NickNakorn

Ivans, the distributor is exactly as it was before the rebuild - I did not even take the cap off it until it was time to put it back on the engine - I cleaned the outside of it -that was the extent of the work done to it. Miles, mm, I hadn't considered that it might be an EA81 flywheel - but it only goes on one way and the car ran fine before the rebuild (other than low on power, rackety valve gear and numerous oil and water leaks.). Anyway, it's all back together again and reinstalled. The only wait now is for a new water pump as the old one, not leaking prior, now won't hold water... I expect the old unit was 'sealed' by copious amounts of 'radseal' and 'Kseal' and, now it's clean its junk once more!

Tom and Naru - Not only have I not disturbed the order of the HT leads during the rebuild, (the engine ran fine before) I've also double checked it's set up correctly. This morning I took the engine out, checked that I'd put the flywheel on correctly (I had) and that the flywheel has not been modified (it hasn't). I've also re-done the cam sprockets and belts (they were fine and they are fine again) so I'm now running out of ideas. I'll check the distributor and rotor-arm position yet again and put the engine back after lunch. If I still have the same problem I'll have a look inside the carburettor and make sure all looks well there. But I'm loath to dismantle it without a carburettor gasket set - getting hold of spares for these cars in the UK isn't always straight forward as there are so few left (less than a dozen on the roads).

General Disorder, I too doubt that the flywheel has been altered, but I also would not have believed the very weird 'repairs' done to the rest of the car. So, for the sake of an extra couple of hours I'm going to pull the engine and check. I'm 99% certain I fitted it correctly because I'm normally very careful. But anyone can make a mistake. Nick Below is example of previous owner's 'repair' what was he thinking!!? (Above) previous owner's version of repairing the rear wheel arch - astonishingly dangerous...

General Disorder, Do you think it's a waste for all Subaru heads or just for the EA82 heads? I'll be interested to see if they come back having had them fixed. Nick

Ivans imports, thanks, that was one of the first things I checked and all was well!

Hi Spayordie, like this? I've just had the same problem and decided to have the heads repaired, more pics and words at: http://www.nagara.co.uk/headworks.htm

General Disorder, thanks - I agree a non conventional TDC doesn't make sense but I expect that source was referring to the III marks for the cam belt timing: - as I understand it, they differ from the ignition timing marks because the cams wont stay in the correct position (under load from valve springs) at TDC so they use an alternative position. Skishop69, thanks too. having disconnected everything, I'm going to take the engine out again tomorrow and check that the flywheel is on correctly (I'm pretty sure it is given that I automatically put it on lined up at No.1 TDC) The only other explanation might be that the flywheel has in some way been altered by the previous owner - the car has been massively bodged elsewhere! Year: 1991 Make: Subaru Model: L-series 1.8 DL 4x4 Estate The whole sorry tale of the cars refurbishment is on my website at http://www.nagara.co.uk/carhome.htm With the engine out tomorrow, I'll double check everything and hope I find what I've missed. I'm annoyed with myself because in 40 years I've never had an engine I've rebuilt not start and run properly.

I hope someone here can help. I've rebuilt quite a few engines over the years but this is my first Subaru rebuild. When it came time to put on the flywheel I did not refer to the manual or to the web because there's a convention: a)Set No1 to TDC b)line up the TDC marking on the flywheel or crank pulley to the pointer on the bell housing or crank case d)bolt on the flywheel Now, because I've changed cam belts and cam oil-seals on my Subarus before I knew about the 180 degree difference in the left and right sprocket positions and that they use a different set of flywheel markings - so all of that is spot on. BUT, when trying to start the car yesterday, the whole thing sounded very wrong. So I checked the distributor position a few times, checked there was spark, fuel and so on. All ok but still no joy - it would run - just - on one cylinder only. So I though I better consult the Haynes Manual and the Web. Quite by chance (I was not looking for this info exactly) I read in the manual that the flywheel can only be put on in one position because the bolt holes are asymmetric and (according to some web info) that the ignition '0' flywheel mark is not set to 'TDC' but to some other position where No1 cylinder is half-way up its bore. Now, if there is no 'conventional TDC' and the flywheel holes are asymmetric then how the hell did I bolt my flywheel (with ease) to No1 TDC at the '0' degrees pointer? Either the Haynes manual and the Web is wrong about the asymmetric bolts or the web is wrong about the non-conventional TDC - both cant be true. Meanwhile, my car wont run. I'll take the engine out again to fix this once I know what I'm doing - so please guys... any thoughts?

Angle of Engine: There's a slight lean but not much. This is my rebuilt unit after being fitted yesterday.

I also have an EA82 Wagon but on mine there's no rear suspension adjustment at all - here's a pic of the strut after being rebuilt:

And other stories! Way, way too many pics (follow full rebuild of an EA82) and captions to post here so, for the full story of the red Subaru L-series go to http://www.nagara.co.uk and click on 'cars'

Thanks Josh! Not only is it raining constantly but we also salt the roads in winter - poor old classic Subarus didn't stand a chance. A few years ago there were thousands of them on the road but they all got scrapped at the same time. We have a fascinating web site in the UK allied to our official DVLA called 'How Many Left' at: http://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/ Do you have a similar resource?

Hi everyone, I'm a fan of the old Subaru L-series (it was never called Leone or Loyale in the UK) and have had several second-hand 1.8 4x4 DL Estates over the years. I currently have 2 of them, a red one and a green one,both 1991. They are now very rare in the UK and there are less than a dozen still registered as roadworthy with the UK licensing centre (DVLA). I'm just finishing an engine rebuild on the red one having done a fair bit of welding repairs to the rusted out wheel arch and I expect I'll have a bit more welding to do. The green car will be 'bob-tailed' and 'lifted' for off road use. I'm writing about my progress at http://www.nagara.co.uk - just follow the link to 'cars' Best wishes all Nick