GeneralDisorder

Your bearings are likely fine. The ticking is the valve adjusters. Replace the oil pump, seals, cam carrier o-rings and if the ticking doesn't stop replace or rebuild the lifters. If/when you lose a rod bearing you'll know it. They give very little warning and will end up shooting out the case under the intake manifold. The telltale sign is NOT low oil pressure but a metallic knocking while under load - it's actually not as loud or annoying as the lifter ticking you have now. In any case EA82's are not worth the trouble to replace the main/rod bearings as it requires a complete engine tear-down and rebuild. It is not a simple thing. You would be better off getting a used engine. I can count the number of times I've seen or heard of rod/main bearing failure on an EA series engine on ONE HAND. I've been on this forum for 7 years and I've got 12,000+ posts. I'll bet your mechanic $10 your bearings are just fine. Your low oil pressure is probably due to a fualty pump, sending unit, or electrical issue. On these engines the pressure reading is taken directly off the pump and even if the rod/main bearings are totally wasted it will only make a small difference in your oil pressure reading. They also don't wear much before they just grenade - not enough to notice a big difference in oil pressure. GD

If you tap the holes over to 7/16 x 20 you will be tapping threads into the spacers as well as the head. Just make sure you use a bottoming tap to get the last few threads in the head. Install 7/16 studs and be done with it. They fit just fine and will be extra strong as you will have threads in the cast iron spacers. You also don't have to remove them to do the job. I've done this on half a dozen EA81's now and it's never failed me yet. No expensive heli-coil needed either. GD

The nylon donut's are usually gone, yes. But 95% of the time the slop is due primarily to the sleeve/rod interface. I haven't seen one yet that wasn't worn out. GD

An excelent reminder for the folks with 5 speeds. Sadly the fork slides on the 4 speed's are steel. I'm not sure what the effective difference is in functionality with the nylon vs. steel slides but I've never seen any wear on the 4 speed slides I've taken apart. Haven't pulled down a 5 speed with worn slides either but then I've only done a handful of 5's. GD

The main problems with the Hitachi (as I've noted many times), is that they used a complicated system of vacuum valves and thermo-valves to regulate airflow to the air correctors. This was done to accomidate the feedback models with the ECU. The non-feedback are the same though - just jetted differently. Also the vacuum operated secondary is not very sporty to drive. The Webers are simpler, more fun to drive, and easier to rebuild/get parts for. Yes the Hitachi's are reliable when properly rebuilt but they will never have what the Weber's offer. GD

Sheilded (ZZ or 2Z) will exchange grease with the bearing pocket over time. There isn't much grease in them to begin with and the pocket on the knuckles is quite large. I would not trust the ZZ's. Also the major contributing factor to bearing failure is moisture in the bearings - the 2RS sealed bearings are going to help keep water out of the bearings when the outer seals fail as they always do. There is just too much grit, dirt, grease, and water for the outer seals to last. They are the cause of ALL the front wheel bearing failures I've ever come across. GD

I've heard (but never seen in person) of a few torsion bar's failing to rust as well. If you suspect a rust situation then it's worth pulling it apart to inspect and possibly coating some stuff in anti-seize, etc. But as Mick noted there is nothing in there that would benefit from grease. GD

I've installed tons of WIX/NAPA filters on EA81's, EA82's, and EJ22's. Never had an issue unscrewing them by hand. I don't know what would be any different about your car. GD

If you get your bearings from a bearing house, they are $12 each. I use the 6207-2RS-C3's (sealed) so no greese needed. The seals are $6 each at my favorite parts house. That's $72 total for both front's. GD

If it were me, I would probably get some 1/2" all-thread (or grade 2 bolt), cut a peice slightly longer than the hole is deep with a slot for a screwdriver in it, loctite that sucker in place, grind it flat and drill/retap it to the correct size. Either that or if you have access to a TIG welder and know someone's that good with overhead aluminium you could have them fill the hole.... but that's probably a tall order. How is it that you keep screwing up the threads? Are you trying to run the tap with a crescent wrench or something? Get a proper tap handle and have a little care man! GD

Jet's and passages can easily be clogged by the air and/or fuel comming into the carb. Regardless of the outside appearance of the unit it can be clogged from particulates that get through the filters. This can happen to a brand new carb if you have contamintated gas or a bad filter. Perhaps one of the reasons the car was in the junk yard. Before you go all-out and rebuild it, just pop the top off, soak up the fuel from the float bowl, and blow out all the jets and passages with compressed air. Remember to hold your finger over the accelerator pump spring to keep the spring and check-ball from flying across the room never to be found. I've fixed more than one crusty, old, misbehaving Hitachi that way. They ARE a pain in the rump roast, but they are also very reliable and well built carbs. The problem with them ultimately is their overly complex design that rely's on external systems to optimize the air delivered to the air correctors. Weber's are just so much more simple. GD

