TomRhere

Carbed engine, cold start, high idle of 3,000+ sounds like a major vacuum leak to me. Once you have the disty timing sorted, check all of the vacuum lines. Really sounds like one of the larger ones is either off or cracked. Does a carbed EA82 have the Anti-Afterburn-Valve (AAV) like the EA81's do? It would be mounted on the strut tower, looks somewhat like a dumbell. I've had the large vac line going to them crack causing a 3,000+ cold start.

With both drums making the rub sound, I would take a very close look at the backing plate. Especially the U-shape channel that the edge of the drum sets in. Any bends, dents, debris buildup in that area will cause rubbing. The inner lip of the drum is not a critical dimension so to speak, and they can have a hi-spot or two. Thinking I would put everything back together, go for a short drive, then pull the drum back off looking for signs of actual contact between drum and backing plate. Adjust backing plate as needed.

'84 was the change-over year for lifter type. Auto trans had hydro, manual had solid. '85 went to all hydro. If the valve covers have a sticker on them saying "Do not adjust", then you have hydro lifters. There is a procedure to adjust those in the FSM however. You would need to do so if you have the heads surfaced. Another way to tell is to look at the ends of the pushrods. Solid lifter ones have a metal tip on both ends, easy to tell it's there as it's larger than the shaft of the pushrod itself. Hydro lifter ones are of a one-piece design. Plus there is a tabbed washer under the jam-nut for the adjuster screw to lock it in place.

Dug around some this morning. I have the complete PS located, still digging for the DS. Let me know if you're interested.

There you have it. Smaller drum of the EA81 would definetly cause interferance with the larger EA82 backing plate. Really didn't know what, if any, differance there would be, as I've never compared the two.

Del brought home a camera today. So now I can get a few more pics up of the Wagon. 4 day weekend for me.

2WD/FWD rears won't fit on a 4WD, period. There may be a differance between EA81 and EA82 as far as fitment of one drum/hub to the others backing plate, don't know for sure. Do know you can swap the entire EA82 4WD self-adjusting rear drum brake setup over to a 4WD EA81 vehicle. Never did like the manual adjusters under the rear of my BRATs, always wanting to sieze up between adjustments. Had an '88 FWD GL10 Wagon here, it had the same manual adjuster setup as the BRATs. My '88 4WD GL Wagon had the self-adjusting setup before I did the 5-lug swap. But again, FWD-4WD won't swap over. I may still have all of the 4WD 4-lug rear brake stuff here. Will look tomorrow morning and post back. If,, I have it, it can be yours.

Yep.. Gotta LOVE it when that happens. Done that a few times over the years. Color of it looks simular to my 1st '86 BRAT. The 1st SUBARU, I ever owned. Got hooked on them after that, much to the Wife's dismay..

I've replaced 2 accelerator cables with aftermarket ones, and had to do the "file-to-fit" with the firewall clip. One was from rockauto, other was thru another online source. One I had to file the barrell that goes on the pedal.

Well other than the wind gusts of 35 - 45 MPH wanting to make the Wagon dance around some, the drive yesterday was nice and uneventfull Glad to have quieted the noise down. Just couldn't figure out what it was before. Even had knowledgable people riding in the backseat that couldn't say what it was, or which side it was coming from. More wrenching slated for this coming weekend....

Check the bushings on the radius rods, they could be worn and allowing things to move. Your description sounds exactly like what my Wagon is doing, and I know those bushings are worn. Got new ones, hope to install them this weekend.

I agree with the Gate's or OEM for timing belts on any engine that runs them. Have had to many other brands of aftermarket belts fail.

3 mile jaunt to the store and back, and no noise from the back of the Wagon. Well,,,, other than the trim panels making their noises. Brakes are much improved also. So it seems I didn't get them properlly bled the 1st time. We shall see what the trip to/from work tomorrow does.....

I be one whoopped puppy..... Had to drop the arm out and literally beat the ring nut all the way out. Kept hitting it with the torch and spraying it with Yeild, but it really didn't move much with each blow from my 3-1/2 pound whammer. Probally shortened my punch by a good 1/4" from all of the redressings. After getting things apart and cleaned, I found the reason it was so difficult. Someone had beat the housing in......... Was a nice hammerhead sized dent in it on the lower side, with signs of quite a few blows. This arm was a used one I swapped in after dragging the Wagon home from Hamilton, Ohio. No clue as to what I actually got it from, was just something I had here. New bearings in, and had to beat the ring nut back in. Sure wishing I had another arm here.... Got Del out there to work on her leg muscle tone, and rebled the brakes. Del may turn 60 this June, but she still rocks some nicely shaped legs...... Taking me a break for a few, then it's off for a test run. Hopefully, I've fixed the noise issue from the backend. Didn't put the rear diff back in, I'll wait until I get new u-joints.

