics in Mount Vernon at 9:30 I'm thinking the 8th of June, but if something else works for everybody, lets do that. We didn't have time for Rons run or upper mainline on the last trip and it would be nice to see how they're doing now. Who wants to hit the trails? Josh

Have you tried using assembly lube on the lifter side and the valve side of the rocker to hold them in position during assembly? Josh

X2, sounds like a bad re assembly. Go back to the place that did the work and make them to fix it right. Wheels don't just fall off cars. Also, if the washer goes on backward, the nut will back off regardless of the cotter pin, it will simple shear it. I've had it happen. Josh

When compressed air doesn't work for me, I put the head on its side, grab the lifter by the shoulder( the solid part riight next to the bucket, you won't mar the metal there) with a big pair of vise grips. I grip them so the pliers are flat to the top of the head and hanging off as far as possible. Once I get a good grip(needs to be really solid), I hit the vise grips with a hammer to break the lifter loose. Usually I just keep tapping on it till it comes completely out. Works everytime and I've never destroyed one. Josh

Im gonna really try to make this trip. Josh

I say its one of the DOJ's on the axles. Josh

I'm not sure where your geting your info, but its wrong. The 38/38 will not give you better low end torque, its not designed for that,its designed for top end power and getting there quick. If your going for MPG's a 38/38 will be a rude awakening, because your going to see you mileage take a serious dump. There's a reason why everybody runs 32/36's..38/38 is pretty much off the table unless your doing drags or long run high rpm stuff. To make more power you need good fuel delivery and SPFI is the best hands down but a 32/36 is a second. The 38/38 runs smaller jets because its a slightly bigger carb. This doesn't mean your going to get better MPG's. You could jet down a motorcraft 2100, or even a holley double pumper 750, if you still think a bigger syncro carb will help you. The engine still needs a certain amount of fuel to maintain proper air/fuel ratio no matter what and is based on engine efficiency and size. A 32/36 can handle way more air than an EA81 can move. The more efficient the engine the better the MPG's. I really think you aren't understanding that the air flow restrictions are in the heads and not the intake or exhaust. Yes the stock intakes(both carb and SPFI) are horribly inefficient, but whats worse is the head designs on both the EA81 and EA82. If your looking at buying another engine, just go with an ej18, you'll get amazing milage and lots more power with a much simpler wire install. They are cheaper to run as well and almost as bullet proof as an EA81. If you still want to go through with your current plan, please post updates. Josh

If your going to go carb and its gonna see traffic or DD, go with a 32/36. The 38/38 is a great carb but its not for an everyday use car..or trike. Your gonna get the best performance out of the ea82 SPFI system, so even if you have to start over from scratch, do that. The sluggishness of the system is from two things: low compression of the stock ea81 and, from what I hear, the ea81 cam timing doesn't complement the ea82 ecu timing and fuel maps. I had an ea81 with a ea82 spfi on it and I knocked .020" off each head and I noticed a considerable difference in how it behaved. Even if you go back to carbs, bump the compression on that ea81, you wont regret it. Josh

Gl radiator works fine. On most ea82 cars you have to cut the core suports to get an EJ radiator to fit It doesn't matter if its 1 row or 2 row, copper or aluminum If the radiator doesn't leak, just flush it and hook it up. search for info on hoses and options Josh

Spare rims are too narrow for 195/60/15's and even if they fit its a really bad idea, just drop the thought of using spare rims for everyday use and get some normal 15" 6lug wheels. Convert them to 4x140mm, or your hubs to 6 lug instead. I've bought a full set of 6lug steel wheels for $40 and all you need after that is a drill bit. This stuff you don't wanna hack, I've had wheels fall off while driving and its not fun. Josh

Subaru integrated a system to let you know when to replace the cat right from the factory thats built into the CV boots...its real high-tech.. When they melt the cat is dead Josh

