Ross

Yes, the CV joints will get much noisier before they explode on you, if the boots are intact they should last a fair while longer if you can stand the noise. About teh clutch, one i put in a few months back does this when its real cold, maybe because i didn't have the flywheel machined. Anyway, if it clears up when its warm i wouldn't worry about it.

Take the cieling lining out and check that the roof supports are still attached to the roof. If the roof its bent down at any stage, the roof will pop back up but the supports may not. It makes a big difference.

As far as i know, the RX1 was just a N/A with dual carbs, not a turbo. I have never seen a coupe with the ea81t, just the brat and wagons. We get JDM cars here, so i presume if they existed, we would have them. I have a 4 speed in mine, goes fine, much much better than the 3at. Ditto on the coolness!

I ended up using a cold chisel to get mine out - needless to say, i have to repace it with a new one! It wasn't very expensive. An auto parts store should have a selection of standard o-rings, take the pickup along and find ones that fits.

When you say over $1000 dollars in parts, what does that include? Sounds very expensive, if its only a main gone, bearings should be WELL under $100 Can. and you should be able to pick up a second hand crank with no undersize fairly cheap.....

Depending on exactly what has gone wrong, that may actually be plenty, especially if you do it yourself. I have rebuilt an ea81 for much less than that.

Coil? Mine has similar symptoms due to a leak or something in the carb - when i adjust the idle mixture, it makes very little difference at all and it will idle lean no matter what. Runs fine off idle though.

Yes everything like that already checked. Journals are within spec. As is side clearence. Bearing feels fine when only lightly torqued, only when tightened completely its stiff. Looking like a bearing may be wrong as mentioned above.....

Anyone else experienced probs like this?

Welcome, yes that could well be the bearing. Lif the wheel off the ground and check for play. Its not a hard job to replace the bearings, nor are they expensive.

Have you adjusted the idle mixture?

Thats just because your speedo was only accurate to within +/-10% from factory - and that error isn't consistant with speed, it could be all over the place. Error from tyres is conssistant %.

That is quite low, i would try changing the oil pump. Your bearings would have to be quite bad to give a pressure like that.

eh? that sounds strange..... the pickup/ignitor can give you the exact symptoms you describe.

The funny camber is there from new. Only way to get rid of it is to do some (fairly major) chassis bending, or put lower springs and/or struts in to lower the front down.

Gee, who would have thought? :-p

5psi is marginal, but as long as it doesn't drop below that it should be ok. What does it sit at when cruising?

Hmm, the fuel pump in my '79 wagon (same body style) is on the passengers side of the firewall, but the brat may be different. It should tick away quickly at first, but slow down to perhaps one tick every 5-10 seconds if the engine isn't started. It shouldn't affect your mileage, but if its ticking fast all teh time you should probably check for leaks in your lines, or perhaps try another pump.

Hang on, do the US '82s have points or a magnetic pick up? That would be where i'd be looking.

Well, i got the rod off, cleaned it up and looked for any obvious probs, there wern't any. So i lubed it up and put it back on (this is all without splitting the block - not easy, but possible). Same deal. Its only stiff at some points - which may explain why the clearence seemed ok when i plasigauged it. Starting to think that maybe a bearing half is wrong..... Any other suggestions/comments?

Checked all the usual stuff already - journals are within spec as are side clearences and oil clearences. Yep, i took out the plastigauge. I'm gonna go out and see if i can remove the con rod through the cylinder......hey, its worth a try...

Put some diesel in the muffler, it smokes for ages!

Have you checked the bolts that hold the disc to the hub?

Na, checked that. I'm glad i can see the marks through the cylinder, otherwise i'd be wondering...

Got the block together, #1&3 pistons in, turn it over to install other pistons and find that the #2 rod is slightly stiff on the crank. I noticed when i assembled the con rods that that bearing was very slightly stiffer than the rest - almost unnoticable so i ignored it - all bearings have been plastigauged and were ok in the direction i measured. Now, after sitting overnight, it seems to have become stiffer - still easy to move by hand, but it definitely wont fall to one side with its own wieght like the others. They have been assembled using assembly lube. Other rods still feel quite free. Any thoughts on this? Cheers.