GeneralDisorder

VLSD or clutch type? VLSD's require no special fluid since the VC is sealed. Clutch type should have an additive added to the regular gear oil. GD

The key though - as you pointed out - is to "enjoy them for what they are". Nothing wrong with that. The folks that I don't understand are the ones that won't listen when we tell them "what they are". They have limitations - big one's for the price bracket they are in. Like you with the LS Chev engines - I have moved on past the EA82's. I'll still gladly help people repair them and keep them on the road - no reason they shouldn't do that. But I feel it's necessary to at least give fair warning when people start talking about lots of boost, high comp., and other no-no's with them. It's only fair to warn them.....and then ridicule them for not listening when it goes boom GD

Yeah - I read that about a week ago when I was looking at options. Guess there wasn't enough demand. People find them overly complex I guess. GD

I guess that makes savy business sense - the market for carbs is shrinking every year and if they can't sell you a new Holley then at least they can make some coin off you by useing their expertise to rebuild your existing carb. And maybe you'll come back to them when you do want a new performance carb. Makes sense since most of the carbs out there are now orphans - the Q-Jet is a good example. No longer produced - though at least in it's case they made millions so there's plenty of parts around. GD

I got it fixed. It was a couple things actually. Turns out - my friend that had it apart *may* not have been the first. The previous owners, upon swapping the engine, could not get it to run correctly. They proceeded to tear down the carb (I'm guessing) and tried their hand at repairing it. In the process they bent the crap out of the rod holders on the top of the vacuum piston for the primaries and bent one side of the secondary rod hanger as well. Probably trying to jam it together without much care. The rods were being held high by about 1/4". I got a parts carb at the junk yard - found almost an identical model from a Dodge with a 360 in it and used the piston and secondary hanger from it. Got that fixed but it still didn't run right. Finally pulled off the timing chain cover and layed (my) eyes on the timing marks - they were fine but the balancer has it's timing mark posistioned such that it's supposed to be timed to a scale on the CENTER of the timing chain cover - not the one that was ALSO bolted to the side of the cover. So in the end it was timed somewhere around 22 degress ATDC, when it should have been 6 degrees BTDC. I created a new mark on the balancer as the old mark and scale are entirely obscured by the water pump . Weird..... Anyway - after my carb rebuild and new ignition timing mark for the side-mounted scale it's running like a demon. I was finally able to bring the truck home 40 miles. The carb should be good for a while. It's got a sticker on it claiming it was "Rebuilt by Holley" - seems odd they would rebuild a competing product but whatever. It actually seems a simple enough carb - runs real good though I think I'll replace the choke with an electric. I like the design of it and it's not without performance potential. I particularly like the progressive secondaries - the air valve can be adjusted for speed of opening - that's a huge advantage over vacuum secondaries but retains some of their driveability charataristics if that's what you desire. Very interesting design. I may play with it more. I can see how people would argue between Holly/Q-Jet, but the Q-Jet has some serious advantages over the Hitachi's. And people do use them for some serious performance applications. The adjustable secondary air valve pretty much eliminates the secondary lag problem of the Hitachi design. The air valve system can be adjusted/modified to open rapidly and the Q-jet has the enrichment system to handle that potential. As for fuel injection - probably not on this truck. I have no real desire to mess with the SPI of the 80's GM products. Not that it's a bad system - I just have too many other things to mess with. This truck is just dandy with a carb - it's a utility vehicle and I'm perfectly at home with the carb it has on it. Someday I may consider building a 383 for it, and I don't know that SPI would scale to something built for 300 HP. I know I could make the Q-Jet do it though. GD

The kit worked out just fine - no complaints at all - here's the seller I used: http://myworld.ebay.com/ebaymotors/mizumoauto/ GD

Yes - remove the roll-pin that blocks access to the idle mixture needle if you haven't done so and remove it. The idle circuit is blocked it sounds like. You can remove the throttle base and you should be able to get better access to the idle circuit fuel gallery, etc. That's a long time to have a carb sit - chances are you just haven't got all the crap out of it yet. Boil the throttle base in a mixture of white vinegar and water. GD

'83 is the same as '84 except uses a different vacuum choke pull-off. They can be swapped around if you care enough to bother or just disabled since you don't really need that system if you adjust them correctly. I have one that I rebuilt and converted to a manual choke if you are interested in it. Works great but might not be what you are looking for. $125 plus shipping would be my asking price as I would have to replace it and rebuild another one for the vehicle it's on. They are junk carbs though - you should look into a Weber. The Hitachi has too many ancillery systems to be easily tuneable - it was designed for economy and driveability not for performance, tuning, or ease of maintenance. The vacuum secondary really kills the deal for most of us and they can't be tuned for progressive opening due to the lack of a secondary idle circuit or progression holes/slots. GD

Check the connections at the back of the clutster. Probably something loose or corroded. Temp gauge is indeed a ground issue. Very common. Either that or a bad sending unit. EA82 digi dash's aren't bad. It's the EA81 models that had severe problems. GD

Probably got a lot of bearing wear on the input shaft bearings. Sounds like it's time for a tear down and a bearing/syncro job. Fancy oil won't fix it. Likely will add to the problem more than it will help. Good quality GL-5 is all that should go in there or ATF for a flush. GD

