GeneralDisorder

Correct - older F-Series and Bronco's used frame rail mounted pumps. I don't know the exact years but there are thread's here that detail exactly which one's you are looking for. One of the part numbers mentioned in the old posts is a NAPA #2p74028 which is a frame rail mounted high pressure F-Series pump. Back in the early years they used an in-tank pump to pull the fuel to the high pressure pump mounted on the frame rail - this is one of those. IIRC from old posts it's something like 90 psi capable - which is far more than any Subaru engine needs. GD

Changing the ride height adjuster and changing the "clocking" of the bars are functionally one in the same. The adjustment bolt simple rotates the inner splined connection point that the torsion bar jack's into. You are not changing the spring rate of the torsion bar in either case so neither will make it more/less stiff. To do that you would need a larger/smaller bar or the addition of coil-over's to add additional spring rate. It's like asking if there is a difference between rotating the steering wheel on the shaft or adjusting it straight with the tie rod ends (ignoring the fact that adjusting the rod ends would change the lock-to-lock ratio for left vs. right). You can do either, or both - a combination of the two will produce just about any ride height you could want. GD

Could be a lot of things. Have you adjusted the timing? Cleaned the MAF? Checked the TPS for proper sweep? Could be loose (maybe about to break) timing belts. I've had that problem before - couldn't figure out the hessitation for the life of me. Belt broke on the freeway within a few thousand miles - replaced it and no more hessitation. GD

You don't need the second fan - a good radiator and the single stock fan will do the job just fine. You are just sucking more juice from the already taxed alternator - they only have 50 amps at full speed and at idle it's about 15 or 20 amps - which is generally when you need the fans (car not moving, idleing). GD

You don't have the AC relay's to power the fan. You can wire in a relay from the fan thermo-switch in the radiator. Just wire the relay to trip off the ground signal from the thermo-switch and power the second fan from a fused lead off the battery or the main junction (fusible links). GD

Sounds good - what are we welding?....... Anything we want? I fired up the welder last night for some small stuff. Welds like a dream. I can't wait to go shopping for steel My first project is a welding/shop table. I saved an angle-iron frame from a 1980's refrigerated air-dryer that's the perfect size for a table - about 3' x 4'. I have to reconfigure it's height and add a top. Think I'm going to get some 3/16" plate for the top and add a plywood shelf about 8" off the floor. GD

All the SPFI ECU's are interchangable. Some will recognize the EGR temp sensor and some will not. Doesn't matter for the functionality. GD

One thing I have noticed is that the newer Harbor Freight units have a better designed gun - they have push-lock style connectors for the bits that I have had trouble with. Still have the gas valve in the gun head though. I have done a fair amount of work with mine - besides haveing a lack of penetration on bigger stuff and an insanely short duty cycle, it sticks metal together..... that's about all it does though. It's hard to make "pretty" welds with it. I must say that it doesn't spatter much at all - doesn't really have the power to throw much metal anyway. I let my former boss borrow it for some field work where his 220v machine would not have power - he said that his friend who is an amature welder could not make it work. He could do alright with it (master welder), but was not impressed. I wouldn't say I'm anything like a master welder, but I've got experience with most types of welding and my HF machine did not make learning easy. I just broke down and called HF customer service to order a new torch/cable assembly - $33 shipped - so at least the parts are cheap . Hopefully it's the new style I've seen at the stores with the push-lock connectors. I'm going to relegate the HF to a flux core machine - it will be ok for a portable unit that I can throw in the car and take for small jobs. GD

That's true for the charge indicator, but when the brake fluid and parking brake lamps start comming on it's because the AC output from the bad rectifier is defeating the diode's in their illumination circuit. But everyone here is correct - no need to test anything - when you see voltage fluctuations per RPM's, flickering warning lights, etc - you DO have a bad alternator. No need for a VOM or DMM or anything else really. Just run right out and buy another alternator. It's the ONLY thing that can cause those symptoms. GD

The stock gauge is merely a rough guess at the actual temp. They are notorious for reading high. Get a laser temp gun and check the inlet/outlet temps of the radiator. Chances are that if the fans go on/off at regular intervals then there is nothing wrong other than a poorly reading guage or bad sending unit. GD

Should be fine - this is an EA81 after all - and a 2WD one at that. Light car, 75 HP..... not exactly a performance machine. Any of the availible offerings should do you just fine unless you drag on the brakes all the time or drive like grandma - if you compression brake like you should, rarely use them on the freeway/highway like you should - they will outlast the car. GD

