tylertrend

@sparkyboy Does it still have the steering wheel and back cover? Would be interested if it does and if it's a 4 spoke.

Jumping in here quick, where can we order those o-rings from and are they found specific to the vehicle, or compressor?

I had tried doing that on the windshield and just couldn't get it to work. Much agreed that it would make it much easier.

The new fuel tank is reinstalled and the engine runs off of it just fine. I bought a sandblaster attachment for the pressure washer and got the wheels all cleaned up and ready to be painted. Reassembly of the interior trudges along slowly but surely. I also got the stainless trim installed around the rear window which was far from enjoyable, as well as some rear brake work and other odds and ends.

If you have A/C it should have two fans, without A/C just one. Could be a failed T-stat. Otherwise I would suspect the temp switch in the radiator (passenger side, should be single wire).

I agree fully. The EA Soobs were built for this kind of use and I don't think huge tires and a lift is going to get you out of any places you otherwise couldn't given your intended use case. Plus I prefer the stock look of the EA's anyhow. As to the dying of the EA platform, it has sometimes been difficult (very), to find certain parts for my 82 HT resto but I have yet to need something I outright couldn't find. Some parts I have even found new, if not OEM. My list includes glass, fuel tank, axles, engine parts/ gaskets, interior bits, cassette player .... and so on. Not for the faint of heart but still doable; for now.

Thats what I was thinking but I have sourced a 2wd tank so all is well

Took the fuel sender out of the tank last night and the whole tank is rusted to holy hell but baffles still look mostly there. Had the tank half full and the pump couldnt pull anything out. I might be able to take it out, cut it open and clean it up but I have no equipment to weld it back together so I would have to pay for that service. Replacement units are hard to come by but I'm searching. Given that it is a 2wd HT, will getting a tank from a 4wd reduce the fuel capacity? Havent found a clear answer yet on that.

Yes, very pleased with the carpet. The story on the windshield is such: I broke the original taking it out being stupid. Sourced a NOS replacement and new rubber seals which was an experience in itself. When I was putting in my new windshield I cracked the upper right corner. Thinking it would shatter if I kept messing with it, I left the project alone for a while until a family member came to visit for Thanksgiving and I had them bring yet another windshield down with them. Ended up being for a completely different vehicle make. Hilarious. So we ended up putting my cracked NOS windshield in and it cracked more going in but didnt shatter so it'll be like that for a while until I come across another good one. And thats the story. Oh, and we put the rear window in in under 20 minutes with no issues. It's a much easier install. Go figure.

Wow, time really flies when you're having fun . Since last update this project has been so trying at times that I was ready to light a napalm fire under it and laugh while it burned, but luckily mind prevailed over matter. The engine is now tuned and running quite well, although loud due to the missing muffler. All the glass is reinstalled (Holy .... what a cluster that was). Most of the interior is reinstalled less the seats which need serious surgery. I am very impressed with how well I was able to clean/ revitalize much of the interior; the carpet is a standout example. I wasted half of my day today finding a short in the horn/ chime circuit. Turns out way back when I was prepping the dash I plugged the harness side of the key switch for the chime into probably a lighting circuit or something. Doh, I guess we all make mistakes, and now my chime works again! I also got around to testing the A/C. It works when jumping the pressure sensor so it just needs recharged. Its an original R-12 system, great! Progress has been slow the last few months but things are falling into place now and updates should be more frequent. I admit I may have gotten slightly sidetracked when I bought an old Mercedes diesel in August . Video of the engine running and accompanying racket of noise coming up soon.

Update: the engine is installed and has been run momentarily. It works, pumps oil and actually sounds pretty good - Success! Work will now be shifting to the body and interior which is being held up while I wait for parts to figure out this heater core debacle. As requested, attached are some pics of the car currently.

I will tomorrow, although its pretty torn apart so it won't be looking too hot. I actually ran the engine today for first time and she goes pretty good but theres no fuel or water system yet so I won't run it again until the vehicle is all back together.

Also a picture of the cleaned up valve train. The springs were very healthy under a light surface rust so I just cleaned them and put them back in, after grinding the valves.

Todays work involved getting the heads on, adjusting valves, bolt on oil pan, reseal oil pump and install and wash the whole engine. I am very pleased with how clean it came out. I guess all of that crud on there did a good job of keeping the aluminum clean! All I need to do is install clutch and WP and the engine will be going back in, hopefully on Friday.

