hatchsub

There is a writeup (from GD if memory serves) involving how to drill and tap the exhaust stud holes for a larger stud. I did this on my former EA81 and never had another blow out exhaust gasket. The reason for this is when you drill it out and tap it for the larger size stud, you are now going into the steel spacer as well as the aluminum head and not just into the aluminum head by itself.

It all depends. There are many on here that have gone 300,000+ in those old rigs. The other thing to keep in mind is the engine is SUPER simple to take out and rebuild if you find its time to do so. Or the other option is always finding a lower mileage motor to put in if the body is in good shape. The real turn off for me with these old subarus these days is the rust. If there is no rust or very very little everything else can be fixed. Also if you find the motor makes more noise than u think it should then offer them less. Worst they can say is no! There is a subaru hatchback 4wd for sale near me with 56k miles on it that is stated to run very nice. I have not looked at nor will i because of the very large amounts of rust in the pictures. In other words i dont care how low the mileage is. If the body is shot im not looking.

Yea that looks to be an 82 judging by the interior and the third eye. Big things to look for are rust rust and rust. From the pictures it looks pretty good but the common problem areas are right in front of the rear wheels, behind the front wheels, along the rocker panels. Then the hidden area is down in the cowl (area under the wipers). To see this you really have to take that panel off which is not terribly hard. Everything else with that car is very easy to work on honestly and if it has minimal rust or no rust his price is good. If you do pick it up go on ebay and buy a "how to keep your subaru alive" book. Just make sure its for the right years (there were two). It will walk you through EVERYTHING you really need to know. I dont even own a subaru anymore and still have the book figuring that there MIGHT be a time that i pick up another of the early 80s ones.

All ea81s after 84 (might even have been 83 been awhile) are hydraulic. You dont need to touch them and you shouldnt.

It could be a trans mount at this point in the cars life. Its been a really long time since ive seen the 3AT so i cant for the life of me remember if there is just one big mount at the back of it or whether there is two. I "think" there is just one. It would be pretty easy to check out if its shot or not. Go under the car (with the car securely on jack stands!) and see if the mount looks ripped. If you cant tell put a piece of wood under the trans and jack on it. Mount might just split in two telling you all you need to know.

If you want to make it a bit more fun to drive swapping in a 2wd 5 speed is really not that hard on that car. I did it on an old EA81 sedan that i owned and it made all the difference in driving it. Great score!!

Things for 5 speed 2wd swap: Trans pedals crossmember radius rod plates (these are what the crossmember bolts to...they are different between autos and standards) flywheel full clutch kit shifter boot (lower) center console shifter clutch cable There is a bit of wiring to get the reverse lights to work so if you go through with this make sure to get that as well. It is not a hard swap at all. Everything is bolt in with no mods to the body of the car (unlike my camaro).

I went from 24-25mpg highway to 30mpg highway when i did a 5 speed swap on my old sedan. As others have said double check all your ignition components and then if they all check out...i think its just that trans thats holding you back. The 3AT was terrible in both of my older subarus. If you like driving stick you will love a 2wd 5 speed trans. It really turns the car into something fun to drive.

Ears were ringing (pops head in for the first time in months). Did someone say harrys run

Ive never really had good luck with Por 15 honestly. If the surface is rough and has some rust and is cleaned properly then yes the stuff will stick to it. Otherwise if you are applying it to clean metal and follow all the prep instructions to the T...it still wants to peel off in sheets. Maybe i missed something idk but others on here have had better luck with rust bullet. Its cheaper and seems to stick to stuff better than por 15.

If you shop around and dont mind spending a bit more...magnaflow makes a nice stainless steel muffler that has a lifetime warranty. I got tired of my exhaust rotting off every few years and splurged for a full SS exhaust from the engine back with a magnaflow muffler. Sounded nice and mellow at idle and when u got on it really woke up and made some nice subaru music.

Ive had it so i had to remove the hub and pull the axle through a ways with the center nut...then bolt the hub on again and pull it the rest of the way through. Some are just tighter than others i guess. The other side went in smooth.

