GeneralDisorder

Yes - the cogged idler pulley is the one I have seen fail the most out of the three. I wouldn't even consider replacing only the belts - I always do the belts, tensioners, idler, water pump, front main and cam seals. It's cheap insurance and if you do it every time you do the belts you can feel good about using the aftermarket set's off ebay - they are unlikely to be of the same quality as the OEM parts - but they are also unlikely to fail in only 50k miles. It makes sense from a cost/benefit point of veiw. Also - you should give some thought to pulling off the timing belt covers and leaving them off. This way if the belt break it takes about 20 minutes to replace them and they are open and accesible for inspection and routine tensioner adjustment. Lots of folks around here do it including myself and I haven't had an issue yet. Though there is always the potential for something to get caught in the belts. GD

Many years ago - before I even had a garage to work out of - I drilled my rims with a 1/2" electric hand drill, and chamfered the holes with a dremel tool and a carbide burr. I was careful about it and have never had an issue. They are still on the car and I haven't had any good reason to redo the job or change anything. That said, now that I have a garage and more capability I would do it with a drill press and a chamfer tool if I were going to drill rims - though I would probably just do the 6 lug conversion instead because it looks cleaner. Stricktly speaking, from a machinist's point of view - "counter-sink" is what you do for a socket-head cap screw, or in wood-working to hide your screw heads. "Chamfering" is what is being done to properly seat a lug nut on a wheel. GD

I too like the way the dual-round's look. And the greatly simplified electrical system of the STD models is appealing for a wheeler. Add a tach and oil pressure gauge of course. I've always wanted a 4WD STD hatch to build a wheeler with. Hard to find but they did make them in 4WD 4 speed S/R as well as the more common 2WD 4 speed. The dual-rounds have poor light output - have to add driving lights and off-road lights. They still look cool - it's just a preference thing more than anything. GD

And you know how to weld and what makes a decent looking weld vs. a pile of slag-included crap. Not everyone that is just starting out with that setup does - it's the most common home shop setup but a lot of folks that buy them have no real experience with welding. I know I didn't when I got my first welder. Luckily I've never had any of my welds break and cause and accident, but looking back on some of the stuff I did with that harbor frieght 110v..... I just got lucky. That and for the things I thought were important I had a friend with a 220v gas setup weld them for me. It has been my experience that it takes more skill to run a 110v flux machine than a larger gas equipped unit. Just because of the low power and the potential for slag inclusion on the welds. GD

True - but there's a lot of people with 110v welder's and flux-core out there as well as no knowledge on how to properly prep and weld such a joint. Not knowing how he's going about it I figured it can't hurt to have him over-do it a bit. GD

It's common with phase I DOHC 2.5's (EJ25) ('96 to '99 model years), as well as the Phase II SOHC's ('00 to '05[?])but in a slightly different, less problematic way. EA82T's blow them pretty easily as well - though that's more of an ageing cooling system/turbocharged deal than a specific problem with the engine. N/A EA82's have been known to blow them up around 175k to 225k or so. Usually once in the life (300k+) of a well-cared for engine they will go. EA71's, EA81's, EJ22's - almost never. Most go the life of the engine (300k+) on the original head gaskets. GD

I agree - the 90A isn't going to cut it with all that stuff. Just make sure you upgrade the wireing from the alt to the battery with that 140 or you could start a fire without much trouble. GD

They don't fit - the mounting ears are a lot different - they pivot on the opposite side and the pivot ears are farther back and narrower. You want an '87 to '94 Nissan Maxima alt. They are more powerful than the early EJ alts (70A IIRC) anyway and are a direct bolt-in for the EA alternators. GD

Well - it's possible that you could have a blown intake manifold gasket - coolant runs through the intake manifold from the heads to the thermostat housing and then to the radiator. Look at the seam between the manifold and the heads - see if it's wet or green looking around there. I know a lot of the hoses on the turbo's are hard to get at - the coolant line below the turbo is a very troublesome little number. But as I don't own any of the EA82T's and haven't for quite some time - someone else would be better to comment on the specific hoses that might be causing you trouble. GD

Yes - it's probably just a plugged up PCV system or bad intake manifold gaskets. If it's not overheating or losing a ton of coolant then it's not head gaskets. GD

I would just wet sand it, buff it out, and call it a day. Otherwise to make a lasting repair with new paint you would have to take it down to bare metal and start over - anything short of that is only going to last a couple years at most so in my mind the most effective way around it is to work with what's already on there. And if that means sanding the clear back to where it's still good then so be it. With a good wet-sand job, polishing compound, and then a wax job - it will look just fine. I haven't seen many Subaru's with clear-coat. I'm betting it was a dealer option because most of them just have a single stage paint with no clear from what I've seen. GD