VERY critical. If they don't hold pressure they will tick. Have them rebuilt. There are links around here in older posts to places that will rebuild them for less than $10 each IIRC. Also if they are worn like that it generally indicates a problem elsewhere in the oil system - such as the o-ring between the cam carrier and the head, the oil pump seals, or a weak oil pump. GD

I inherited an old Wards 220v AC stick machine from my grandfather - I think perhaps there are some bad connections in the pig-tail (it's been extended a good stretch with a couple splices and sections of not-so-nice looking cord). I couldn't make it work the way it was and I already owned the 110v MIG machine so I just stuck it in the corner. I intend to pull it out when I get a chance and go through it. I will chop off the crazy long cord and try again. I have a good Milwaukie 4.5 grinder so that's covered. Also recently got one of the new "red" Harbor Frieght 10x6 bandsaws - that's a very handy thing to have I must say. Still trying to clean and organize this mess..... GD

The spring and it's wax-expansion valve need to be exposed to the hot side to work correctly. That would be the side opposite the radiator hose. GD

Thought I would share a picture of my new toys! The woman came into some money and let me spend some of it (I've been half supporting her for a few years). And I've been missing the big welding/cutting gear from work since I was layed off. So - $1500 later...... So now I have to build a bottle cart for my torch setup, and probably reiforce the HF welding cart or build a new one. It will be fine for my HF 110v machine but this Thermal Arc is about 4 times heavier and I think it's going to crush that poor cart in short order. I was REALLY surpised at the weight of the Thermal-Arc 180. We had a TA 251 at work running on 460v and it's been a great machine for years. My welding supply rep says the TA stuff is easily on-par with the Miller offereings but a longer warantee and a bit less expensive (~$150 less). With this I can easily weld 3/8" plate, and I built a 50' 8/3 SOOW extension cord so I can reach anywhere in my garage/shop. I can get all the way out to the driveway if I need to GD

I don't own the Northern Tool version, but looking at the pictures and having just upgraded from a Harbor Freight 110v Mig/Flux machine, I can say that the Northern Tool looks like a similar machine. While they work and I have used mine for a number of small projects, I'll give you a heads up on the problems I've run into: 1. The gas valve is a cheap plastic thing that is IN the gun. It's purely mechanical and so anytime you pull the trigger (even with the machine unplugged), gas flows. Nicer units have a solenoid in the machine that's tripped by a switch in the gun (no gas if the machine is OFF). This also means that you can never upgrade the gun to something like an aftermarket Tweco. Being the most used/abused part of the machine and the most often replaced that can be a problem as getting those spare parts may not be possible at all in a few years or you will have to mail-order them. No one local will carry anything but tips. 2. The connections of the gas tube and the wire feed tube inside the gun are very weak. I have had to remove the gun, shorten the main power lead and glue the feed tubeing and gas tubing into their respective ports. I was somewhat succesful. It's still a POS. 3. They claim you can weld aluminium..... I tried and have welded aluminium on a Licoln Sqaure Wave TIG machine.... it didn't work well for me. I wouldn't reccomend it. 4. At 110v, any voltage drop through your extension cord or circuit to the machine is a BIG problem - it will not weld for beans. Not a problem per-se, but budget yourself for a nice 10/3 or 12/3 AWG extension cord for the machine - up to 50' should be OK with 12, anything farther and you are going to want 10. If you are an enterprising individual such as many of us here are - you can buy bulk SOOW cord in the size you want and then just install the plugs. I just built a 50' 8/3 220v extension cord for my new machine and it was under $100. 5. Penetration is limited. 1/8" is about the limit with 110 machines. If you need to do anything structural, multiple passes would be required, and that's just not an option with a Flux welder. So you would at least be looking at adding a gas bottle. These machines benefit GREATLY from gas. Penetration is improved and there's no slag on the weld. 6. Duty cycle is painfully inadequate for even small jobs. You can realistically weld about 15 inches on 1/8" plate before the machine overheats and has to sit for 15 minutes to cool down. If you are in a hurry.... well you best just not be in a hurry. ...... good example - I cut a 4x6 opening in a catalytic converter to remove the broken, mangled contents - welding the plate back over the hole took over an hour because the machine had to cool 3 times. If you can live with some of that stuff, and you understand the true cost of owning one.... here's what you have to figure: Machine + shipping - $350 Extension cord - $100 Gas Bottle - $150 Welding Cart - $50 (Harbor Freight) Mask - $35 (4x6 glass, #9 or #10 shade) Gloves - $10 Total - $695 Now - I just upgraded to a 220v machine. It's comparable to the Miller 180, but a bit less expensive. It's made by Thermal-Arc, which is a division of Thermadyne - they own Tweco, and a bunch of other big-name welding brands. Their MIG welding line is Thermal-Arc. It's a NICE machine - a Caddilac to the Harbor Frieght's (Northern Tool, whatever - insert your favorite flavor of Chinese) Yugo. I picked it up from my local welding supply for $625 and it includes a 5 year warantee. My sugestion is to ante up the extra clams and get something decent right from the start. The difference will be about 30% more in cost, but you will save yourself a ton of headaches down the road. Especially if you are learning to weld - learning is hard enough without poorly made chinese equipment. Anyway - thought I would give my perspective.... GD

