SourKraut412

That's exactly what I was referring to...I'm trying to collect all the necessary engine re-seal gaskets, oil seals, o-rings, etc. for when the time comes. I know these are leaking currently. Good info on Subagoo, that stuff is expensive though!

I'm having trouble finding the gasket/seal for the camshaft tower. Would anyone have a part # handy? I was able to find a lot of the parts I need using this as reference: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/47811-how-about-an-oem-part-number-thread-for-the-ea81/?hl=497123011 Most of the seals and gaskets weren't listed on the general pages of the sites I was looking to buy from, the only way to find them was with an exact part #.

haha, nice improv!

The directions on the can are pretty good, but here are a few links I had saved as I'll be doing the same thing soon: http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/how-to-use-seafoam-to-clean-your-engine-the-right-way.html http://knowhow.napaonline.com/sea-foam-what-is-it-and-why-should-you-use-it/

Nice work. What kind of material is that front face made of? The part you had cut out for the radio, ash tray, etc. I'll be doing something similar with my spare console that was hacked by the PO.

Good to know. After doing some digging to find a human to talk to, I found 1stsubaruparts.com was being operated by Hanson Subaru out of Olympia, WA (I think). On the homepage it now says, "1st Time Visitors Welcome" and also that billing and shipping addresses must match, so I believe the policy in that email changed. Bottom line, whoever now runs 1stSubaruparts.com is doing a terrible job and i should be avoided.

Update on this situation in case anyone cares: I left a message last Thursday and never got a call back. The order was placed Tuesday and to that point there had been no communication even so much as a confirmation email that the order was received. Called again on Friday, had to call the main dealership number and get transferred to their parts dept. which apparently is separate from the “internet parts” department. Talked to a guy that didn’t seem to know anything about their internet parts dept., but he said he’d "look into it" and give me a call back…still waiting. My expectations already low, I knew that would never happen. Since the internet parts guy was out of the office Friday, I gave them until EOD Monday to get back…NADA. Went back to the list of recommended parts suppliers I found on this site and ordered everything again. I immediately got an order confirmation , then in the morning I got an update that my VIN was invalid (even though it was correct), and finally got a third email that my parts were not in stock (not a shocker) and were on order. I replied to the VIN email with my number again, thinking I missed a digit, and they replied within a minute explaining that it just wasn’t in their system as most older models weren’t…no big deal. Anyway, A+++++++++ for SubaruGenuineParts.com and F------------ for 1stSubaruParts.com Take the testimonial for what it’s worth. Now what to do before everything gets in?

Sorry if this isn't the correct place to post this... Has anyone recently ordered anything from these guys? They were recommended by some people on here as a good place to get OEM parts. I placed an order on Tuesday, didn't get an order confirmation and they didn't charge my card yet, but the order is showing up in my account on their website. I left a message this morning and haven't heard back. Every subsequent call goes to an answering machine as well. I'd like to give them the benefit of doubt here, but the lack of communication is frustrating and my rig is down while waiting. There were other options to buy the parts, but their prices were the best and I chose to buy from a PNW business figuring shipping would be quicker. Anyway, if anyone has anything good or bad to say about them, please post it here. They have until EOD Monday to get back to me or I'll cancel and order somewhere else.

I used a stop leak to repair a leaking heater core once and it ran fine for another couple years. The core on that car was going to be quite labor intensive to get to and I didn't really care if it eventually ruined some things as it was already a beater with not much value. It later got totaled and I drained the system while selling off parts and out came all the sludge. There was a bunch of it still in the reservoir tank also. While it worked, I don't think I'd use it again on a car I planned to keep around for a while. The radiator was also pretty new and didn't have any rust/scale clogging the arteries, so that might have helped as well.

That is all good info and something I will look out for as I switch between the two. The only reason I am switching is because I found a ND disty at local salvage yard that was in good shape. My Hitachi has close to a mm of play in the shaft and is suspected to be the reason for some weird issues I had been experiencing. My plan is to use the ND until I eventually get the Hitachi rebuilt by Philbin. I prefer to keep things as close to stock as possible unless I'm getting significant gains in power or fuel economy, but it never hurts to have spare parts. On the 3rd attempt, I got the correct cap for the ND disty at the parts store. The ND disty from the yard was off a 86 XT with FWD and NA. They kept giving me parts for a Hitachi, but I thought from what I've read the XTs with those features didn't come stock with a Hitachi. It wasn't until I just told them to look up the ND part number for the Brat that they could find the ND cap. Not sure why that was such a pain to get, but I'm starting to think that's the norm with these weird old rigs.