Turbo's are prone to cooling system failure - the added heat of the turbo insures they work extra hard. If I were you I would march straight down to the dealer and order all the hoses in the cooling system plus ask them for a photo-copy of the diagrams on the parts book showing where theh go. GD

Glad you made it home safe! My best friend is still there - should be home soon though. Yeah - you might need it in that case. I prefer a smaller unit that can be receiver mounted and then swapped between the front and rear of the car. Also a large winch like that will pull a lot of amps - a dual-battery system would be a good call. As well as the alternator upgrade - if you go with the EJ22 then there are options for larger alternators on those in the aftermarket - people installing stereo's in the WRX's, etc have made sure of that. You might look into a hydraulic winch - since you have power steering and so will the EJ22 - it's an obvious choice especially if you don't plan to drown the engine in a lake, etc. As long as the engine is running - the winch will operate without needing any electricity. Milemarker makes the one's on the military Hummer's. Ok - that makes more sense. Stay away from water! As mentioned by Don - these cars tend to take up water like a sponge. Might I sugest you ditch the carpet completely and just bed-liner the interior floor. That way you can pull the floor drains easily to drain off any water and also it keeps the interior cleaner since there's no carpet to absorb water and dirt. If the tranny is in good shape - probably won't need to rebuild it. They can handle the EJ22 fairly well. When you have the engine out check for any play in the input shaft and check for metal in the gear oil. If you don't find either of those - just run it the way it is. They aren't rare so if it blows another can be found. Typically they are pretty rugged though. Good plan - might I sugest you consider mounting the amps to the headliner..... the sub amp in my lifted wagon met with it's fate at the hands of water half-way up my doors - under the seat was not a good location. If you have it you might as well use it - just don't blow the windows out . Come on out for the shows and the meets - just probably don't want to follow some of us. Dents, broken glass, and especially broken drivetrain parts are known to happen around a lot of our rigs. Mine is no exception unfortunately. I consider them "beauty marks" and they rarely get fixed unless they keep something from working properly. I totally understand the "camping" roo mentality. My lifted wagon will probably end up in that role since I've got an EA81 hatch that's destined to be my main toy. GD

It depends on how the conversion was done. It can be done two ways - with a 4 speed flwheel/PP and 5 speed disc, or with all 5 speed components and the timing marks transfered over to the 5 speed flywheel and a bit of material ground off the engine's bell-housing. It will be a 225mm clutch setup as the 200mm for the FWD's and very old 4WD's will not fit the input shaft on the 5 speed 4WD tranny. You will have to tell us which flywheel it has for us to answer correctly as to what you need. A picture of the timing marks and the flywheel would likely help. GD

Link to my write up: http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/EA81_SPFI.html GD

If you need any advice - feel free to PM me - I just finished an '85 Brat like last week. One thing we did different than I have done before is to mount the ECU and the ignitor behind/under the glove box area. This way we made use of the harness plug on the passenger side of the firewall (unused except on AC equipped cars) and everything was a lot simpler to fit. The driver's side under-column area is just too cramped for the EJ's ECU and wireing bundle. We also had a friend of mine TIG weld the bung for the gauge coolant sensor in the EJ's coolant cross-over. He welded it up so there was more material and then tapped it to to thread of the EA sensor. That nicely fixed the temp gauge problem. GD

It can help to drill holes in the tubing on the ends where the shaft will be inserted and plug-weld through the holes to the shaft. This will give it more strength. Some folks have had steering linkages break after extending them so as mentioned be careful about how you weld it - strength before beauty in this case . GD