Gen 3 wagons: 1. You need to have the offset for the front blocks no matter how far you drop the crossmember. If you go straight down, it will translate to 16-17* out when installed. I recommend 18*, 15* is too shy and will have a slight positive camber. With a slight negative camber(at 18*), you get better road manners in corners and when you accelerate, the camber goes to near zero keeping tread wear even and improves road traction. It helps keep axles alive too. 2. Sounds good. You don't have to drop the whole thing down evenly, the rear is much more forgiving. I'd drop the rear shocks 4" and everything else 2". The tire will be slightly forward, but all the suspension won't look funny hanging down(and won't get hung up on stuff..ascetics and function) 3. I tapered my lift from the motor to the back. My engine is at 5" my trans is at 4" and I don't have any blocks on my carrier, its just flipped upside down, which I really like because it never hits anything. I've seen a couple rigs with dropped carrier bearings and they tend to get hung up on stuff or torn out. I recommend using one solid piece for the front two mounting points for the trans mount and a single one for the rear trans mount bracket. Welding the two together with brackets helps keep the rig feeling solid and prevents problems down the road of mounting point bending or tearing out(I've seen it). Also tie the forward rear trailing arm mounts together. For med/light wheeling you don't need to tie the engine blocks to the trans blocks but it would help. If you go 4" you can drop the engine 3", trans 2" and flip the carrier bearing. 4. You can keep it looking 100% stock inside. Unfortunatly the steering joint is usually a custom fit deal, I think its been tried to standardize these, but to many diferences mad it not work. The linkage for the shifter and Hi/Lo is alot more forgiving and you could even incorperate a threaded section that would make it adjustable, just don't forget to put lock nuts on it so they don't move from vibration. Speedo cable is fine Radiator hoses will probably need to be swapped out Heater core hoses can be replaced with sections of standard 5/8" There are some ground wires that need to be extended, one from the firewall to the tranny and another from the driver head to the backside of the headlight housing. My rig is lifted 6 1/2" front, 5 1/2" rear(to keep it level) 5" motor drop, 4" trans drop, carrier bearing flipped, 4" dropped rear trailing arms and rear diff. I also extended my radius rods 1 1/2" to easily clear 31's. All my linkages and steering joint are custom, made to fit. Ej'd, the rear is bobbed and truck bed'd. Drives great on the road and does awesome off. Josh

Sounds like your front cat is plugged or your running lean, overheating is a sure sign of both. I've never heard of an out of tune carb killing a cat, but what usually does is things like carb cleaner or shooting brakeleen down the intake. Have you used carbcleaner on it? Are you running it lean right now? Do you have any running issues like an idle that stumbles? What do your spark plugs look like? --What does your exhaust smell like? -- a metalic, burning, rotten egg smell is typical of a dead cat Do you need to pass emmisions? Try taking the rear cat off and take it for a drive, its probably fine and has a loose heat shield, but this would rule it out. It won't hurt anything, it will just be loud, so watch out for cops. If you do notice a big increase in power you might have found your problem. Let us know what you find. Josh

Why do you want to stick with a 165mm wide tire? A 195mm or 205mm wide tire will fit fine and they are a lot easier to find used or new. You could find wheels to fit a 165mm wide tire, but it will take some looking because its not a common size at all. 195/60/15 is almost the same size as a stock tire and really common. 205/60/15's will also work, they're just a wheezybird hair bigger. Josh Apparently the posting system censors the word c#nt to wheezybird..huh

I've dont it a couple times and helped One Eye when his heater core needed replacing. Its Easy! Start by unbolting the steering wheel under the dash, its three(I think 12mm) bolts, it will hang down from the firewall. Then unbolt the three bolts at the top of the dash, also 12mm and the 4 under the dash. These are under little cover plates, but they pop of with a screw driver. While you unbolting the steering wheel, disconnect the heater control valve, move the heat selector back and forth to find it, its easy to get to. there's a plastic retainer that holds it on and it pops right off. Once all that is loose, the dash won't fall offf, its held on by a hook in the center of the dash. It helps to move the seat all the way back. lift the dash straight up(once the bolts are out) and it will be free but there is still more to do. Theres three wire harnesses that unplug on each side, they're all color coded so re assembly is easy and you can't physically mismatch them. There's a vacuum line for the hvac system on the pass. side and I can't remember, but I think you can leave the instrument cluster in..I think you can get to the speedo cable after the dash is loose. Thats about it. Slowly pull it off and look for anything I forgot, but I know I'm fairly certain thats about it. You'll need to pull the center console to get the hvac box apart, but that is just and a couple 10mm bolts. The box itself is held together with spring clips and pop off with a screw driver. It may sound like a task, but it really doesn't take long and isn't messy. I can change a heater core in a couple hours and thats not being in a rush, its a good Saturday project. Josh