Got a new cap and rotor for the ND disty from a local parts store. It was identical to the one I just picked up for the Hitachi disty, same part number and everything. The rotor was correct though. Isn't the ND cap different from the Hitachi?

Did some searching on this and found conflicting information on compatibility of ND & Hitachi distributors. My 86 Brat is of course Hitachi, but the distributor is going out - play in the shaft. I found a good ND disty at a junkyard. I read that you need a ND coil to use a ND disty and vice versa with Hitachi. I also read that you could use a Hitachi coil with a ND disty, but not the other way around (i.e. Hitachi disty with ND coil = no good). What is correct? Are there any other parts needed to swap to the ND disty besides maybe a coil?

I ended up finding the answer to one question on the Philbin group website. It states that a distributor shaft should not have more than .002 inch of play. That's roughly .05mm and mine is well beyond this. Time for a JY replacement. http://www.philbingroup.com/rebuilt/distributors.htm Hope this helps someone else.

Good info, thanks. Yeah, I get it on the length, I was trying to give all the details so people didn't have to ask follow up questions like did you do this or did you do that, etc. I'll try to be more concise in the future! So, the biggest question I have is how much play in the disty shaft is considered acceptable?

I picked up an 86 Brat a few months ago and a tune up was long overdue, finally got to it this weekend. The tachometer had been a bit jumpy and the needle would occasionally surge, but it had been happening more frequently during my regular commute. Eventually, it even stalled a couple of times, but fortunately it happened on the lane leaving my house and not out in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, I suspected the distributor after reading up on everything I could find on here...thanks USMB community! The cap looked relatively new compared to the plugs and wires. Plugs #1 & #3 had more black soot than usual and some trace amounts of oil, while #2 & #4 were pretty much perfect. I had trouble twisting the disty rotor until some WD-40 freed it's movement, so the vacuum advance should be good to go. I also took the time to replace any rubber hoses I could, mostly vacuum lines, as the originals were very dry, hard, and cracking at the edges. I ended up cleaning the sludge out of the PCV hoses and reusing them since I couldn't find anyone that carried 5/8 fuel line, which is what was on there - not sure if that's the stock or not. The car runs so much smoother just with the new cap, rotor, plugs, and wires. I also cleaned the air filter, but it wasn't too dirty to begin with. Smooth increases and decreases on the tach needle now as well. I didn't replace the distributor yet. Anyway, that's the backstory for a couple questions I still have after all of this: 1. How much side-to-side shaft play is normal for the distributor? I measured about .8mm with my feeler guage. It doesn't seem like much, but I read on here there needs to be little to no movement. Probably it's a sign that I need to start looking for a JY disty but wondering how quickly I should make that happen. Rockauto has reman units for about $107 from A1-Cardone if anyone has ever used them before, please chime in if they are quality. I've used their parts before without issue, but the price is so much lower than the other options it kinda makes you wonder... 2. When I pulled the rotor (with dist pointing at #1 cylinder) I found the metal tab inside the rotor cavity was installed on the opposite side as the flat part of the disty shaft. Is that normal or did someone screw up somewhere along the way. If it was put on backwards, it'd be 180 deg off and I'd be on the wrong stroke (exhaust) if I need to put at TDC the next time I do engine work, but I don't think having it that way would make it run different in anyway? 3. The plugs I pulled were NGK BPR63Y with the slot in the point. I replaced with BPR6ES which was stock according to the parts counter. I've read a little about the differences between the two and it seems like a matter of preference. Is there any real reason someone would choose one over there other for the Brat? I'd rather not make this another "which oil do you prefer" debate, more curious if there are any real advantages or if it's just marketing by plug makers. 4. During my overhaul of the vac lines, I found one of the PCV valve nipples didn't have anything connected. I know it probably doesn't matter, but I'd prefer to have everything connected properly even if it's just for show. Can someone say where those hoses are routed to? I think the one that was connected went to a "T" that eventually routed to the block. Thanks in advance for any input. Love the site, I already learned so much about these rigs in the 5 months I've owned one!