EA Performance with a Twist!

[Anthenium]

I was going through the EA Performance pages, and was working through the ignition system. Everything was going good, found the parts at the store okay, and had a gorgeous day to work on the car. Replaced the Plugs, replaced the wires, and had squirted the screws holding down the distributor cap with Nut Buster, letting it soak in, and get things loosened up. Well, when I went to take the cap off, the screws where in tight, so I squirted them down again, changed the oil, and then went back to try those stuborn screws again. I turned with Moderate force, and felt the first on turn grudgingly, then smoothly! Went to the second one, same thing! Great! Then PING! The head came off of the first screw. And Ping! Same for the second. I have 2 Studs sticking out of my distributor!

 

I tried to get them to turn out with Vise Grips, but I could see the stud starting to twist, and knew it was NOT going to turn the threads, just break off again. So! At the moment I have an elaborate array of Tie Wraps holding the distributor down. 3 points to be exact. And it runs Great! I still need to replace the rotor, as it is bit pitted, and had that White Crusty stuff on it, but it runs much better. but...

 

Any thoughts on what to do with the Studs/Broken screws sticking out of my distributor?

 

My thoughts are:

 

A) Get a 2WD distributor, as recomended in the EA Performance pages.(Anybody got one?)

 

Drill out and helicoil. (Do they come that small?)

 

C) Try to Work these broken screws out, and hope for a miracle!(Please pray for me!)

 

D) Hope one of you Wonderful people have a better idea! (Or a 2WD distributor that will work in my '91 4WD Loyale for sale!)

 

Tie-Wraps seem to be working okay. I have almost 100 miles on the tie-wraps, and they are working fine. I'll post a pic so that you can all marvel at my ingeniuity/incompatence.

 

So, comments, suggestions, ridicule?

 

Fat Tony - http://www.smashbandits.com

[Qman]

I do not know if they make them that small. I haven't seen an EZ out that small.

 

Maybe replacement is the best decision. Get one from outside the rust belt.

[idosubaru]

where did you read about the 2wd distributor being an "upgrade"? i'd like to see that, never heard about it.

 

on the studs. the miracle cure is to weld a nut on top of them and then you can use a socket wrench to get them out. this works every time. take note of the distributor position if you remove it to do this. this is so fast, it's the way to go every time.

 

if you can't do that, use a left handed drill bit to drill them out. file it/grind it to make the top flat and drill center. it should eventually come out without messing the threads up so no need to helicoil.

 

helicoil would work but i don't think you'll need to do that.

 

do not use an EZ out- they suck. if it comes out with an easy-out that only means it probably would have come out with a good pair of channel locks.

[Jerry DeMoss]

I agree with the above posters.I think give the left hand drill bit a try and if it doesn't work then just get a new disty.

[Anthenium]

Here is the link to the EA Performance Page:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/80s/ea-performance-page/subaru-ea-performance.html

 

Here is the section rec'ding the 2WD distributor:

 

Ignition System

The ignition system on the EA series engine is a good design, however as with all ''good designs'' it too can stand a few enhancements. If you have a 4WD car l recommend getting a distributor from a 2WD car. The 2WD distributor has a different advance curve and provides full advance ''sooner'' than the 4WD version. The difference means better low-end torque. Also bypass the vacuum valve between the distributor and curb. This will assure that the vacuum advance on the distributor always gets a vacuum signal from the carb when you press the accelerator.

 

The tweeks all seem to make sense, and my BanditWagon is running better following this system.

 

Fat Tony

where did you read about the 2wd distributor being an "upgrade"? i'd like to see that, never heard about it.

 

on the studs. the miracle cure is to weld a nut on top of them and then you can use a socket wrench to get them out. this works every time. take note of the distributor position if you remove it to do this. this is so fast, it's the way to go every time.

 

if you can't do that, use a left handed drill bit to drill them out. file it/grind it to make the top flat and drill center. it should eventually come out without messing the threads up so no need to helicoil.

 

helicoil would work but i don't think you'll need to do that.

 

do not use an EZ out- they suck. if it comes out with an easy-out that only means it probably would have come out with a good pair of channel locks.

[manxsta]

I agree,the heat from the welded on nut is also a good part of the deal...any bolt in alloy can be easily extracted by heating the surrounding ally..it expands and lets go of the threaded shank......with the dizzy mod..u can easily put the advance springs in from the 2 wheel drive and acheive the same ..either or..6 of 1 or half a dozen of the other..cheers

[Anthenium]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll need to pull the distributor to get this out. I have tried channel locks, vice grips. I thought about heating it, but it is buried in the sea of rubber hoses, spark plug wires, and AC tubing.

 

I'll get some photos posted. I'll want to laugh at this someday.

 

Fat Tony - http://www.smashbandits.com

[GeneralDisorder]

1. The car talked about in the "EA performance pages" is a carbed model - you have fuel injection, so there is only one type of distributor for your sytem. In fact the SPFI, MPFI, and Turbo engines all use the same disty - 2WD or 4WD. Your advance is set before hand when you time the engine, and the computer retards the timing as needed.

 

2. That page is wrong about the 2WD advance curve. It's the same as the 4WD curve. This also applies mostly to EA81's, as I'm not even sure the EA82 carbed got the Nippon disty for the 2WD version. At any rate this is a wives tale, and a bad one at that. There are good reasons to swap to the Nippon disty IMO, but better/different advance curve is not one of them. (sorry - doesn't apply to your situation at all - just clarifying). Also - I doubt the weights/springs from the 2WD would even fit the 4WD as they are completely different brands.

 

GD

[Anthenium]

Good news, bad news. Good news, it's fixed. Bad news, no pictures of the mess. My Chiropractor is a Car Nut. I was talking to him after my adjustment, and he said, "C'mon, I need a break!". We went to his garage, 2 miles away, and in 15 minutes it was fixed!

 

He pulled off the Spare tire support, pulled off the distributor cap, broke of the studs, used the distributor cap as a guide, drilled 2 holes, and tightened it down with a #6 nut & bolt through each hole. Leave it to a V8 guy...

 

Then he LET me help him adjust his Tri-Power on his '65 GTO. That test drive was a little more Dramatic than in the Soobie.

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice and corrections,

Fat Tony - http://www.smashbandits.com