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if you can get your hands on a used genuine Subaru unit, you can always have it rebuilt by a local independent rebuilder (starter & alt shop) - that is what I did with my 95's unit.. yeah, i put a parts store one in temporarily while I had the original done and it worked fine for that.. Once i got the rebuilt unit back, it went in the car, and the parts store unit went back in the box & up on a shelf - still have it, i think, lol all in all, it was a little bit more cost wise to have it rebuilt locally, but i ended up with a much better unit than the parts store one, and i supported a local business.

Tell us what you've been up to, with your old-skool Subies. Here we go: Loyale's: Changed out the A/C and Alternator Belts on the Sedan. Whoever maintained it before had SOA Subaru Belts on there... Part numbers: SOA543100 SOA543102 One, but not the other, are still available from Subaru. A literal chunk was missing from one of the belts, so when turning and putting load on the P/S Pump, it would catch that spot of the belt and then slide producing an interesting squealing sound. Picked up Gates PoweRated (green) belts. Part numbers: 6839 (.5" x 39") 6845 (.5" x 45") Working well, however noticed a lot of green dust around the area of the belts now... probably need to retention the belts now that they have less memory of being in the package. Since I had some EA82 Wagon factory rear coilovers, I wanted to see how much of a lift would be gained over the factory Sedan rear coilovers. Laying on the ground next to each other is a visible difference, the Wagon Coilover setup being Longer over all. (Wagon Set is from older GL model that still had adjustable height. Currently on the lowest setting from factory.) On the car is a noticeable difference as well. The rear was "jacked up" like a hot-rod... drove it like this for a while but then decided to put the sedan coilovers back on to keep the rake even and stress out the rear CV's less. Stock Sedan Coilovers: Wagon Coilovers Both photos were taken after driving and settling in the suspension. Swapped out the brake pads and shoes on all corners. The rear shoes were still the factory ones with the Fuji logo and painted in the same color as the body. (Onyx Metalic) This is somewhat common on these older Subie's with under 200k or so. Depends on how the car was treated. My dad rebuilt the P/S pump on his Loyale wagon, as it was puking all over. Kit part number from Subaru: 31263GA470 $37.28 before tax. Had everything except for one of the o-rings on one of the inlets or outlets, but was able to make do. Replaced a couple Water Pumps on the Loyale's as they were getting noisy and weepy. Can still get these through Napa and the similar parts stores. Funny the box the pump comes in from Napa has a GR third-gen Impreza on it for decoration. 2nd Gen's: The tailpipe on the hatch finally needed attention. Right where the muffler pipe was welded to the axle-back section, it had just rusted away to where there were threads of metal just on one side holding the (now almost two) sections apart. This allowed the muffler to swing around under cornering and bumps. Wiggled it off the rest of the way by hand and then did the right thing and just added a length of straight-pipe... exhaust is carried out past the body and now there's more Subie rumble. Cost? $Priceless. Also on the hatch: Was driving, then stopped at my destination, and then noticed steam venting from under the hood. "Great..." Popped the hood, sure enough, it was the soft coolant bypass hose that goes from the intake manifold to the top of the block. A tear had opened up just above where it was clamped to the nip on the block, sending a stream of coolant forward onto the radiator, hood, and in a puddle around it's area of the block. (Did a nice job cleaning the oil in that spot) More of an annoying leak if anything... so filled the radiator back up with water and then limped it back home several miles on the freeway and backroads, keeping the revs low as possible. That little hose, and it is small, like vacuum line size almost, was $20 some dollars through Napa, plus it would be a week-out shipping from East-Coast! So I said yeah no, I don't need their pricy custom fit line, when I can make my own. Removed the distributor, as it was in the way. Plucked out the old hose, measured it, and then installed a length of hose I had laying around that used to be fuel-line. Put the disty back in and hey, just saved $20 and a week's worth of waiting. So what have you guys done recently to your Subies? Searched until my eyes were sore, but couldn't find the OG thread started way back when...

There are a lot of bad alt rebuilds out there. I had to go through 4 before I just bought a used one and it worked.

Sorry, but I'm a little confused, because I've never tried this. If you suck all the air out of it, does it squish down so you can store it in a closet or something?

Well, I have now replaced all four speakers, and made a good dent in getting the door cards retrimmed. Have finished the rear passenger door! Still need to put the other three back together. Amazing what some cheap blue vinyl and 3 mm foam plus some contact adhesive and elbow grease can do! I also vacuum washed the carpet on the door trims, water was pure filth...

Looks like the same handle used for decades now. $24 shipped to your door. Being a wagon fan I’ve replaced several. I even have one in stock. That handle if it is the same began its run on the GL/DL/ Loyale series. Pardon my eyes if I’m not seeing that as it may be.

Thanks for all the input! I removed the top of the carburetor, shot it with plenty of carburetor cleaner, and tried to clean everything I could get to about as well as I could with the carb still on the manifold. When I put it back together, there was no change. The inside of the carb still looks filthy, the gasket material is disintegrating, and since it still doesn't run right, I'm thinking it might be time to get a carburetor kit, pull off the carburetor, and clean/rebuild it. Does anyone have suggestions for a brand of carb kit and/or where to buy it?

I would point you back in the direction of the store that sold you the alternator... Who tested the alternator?