GeneralDisorder

It's junk. The Hitachi's don't have bushings. To repair it the throttle base would have to be reamed and custom bushings installed. Tear it down and have a look though - the shafts are brass and the throttle base is cast iron. You will probably find that it needs new shafts rather than bushings. Either way it's junk as you can't buy just the shafts. Replace it with a Weber. There's just no point in bothering with the Hitachi's. GD

I think you are confusing the Legacy/Impreza axles with the EA series. The FSM shows the shaft/joint diameter to be larger on the 4WD EA series cars than the FWD axles. That's been my expience with them as well. I know what you are talking about with the Legacy axles though. GD

They all crack. Overheated or not. Doesn't matter. That goes for EA81's, EA82's, and EA82 Turbo's - doesn't matter. Subaru put out a TSB years ago saying they don't matter, don't affect operation, and should be ignored unless the cracks extend down into the exhaust port water jacket - which does occasionally happen to turbo heads. You can repair them all you want - it's wasted money as they will just crack again. Ignore them - we all do. As for why they crack - that's anyone's guess. I would assume that if the FHI engineer's could have figured out an easy solution they wouldn't have made three sucessive generations of turbo heads to try and solve the problems with the cracking and the head gaskets. In the end they were only mildly sucessfull and it's a mute point as the engine is a dead design. The EJ's are much better. If I were to guess as to the cause, I would say it's poor coolant flow through the head/block interface. Being a closed-deck, sand cast block, the coolant ports are small and there's not a lot of cooling area around the valve's. GD

As far as rebuilding axles goes - I've done a fair number of dissasemble, clean, regrease/reboot jobs and I've never had an issue with that either. Typically the "problems" people exprience are from bad/no grease or from improper installation. I've rebooted axles after cleaning and applying new grease that were very loose on the tollerances - never had an issue yet. I often just buy the EMPI's because it's like $120 for both front axles vs. $75 for grease and boots plus the time and mess of replacing the boots, and the possibility of buggering up the threads on the axle shaft if they don't want to release from the bearings easily. I just did one where the inner bearing came out of the knuckle still attached to the axle. With a new set of axles sitting next to the car I don't have to worry about stuff like that. I'm sure MWE does a fine job, but I haven't had the misfortune of a repeat axle failure except on my lifted wagon - and even then it's only been 1 or 2 times that I've replaced the front's. The EMPI suff isn't remaned - it's an entirely new axle - made in China of course, but new none-the-less. EMPI is known for their parts quality in the VW aftermarket and these are definately not made by the same supplier that made the GCK stuff. My only complaint is that they come with the roll-pin and the axle nut, but no cotter pin?!? I mean - I can almost always reuse the roll-pin but I prefer a new cotter pin every time. GD

2WD (FWD) and 4WD axles have different joint and shaft diameter's. They are 100% interchangable but the 4WD shafts are stronger. The EMPI brand axles have been good to me. I've used quite a few of them and haven't have a problem yet. GD

It likely wouldn't do much good even if you put the intake right under it. The stock air-box for the SPFI draws air from right behind the passenger headlight and then has a silencer that is located under the passenger side fender - further cooling the air. If you ever decided to go with a Turbo setup though, the scoop would be a good idea for a top mount IC. That's typically where they sit. GD

Yeah - now I'm thinking I better take pictures and write down serial numbers of at least a few big items. Tex - just go buy the stuff, take pictures of it sitting in your garage (perhaps making it look like you are taking pictures of some project you are working on), then return it all. Set the date on your camera to something before the burglery and don't forget to change the file creation date on your PC when you upload them. It's worth a try and all they can do is say no. Oh - and it might be worthwhile to retain a lawyer. That will get their attention quick. If your parents have had the policy for a long time and are good customers they will take notice if you drop $500 to retain a good lawyer. They might be more willing to at least give you *something*. GD

I was only aware of two piston diameters although I hadn't considered the XT6, but yes that is true. I used the calipers from an '89 FT4WD GL-10 turbo sedan. At any rate I still had a severe mis-proportion to my braking and had to install the valve. Unfortunately, for a lot of folks, getting the rear disc assemblies is hard enough - shopping around for different piston size calipers isn't really feasible. When you find a good set you take it, and if that means you need valves to make them work then so be it. GD

I buy the new EMPI axles - about $60 each. Don't know where you are shopping for axles but $200 sounds like a dealership price. If you go used, then regrease/reboot them. Subaru's are *symetrical* AWD/4WD machines. Axles are 100% indentical left/right - 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. GD

Try a search - this is covered every couple days. GD

Power steering from any 82 through 89 EA81 will work but you have to change the entire engine cross-member, power steering rack, pump, lines, etc. GD

The DGV's are useful for engines upwards of 3 to 3.5 liter's actually. They flow quite a bit more than our tiny little Subaru's need. The DFV with the small venturi's was used stock on many Fords larger than 2 liters. I beleive the Pinto's were 2.4's. GD

All EA82's have proportion valves - so you already have one and it's very similar to the disc brake cars. EA81's never had discs or valves. So yes - it is an EA81 specific problem. GD

Well - if it's a 4EAT it will, yes. If it's a 3AT then it's already 4WD so.... I don't know as I've never been into one and I hope I never get the pleasure. You asked about AWD's so my answers were about AWD. 4WD or FT4WD is a different animal. GD

