GeneralDisorder

Define "beast" please. Be specifc. It will never sound like a WRX - it's not a Turbo. Do yourself a favor and leave it be. Anything you do would have to be custom as there are no "aftermarket" exhaust systems available for the EA82's. Also larger diameter will only hurt your performance as you will destroy your scavenging. As it is the engine has 90 HP. Don't make it any worse. Junk yard or the dealership. As above - there are no aftermarket parts available for your body style. Others have already told you the issue here - your misconception of the lug pattern. 4x140mm is basically an impossible lug pattern. At the risk of sounding like a broken reccord.... it would be cost prohibitive to put anything "beefy" into it. You are looking at about $750 to $1000 to install even a non-turbo EJ22 - that's only the cost of the parts - you perform all the labor. That's likely more than the car is worth and in fact will destroy any remaining appeal it has to nearly all of the used car market - an engine swapped Loyale is worth basically nothing - it's a big fat "unknown" to most buyers - people tend to shy away from stuff like that. Except people on this board and even they would probably not want some car that was someone's first project-mobile. Clearly non-sequitur to your question so I'm not seeing the relevance to your post. Advice (that you won't listen to): Leave it stock and love it for what it is - don't hate it for what it will never be. Find happiness in tinkering with something that's worth your time. Better to sell the Loyale (bone stock) for $1500 and buy a legacy or some other brand/model entirely that has what you want already and/or has real potential - the Loyale has very little potential and what it does have takes quite a bit of experience, time, money, and parts to bring out. I doubt you have many of these. GD

Yes - I am still looking. I'll for sure grab you one when I'm at the yard this weekend. GD

The rack shouldn't matter. That is only the steering link - it cannot cause a vibration like that as it does not rotate or change speeds with increased MPH. Maybe if the inner tie-rods or the tie-rod ends were worn.... but movement in the rack itself will only cause jinky steering (loose maybe). I haven't read all the posts - did you have them rebalance the wheels? Have you tried putting the rear wheels in the front and maybe also switching them side-to-side? GD

As for the idle speed - is that the only problem? Clean the MAF just to be sure - it might be dirty and causing a lean mixture. Also check the CTS resistance and see if it's reporting a correct temp to the ECU. GD

You can't disconnect coolant from under the carb. The coolant cross-over is inside the manifold and is needed to pass coolant from the drivers side head to the passengers side head. GD

Have you tried a different radiator? It may just not have enough flow anymore. Cold spots will only show up on severely clogged radiators and the EA82 radiators are already undersized. You are telling me that it only overheats under a load - that's classic symptom of poor flow through your radiator. It simply cannot reject enough heat. GD

Your clutch cable is about to snap. The seal on the cable sheath has been comprimised and the cable had probably been invaded by water and who-know's what else. It will wear through the sheath, bind, and snap the cable. Replacing the cable is your only option. And make sure the end on the transmission side is well lubricated with vasoline to keep the water and mud out of the cable. As far as the running of the engine - what do you have? Carb or SPFI? GD

What "problem" do you think is related to the accelerator pump and why? The boot really does nothing other than keeping crap out of the plunger - as you noted. Virtually every single one I've seen has been cracked or torn - didn't make a bit of difference. If you are having off-idle hessitation it's likely worn throttle shafts or a vacuum leak. I have never had an accelerator pump on these cause any kind of trouble. To rebuild the pump, you need to buy a kit and remove the top of the carb. At that point you may as well remove the carb, soak it properly, and rebuild the whole thing. Check you throttle-base as they are often worn out. Rebuilding the pump basically means replacing the plunger with it's rubber pump seal, and the boot. The rest of the pump is a tiny plastic check ball and a spring. GD

How long did it "run fine" after doing the timing belt? Are there any codes stored in the ECU? Your fuel pressure sound fine. The difference between what I've typically seen on a gauge (~20) and what you are reading is pretty insignificant and could easily be due to gauge inaccuracy. If anything you could swap in a used regulator and see if it changes, but as you noted that it rises when dead-headed, the pump is obviously capable of more than is required of it. Typically I've found they run about 50 psi dead-head pressure. GD

The EA82 is not a legacy engine. The EJ22 is. Which are you interested in? GD

I'm in West Linn myself - where are you in relation to PDX? Any plans for this next weekend? Maybe a junk yard run is in order? I'm planning to hit a few myself. I felt the same way - and after experiencing the H1's in the Army, I felt that there was a lot of potential in the independant suspension system that was not being taken advantage of by the majority of the "wheeling" crowd. With solid axles - it's all been done. There's no challenge there and there's little room for imagination - just open your wallet and the sky's the limit. For me, that's too easy. I enjoy the challenge of doing something that hasn't been done and can't be "bought" for any price. There's a certain amount of pride in my own craftsmanship that's more important than making it through the deepest mud hole or the over the biggest rock. I think that sense of adventure and trial & error has been lost in a large portion of the crowd. For a lot of the wheeling crowd it seems to be a "dirty" version of who has the biggest SUV in the neighborhood. I have come to appreciate the simplicity of the design. It's a real engineer's car. The 4WD system is right/left symetrical - axles are the same length on both sides in the front and in the rear. And I absolutely despise a transverse engine layout as is used in virtually every other front wheel drive platform. Really, the EA81's are about as simple as an old chevy truck - just with lighter parts. If you need any parts let me know. I have several EA81 engine blocks and numerous sets of heads laying around. My plans don't include using the majority of this stuff. Unfortunately, while there will always be a place in my heart for the EA81, the power isn't there and soon the parts won't be there either. There's a large community that has grown up around swapping the EA series engines for the EJ series - mostly the EJ22. While it does have timing belts, it's easily just as reliable. It's got roughly double the HP (130 to 140 depending on year), tons of torque, they are cheap, and with a relatively simple adaptor plate and drilled flywheel will bolt up to the 4WD transmission's in our cars. And a car that was designed light enough to be moved by 74 HP is a ROCKET with 140. Plus there will be parts available for them for the next 20 years as they aren't much different than the newer WRX engines (the rally-sport, hood scooped Subaru's you see all over around here). GD

