TomRhere

ATF is a good cleaning agent for the internals of a manual transmition. Won't make the parts "look new", but it does a good job of cleaning them up.

The 4WD on yours is vacuum operated. I can see where if it hasn't been shifted in/out of 4WD for quite some time, the gummy build-up in the transmition can stop things from moving. Owned an '88 XT6 with center diff lock that had same issue when I 1st got it. Same vac system to lock/unlock center diff. Get the car up in the air, all 4 tires. Please use proper jack stands..... Drain the lube out of the trans, put the drain plug back in after it drains.... Put 4 quarts of ATF in the trans, start engine and let it run. Shift the trans thru the gears, no need to rev engine doing so. Shut engine off, let things set for a bit. Repeat above. Try shifting in/out of 4WD while doing the 2nd run. If it don't shift then. Shut the engine off. Get under the car and shift it manually using large adjustable wrench or slip-joint pliers. Do the in/out a few times. Now start engine and try to do it by the switch. If all is good, drain ATF out and refill with proper gear lube.

There was a thread on here in the past year or so discussing the different dashes of the EA81's. GL type dash, but different look to the gages vs. other GL type dashes. I even have one of the "different ones" here.

Spent yesterdays monsoon time doing more cleaning of things. Happy with how the engine looks overall, but not liking how the remnants of the head gaskets don't want to be nice and easily come of. Still working on that issue. Basically doing my damnest to keep the Wagon somewhat drivable until I have an engine ready to go in. Don't like being without a back-up vehicle. Ordered in a few more parts that I've been holding of on doing so. Should have everything needed to reassemble this engine come next weekend. Calling for rain all this week, so mostly garage time for me. Wife is having a tizzy 'cause, "the yard needs mowing". I no mow wet grass. And it hasn't stopped raining long enough for it to dry out any. Ain't the 1st time the yard has gone past a week between mowing's, won't be the last time either...

Mechanical_Misfit and Tdodge are some good people. They have been here at my place a few times. I sold Tdodge that '85 BRAT he has. Yeah, there is not much room between the top of the gas tank and the bottom of the bed . So I can see an issue there. A Hitachi carb in good shape, isn't a bad carb. It's when they start going bad that they can be a pain. Weber's are much easier to work on and/or rebuild. Others opinions may vary. You can drop the oilpan out without having to raise the engine up. There are holes in the crossmember under the engine that you can get a long shaft #3 Phillips screwdriver thru to access the bolts. Pan will basically drop right out. Before you put the pan and new gasket in, coat the gasket with some Ultra Black and let it cure overnight. Turns that cork gasket into a rubber gasket, so to speak. Ubber good thing to do. Getting those bolts back in on the rear of the pan is accomplished easier if the screwdriver you have is magnetic. Makes life simple....

Single Port Fuel Injection, SPFI for short. The EA81 Wagons and Sedans ended with the '84 year. Then the EA82 bodied vehicles came into being, starting with the '85 models. BRATs and Hatches continued for a couple more years.

Been slow going on getting things done on this project. Been trying to do yard work, fix things what need fixing on the house, and getting it all scraped and primered for a fresh coat of paint. None of which has been easily done with all the rain we've had. But I have managed some garage time. Tore down one of the ER27's in hopes of selling some parts. Turns out the parts that were wanted were not serviceable. But,, I now have some good 9.5-1 pistons for the EA82. Played around with the broken bolts in the engine from the parts Wagon. Got them out. YES!!! Finish tearing the block down for cleaning, and it's been sitting in a tub of kerosene for the past week or so. Spent yesterday cleaning the grunge off the case halves, and did a quick hone of all four cylinders. Still need to do a bit more honing, but it looks good so far. Be heading out to the garage soon to do more. Calling for more rain today, so no "outside" work. Bummer... NOT! Keep hearing this, "We need to get this done" stuff. The only "We" that has been doing the work has been, Me, Myself, and I. Getting a bit tired of it. I'll take some pics of things, see if I can get them on here. This laptop don't like to do that at times. The tower I was using died, haven't taken time to fit it yet.

Look at how the fan and belt pulley are attached to the waterpump. If it has bolts, you need the 105mm pump. If it has studs/nuts, you need the 110mm pump.

The '86 Wagon won't work for parts for yours. You have an EA81, you need parts for an EA81. Here in the States, EA81 ran up thru '87 as far as BRAT body style goes. Best bet for looking for any part, is to go with the '84 Model year. The 'EA81 Hatch, ran up thru '89, so some of those parts will work. Basically, everything from the drivers seat forward, fits.

What he said. Also, if you just got it back on it's wheels and haven't moved it any, the tires will do that. Roll it back and forth some to let the suspension settle out.

