GeneralDisorder

That's an EA82 tank ('85 to '87 carbs are EA82's) - I just pulled one recently and it looks the same. It will not fit an EA81 (including all Brat's). Notice how the sending unit is on the top? They are on the back of EA81 tanks. That one is too large and completely setup wrong as it's for an EA82 wagon, etc. What you need is a tank for an '84. When searching for Brat or Hatchback parts that are of the '85 to '89 vintage you have to search for '84 parts as those are carryover bodies from the previous gen. GD

Yeah - I may try to put some 4" up front. That should be plenty for me. And I'm thinking about this guy: http://www.amazon.com/Boss-BASS600-Low-Profile-Amplified-Subwoofer/dp/B000OSZA44/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1283310611&sr=8-1 Only being 2.8" thick would allow me to mount it on the roof above where the back seat used to be. Keeping it high and dry as it my goal for the entire system. My first lifted Subaru's sub amp bought the farm the first time I hit water - under the seat is a bad location for an amp in a wheeler. And I need the cargo area for other stuff so it's got to be small and out of the way of both cargo and water. The roof location also puts the driver about 12" from your head And I'm thinking this small 4 channel for the speakers - both for the line-level inputs and low-pass filter and the added clarity and power: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_17629_Sound+Storm+SSL+F4.400.html What do you guys think? I am not spending a ton of money here - that's not the goal or even needed - I want a little bit of bass, and enough volume to drown out the non-insulated chassis with aggressive tires on the freeway. GD

Check your readings with either a shop gauge or a decent aftermarket oil pressure gauge. You should open up the pump for sure - mileage has less to do with it than maintenance. I've seen some ugly stuff inside them. The seal kit is like $8 from the dealer and a new pump is about $65. You get my PM? GD

I must say that the XT6 clutch setup (OEM from the dealer) that we used in the frankenmotor Brat is handling the power with no problem at all. The tranny is going to tear itself apart before that clutch gives out - I'm sure of that. It's rock solid and doesn't slip even under WOT from that rediculous torque monster under the hood. Being it's an OEM 165 HP clutch setup - it stand to reason it would handle your's and in fact seems to be capable of even a bit more. In the case of clutches - there is so much aftermarket BS and marketing being thrown around - and the fitment of the parts is a total crap-shoot - the bad luck we had with aftermarket clutch peices totally soured me on them. For your application and the power you are making I wouldn't hessitate even for a moment to tell you to get an XT6 disc and PP from the dealer. You can have whatever flywheel you are using restepped to the XT6 step height (.815") and you should be set. GD

A blow-through carb is possible, and actually not that hard. There's a few modifications to the carb that are needed and also some fancy fuel pressure regulation. I've done it with a Weber DGV but the carb is not ideal as it's progressive linkage makes tuning a real chore. You can PM me if you want more details but I can tell you that on the project I was involved with that uses the blow-through setup we are moving to Mega-Squirt and a throttle body system as it's more tunable. There is a special engine being built for the project as well so the MS is part of a substantial upgrade and increase in boost pressure. What I can tell you in brief is that if you are planning 10psi or higher you should stay away from the carb setup. FI is much easier to work with. Right now the system we built is running 7psi from a VF7 into a 1.3L Samurai engine - it runs like a frieght train. GD

Actually it sounds just fine and works surpisingly well. The "issues" that most people have is typical operator error stuff - not organizing the media the way the deck is setup to handle it and not supplying it with a constant hot memory lead..... etc. It hasn't had any problems with my digital media and it loads the 500+ songs I put on an SD card in maybe 2 seconds. Really all the head unit does is decode MP3's and tune radio stations. The rest is handled by the speakers and if I need to I'll just run them from seperate amps. It's a bit underpowered for sure - but part of that is the cheap speakers I used in the front. And even at that it's easily 5 times as loud as the radio with blown speakers I had in there before. I'm probably going to go with a 4 channel speaker amp and a small self-powered sub. The HU is just the decoder that pushes the signal at that point. GD

Yes - I am going to try the dry ice method I think. I read about that in another post of your's. Where to get it I wonder? GD

Correct - only the turbo's and the XT's got the MPFI - all others were SPFI or carbed. An XT6 injector harness might work but IDK. GD

All the change that's in my pocket right now..... if the owner let me kick him square in the boys for a youtube video . Seriously though - it's probably worth around $1000 to the right person. But it has to be the RIGHT person. And that probably means someone that's looking for the pristene body and interior for a really nice EJ swap ride. A well-done EJ swapped RX with a 5 lug, etc is a sexy machine...... with the original engine and the 4 lug it's just a big pile of frusration-to-be. GD

