hatchsub

Hey Styles welcome back to the older gen! Hope to see u around more.

Good catch. Yes i second this. Manifold gaskets on EA81s are far more likely than headgaskets.

Its tight but there is just enough clearance to pull the heads off while the motor is in the car. But...it only takes an extra few minutes with these engines to pull them too and while its out u can do a full reseal and drop it back in.

Its def an interesting idea. Im not sure its do-able or not but i will be keeping a close eye on this thread and see where it goes. I have a Solid lifter EA81 apart in my basement waiting to be built up and if you find there is a somewhat simple way of doing a MPFI EA81 then by all means do it and report back. I will add that you will most likely be using some sort of hybrid harness to run it since the EA81T computer is not calibrated correctly for running N/A applications. Also the EA81T used a flapper style maf and you would be much better off using a hotwire maf like the 86 on EA82 SPFI engines did. As i said..mixing and matching parts to come to a combination that works on that motor.

Best bet is to hunt the classifieds on this board, craigslist in your area, and ebay to find what your looking for. They pop up from time to time. If you broaden your search and dont mind shipping a vehicle you can get a very nice rust free one from the west coast or down south and be ahead of the game. Good luck and welcome to the board.

I think there are only the lower control arm bushings (where the bolt to the car inboard) and the radius rod bushings to worry about. I cant think of any more in the front end on an EA81. I kno i can get the radius rod ones from Rockauto dirt cheap but what about the lower control arm ones? Anyone have a source for poly bushings for those? Are they a somewhat standard size? If i cant do poly ill just do factory replacement. I think a good amount of my pull on the highway is associated with those pieces.

Semi-gloss

Damnit...there goes me working too much and posting in the morning half asleep. Sorry Russ i knew that I SWEAR

Did you feel and listen for an exhaust leak. Just cause the bolts are tight does not mean you have a blown out gasket. I never asked..are u running a cat still or straight pipe to muffler? If its the second your most likely going to just have to live with that noise.

Im almost positive there was Paul. There were a ton of legs. I know there were a few 91s and later ones too. Cant be positive about the 92-94s though

Thanks for the reply RUSS. I know for a fact that caster is within spec but camber is not for the passenger front wheel. Its only off a small margin but they figured it would not cause THIS much of an issue. I think at this point i should start replacing some stuff anyways if everyone on here thinks its a smart move. The lower control arm bushings have over 100k on em and 28 years of use so im sure they are due to be replaced along with the radius rod bushings. I think thats it for bushings other than the steering rack bushings but if what GD says is true about the power rack (not doubting it but havent crawled under to look for myself) then i dont need to do anything about that.

We strolled through the truck section and went squealing over like little children when we saw an 84 brat that was complete. It isnt complete anymore

I know for a fact that backwoodsboy, darlingchip and i are hanging around until sunday to take a trip to Harrys (at least i still think thats the plan).

Yes disconnect the HH cable from the clutch fork and install a return spring (dealer) for your car. Then if you want you can just unhook the cable from the hillholder itself.

Not just yours mine too. And to think i went through the trouble of finding a set of brown/tan seats to match my hideous interior

Just letting everyone know that ill be showing up sometime saturday morning instead of friday night like originally planned. Cya soon.

I myself am fine with Waffle house coffee As of now it looks like im going to be showing up saturday morning rather than friday night. I should be there around 9 or 10 in the morning so i guess just one waffle house visit for me . Also since this last minute change should i still be bringing cups and plates? Ill bring chips for sure for saturday but if im not going to be there friday night not sure how much good me buying cups for just saturday is. I will still do it if there is a need though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EMPI-16-5150-VW-BUG-BUGGY-URETHANE-STEERING-COUPLER-/310147960904?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4836425048 This the one GD? Ill probably end up buying it on ebay since there is not an EMPI dealer nearby.

Yea i just came to that conclusion as well when i was under there. There is zero play in the actual rack to body mounts. The tie rod ends are original to the car though (so 28 years old) but i didnt feel any play in those either. I felt a bit of play in the steering rack when i wiggled the left arm but not enough that it would make this much difference. I was looking at the actual universal joint in the steering linkage and the rubber donut gasket above it and neither looked all that great. There is a ever so slight tear in the donut too. Im talking really small but still...im wondering if some of my issues are coming from this area. The universal looked like the arms were spread a bit wider than they should have been. I went and compared to the sedan thats still sitting enginless in my driveway and that universal and donut gasket looked much better.

Steering rack bushings you say? Would those be under the steer rack boots then? Is that something serviceable by me or would i be looking at getting a new rack?

I think ill do this after work today and see what i come up with.

Yup positive on that one. Thanks though.

yea a bit idk what you mean though. It seems to just pull a bit to the left. I will have to crawl under it and look at the radius rods but i was under the car for a month doing lots of little stuff and i didnt see anything off.

The car does have power steering so that might be an option for me. As for the radius rod being bent ill will never say never but this car has 55k miles on it so highly doubt thats the case...even though it very well could be. As i said the alignment techs said the alignment was pretty much dead on so i think number two is most plausible.

Ive had it into a shop a few times now and they are puzzled now. Heres what it is doing. If i turn left onto the highway on ramp it pulls to the left. If i turn right onto the on ramp it tracks straight and true. The techs thought it was a tire pull since they rotated the front two tires and got the car to pull to the right.....so i rotated the tires completely as in fronts to back and backs to front on both sides and i still have the same issue. Anyone ever heard of this before and can you guide me as to what i should be looking for? The alignment as said by their machines is pretty much dead on and would not account for this problem. There are new parts in the front end of the car that were carried over from the sedan such as lower ball joints both axles are new shocks and struts Basically the only part of the coupe that is coupe up front anymore is the radius rods and the steering linkage (inner and outer tie rods and actual power rack). The only thing i can think of is something needs some grease somewhere to allow it to go back to neutral after making a left turn.