Ross

The ECU will work fine in a manual. Definitely worth it, they go much better with a manual.

Try cleanig out the govenor. I think there is a article on the USRM about it.

If the front diff broke up, parts of it may have damaged shift forks or something when you drove it off the road. This would explain why you cant move at all.

Something not completely unrelated - a small deviation from proper ignition timing will change the engine efficiency dramaticly. The engine will be running most efficiently when the peak combustion chmber pressure occurs at roughly 5 degrees after top dead center. Depending on how well the centrifugal advance is working, this may or may not be steady across the rev range. So, engines will operate at different efficiencies than manufacturers "test" engine, making the use of their WOT torque etc. curves dubious at best.

How much your oil smells of petrol depends on what kind of driving you do - if you do lots of stop-start around town driving, there can be a considerable amount of petrol dissolved in the oil.

Yes, 5th will only be more economical under low load situations. When you start to need higher power, you should use a lower gear.

Put a cheap mechanical gauge on it. 25psi is rather low for that sort of revs. It should be sitting at more like 40psi. It should not drop below 10psi when idling. Yes, there is a difference in the ratio for 3rd and 4th between the 82 and 84 - the 84 has a higher 3rd and 4th.

You should raise the car off the ground, and support it on stands (or blocks of wood) so that it is secure. you can then jiggle the wheels/suspension and look for any play anywhere. Using a prybar to push on suspension arms can be useful for looking for bad bushings.

yes.

My 3at from my 83 wagon also shifted very hard, but it was severely un-loved, and it often wouldn't shift into 3rd at all. I'd say a good clean may have fixed it, but I changed it to a manual anyway.

Are you sure you havwe backed off the adjuster? When you are pulling on the drum, will it still turn, or does it lock up?

if you prefer, you can use the 3 piece ea82 driveshaft, you just have to weld the center bearing carrier on to the body.

Sounds good to me, now that you mention it. I'd agree that the assumptions you mention are probably quite valid for such a small change in engine speed (2800 - 3000). Could be different if we were talking about the difference between 2400 and 3000rpm.

A good clean out and full fluid change would be the first place to start. It can make a huge difference.

Wont the 93 have the 4 speed?

But, will the thermal efficiency of the engine not vary considerably with changing engine speed? ie the engine may be running more efficiently at 3000rpm than 2500rpm at a given load?

I have also dropped the engine/trans out the bottom in one piece, its rather nice and easy. Good for putting it back in too - no mucking round trying to get the input shaft into the clutch and pilot brg while in a not so 'ergonomic' position.

Actually, with slower engine speed, you require more load to keep the car at the same speed. As wintersuabru mentions, the carb lets more fuel mixture in when you push the gas pedal further, as you do when the engine is reving slower. On the other hand, the engine of course "sucks" more at higher revs, and friction power will be higher. Thats why you can't really say "the car will use less gas in 5th/4th" with any certainty without testing in the conditions it will be run in.

The ea81 is a simpler (OHV as opposed to OHC) engine, no timing belts, less emmision control. Mainly just less to go wrong. As for fuel starvation, i have had my carb'd (hitachi) ea81 on all sorts of funny angles, never had a prob?? And, yes, the ea82 and ea81 transmissions will swap, with minor alterations only (driveshaft and shift linkage).

Only prob i had with 2 guys lifting it out, is that having to lean over into the engine bay meant leaning hard up agianst the fender - ended in a big dent above the bumper. Popped out easily though. Its not the weight of the engine thats the prob at all, its just how low down it is (although mine is slightly lower than standard), so i'd recomend using the chain/post thing.

Thats a tricky question to answer - all engines are different in that respect and it will also depend on car weight, wind and so on. Myself, i'd go with 4th, better for the engine, although it really wont make much difference at all. You may just have to experement with both, and see if you can notice a difference in fuel consumption.

Could be tires or wheel alignment. Or, possibly a worn or dirty disc rotor. Or a bad caliper.

New Zealand new cars had the large axles. Perhaps front drive cars may have had the small ones. Japanese import 4wd cars came with the small axles (and smaller CVs). Only the turbo Jap ones had the large axles. So, you should be able to find the larger ones on any NZ new 4wd car.

Got an angle grinder?? much easier. You could mess around changing the angles on the bit to stop it beaking, but it will still take a long time and need lots of coolant.

I just used the head of a bolt - small enough to fit through the pin, then you can hook the head on the end of the pin. Not perfect by any means, but it worked.