Perhaps there was so much wear to the sleeve, rod, and roll-pin holes that it just didn't have enough material to work with. I've seen the sleeve's and rods with grooves in them from pivoting on the roll-pins. I really don't like splitting the sleeve as it precludes adding another bolt to the assembly. And drilling out the rod leaves precious little metal on either side of the (now gigantic) hole for the bolt. I've seen one transmission where the rod broke at the roll-pin hole and it hadn't even been enlarged. While there is still some slop if there is any wear to the rod and sleeve, replaceing the bushings or fileing the bushing insert generally makes the shifting "good enough" for most people. I added the second 5mm socket-head to remove the rest of the slop in mine. Also - shortening the throw will neccesarily reduce the slop. If you have 1" of slop with a 6 inch throw, reducing the throw to 3" will reduce the slop to 1/2". Often that's enough to be tollerable. It's a balancing act - what *can* you do that *probably* won't break, etc. If you just don't care at all about the transmission (as many folks don't about the 4 speed's) then you can just weld the thing solid. The *real* fix for the 4 speed slop is to haul that heavy POS off to the scrap man and install a 5 speed. GD

Yep - that's exactly what happened to me on my Brat. I installed the proportioning valve from the same car the disc's came from and the problem vanished. I've been telling people for years that you need the proportioning valve but they don't beleive me. I did a skid test on wet pavement and did a 180 into the oncomming lane without the valve - rear brakes lockup and the back of the car passes the front. With the valve it was perfectly straight. I wish it were simple to install the valve but it's not. You have to redo all the lines under the back of the car. Unless you do two aftermarket valves that just go inline with each brake. GD

Crazy.... yes. There will be costs incurred for the install. PCV hoses and adaptors, inline fuel filter (highly reccomended), gasket sealer depending on how you do the adaptor plate. You may have to change idle jets depending on how it runs..... there's always costs associated with Weber installs. You may find something broken or break something yourself durring the process. In addition to the carb and adaptor, you will have to block the ASV's one way or another, as well as reroute/cap a lot of vacuum lines and ports. EGR and distributor advance will need new lines run from the front of the carb, etc. GD

I figured him being in NM, he might have an easier time finding an EA82. I have no idea what the availibility is down there though. GD

In '85 it could either be an EA82 (Wagon, sedan), or an EA81 (Brat, Hatchback). Ask him which body style it came from. Even if it's not from an EA82, it will still be jetted correctly and you would only have to buy the adaptor plate for the EA82 manifold ~$35. Beware of used Weber's though. They can be gamble. Make sure the throttle shafts are not worn, and the choke plates aren't sloppy. If you end up having to rebuild/rejet it then you can easily be looking at as much money and more frustration than just buying the kit for $325 or so. I usually expect to spend around $200 to install a used Weber and I've done a LOT of them so I know what I'm doing, what to look for, etc. It's pretty trivial for me to rebuild one, but I usually end up having to buy a couple jets, a rebuild kit, maybe change the choke style, adaptor plate, etc, etc. It's not a cheap proposition. IF the throttle shafts are good, I won't pay more than about $75 to $125 for a used Weber. GD

Unless it was added by him or by a previous owner, no Brat's ever came with power steering except for the 83/84 Turbo's - those had it stock. You could still use the EA82 manifold with power steering - just switch to the EA82 power steering setup. GD

It's a 6mm roll-pin. Most of us use 3/16" pin punches to remove them although Snap-On (at least) sells a 6mm roll-pin punch in an extended length version just for Subaru's. The transmission end is the easy part. It's getting them out of the bearings in the knuckle that's the trick. Run a search here on this section of the forum for "axle replacement" - you have some reading to do. GD

Bait is good. And a cot to sleep on. I know here in OR if you shoot an intruder inside your house you won't even be arrested. Home invasion laws.... the 12 gauge is leaning in the corner by my bed GD

Yes - the carb setup you have is uncommon. They were problematic and were often switched out for the Hitachi. It doesn't seem like they made nearly as many carter-weber's as they did Hitachi's. The weird thing is that they made them both side-by-side for several years ('82 to '84 IIRC). My '83 for example, is an original Hitachi car..... Here is what I propose you do - since you are swapping manifolds anyway, you might as well get the benefit of the EA82 carb manifold. It's a direct bolt-on. The only difference is that you have to swap to the EA82 upper radiator hose. Other than that it mounts exactly the same. Doing this will give you a better flowing manifold. Unfortunately the adaptor plate from your kit will not fit - you will have to get the manifold adaptor for the EA82 manifold.....~$35 If you can't find an EA82 to rob the manifold from at your local junk yard there are plenty of them out here on the West coast and one of the board members out here will surely have one laying around or can grab one for you. Remember to clean the gasket surfaces very well and only use manifold gaskets from the dealer - torque is 12 Ft/lbs. The carb cable mounting bracket will be attached to the manifold if you get one. And yes it would be helpful to use the throttle cable adaptor from the Hitachi - they bolt right on to the Weber. There are other ways to do it though using the Weber parts. GD

Weld up the center diff/VC and pull the front axles on a 5 speed. For the automatic's there are some tricks you can do with the duty-c solenoid that will lock it into 4WD. GD

There's only a slight problem - you need a Hitachi manifold to do the swap using the Redline adaptor plate. There is no adaptor plate made for the carter-weber single barel that you have. You will have to swap manifolds. And yes - the cable is on the other side on the Hitachi's - just like the Weber. GD