GeneralDisorder

I understand your frustration, but one thing you have to take note of - the engine still runs despite the problems with the gauges, and the accesories. One thing that Subaru's are known for - despite multiple failures of accesory systems they still seem to get down the road one way or another. Mechanically they are very sound. Understand that the wiring is 20+ years old at this point and the effects of time and corrosion are just something that has to be dealt with. On a lot of the older Subarus the wireing wasn't very well protected against corrosion around the connectors. You may have a bad connection somewhere. If you ground the wire from the sending unit to the block, the gauge should read max pressure. That's a good way to check the gauge. If you get no reading then you probably have a wireing problem. The gauges themselves aren't very accurate but they rarely actually fail. It's very easy to get to the back of the cluster once you pull the surround off. You might try running a new wire from the sending unit to the cluster. Mechanical gauges are ok as well - although I don't like the cheap plastic tubing they use. I prefer to put in a 90* elbow to the pump, run a stainless braided pressure line to the firewall, and mount a new sending unit (or 1/8" copper tubing if you are doing mech.) for like an Autometer gauge, etc. I have an Autometer three-gauge panel on my lifted wagon that has volts, temp, and oil pressure. The sending units are less expensive than the stock one's and the whole setup was like $65 plus maybe $40 for the 36" braided SS line. Works like a champ. I have also done the $10 Walmart oil pressure gauges but you have to buy a longer peice of tubing for them. My local VW aftermarket house carries VDO gauges and they had a tubing kit that was better quality and plenty long enough for a Subaru (designed for an air-cooled VW with the rear engine). Total cost on that install was maybe $40. I cut the threaded end off the stock sending unit, tapped it for 1/8" NPT and installed a 90* elbow and then the tubing fitting. I would only do that on a road-going car though as the tubing is fragile and it would easily get ripped off by brush off-road. GD

They were, yes. But only internally. They were not marketed as such. In other countries the EA82 body was also known as a Leone. I have a picture around somewhere of an '85 EA82 with "Leone" on the side trim instead of "Subaru". GD

Interesting that they would put a very restrictive regulator on them..... one thing to consider is the pressure you are running. Most air tools are designed for 90-100 psi but a lot of these small compressors are pushing out 175 psi just to cram more air into a smaller tank. The problem is, that at higher pressure, the compressor isn't as effecient so CFM output goes down. So regulating it (with a properly sized regulator) is beneficial if your are boderline with the size of your compressor for the tool you are running. Not that a compressor that size could ever keep up with a die-grinder, but regulating down to 90 psi sure will help it not to run as much. It really sucks that no one can seem to make a decent sized compressor for a good price. Most folks are chained to a compressor that simply can't supply the air that most air tools really need. It seems like if you don't have at least $3000 to spend you can't own more than an oversized tire-inflator. I would like to see some of the scroll compressors come down in price and hit the consumer market. A 5 HP scroll would easily put out 15 CFM and they have a good 20,000 hour life before tip-seal replacement is needed. Too bad they are outragously expensive because they are marketed to the medical and high tech industrys . They are simple diecast housings with like 3 moving parts GD

Go get a used EA82 flywheel from the junk yard. Typically about $10 - $15. $35 to have it resurfaced if it needs it. Cheaper than new anyway. Using an EA81 setup in an EA82 like that is just asking for trouble later. The EA81 pressure plate doesn't match up to the EA82 release bearing, and very few EA82 disc's will fit inside the EA81 pressure plate. Only the one's with small, round shaped spring dampeners will fit and those aren't that common in my experience. GD

It is completely normal for your car to "wind up" in 4WD around turns. You should only use 4WD for straight driving, or in slippery conditions. Even wet pavement is typically ok, as well as snow, gravel, etc. Don't use 4WD on dry pavement - you don't need it. I'm confused though - if you bought the car new, how is it that you don't know this? GD

You can use the return if you get the fuel barb from an EA81 Hitachi. It threads right on to the Weber. You can also just cap the return line. Seems to work the same either way. Don't cap the fuel tank vent line - just leave it open to atmosphere after you remove the charcoal canistor. The EGR won't do you any good if you are blocking the port on the head (the tube you cut) so just don't hook it up. Without a vacuum signal the EGR valve will do nothing. Your carb should have a brass screw already blocking the EGR vacuum supply so just leave it be. While you are blocking ports, you will also want to remove the Air Suction Valve(s) and block the ports under each head. There is a spacer between the head and the exhaust header that has a large threaded port with about a 19mm tube comming out of it. Block those and remove the associated valves and tubes. GD

