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Oof, the hits keep on coming. Between life happening and that stint where the forums were down - I hadn't had much time to update this, but today I took the time to get things moving a bit again. Long story short - I decided the simplest thing to do to solve the rubbing problem as it currently exists was to cut the tack welds and shift the whole subframe back about an inch, rather than doing a whole bunch of complex bodywork. My bodywork skills are definitely not my stronger suit, so I figured I'd better make things fit to what's already there as best I can. While this job was harder than I thought it was going to be (I had to cut out a larger section of the bed to get my cutting tools in there), the wheels now sit squarely (loosely) in the middle of the arches. To continue the spirit of solving a problem by creating new problems to solve, now I have to modify the original rear diff crossmember to make up for the distance the entire assembly has moved. Probably going to knock that out in the next couple days. Basically for that I'm going to cut some chunks out of the existing crossmember , then offset them with lengths of rectangular or square tubing of similar cross section. It shouldn't be too difficult because the stock part is basically a piece of straight U-channel with bushings mounted through it. No weird bends or offsets to be had so as long as I modify it so the threaded holes move directly rearword, it should be a pretty quick fix. Once that's all done it'll be a temporary modification of the stock lateral links to bring everything a little tighter in towards the frame, then I'll get started on fabricating the strut mounts in the bed, and probably remeasuring everything to see about finding an off-the-shelf set of adjustable lateral links and trailing arms that fit, and then another semi-permanent modification of the rear CV axles to get those back on. I'll likely need to revisit the wheel arches in some form or fashion, but I'm hoping I can get away with just some good ol' fender rolling. Time will tell.

3 hours start to finish engine trans diff driveshaft axles mirrors ecu tcu fuel pump radiator and condensor out. nothing els worth keeping. and thats including driving it out of the woods and cleanup time.

Could be a broken cam between 1 and 3.

Thank you. That's what I thought but was puzzled by the short life. I greased them up good and filled the cavity ten years ago but I have not greased them since and the car gets driven through icy water a lot. I ordered the new bearings and seals today. I have a seal driver set. I snowmobile in to my cabin in the winter so I'm hoping they might last until spring but I kind of doubt it. Yesterday when I cranked the axle nut enough to gain another hole in the castle nut it seemed to tighten them up a little. If they wear down and loosen up again I'll change them out. That just means that I'll be doing it in the snow on the side of the road where I park in the winter. But hey it's a $300 car that I have been driving for 15 years.

Apparently the A1 Cardone distributors are not rebuilt to Ea81 Hitachi standards. I ordered a second one just for the heck of it and it performed the same way as the first. They seem to be mechanically sound, but the coil is not compatible. I pulled the coil out of my old distributor and replaced the one in their "rebuilt" one, I'm now getting good fire and it appears as though it's going to work fine. Buyer beware. Their part number is: 31-810 and Amazon and rockauto sell them as well as other outlets.

I used to rebuild these with bushings from a small machine shop. Definitely worth rebuilding, as the Hitachi electronics will last indefinitely. As opposed to the Mitsubishi distributors, usually found on 2wd models, which will wink out without warning and leave you walking... don't ask me how I know.