Everyone starts somewhere. The big hurdle is getting the confidence to do it yourself. Just take it slow and easy. The best investment you can do is buy "how to keep your subaru alive" book. There are two editions that i know of (one for earlier subarus and one for yours). Just make sure the year range is right for your car. As others have said...i knew nothing about working on cars when i got my first car. Ive been into cars forever though so i figured i could learn. First car was a EA81 subaru hatch that i got for free. It hadnt run in 3 years. I got it running with a new battery and an oil change but it ran like crap. 1 year later it ran great and i sold it to move on. 9 years later I'm now 26 and have done everything from brakes, suspension, full engine swap, two auto to manual trans swaps (not just on a subaru) and much much more that i cant even list. Im not trying to brag but just letting you know that everyone starts somewhere and what you do now will determine what you do later. I barely ever go to the garage for anything which saves me a bunch of money. It can be a headache at times but is worth it when friends say they spend XX for something and i say..i did it in an hour or two for cost of parts.

Search Bigjim in the vendor section. He is a redline weber dealer and will hook you up with a good price and help whenever you need it. He is where i bought my weber on my former coupe from.

Wow im sorry to see that . My advice to you if you have the means or the time is to find another EA81 with a good body and not much else and swap everything over from that car. I did that with my former coupe. It had low mileage but everything was wrong with it and it needed everything except a lot of body work. I just swapped everything over from my recently smashed sedan into it and had a great car again.

Pretty much. If you do a search on this board (successfully this time i hope) you will find that GD has been around longer than most and contributes to the board. He goes out of his way for board members all the time (me included). If you want to start fights with established board members rather than sitting back and being civil...enjoy not getting too much help on here.

Are you talking about the cowl drain area? I have had my former sedan and coupe apart many times in that area and never once saw any drains from the base of the windshield except for the cowl drain area..which does not drain into the rockers but into the back side of the fenders and then out. This is the number one cause of rotted out lower fenders when combined with dirt and salt and crap kicked up by the front tires.

Im not sure how they start to rust from the front of the rockers (just assuming moisture/water kicked up from the front wheels is entering over time from the pinch welds). I do however know how it starts from the rear. For one Subarus are made of some really CRAP metal (all jap cars were in the 70s/80s). But the rockers like to start to rust from the rear (right in front of the rear tires) because there is a "shelf" to catch all the leaves/salt/mud/crap from driving. Over time once that starts rusting then it just keeps going and going and moving towards the front of the car. Ive seen it so bad that it was 3/4 of the way through the entire rocker on one car. Other points of entry at this time are dried out seam sealer at any body junctions. There is one big seam in the rocker panel that also transfers to the rear floorboards that almost every EA81 in the rust belt has rust on at this point. Basically anywhere that moisture or water can get to the inside of the rocker...it will start to rust out. Most of the rust you see on brats/hatchs/coupes/sedans is from the inside out not the other way. Find a way of protecting the inside of the rocker and keeping that shelf clean...and you will slow down the inevitable.

Yup that will work just fine. The other way is if you happen to have a spare EA81, you could take apart the rocker arm assembly and use just the section that is right under the head bolts.

Best way is to set up a photobucket account or the like and link them into this site. Thats pretty much how everyone posts photos on here. Some also uploaded photos directly on this site too but im not one to ask about that.

I just run valvoline 80w/90 or 75w/90. As i said 2nd and 3rd even new were probably a bit crunchy when new if its cold out but when warm it should shift smoothly. I found 75w/90 to be a bit better in my trans in the past but recently ive been running 80w/90 and didnt notice any shifting difference. Also a note...its not worth paying extra for synthetic. You can easily get 30-40k out of regular old gear oil. Subarus dont need anything exotic.

Yup do this. I did it to a junkyard 5 speed with 74k on it that had sat for god knows how long. It really free'd everything up and its still shifting great with over 100k on it. Also a thing to note....ive found with every subaru trans of this era that 2nd and 3rd when cold are kind of crunchy. I have a article in a magazine from 1983 where they test drove these cars new that even stated that when cold 2nd and 3rd gear shifts were a bit crunchy and when warm they shifted fine. I just made it a habbit when cold to double clutch 2nd and 3rd and avoid that crunchy feeling all together. In warmer months i never need to do this however.

Im not sure i understand the question. The EA81 RX (yours) would have had dual carbs from the factory. They were dual hitachi's hooked up to a single rod linkage system so they worked in unison. The motors also had reversed valve heads (intake valves were in the center of the heads instead of exhaust valves) and a reversed cam to go with the heads. If you do a search for "ea81 rx" or something similar on here you will find a few posts about it and most of them with me in it lol. I have wanted one for a long time but gave up.

It honestly doesnt matter either way. I ran a weber with the EGR for years until the EGR started to get sticky and affect driving performance. Then i just blocked it off. There is really no power difference and if the car is tuned correctly will run just fine either way.