5 psi into a non-turbo EJ22 dyno's about 200 HP. Should be faster than a stock 22T. VF7 is a poor choice - you want a TD04 from a WRX. GD

To make the EA82T reliable you would have to have very tight fuel control and cylinder head temp monitors, exhaust temp, wideband O2, etc. Basically you have to dump a crapload of extra fuel into it to cool the cylinder's under boost. Management is the key. But it's got to be the total package - built internals, o-ringed block, head studs, etc. You can keep one together IF you monitor it like a race engine and compensate for it's bad behavior. It's just not worth it and no one builds them up the right way since the cost would be outragous without return on the investment. At most you could get 175 HP reliably with reduced engine life. People who know both how to build one, how to monitor it, and how to keep it together ALSO know they can make more HP without all the extra equipment with a less expensive EJ. When you consider that it makes more power, gets better mileage, and costs less...... anyone that's in the know would come to the same conclusion. It just sometimes takes years of kicking and screaming before they come over to the logical side. GD

I sold the EJ22T manifolds and up-pipe - though I do have the down-pipe and probably the rest of the exhaust. You can pick up a cheap single-peice header from ebay or something then you could run like 5 psi into the non-turbo EJ22. What do you mean by "8 slots"? Is that a rim style? If they are 4 lug they should fit unless they are EA81 rims then you might have to grind on the caliper's a bit. GD

I agree - the single port seems to have a gob of torque to it. Such was my experience with the '96 I recently sold. Good little motor. GD

Dude! Is that my car in your avatar? Lol. Anyway - yeah - if you swap the tranny the dash will work fine other than not having the "Lo" range indicator and never illuminating the auto gear indicators. You could likely wire up the 4WD lamp without much trouble. Also - as Gloyale points out with the neutral switch - you will need a D/R from an SPFI car in order for it to even have the nuetral switch. Otherwise you'll have to fake it with a clutch pedal switch. Haven't seen you around here much lately. You should drop by sometime when you get the car. GD

Suface finish is a BIG topic, and different types of gaskers require different finishes. Typically these older engines like a rougher finish than the newer engines with MLM (mulit-layer-metal) head gaskets. The graphite in the older style gaskets tends to grip better when there is some roughness. Mirror finish would not be appropriate at all in the case of the EA engines. The finish you get by lapping the heads using about a 400 grit paper should be more than sufficient for EA head gaskets. Definitely no smoother. GD

Probably flows a bit better, yes. Not worth the hassle of modding though. Get ready with your TIG torch. GD

If it's only .060" then I would probably ignore it. Sounds like it's some kind of extra seal in case the rear main should leak - maybe to keep seepage from getting on the clutch? Just a WAG. GD

I can sort-of envision what you are talking about, but I've never seen such a thing. Virtually all of my American made experience is with GM products - that's all the military had by the time I went in and since then I've worked on a few like my '69 GMC but like you I've only ever seen the sheet-metal dust cover's below the flywheel/clutch. Wish I could be of more help. I'll ask a friend of mine that has some Ford experience if he has seen anything like that. I know he has a van that used to have a 300 6 in it - has an Isuzu deisel in it now though. GD

It's easy to pass DEQ here in OR with any carb. 1/2 tank of denatured alcohol, retard timing to about 2 to 4 degrees BTDC. Just about any engine should pass with that combo as long as it goes down the road. GD

CFM of the compressor has nothing to do with the air delivery of the tank+hose when the tank is fully charged. The compressor isn't even running and likely has a shut-down set point of 120 psi+. All guns that I'm aware of are rated at regulated 90 psi. There might be a restriction in the regulator or hose.... GD

We had a big nut at work that welded itself to the shaft it was on - this thing was massive - the thread was like 3.5" in diameter and the nut was like 6" OD. I don't know how the threads got messed up, but the torque on this bad boy was 1200 Ft/lbs and the shaft it was on was worth about $10k. It came down to having one of our guys spend two and a half days grinding and chiseling on the nut to remove it in peices and save the shaft/thread. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it may come down to chiseling and grinding it off. As for how to grind on it - you will have to go in a diagonal across the nut - almost perpendicular to the shaft but with enough of an angle to cut through the nut on a slant. Thus avoiding the hub as much as possible. Hacksaw blades are flexible as are sawzall blades to a point - some sugestions anyway. If you know someone with a plasma cutter...... you can zap off the bulk of the nut and fracture the remaining thin section. Whatever you do - be prepared for the possiblity that the axle won't survive. Maybe not the hub either. In fact - it might be wise to have a used axle/knuckle assembly ready to go on. Don't forget that if you get the thing hot enough to come apart - should you go that route - the grease in the bearings and possibly the roller cages (plastic versions) could be baked beyond salvage. GD

Being that it's only when stopping - I would tend to think it was brake related. Are you sure it's comming from the front? Could it be badly adjusted rear drums? GD

EA81's use the same seal on both sides of the knuckle. EA82's use one with a smaller ID on the inside..... but you claim it's an EA81 vehicle so..... It is not ok for the bearing to not be shouldered up inside the knuckle. The fit of the cone washer, etc are dependant on the bearings being properly in place. GD

I just use a silver paint pen for electronic's work. GD