I would probably reuse the nut. The few I have taken off haven't been that tight. I took the last one off with a 1/2" breaker bar and a hammer. Just repeatedly hitting the handle of the breaker bar - works like an impact but slower - you just have to be patient. The preference is to use an air gun but my compressor was out of service at the time. Knock out the detents and the nut should come off fairly easily. Napa will likely have some sort of anerobic flange sealant - probably a permatex brand. You can hit up Fastenal or a similar industrial supply for the Loctite products (which I prefer). Use VERY thin amounts. It's a flange sealant so it only needs a few thousanths to do it's job. GD

Stop shopping at automotive parts houses and hardware stores. Those places NEVER have what I want. Go to a legit industrial supply house. Call around first. GD

You don't need anything fancy for a gauge - call up your local industrial supply and get a 0 to 100 psi bottom-mount gauge in your choice of diameter's - some brass hose barb fittings and a couple feet of fuel injection hose. You can easily make something that you can be reasonably sure will read accurately (within 1 or 2 psi) without breaking the bank. Gauge should run about $10 to $15, another $10 for the hose and maybe $10 or $15 for some fittings/metric adaptor's - I've made my own metric adaptor by cutting off the threaded portion of an old sender and drilling/taping for 1/8" NPT.... If you really feel like building a nice rig - get some teflon or nylon clear tubing (1/8" will do), and the fittings for it - run it to the cab and mount the gauge there - a nice glycerin filled 2" back mount and a gauge bracket for the dash.... There's a ton of ways to do it - the Napa thing you found was a guage marketed to mostly auto-mechanics - who in large measure don't understand how cheap/common that stuff is in the industrial world. GD

Just buy all-thread and make your own studs. Takes 5 minutes. GD

How "quality" is the mechanical gauge you used? I don't like to see any less than 20 psi at idle when warm. Should easily be up near 40 at 3500 RPM. Something isn't right. GD

There is no need to connect them together - it's a thermo-valve and if it's not hooked to something *else* then there can't be a vacuum signal to it - thus it is an inert item as far as the engine is concerned. There are several thermo-valves used on the EA81's - could be for the EGR, or for one of the mixture signal's to the carb. Most of us don't have one located there so I'm not sure what to tell you. I say take a critical look at which functions you want and which you don't - EGR could use a thermo-valve as it makes cold-running really poor. When I hook up EGR to the Weber's I typically run it through one of the thermo-valves (assuming they are working) as that keeps it from opening when cold.... GD

I got a Rigid 18v cordless set (Impact, Drill, Flashlight, Radio, 2 batteries, Charger, Carrying Bag) for $179 (+10% military discount) from Home Depot probably about a year ago. One of the best things I've purchased in a long time. I get tons of use from the Impact. After doing some research on cordless impacts I found the rigid has the best torque (120 Ft/lbs) of the inexpensive options. If you want a decent one, the Snap-On one's are supposed to be good but beware - they are NiCd powered so if you don't use them at least weekly and cycle the batteries, they will die after sitting for a couple years and you will have to buy new packs. They aren't cheap unit's either but I think the big 1/2" one puts down something like 600 Ft/lbs - on par with many 1/2" air guns. GD

Yeah - they are rotary vane style pumps - any bit of corrosion will stop them from starting as the starting torque of those DC motors is very low. GD

You will have to swap the entire front cross-member, and most of the wireing. Way too much work for what you gain. GD