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Right on Shawn ! Hey man , life can be brutally busy for many of us. That’s not just some b/s excuse. Hang in there and have faith. You understandably thought you’d do some good by letting us all know , but a lot of us know the guy well enough to know that he simply is not a rip-off. Yes , I see there’s another guy or two who feel burned. But I’m confident there’s a good reason why things appear to have gone wrong.

Because of the road salt used up here and the heat cycling, those things rust out so badly. Something wedged behind it will just cause the shield to break sooner. The senior master tech at the dealership told me that they're there to keep the heat in the exhaust so the catalytic converters are more efficient. Whether that's the reason or not, I've pulled them off a dozen cars with no noticeable effects.

I reckon the heat shields are there for something more than decoration, so I won’t be cutting them off just yet. Those nails took some patient hammering to get them in and they have deformed the shields with the force used. The heads butt up against the neighbouring shield’s flange so I don’t even think they could come out over time. Anyhow, I’m always under there so they will be inspected or swapped for less lethal methods! I took the shields off the Forester when I did the clutch, they are now covered in baked mud, which loves to trap humidity. Any way, knowing that the rattle is not fatal, at least its a reason for us wrenchers to get under there now and then.

I more of a keep it stock type. Except for when someone is wanting a lot more power, then the tables turn. These cars are getting rare, and many NLA parts, it doesn't make sense to do all kinds of experimental mods that may lead to breaking things that are hard to find...

Not to start an internet war, but I feel the need to soapbox for a minute. It seems like every other post I see on here nowadays suggests ditching EA-81 engines that are fixable or in currently running condition with an EJ swap and I just cannot understand it. I am a big proponent of classic cars and keeping them stock. I just started driving my EA-81 and I love it and think it is plenty adequate for the vehicle size and has a very unique character. The other hangup with EJ swaps is the cost involved which isn't really feasible for many people. Remember that if we keep throwing away the parts of our EA-81 platform vehicles because there's still stuff out there, you'll wake up one day and there won't be jack spoob left. I deal with this with the vintage Mercedes cars I work on all the time. No offense to anyone personally, just makes me sleep better at night trying to save the history. As for the issue of the C/W carb, yes they can be tricky, Mine came with one but I swapped it for a factory Hitachi manifold and carb. Runs fine.

I think you should go back to all the places you posted this and actually post the words "I'm sorry Shawn," and change the title of the thread, because he clearly didn't take your money and run. As stated by @Checkerboard Comet, a reputation can be ruined in an instant. You need to do your part to help rebuild the damage to Shawn's reputation.

Thursday morning we drove the rest of the way back to Vegas and dropped R off at his WRX and he drove home. While we were in town we figured we should fix the Outback strut tower better. We bought an angle grinder, assortment of wheels, extension cord, and a decent ratchet strap from Harbor Freight and rented a welder and bought some steel strap and tubing from Home Depot. We drove around town for about an hour through a big city park, checking out some RV campgrounds, following Google's directions onto an army base, and looking behind the Home Depot and Harbor Freight for outlets with no luck. So we proceeded with plan G – renting a generator from Home Depot. Their largest model is 6800 watts and is wheelbarrow style with handles and wheels. Guy asked if we needed help loading it in our vehicle and we just told him no. I used the piece of welding glass we keep in the car. I'm shocked they rent welders to the public without even suggesting they buy or rent a welding helmet. Fabrication went relatively smoothly, welds turned out OK for flux core. Ran two strips from the strut mount plate down to some solidish sheet metal. Added a couple tubes from just above the strut mount to the bottom of the main roll hoop and the top of the trailing arm mount. It's no spare tire inflated against the roof but it held the rest of the week. We've been talking about a portable welder all year and now we're convinced we need to come up with something. A flux core spool gun wouldn't take up much space or weigh much. Two batteries or a modified alternator would probably work as a power source. Packed everything back up, got dinner at a Mexican restaurant near there, and headed out of town. Hit a random trail/dirt road in AZ along 15 that had a few little jumps on it. Got to Sand Hollow State Park near St. George, UT after dark and paid the primitive camping fee and found a spot along the edge of the lake with a picnic table. Lake has swimmer's itch (caused by the snails that live there). It was crawling with golf carts, Jeeps, etc. Had a small praying mantis on my tent while I was setting it up.

Yep. It was almost 15 years ago, so a lot has changed, but mostly still relevant.