Hello all, I am finally back home after some time away and back to working on projects. I finally have all of my spare ea81 parts at my house and some of them are going to come in very handy. The last couple of days have mostly consisted of preparing my replacement dash, going over wiring, changing light bulbs, etc. Work on the engine has involved cleaning the heads and getting them ready for reassembly, resealing the oil pump, changing WP and cleaning the oil pan. I was lucky, on the oil pump I just took the 4 bolts out and lightly tapped the oil filter twice and it fell right out. It looks pretty healthy inside. The same cannot be said for the oil pan. When I removed it there was nearly an inch of thick, coolanty sludge on the bottom. The bores, inside of the block, lifters and everything else look really good, but this certainly reinforces my thinking of a significant coolant breach in the past. Regarding the oil pickup, I was hoping some of you could offer some input. I loosened the holder and tried for a few minutes to remove it but it won't budge. The gasket is cracking away and looks unhealthy but if the tube is pressed into the block that well, is there really any worry about it leaking? Or do I need to find a way to remove it and reseal? The last thing I was working on was cleaning out the hvac box/ heater core. Found a blown HC and leaky coolant control valve that I am trying to deal with. That post is linked below. Any input on that is also appreciated. Until next time..

I am finally tracking down some leaks in my hvac system on the 1982 GLF and found basically two things. 1) The heater core is trashed and luckily I was able to find one, though at a cost, at least that's taken care of. 2) The worse problem. The coolant control valve (petcock) was covered in corrosion and still leaks even after cleaning it up and putting it back together. It appears to be leaking from the gasket that surrounds the little shaft and the rubber feels pretty hard. Im not in to spending buku bucks on a whole new assembly if that's even possible to buy, does anyone know if just the seals can be obtained? And how much sealing work that little gasket around the shaft actually has to do? I'm looking at my FSM here and wondering if I can just plumb the HC straight in without that pipe assembly since air won't be flowing over the HC on cold setting. Or maybe just a 1/4 turn valve down by the right foot. Where I live, the heat setting is only used a few times a year anyway. Thanks all for any thoughts.

Looks pretty clean! You and I might be about the only ones with old FWD Subies

Got an alert the other day that the WCR-417 windshield gaskets are back in stock, unknown quantity. The part number is aftermarket but they fit the ea81 series sedans and wagons, (and I think maybe brats too). Pricing is about $60

Nobody else thinks 122,000 Km's or 75,000 miles is a bit early for a T-belt? Especially if there's the expense of going to a shop? I would probably wait a couple years on that.

At current exchange rates it was $188 to the door.

Alright, here's a couple days of updates at once. 1) I got the carburetor cleaned up and torn apart, cleaned the innards and reassembled with new gaskets. It didn't look nearly as bad inside as I thought it might which was great. I'm almost positive I am going to have to play with the float adjustment when things get put back together but I did not have any leftover parts when I was done so thats a good start in my book! 2) I worked on cleaning up the chrome wheel rings which were pretty rusted and nasty but a few hours and a bottle of chrome polish has them looking almost new. Very impressed with the durability and look of them. Also shined up the center caps. 3) I received my Front and Rear windshield gaskets from Phils Rotary/ New Old Car Company. They are the correct part and appear to fit well. Not much I can do with them right now but I'm very excited for that search to be over. For reference, the factory part numbers are: Front 765061030 Rear 765061040

The 06/81 brat I saw at the junkyard today had an EA81, and I have every reason to believe it's the original motor. Double groove crank pulley but no A/C installed. The serial is 281918

Today turned out to be a great day for the project. I drove down to a junkyard thats the size of a small town in Roosevelt, OK. Called Parts World. They are very helpful and have so much inventory I almost passed out. I went down there to snag a NOS Windshield for the coupe and also a good used rear windscreen. For a bit over $100, I'm pretty happy. My windshield cracked badly when I took it out and I haven't done the rear yet so I wanted to have a backup plan. Then as I was walking through the yard, there I could see it, recognizable from a mile away, a first gen brat. This was the first time I'd stood next to one in person, and even though they are quite small, I now know why myself and many others are so fascinated with them. Aside from rotted floorpans, this 1981 GL built in 06/81 with only 112k is almost fully complete and has a ea81 with 4spd d/r. After mucking about a bit and snapping some photos, I saw that it had a hitachi carb on it w/ manual choke. Not wanting to deal with the C-W that I have now, I got out the 4-6 basic tools I always carry in my trunk and removed the whole manifold and carburetor right there. Score! I really am still getting used to this whole some cars aren't fully rotted to high heaven after 8 years thing (I grew up in Maine), it makes these operations so easy! I have attached a few pics for your enjoyment.

Got a few small things done today. Removed the flywheel and clutch, no pictures but it was roasted, explains the immense slop in the clutch pedal and a fully tightened down cable. I removed and wiped down all of the pushrods. All 4 on the left are fine, all 4 on the right are bent, some a little, a couple a lot. Explains the symptoms the PO described to the T. Guessing by the look of the sparkplugs and the crystals on the valve heads, I'm wondering if it had a HG or other leak and had an episode of hydrolocking. Oh well, I'll get it fixed right. I'm going to attempt to straighten the pushrods and resuse them. Picture: Right side vs Left side rods.

The shortblock looks pretty decent so I'd like to rebuild it if at all possible. Good call on the springs. Also discovered that at least several of my push rods are bent, but need to look at that more tonight. I wonder if they will tolerate being straightened and reused? Hmm, time for more internet time.