Only some of the EA82 D/R clutch disc's will fit the EA81 pressure plate. If you find one that does then the EA81 flywheel/pressure plate will work no problem. I can't for the life of me figure out why you would want to do such a thing though. Seems totally silly. GD

I have a collection of cabinets that were scavenged or built over the years from whatever my grandfather had around. I find they are useful but at the same time stuff goes in and it's "out of sight, out of mind" and I have a hard time remembering that I even own some of that stuff. Awning for the back deck, house paint, deck stain, coffee cans full of every type of nail immaginable, odd scraps of wood, remnants of various carpeting/vinyl/counter-top from the house.... etc. I have two of the metal "flat pack" shelves you can get at almost any discount store - 4' x 16" or some such deal - 800 lbs per shelf - etc, etc. Got them at Costco for like $50 each. I find they are great for storeing the clear tote's which I then label and fill with assorted parts for specific types/models of vehicles, etc. I plan on getting about 5 or 6 more of the shelving units for my shed and similarly organzing that space as it's a dumping ground for engines, transmissions, and other heavy spare's that don't fit into the scheme of my garage. I appreciate the visibility of the shelves. I do keep my aerosol's in a cupboard, though I would like to rebuild some of the cupboards that they are in to be "one can deep". Having deep cupboards in the garage is just a good way to lose stuff forever. I can't use most of the space because I want all the cans to be visible or I won't know what I have in stock. Frankly a shelf would be better for those too, but I can see the need in your case to hide that stuff. Perhaps you could just build some yourself - it's not that hard to knock together some 1-can-deep shelves and put a door or a curtain over them. I'm seriously considering just putting up a canvas curtain strung on a rope on front of some 6" deep shelves..... Simpler is better IMO. Doors have to swing out - curtains don't. GD

That's because no one makes them in the aftermarket. Go to the dealer. GD

This is a common problem with the crank circuit of the EA82's. Typically the ignition switch or part of the circuit can't pass enough amps to engage the starter solenoid. There are a couple things you should do first: 1. Address the battery connections - sometimes a loose or corroded cable is the problem. 2. Check the connections at the starter - sometimes the solenoid wire is loose. 3. Check the connections at the fusible links - mostly the small wire going to the positive battery terminal. Sometimes there are issues there. Clean and tighten each of the links. 4. Check the connection from the wireing harness to the ignition switch. Sometimes excessive resistance in the circuit can cause this connection to overheat and melt. Clean the terminals. 5. Dissasemble and clean the solenoid contacts in the starter. Sometimes this is enough to get them to engage easier and ease the problem. Often though this is just a good maintenance item. 5. If all else fails you have one of two options: A. Replace the ignition switch and see if the problem goes away - sometimes a used switch is just as bad though. B. Install a relay turned on by the ignition switch that applies battery voltage to the starter solenoid - this nearly always fixes the prolem permanently as the ignition switch, though damaged, can pass enough current to close the relay. GD

The white canistor is a vacuum accumulator. Not a storage tank per-se (you can't effectively store vacuum), but rather it maintains even vacuum as the manifold vacuum changes. Check the vacuum line routing to the tank and make sure nothing is cracked or loose or disconnected. GD

Seems like it would be a good idea if you could get it thick and even enough. I would be more likely to try something like hurculiner or one of the other roll-on bedliner products if I were going to try something. But then I haven't much experience with trying to keep underbodies from rusting since it's not an issue here. GD

That's a '92 -'94 unless you have changed the front-end. GD

It's probably a sensor or grounding problem. But it could be the dash as well. Pull the sensor lead off and ground it to the block - that should give you a max reading on the gauge if it's working correctly. GD

Oh - you mean it grinds if you shift at high RPM. Well that's a different animal all together. You have bad syncro's in the transmission. You can try a better gear oil like Redline, etc. But these transmissions were never designed to shift at 6k forever. It's just old and you'll probably have to rebuild it or replace it if you want that high-rpm shifting back. GD

That's a nice build. It looks like the Vivio is similar to the Justy that was sold in the US back in the 1980's and early 1990's. So did he remove the ECVT and put in something else, or are you saying that he added a 4WD ECVT in place of the original transmission? How did all this work change the power and fuel economy of the car? I'm guessing it was pretty economical before the swap, yes? GD

Judging by his other post, this means "undercoating". GD

If it came from anywhere but the US, it would probably say "Leone" on it somewhere. AUS got the Legacy in '89 and I don't think they were making the EA82 body cars alongside them over there. I could be wrong about that. The Brumby's were made till '94 in some places. GD