The actual injector harnesses can be individually purchased I think. But a used one would be pretty easy to find. Any of the MPFI EA82's (Turbos (85 through 90), and XT4s) would have the same connectors for the injectors. Send a PM to "losingalltouch" here on the board. She is parting out an '86 turbo and will have the connector(s) you need. Should easily go in a priority mail box. GD

You can use phase-II heads as well. A lot of folks are doing this with OBS's and such that have the phase-II heads. They use the thinner WRX head gasket IIRC. You get the benefit of the roller rockers too and adjustable solid lifters. The 2.2 heads have smaller combustion chambers across the board because the 2.5 is a bored AND stroked 2.2 so the chambers are larger on the 2.5 heads to accomidate the piston traveling much farther - even to the point of actually cresting over the deck on the EJ25D for example. At least that's my understanding. In the EJ world, the only time the Frankenmotor makes sense is if you have a 2.2 vehicle already - then it's just a head gasket job with a short block change thrown in and makes for a really decent performance improvment. Throw in a set of Delta cams and it's a really fun machine that can be built cheap. renob123's engine was just about $700 with a $200 used EJ25D block (90k - from a 2.5RS), totally reworked heads, Delta cams, and a complete reseal. IMO - that's about as cheap as I've seen for ~200 HP on a Subaru. GD

You need weight if you want to move something. A regular hammer is probably not going to cut it. You need mass so you get inertia behind your blow. It's force vs. leverage - if you can put a huge cheater on it and it doesn't readily move (unlike crank pulley bolts, and other nuts/bolts on rotating assemblies) then you can just leverage your way out. If it moves or there is no room for the cheater then you need inertia on your side - a heavy blow that has so much force to it that the fastener breaks loose before the assembly can begin rotating. Sometimes you have to hit it many times. Especially with too-small of a hammer. Think about how many blows an impact might have to use before it would spin out easily. You could easily have to hit it 20 or 30 blows with a sledge before you would even notice much movement. That's just the nature of removing tight or stuck fasteners. Have you tried heat? A propane torch can get it hot enough that it more easily accepts penetrants like Yield or PB Blaster. The cooling effect of the penetrant causes it to wick up into the threads. GD

Put a 1/2" ratchet on it and smack it with a 4 lb sledge = manual impact . This is how I remove crank pulley bolts - people are amazed that it's this easy. I swear people are just too used to all these power tools and specialty tools anymore - no one can think far enough outside the box to realize that our fathers and grandfathers didn't have that stuff and figured out how to get by none-the-less. . Once you commit to the idea that it *is* possible some other way - it's just a matter of finding the "other way". I do this all the time and frankly I feel it's what differentiate's me from my competition. There is no situation that I can think of that a hand tool wouldn't work with the right setup. Might take half a day.... but if you have more time than money you do what you have to do. GD

Start simple - plugs and wires. Turbo's do NOT like old plugs/wires - especially if the gap is wrong or worn away. You are getting misfire's right where the turbo should be comming online - which is indicative of high cylinder pressure's not allowing the spark to jump. GD

Use the EJ25 short block under the EJ22's heads. It's a well documented upgrade - high compression and makes somewhere around 180 to 200 HP. We call it the "frankenmotor". They talk about it on NASIOC all the time. GD

There is a torsion bar adjustment under the bed that you can use to lower the rear end back to where it's basically level. It's likely been ratcheted up using that adjustment. As for handling..... the options are limited unless you want to do quite a bit of custom work. GD

Brake booster nipple is on the manifold and the Weber adaptor for Subaru's does not have or need one. You don't need the EGR. Just don't hook it up. Run a new vacuum line from the ported vacuum nipple on the carb to the vacuum advance nipple that pulls on the timing advance plate in the distributor the most when you suck on the line. Leave the other one open to atmosphere. GD