The gasket is retaining water and it's rotting from the inside. You will have to remove the windsheild, correct the cancer, and then install the windsheild with a new gasket and proper sealant. GD

You trade simplicity in wiring for some custom fab work - the manifold has to be custom, and you have to add a distributor from an 80's Ford Escort to the back of the passenger side head. EJ22E's have a spot for a distributor back there as they were carbureted in some European countries. Basically, you hook up the distributor to the stock EA coil, and you plumb in the EA oil pressure sender. That's about the extent of the wireing because the EA starter is used. Personally, I feel that using a carb defeats half the benefit of the EJ22 - it's simple and rugged MPFI system is part of what gives it excelent economy and power. It also will run at severe angles which a Weber will have problems with. The MPFI system is much more adaptable to exhaust and intake mods, cam changes, and even adding a turbo - carbs are finicky about even the slightest changes as they have no feedback loop to give them information on current fuel mixture requirements - they have to be retuned seasonally..... just a pain in the neck really. I'll take a good, simple FI system anyday over a Weber. GD

As far as I know it is specific. I have also just used a punch as you did before I had the socket - I did note that it was MUCH easier with the socket and an impact and it didn't damage the ring nut like the punch method. Here in the PNW there isn't any real rust issues like there can be in AK, so I figured it might be more difficult for you. If you can get it moving without the socket and don't plan on doing these often, then I say go for it. GD

I doubt fuel pressure is your problem. They never fail. Have you checked the timing belt tension? GD

You do nice work! I like your style. It's rare to see anyone with your eye for detail. Seems we are locals to each other - We should definately hook up and talk shop. I have tons of parts and info to share. I appreciate the military vehicles as well although I don't own any - drove them a lot in the Army. Would love to own a Duece someday. I have a lifted 84 wagon (same body as your's) with 28's, and an 83 hatch (shorter wheelbase than the wagon) which I'm planning to roll on 33's with a nissan or samurai t-case behind the subaru transaxle. Just got into a house with a 2 car garage and shop about 8 months ago and I'm organizing and setting up my metal-working area to get started on the hatch. Eventually I would like to build some chain-driven portal hubs for the EA81 bodied Subaru's (like our's). That's the big advantage that the H1 Hummer's have over the Subaru independant suspension. It would take the stress off the stock drivetrain, and would give amazing ground clearance. I'm thinking double or tripple o-ring chain with about a 1.6:1 reduction. Perhaps we could bounce some idea's around eh? GD

Blue or black? Black would be too rich of a mixture. Blue would be oil burning - either rings or valve stem seals - most likely valve stem seals. Are you sure it's not just burning it off after sitting and having some oil seep into a cylinder? I don't know how long it sat while you did the conversion, but sometimes that will happen with older engine's. I've had plenty of EA81's with bad stem seals that would burn a bit of oil till they warmed up - it seeps in while they are sitting. GD

Unfortunately, without knowing the specifics of each unit, you can't be sure it won't be too hot for the ignitor module. The Hitachi ignitor's on the EA81's in particular are sensitive to the secondary coil winding's having an other-than-stock resistance. Too low and you can damage them. Some folks have reported ignitor failure with Accell coil's for example. At some point I'm going to look into this further, and see exactly what kind of resistance they can handle. Also - although I'm sure there are cheaper alternatives, I've found that with properly gapped plugs, and decent wires, the stock Hitachi or ND coils are virtually indestructible. I've never had one fail anyway. I payed the $40 for a new Hitachi on my SPFI'd EA81 because I felt the one I had was questionable - didn't end up making any difference. And I've heard of FAR more aftermarket coil failures than stock. And I would be willing to bet that a good portion of the coil failure's you do hear about are failed aftermarket coil's that were put in for one reason or another over the life of the car. At any rate, I have no reccolection of a coil failure reported here or anywhere else that was unquestionably an OEM part. And if I did I would want to know the condition of the plugs and wires as I would still be questioning that the coil failed without help from bad ignition components. GD

I've never seen a diff fail on an unmodified Subaru. It just doesn't happen unless someone runs them dry. They are known to last the life of the vehicle without ever changing or checking the fluid . My money is on the bearings. They aren't real easy to work on, and with you being in AK they may not want to come off at all. I would sugest, if you have access to any junk yards for parts, to get another complete trailing arm assembly. Cheaper that way too. If you decide to replace the bearings, the ring nut socket is a very helpful item to have. There are several places online that sell them. GD

Wow! Beats the hell out of the $420 I paid about 6 years ago. I guess they are trying to clear the stock of the things. Probably not a lot of demand with increased emissions testing and fewer EA81's on the road. GD

It'a likely burning coolant as you may not have got the carb base heater port plugged with the adaptor block. Sometimes they don't quite cover the hole completely. A lot of folks simply block the port with JB weld and a bit of window screening. GD

I've never come across one that was too short - and you do have to make your own bracket. I just modify the stock bracket and bolt it somewhere. GD

Model/Year?? Pull the grill and/or the bumper to gain access to the mechanism. GD

The real question is where would you get one? GD

And leave the steering wheel - the four spoke wheels like that are much better than the later two spoke one's. You have a LOT of work to do. But as stated - don't modify it too much - you have probably *the* most rare EA81 ever made. You will ruin much of it's appeal and value if you start changing things. GD