You can always get a floor squeegee to push stuff out with. It's nice to be able to wash the floor. Dry floor sweep can only do so much I've found. GD

Yep - proper power supply to the welder is critical for it to work right. My grandfather had added like 50 ft of cable to my stick welder and it wouldn't function as anything more than a large magnet till I removed the cable and stripped back the wire till I got past the corrosion. Changed the plug to be compatible with my MIG machine and now I can use my 50ft 8/3 cord that I built for the shop. Welds like a maniac now. Gotta love the 1960's AC stick machine. It's such a beast and totally cheap to run. GD

I'm not sure on the sensor location as I haven't replaced one on a Turbo..... The gauge should have an increasing number of segments that light up as the temp rises. GD

If you have the resources to move to GMAW you should definitely do it. The wire is cheaper than flux-core and it's like $25 to fill a bottle. Then you can run .023 wire which will give you less burn-through. With the gas there is no slag so you can weld a bit at a time so as to not overheat the work. No slag removal either. All around a better process for what you are doing. You will be amazed how much smoother it runs with gas. For several years (till recently actually) I ran a 130 amp 110v Harbor Frieght machine - unlike all the other folks that just buy them and run FCAW and *************** about how it sucks I actually bought a bottle and regulator for it. It served me well but never had the penetration I wanted for doing real fab work (bumpers, lifts, etc). It welded nice for what I paid for it (~$150 IIRC). The bottle and reg were more $$ than the machine. I was able to move the bottle to my new 220v machine though which saved me on upgrade costs. I put the flux wire back into the HF machine and ran a few welds with it just to see - it spatters more than my AC stick machine and the slag isn't exactly the softest stuff either. It's in a cupboard where it will stay unless I have to get mobile with my welding. Another thing you might not have considered - that Hobart 140 needs a good sized breaker and if you run an extension cord you NEED a 10 AWG. One thing I learned the hard way with my 110v machine - don't run it on a 14 AWG, 100 ft extension cord. It can't draw the amps it needs and the welds will look like your's. Maybe that's part of your problem? IIRC, people claim you need at least a 30 amp circuit for the 140's and minimum of 10 AWG extension - no more than 50 ft. GD

Good choice on the Hobart - you'll never regret owning that little guy. Lots of things you can do with it that the bigger machines don't do well and can't beat the portability. In case you aren't aware Hobart is owned by Miller (it's their entry level brand). Flux core has the bad habit of running hotter than solid wire. It actually penetrate's BETTER than GMAW but with a lot more spatter, and slag problems. If you are at the upper border of the thickness your machine can run, Flux core will get you the extra penetration you need. Sadly, that makes it harder to run on sheet goods. Cleaning and prep will help, and practice. The benefits of overlapping it will outweight the costs. And if you are going to be filling and painting it anyway - I don't think it will matter. Crazy as this sounds, I actually prefer stick welding on sheet metal. . More control as you can vary your arc length and allow the puddle to freeze before you blow holes in it. Depends on the situation though as there are times when MIG has advantages. GD

First - excelent attention to detail. The result turned out good. Second - you need to do some practicing with your welder. I can help some, but a lot of it is going to be down to practice. Perhaps if you have some older fenders or some other sheet metal around you could set up some practice welds. I have some sugestions and some questions for you. 1. What's your setup? 110v? 220v? Flux-core (FCAW)? Gas (GMAW)?, and what size wire are you running? 2. The biggest change you need to make is that both peices to be welded need to be CLEAN shiny metal. You are burning off a lot of paint and other junk by the looks of the black smokey residue on there. A $5 wire wheel in your drill or a wire "cup" wheel in your grinder will do wonders for your weld quality. Make sure you have clean metal where your ground clamp is attached too. 3. It will be much easier to patch sheet metal if you overlap the edges. That gives you twice the thickness to work with and you will be able to run hotter without burning through. In the end you are just going to grind it or pound it flat and apply filler anyway. 4. If you are using flux-cored wire you need to get to a point where you can run a decently solid bead rather than the "hundreds of tack welds" method you are using (overlapping your patch will help). That's not a bad method per-se if you are running with a gas bottle and a large welder (sometimes they only way if the machine is very large), but with the flux-core you will have a ton of slag inclusions if you don't keep the puddle from solidifiying like that. Anyway - tell us what you have and we'll get you straight. Check out www.weldingweb.com as well. Lots of good information and knowledge in the forums there. GD

If it's a 90 then it would be a Loyale not a GL. They did make the turbo Loyale's in '90 only so it's possible that it exists and the owner is confused. GD