Got a replacement clock coming. Thanks to SuperBrat. Got info on the resistor, 750 Ohm x 2 Watt. Thanks to NorthWet..... In the middle of doing rear wheel bearings. Driver's side was piece of cake.. Passenger side however, is wanting to argue. Ring nut seems to have made itself one with the housing. Beat on it for a bit, then sprayed it down with some more Yield, left it to sit overnight. May have to get the "big torch" out and put some heat to it. May drop the arm out to get a better angle on things. Used Mother Nature's freezer to assist in doing the bearing install on the DS. Once I had everything apart and cleaned the stub shaft up, I put it in a plastic bag and stuck it a snow pile. Greased up the new bearings, grabbed the shaft and basically dropped the bearings into place. Put the assembly back into the bag and the snow pile while I cleaned up the housing. Moved the torpedo heater so it was hitting the housing.Took a much needed beer break. Bearing assembly slid right in with no issue. Installed the seals and put rotor/caliper back on. New tapered and flat washers installed also. Debating on whether to put the rear diff/axles back once I get the PS done. I dropped that all out last Tuesday in an effort to isolate the noises I was hearing. I pulled the rear section of the driveshaft a few months ago due to bad u-joints. So the diff/axles have just been along for the ride. I haven't had the extra cash to get the u-joints bought yet, so there's no real reason the put the diff in yet. Cross that bridge when I get to it. It also seems I need to do another bleeding of the brake system. Both rear rotors show very little signs of use, as in, they have a bit of rust on them where the pads hit, not shiney like they should be. Caliper slides are free and lubed. Got to be some air in there some where. Hmm, guess the brakes aren't as good as I thought they were........

If those pics are of the Wagon in question in the 1st post, it's definetly worth buying and resealing the engine. Pics of engine doesn't really look all that bad as far as leaks go, seen much worse...

Rather fun way to send a Subaru off. Here's a BRAT doing it also. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmQVTj2D8Rw

For the side marker lights not working; Most likely, you're not getting a good ground connection between the side rails and the front crossbar of the frame. I would pop the covers off the lights, drill thru the mount hole that has the ground for the bulb and thru the frame rail, install a screw/nut thru the frame. Then run a ground wire from those to the ground point of the trailers wiring connector. Also, I suggest you put some RTV or Silicone over all of the wiring connections. You want to keep any moisture from getting in there, causing grief down the road.

I have only used spring compressors on strut assemblies that were removed from the vehicle. Never tried it with them installed. Can you actually fit them on the spring to get it fully compressed at all coils? Thinking the shape of the strut tower would hinder that. Don't know... I would pull the strut off the knuckle, remove the strut top from the tower, and re-assemble it on the floor. If you do this, be sure you bolt the strut top back in correctly. They will bolt in either way, but it will change the frontend geometry if installed wrong.

80-90 gear lube as stated for your trans. Keeping with the ATF in manual trans'd vehicles; I had an '76 Olds Starfire, 231 CI V6, 5-speed manual, used ATF in the trans. Same trans that one would find in the HURST OLDS of that same era.

Find GeneralDisorder's EA81 SPFI swap writeup. It has pics of both disty's in it.

Yep, 3 bolts under the defroster vents. There is also a cable for the vent in the upper center of the dash that needs to be dealt with. Been a few years since I pulled one, not real sure on how that cable is detached at the moment.

Check the fusable links, Black box on the overflow tank. You should have power on both sides of them if they're good. Those are the main power feeds into the car.

Had an '84 GL BRAT Auto. No T-Tops, 2-piece slider vs the 3-piece. Other than that, she looked identical to my '86 GL BRAT

Was a couple of places like that up in Jackson, many years ago. Was nice to use a lift to do clutch, exhaust, brakes on a vehicle. Pricing was fair for the times back then. No tools were loaned out, you had to have your own hand tools. Bigger items like a transmition jack, oil catch basins, air compressor were there for the use. No welding or cutting torch use was allowed, period. Cut-off wheels, grinders and the likes were allowed. Rates were hourly, 1/2 or full day, and both places were open 6:AM to 10:PM. You could only leave vehicle overnight for one night. Had to get it out by close of 2nd day, regardless. Insurance rates finally caused them to stop renting out the bays. Don't recall any kind of problems such as injuries, vehicle damage, or whatever. But I do know from asking one of the owners that it was due to insurance cost.