Hhhhhmmm - if you need a 12k winch.... how are you planning to keep all that electrical dry? Expensive audio gear in a serious off-road machine never seems to work out well in my experience. You are always hampered by not wanting to hurt any of the expensive gear in it. Which is understandable, but frankly that makes it not very fun to play with. It also makes it heavier - not to mention things like that 12k winch (which you don't need)... a (quality) 5k or 6k winch would be a much more sensible option unless you are planning to hoist the car straight up a tree. Larger means heavier and more power consumption with little benefits to be had on a vehicle that weighs less than 4k lbs loaded. The RX transmission is not a good choice off-road. With it's 1.2:1 reduction and 3.7 final drive - you might as well have a single range 5 speed with a 3.9 rear diff (same basic gearing as an RX in low). The locker doesn't really matter either since you would never have it unlocked anyway and the D/R tranny's are always locked when they are in 4WD. The EA82 isn't the best choice either - I wouldn't bother with putting cams in it - go for an EJ22. Your car already being an SPFI car makes the conversion a lot simpler. Driving larger tires will be a lot easier with 135 HP. The 90 HP EA82 is just too underpowered for that heavy of a rig - most especially if you stick with the RX transmission - you will have big tires (reduced gearing), no low range, no power, and LOTS of weight. Bad combo. What you want is light, small, powerful, and geared like a tractor. You need to keep those in mind with all your equipment choices. The audio system looks like it will be sweet - but more suited to a street vehicle. This is where you need two cars - one for the street, and one for the trails. While it may seem like a cool idea to bomb down a trail with music blaring - it's not. Typically that just means you can't hear the important noises that signify your vehicle is telling you something, and you can't hear people trying to contact you, etc. It's distracting is what I'm saying - and that can land you in deep trouble (literally). GD

I don't know - that's an excelent question though. I would ask my local dealer or perhaps a head rebuilder...... I have never heard of anyone haveing to do that..... when the lifter's will not come out of the head I typically just leave them be. The last engine I did like that had 250k on it (looked very good inside for the mileage) and I think 3 of the lifters actually came out. 5 did not. It only ticked for a few minutes after being started the first time and hasn't come back to my knowledge. Perhaps the ridge of metal you found, if left in place, is enough to keep the oil pressure up inside the buckets..... GD

They can be done in the car - you will want at least a 10mm ratcheting box wrench for the driver's side valve cover. Make sure you don't have a blown intake manifold gasket before you tear it down. Lots of folks mistake these for head gasket failure. Same with carb base gaskets, and air in the cooling system. It's easier if you pull the engine - very hard on your back if you don't. GD

Drilling the chev rims to 4 lug is the quickest and cheapest method. I did it years ago on my lifted wagon and strength has never been an issue running 28" tires. I've come down so hard on the front the struts bent at the knuckle - lugs have never been a problem. Converting the hubs to 6 lug is nice, but it takes longer and is more expensive so if that is a concern to you I would just drill the rims. There's a couple members here that will setup your hubs for 6 lug pretty reasonable if you just want to send them out and have it done. GD

Actually it's "Vehicle Speed Sensor". The '84 has a compatible speed sensor in the speedometer head. Just pull the cluster and there will be a two pin plug comming out the top of the speedo - that is the VSS. It was used on EA81's for cruise control but works just fine for the EJ22. GD

Rislone. 3rd one down - I have no experience except with the original oil additive product. My grandfather swore by the stuff and so do many of the older mechanic's I have known. It does a good job of slowely cleaning engines that are dirty if you use it at every oil change. I'm not one to beleive in the "repair in a bottle" technique, but I do know that it can work wonders on noisy lifters in EA82's - in fact my GF's '86 sedan recently started in with a pretty loud tick - one oil change with rislone and the tick vanished in about 5 minutes. In the case of her engine - the timing belts and water pump were done very recently by a reputable shop just prior to us buying the car and it's going to get an EJ22 eventually so I'm not inclined to tear into it and find out what it's problem is - might just be dirty: http://www.barsproducts.com/rislone_products.htm As for the temp thing - that's deceptive since it's not always temperature or the pressure that matter - but where the air is trapped. If there is air in the lifters it can take (according to Subaru) up to an hour for the air to work it's way out - so when a vehicle ticks on cold startup and stops after a time it's usually because the lifters are bleeding down as the engine sits - the oil has returned to the pan and been replaced with air. This can also be caused by that same pressure releif valve in the spray-bar banjo bolt - if it doesn't seal properly then air can get in and allow the oil to bleed back to the pan. In the previous example I gave of my GF's car - it started ticking from one or two lifters only on one side of the engine and doesn't stop even after warmup. That led me to the conclusion that it's not bleed-down in this case and is likely just dirty, plugged up lifters. Thus the Rislone treatment - which has worked quite well. I doubt it would work as well for bleed-down symptoms unless the refief valves were dirty and the Rislone cleaned them up and made them seal. GD

Remove the shaft and take it to an actual driveline shop. The u-joints *can* be replaced but it takes a bit more work than normal u-joints. They are staked in and to remove them the stake's must be ground back so the joints can be taken out. Then a "staked u-joint replacement kit" can be installed and new joints that are actually serviceable will be used. The cost is generally less than $200 - much cheaper than a new unit but still more expensive than a used one. GD