The cable piece off the Hitachi carb fits the Weber. You may have to shim it out some using a couple flat washers. I've had the barrel on the cable end want to catch on the Weber's linkage. Using a few washers eliminated that issue.

Looks good from the pics.. Done a few "road trips" myself to buy a few vehicles. If there is any play in the throttle shafts of those Hitachi carbs you have, they're done for. The Weber is a nice upgrade. Although, I prefer to install one using the EA82 intake instead of the EA81's. Only because of the larger port opening under the carb. Yeah, those rear brake adjusters are a royal pain. Tried my damnest to free a couple of them up, only to have them seize up again. The earlier EA82 4WD models had the self-adjusting rear brakes. Not real sure of what years, but my '88 Wagon had them. Easy swap, slightly larger brakes too. But, you've already bought parts for yours, so you'll be good for awhile. Thinking if I was to buy those adjuster new, I would tear into them, coat everything with anti-seize, reassemble them. The gas tank is most likely rusting out on the top, atleast 3 of the BRAT's I've owned had that issue. No new ones available. Get someone on the West Coast to ship you one is the best bet. A radiator repair shop can reseal yours, if it isn't in bad shape. Biggest issue there is getting the sending unit out without snapping off those screws. If you do go for a replacement tank, it has to be from an EA81 4WD vehicle. You can run the EA81 FWD tank in a 4WD vehicle if you lift it 4" or more. There is no dimple in the bottom of the FWD tank to clear the rear diff. Speaking of sending units. I have had corrosion issues with the connectors on them on 4 of the 5 BRAT's I've owned. A better weather-tight male/female connector can be easily swapped in. I have a few BRAT related parts here, not a lot, but some. If you need something, ask. I may have it. Tom

What do you have on the Weber for cable end attachment?

just the filter under the hood. If you can find one, you can put a filter in before the pump. Just have to find one with correct fitting sizes. Can't tell you what to go get, been a while since I did it on Son's '88 Wagon with a majorly rusty tank. I just took the tank-pump hose in to the parts store and told them I wanted a filter to fit the hose. Bought a length of new hose also.

Which oil sending unit is on the "donor" engine? Dash light sending unit is small, pressure gauge sending unit is "Big". Both use the same pins in the "engine to body" harness. 4WD shifting issue may be due to a vacuum hose not connected or split. Possibly a split/cracked line caused during the engine swap.

Go to you tube and do a search for "The art of Subaru Maintenance" by MilesFox. He has videos of timing belt installation, and how to properly set the distributor, plug wires, what have you. Good info there.

Yeah, chased a bad rear wheel bearing myself. Had the noise, just couldn't pin-point the "where it's coming from" part, even riding in the backseat. Didn't seem to change any doing corners or curves in the road. Didn't "notice" any play in the wheel trying the wiggle method either. New bearing installed on passenger side, noise gone. Had 2 Members here for a visit, and they said it sounded like that side. If you loosen the axle nut, you loose the bearing pre-load, so don't do that during any checks you make. I even went so far as to remove the driveshaft, one section at a time. Rear half-shafts, one at a time. Just to eliminate any possible causes in my search. Old ears make it difficult to pin-point noises at times.

I did a Google search on the number that was posted. Got lot's of hits for the pick-up in the disty, and a link to a thread on here. This laptop won't do links/quotes, so I can't put the link in here. Irritating as all get out...... I thought the thread had some good info in it on the differences of the disty's and their wiring over the years.

There is a strainer on the pick up tube inside the tank. It "could be" dirty, but that is something I would expect from a "Rust Belt" car, not a Texas car. But, "stuff occurs". One can pull the hose feeding the pump and blow some air back to the tank to sorta clean out the strainer. My thoughts are more towards the tank getting a "vapor lock" if you will. It's not "breathing" right. Got to let air in as fuel level goes down. Try driving it with the gas cap loose, see how it acts.

Sounds as if it's a Nippondenso disty. It will work, but.... Make sure the connector is pinned the same Also, get the matching coil for it. Nippon disty- Nippon coil Hitachi disty-Hitachi coil

By putting a fuse in the connection for the thermo switch, you basically created a dead short to ground. As stated, fused ignition power is fed to the fan motor, fan ground then goes to the thermo switch and makes the ground circuit complete to operate fan. I would run a fused power wire straight from the battery to the fan motor, also running a ground wire, just to test out the fan motor itself. If all goes good there, then I would start checking the wiring harness for bad spots.

The disty connection for my '88 SPFI is; Car harness-- Disty wires Black = Black Black/White = Green Green/Black = Red Green/White = White

Didn't hit me at first either. But after rereading the opening post a bit later, it was like "D'OH!"

Welcome to the Board!

Been down that road myself, frustrating as all get out. I would rule out defective T-stat, water pump, and air pocket first. Maybe do a leak-down test on all cylinders.