The factory stereo wasn't cutting it on my hatch. Hasn't cut it since I installed it in fact. Got the car with the typical missing radio console/cut wires, etc. A few years ago I found a really nice bone stock radio console with OEM cassette deck, etc at a yard and kept it around - it was an obvious choice when I first got the hatch and started driving it. It gave me a radio - that's all I cared about for my 10 mile commute. The real-deal stereo is in my '91 SS anyway.... Well it finally became intollerable - either because I drive it more these days due to the SS needing a clutch or because the speakers were painfully blown with ripped up paper cone's, etc and it was hard to hear much of anything - let alone hear it while driving When I came across these shallow mechless decks in another USMB thread I realized that us EA81 owners had been handed the answer to our problem - all these years we have been without any suitible mounting kit for a full DIN deck and have been forced to either build something really ugly, or try and use the EA82 mounting kit and lose our ashtray, and pocket in the process. I didn't like this idea at all and so I had set out over a year ago to mount a DIN deck in the cassette/pocket location - only to find that it still needed about 1" of spacing to make it work. I had already made a nice aluminium backing plate for the deck but lost interest in finishing it when I realized it would have to be spaced out farther. $37 + free super saver shipping brought me this little gem: I also needed to do something about the troublesome dash speakers - I know that putting speakers in the doors would sound better but I prefer to leave them in the dash where they are high and dry. Someday this will be a wheeler and with that in mind I wish to keep the doors free of electrical and leave all the seals into the jam, etc intact and unbroken. A 3.5" coaxial actually fits very well into the odd driver's side dash speaker: More to come. I'll take pics of the other dash speaker (not nearly as tight as it's larger) and some of the rear's (which are not at all spectacular as they are just bolt-in 4" coaxials). I'm considering going with a slimline sub with built in amp mounted on the headliner above where the rear seat used to be (ripped that out too - never use it and it will be better as storage space). Anyone with experience with these? This is not a high-end stereo system install so don't tell me I need to spend a whole bunch of coin to just get something I can hear on the freeway..... that's not what this is about. I have less than $100 into the entire system as it sits right now - $37 for the head unit, $16 for the front speakers, and $39 for the rears (went with decent rears as they are hard to access). Any sugestions or reccomendations welcome. GD

I really like them for general dissasembly tasks. But they aren't impacts and have virtually no power for "breaking loose" stuff. Their utility lies in their ability to remove and install faster than you can without the potential damage durring installation that an impact could impart - and they fit down in tight areas. Basically they are a time saver and nothing more since you could do everything they do with a hand ratchet. GD

Ticking time bomb. Is that really what you want? The whole turbo thing is super overated on the EA's. It's not really neccesary if you do a performance engine build on the NA engines or an engine swap to an EJ......basically it's a whole lot of 20 year old hoses, lines, and out dated electronics that will nickle and dime you to death if it doesn't just straight blow up on you one day. If you just want a clean body that you can swap something else into.... the turbo's are a good start because they already have the FI pump and tank so beyond a little wiring and some mechanical work you can pretty much bolt in an EJ22. GD

That's a good deal assuming the body and interior aren't totally hammered. You can definitely fix that for cheap with a $125 kit off ebay and be good for another 60k. Do it. GD

+1. I had a very nice '91 Legacy a few months back - always dealer maintained with lots of documentation. They replaced the ignition switch and the starter shortly before I got it with dealer parts. It still would occasionally only give you the click. Even the dealer tech's haven't caught on apparently. Though I'm not sure if the relay install is an option for them..... maybe not. The lady got rid of the car partially due to this issue that Subaru seemingly couldn't fix even after hundreds of $$ thrown at it. I got it $200. I installed a relay and did a few other things - sold it for $1500 and it hasn't failed to start a single time since then. That was about 8 months ago. GD

RTV has limited applications but I do coat all my cork gaskets in in and LET IT DRY before installation. This saves the cork from it's otherwise sure fate of absorbing the oil and being cooked down to crispy shoe leather. One of the biggest problems with sealants in general is that people use WAY too much. Most of which is squeezed out when the parts are assembled. Anytime RTV is used the proper amount of "squeeze out" is about 1/32" to 1/16". With RTV this means you cover the surface with a smear from your finger - deep enough only to insure you can't see through it. A "bead" no matter how small is almost always too much. As for installing all gaskets dry - there is a time and place for that but there is also a time and place for improving upon the gasket tech that's in the older engines. RTV is, in almost all cases other than cork, best suited as a gasket *replacement* rather than a supplement. It works very well to eliminate the gaskets on things like the Subaru water pumps. Though the coated metal OEM gaskets on the EJ's are much cleaner and easier to use, I have replaced EA water pumps using only RTV and it works just fine. You have to be careful where you use it so that it doesn't clog oil passages and it is not suitable for gasoline, etc. There are better options in some cases like the Loctite 515/518 flange sealants, Subaru Three Bond, etc. One must consider the application carefully and weigh all the options. As for leaks - none of my Subaru's leak. You won't find a single drop under any of them. I only ever have to seal them up one time after I aquire them. That's how it seems to work out anyway. Surface prep is definitely of utmost importance. No matter what you choose to seal it with - the surfaces being sealed against need to be fully prepped. GD

I beleive the EA81T's were equipped with clutch fans, yes. Thus the reason they have the bolt-on pulley vs. the NA EA81 with the pressed on pulley. GD