Lubricating the failing cable is asking for a disaster on some on-ramp down the line. The cables are about $18 from the dealer and take a whopping 15 minutes to swap out. If your clutch is really tight, or crunchy, or otherwise weird - swap the cable FIRST. It's usually the problem and it's cheap and easy compared to everything else. The inside of the cable sheath is lubricated by a dry-film lithium base lubricant over a nylon sleeve. When the sleeve wears out the stainless braided cable rubs on the metal sheath that's the next layer in the assembly. Eventually the cable will frey and wear through enough strands that it will just snap when you push in the clutch. Power shifting and starting the engine in 1st gear is not my idea of a good time and a really crappy way to save $18. GD

Don't touch it. They never fail. It will easily outlast the body of the car. I can't rightly remember what's in there but there's no grease. It's a completely dry assembly. There really isn't much movement there - only when the suspension articulates. GD

Bearings are easy and cheap. ALWAYS have at least one set + seals on hand when doing axles anyway as occasionally the inner bearing will come out still attached to the old axle. The bearings are simple - drift them out with a brass punch, and drive the new one's in with an appropriate driver or brass punch. I made a driver tool using a 2" pipe nipple + cap and an older outer bearing race that I cut in half and welded to the nipple. There is no press required for EA series bearings. GD

Yep - advancing the timing isn't going to do squat for you. And you should be using the LOWEST octane fuel that the engine will handle without pinging. You are wasting money and losing performance by buying high octane fuel that your engine doesn't need. 92+ is for Subaru's with Turbo's. GD

Invest in a 110v MIG welder, angle grinder, air saw, die grinders, etc and fix that rust. If you live in the rust belt and you like older Subarus/cars, it's a neccesity. Besides - it's kind of fun in a sick and twisted way. GD

You are installing them too tight. Remove the seal from the filter, coat it completely in oil (or better yet - Dow Corning valve sealant), and install hand tight but don't monkey fist it. You don't need a lot of crush on the gasket to seal properly - it's soft rubber and will be replaced long before it begins to shrink. Some of the guys I worked with wouldn't listen and we would need a chain wrench and a 4 foot cheater to get them off. The reality is they are being put on too tight. GD

Fixed! GD

An '87 hatch is worth a hell of a lot more than a Weber carb. That's the most desireable body style next to the Brat. Shorter wheelbase makes them better for off-road. GD

Yeah - it's going to be easier to just do two aftermarket adjustable valves near each wheel. That's what I'm going to do with my Brat. Installing the stock valve assembly is a chore and creates a plumbing nightmare unless you want to spend the money on new hardline, a tubing bender, flaring tool, ferules, etc. And if you have never bent hard steel tubing before - best you don't make this your first project. Makeing it pretty and getting the bends right and the lengths correct.... there's a learning curve to it. GD

You shouldn't have to really clear them - they will go away on their own once you fix the problem. The old SPFI computers are pretty simple. Hell - even my '91 Legacy Turbo does the same thing. Once I fixed the knock sensor and wireing to it the code just stopped all by itself. GD

Typically I just thread the castle nut on upside down and give it a sharp blow with a copper/brass hammer. Sometimes I hurt them doing this, but 90% of the time they just pop loose. The other 10% they probably are so stuck that few methods short of an O/A torch would get them loose without damage. Plus I have thread files and can fix them if I screw up a thread or two. As noted though there's no need to disconnect them for a simple axle swap. I do it for the wheel bearings because then I can just turn the whole knuckle around backward to install the inner bearing. Don't use the "pickle fork" style ball joint seperators - they will mangle the grease boot 100% of the time. Use an actual puller/pusher with a threaded driver in it. You can often "rent" these at many of the bigger auto parts chains. Basically you pay for the tool and you have a gauranteed refund on it or just keep it if you figure you will use it again. GD

All EA series cars have common ground speaker systems. The common ground splits off at the driver's side and passenger's side kick-panels because that's where the connector is for the door speakers and/or dash speakers. You fish out that connector (usually pink), disconnect it, and run a new speaker wire to the door/dash speakers and use the existing car wireing for the rear's. It's actually quite simple. GD

I think the idea with the older EA series cars is not so much that the 2WD's would have less load, but that the 4WD's would be driven like a 4WD. I can scan FSM pages showing the actual size differences but it's really not that big of a deal. The 2WD axles will work fine if you aren't abusing them too badly. Also - many aftermarket manufacturers only make the 4WD axles. Why even bother making 2WD axles if the 4WD's are stronger and fit both applications? That's what I've found anyway. There is no such garuantee with the rebuilder's though. You get what you get. GD

If it were me, I would look around online, buy the carb jetted the way I want from whoever has the best price/service, then buy the adaptor plate seperate and the shorter air filter. Wouldn't be a bad idea to get an EA82 manifold at the same time and get the adaptor plate for that instead. I do not reccomed the Redline "kit" as it contains the wrong filter and nothing more than the carb with baseline 4 cylinder jetting and the adaptor plate. Personally I prefer to assemble my own kit with the right filter and adaptor and such. After that it's just PCV hoses, block the ASV's if you have them and you're ready to rock. GD