Going to be doing a bit of maintenance on the Grandpa wagon soon, needs the timing belt all done & oil pump gasket mainly but obviously I'll be doing as much as I can while I have the engine out. Figured I may as well get a full gasket set in case I need it down the track etc.
On ebay (AUS) full gasket kit in Aus is about $120 & there only seems to be a timing belt...not the kit.
On ebay (US) there's multiple kits for everything it seems for half the price. Thinking of getting these -
* http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/85-94-SU ... ccessories
* http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/85-94-1- ... ccessories
Postage is not an issue, have a friend over there who is sending a bunch of other OEM parts for other friends here...Subaru Aus want 5x the price but that's another thread altogether.
Is there any issues with buying from the US? Has anyone done it & can recommend a brand over one I've posted?
Timing belt & gasket kit from the US
Timing belt & gasket kit from the US
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew
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El_Freddo
- Master Member
- Posts: 12519
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: Bridgewater Vic
- Contact:
I've heard good things about theimportexperts in the US on fleabay. Here's a timing kit for an EA82.
I've purchased timing kits from the US before - unfortunately not from this seller, but he was on my list. After I made a transaction with another seller a friend from here and USMB recommended this mob to me. So I thought I would pass on that information.
They should be able to directly post this item to you
Cheers
Bennie
I've purchased timing kits from the US before - unfortunately not from this seller, but he was on my list. After I made a transaction with another seller a friend from here and USMB recommended this mob to me. So I thought I would pass on that information.
They should be able to directly post this item to you
Cheers
Bennie
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steptoe
- Master Member
- Posts: 11582
- Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:00 am
- Location: 14 miles outside Gotham City
I have a Dayco TB kit that does not include the oil seals coming , was A$99 plus postage from rockauto. Did not think of ebay for these, must have become one eyed ')
Never seen an issue with timing belts based on price. All failures have been due to age and lack of maintenance, oil leaks onto belt or tensioner or idler bearing failure.Saw one of those last week on EA82, took a mechanic a few hours to diagnose and then some smart arse walks in, is asked as he is subie nut to diagnose it, asks what's wrong, won't start but cranks, smart arse replies LH timing belt before I, um he, even looks under bonnet
tensioner bearing cactus. Car has 297,000km on it and suspect belt was there 197,000, tensioner 297,000km
I am going to stand out here by saying with head gaskets I am going genuine again at about $80 each for EA82 - just have one of each, gen and non gen in front of you and can see the gen quality. I also found on two heads so far the retension did not budge from initial tension
Never seen an issue with timing belts based on price. All failures have been due to age and lack of maintenance, oil leaks onto belt or tensioner or idler bearing failure.Saw one of those last week on EA82, took a mechanic a few hours to diagnose and then some smart arse walks in, is asked as he is subie nut to diagnose it, asks what's wrong, won't start but cranks, smart arse replies LH timing belt before I, um he, even looks under bonnet
tensioner bearing cactus. Car has 297,000km on it and suspect belt was there 197,000, tensioner 297,000kmI am going to stand out here by saying with head gaskets I am going genuine again at about $80 each for EA82 - just have one of each, gen and non gen in front of you and can see the gen quality. I also found on two heads so far the retension did not budge from initial tension
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discopotato03
- Senior Member
- Posts: 2134
- Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:29 am
- Location: Sydney
Yes it's an interesting topic having things sent in from the US to save money . It involves the perception here that we are a small market and freight charges are higher for further .
Part of the higher charges are probably due to the costs of warehousing and our different wage structures here in Australia .
The thing I reckon is that parts sold locally go through several sets of hands and everyone tacks their bit on which all adds up .
Anyway you pay no GST from the US to here because of the free trade agreement - up to a thousand dollars anyway .
Where the conscience call exits is that the one day you have to have some part to keep you car going and you can't get it locally those who buy everythig OS have to accept some responsibility .
Anyway against that parts for old cars like L/MY/Vorts often come ex Japan unless they are fast moving items in some if small volumes . In this case buying from the US shouldn't keep you awake at night .
With headgaskets I think Subaru knows quite well that 82s can have issues and they probably try a bit harder to supply something that has the best possible chance of staying together .
Given a choice I prefer an OE headgasket and particularly if they are a problem area for a particular engine . I also think heads NEED a light 3 thou skim so that the gasket has fresh material for its fire rings to clamp into .
I also strongly suggest using OE front and back crank oil seals or at least a known Japanese alternative brand . Here they can cost three times the price of a no name seal but maybe genuine from the US is the same as the local cheapie .
Your calls , some parts in an engine are very difficult - read expensive - to get at so you only ever want to replace them once , and do so with bits made up to a standard not down to a price .
The Spider EA82T in my RX-T was built along these lines which is partly why it cost so much , I fully expect the OE headgaskets rings and oil seals to outlive the car if serviced properly and it's used with a bit of mechanical sympathy .
A .
Part of the higher charges are probably due to the costs of warehousing and our different wage structures here in Australia .
The thing I reckon is that parts sold locally go through several sets of hands and everyone tacks their bit on which all adds up .
Anyway you pay no GST from the US to here because of the free trade agreement - up to a thousand dollars anyway .
Where the conscience call exits is that the one day you have to have some part to keep you car going and you can't get it locally those who buy everythig OS have to accept some responsibility .
Anyway against that parts for old cars like L/MY/Vorts often come ex Japan unless they are fast moving items in some if small volumes . In this case buying from the US shouldn't keep you awake at night .
With headgaskets I think Subaru knows quite well that 82s can have issues and they probably try a bit harder to supply something that has the best possible chance of staying together .
Given a choice I prefer an OE headgasket and particularly if they are a problem area for a particular engine . I also think heads NEED a light 3 thou skim so that the gasket has fresh material for its fire rings to clamp into .
I also strongly suggest using OE front and back crank oil seals or at least a known Japanese alternative brand . Here they can cost three times the price of a no name seal but maybe genuine from the US is the same as the local cheapie .
Your calls , some parts in an engine are very difficult - read expensive - to get at so you only ever want to replace them once , and do so with bits made up to a standard not down to a price .
The Spider EA82T in my RX-T was built along these lines which is partly why it cost so much , I fully expect the OE headgaskets rings and oil seals to outlive the car if serviced properly and it's used with a bit of mechanical sympathy .
A .
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T'subaru
- Junior Member
- Posts: 733
- Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2008 9:13 am
- Location: T'sunami Coast, Wa. ( usa )
I wouldnt buy that gasket set. Ishino was subaru's supplier at the time and ive seen the kits on line, heres an example
http://www.thepartsbin.com/catalog/?N=1 ... 63355+9286
Whats popular here is buying genuine subaru oem seals, gaskets ( not head gaskets ) and especially the cam tower o-rings. If you use something like our Felpro Permatorque head gaskets and add an additional 5 to 10 lbs torque to your last tightening sequence you eliminate the need to partially tear down your engine once its warmed up to temp to retorque the head bolts.
http://www.thepartsbin.com/catalog/?N=1 ... 63355+9286
Whats popular here is buying genuine subaru oem seals, gaskets ( not head gaskets ) and especially the cam tower o-rings. If you use something like our Felpro Permatorque head gaskets and add an additional 5 to 10 lbs torque to your last tightening sequence you eliminate the need to partially tear down your engine once its warmed up to temp to retorque the head bolts.
'86 GL, '89 RX, '89 XT6, '90 T'sunami Wagon