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jdouglas@mikescarffsubaru.com Been a couple of years, but good prices and service - near Seattle.

yeah, we never got the marker in the fender, just on the bumper. it's actually a light not just a reflector.

Buggah! Figured out why I couldn't read the 93C46 - turns out it's available in this funky alternate "rotated" pinout - it's not shown in the ST datasheet (that's whose part is in here), but it is shown in the Atmel datasheet, and that's the version that Alpine used (for whatever ungodly reason). It's a packaging option that's only available in the SOIC (not the DIP), so (of course) Data I/O only supports it in their SOIC socket. Which I don't have - I only have the DIP and PLCC sockets on the Unisite, which is why I mounted the SOIC on a DIP adapter. So now I've made another adapter to rewire all the pins and it's reading like it oughta. Cool.

I have re sealed a handful of these engines. Had 1 head bolt strip during reassembly that was overheated badly. I follow the directions in the fsm - oil the threads, 3 tourque steps, order. No coolant shouldbe leaking out of any of the tapped extra holes in the heads. Many of those holes do intersect head bolt holes. Head gasket probably leaking into one of those.

Agreed. Stopping combustion gasses is the job of the fire ring on the head gasket. Once that is compromised its all downhill.

Thanks all for the advice! All went well and leak is fixed.

I have found that getting the entire engine up to 150 to 190 degrees F makes a huge difference in successfully removing stuck bolts. Either by running it, or by using a space heater and a heat gun, to get enough power. Then carefully working the stuck ones loose / tight. Gradually, the sticking point moves further unscrewed. It helps to learn the feel of the bolt turning vs twisting. When they start to twist, that's when they snap. The radiator stop leak stuff can temporarily fix a 13psi leak from the radiator to the air. It won't survive the temperature and pressure involved with the combustion chamber.

A recurring problem on my 99 Outback has been the cowl buckling/tearing/cracking. I have posted a few pictures in the past of some welding I've done when the windshield has been replaced (lost count how many times now). Symptoms of this include the wiper arms rubbing on the windshield and the windshield cracking from the bottom corners up. At least partially caused by hard nose first landings off jumps. This car doesn't have a great approach angle. Also had the fronts a little too soft on the Arkansas trip so it was bottoming out too easily. Changed the shock valving, hopefully it will jump more level now too. This portion of the body completely separated from the door hinge area at the end of the last Vegas to Reno and we straightened it back out and welded it then (1.5 years ago?). It has started to crack and buckle again. The other side didn't look quite this bad but there are various small cracks all around both front strut towers. First step I tried was pulling the strut mounts back down. Despite shortening up both ends of the come a long I still eventually ran out of travel but had a good load on it. A lot of the displacement was crushing that front part of the floor the tube is pulling up against but I reduced the distance from that tube to the strut tower by about 1.5". I was also hoping this will give me a little more lift and tire clearance. Also kept having problems with the come a long. My good one is in another state. This one just has some stamped pieces tabbed together so I welded those and it started working better. With the spring and bump stop off the strut this is as high as the tire goes. Not a very good perspective but have a little clearance all the way around. Wanted to reinforce the front end without reducing this clearance. Cut out big slots above the wheel wells on both sides for tubing. Also drilled big holes with a step drill into the strut tower. After cutting into that, found more sheet metal buckled, cracked, and torn. Welded some of it before installing tubing. These are most of the pieces we cut to add to the body. This is how it looked fully welded, the top tube is a piece of 2" x 4" that goes all the way in to the strut tower. Fortunately the door frame seems fairly strong. The only wiring inside where I'm welding is for the door so I pulled that out while welding and wrapped a wet rag around it. Also sprayed some water in that part of the body. I really hope this doesn't just start ripping the door frame apart. Added the clean piece of sheet metal to the bottom of the strut mount and a gusset on either side to brace it. The big holes drilled in the strut tower allowed me to plug weld that to the 2"x4" tube. Some of these welds were nearly impossible to see with the welding helmet on. It's rough but hopefully strong enough. This is how the other side turned out. This is how it looks painted, not that anyone will ever see it, but hopefully delays the rusting process long enough we can finish the Vegas to Reno some year. Fenders fit over that tubing with a little room to spare. Car is mostly back together, will hopefully drive it this week. Once we get a little dry weather I'll test out the new shock tuning.

Looks like I’ve got the next owner for my 78 4WD wagon. So next Saturday I’ll be cutting my old faithful companion free. Then I’ll be without any 1970’s Subarus. Sad but there’s good logic behind it all. And I’m sure I’ll be back when the time is right. So many great memories and stories. This wagon was a true hero to my young family back about 17 years ago.