edrach

That article should go into the USRM....great!

Great post; should get archived in the USRM!

I didn't say he shouldn't replace the speedo sensor; but if the car runs okay at 0 mph, then the sensor may be the only problem. But if the car runs like crap at 0 mph and stalls, there are other problems that might need to be addressed that are possibly more simple than wildly replacing sensors.

Except for the clutch and headgaskets, everything you mention should be able to be done without pulling the engine. Before you pull the engince check for HC's in the coolant and if there are none, why do you think you need a headgasket? If your car is a 2.2L engine, your head gasket should be okay but it wouldn't cost much to check first. 130K is not too early to need a clutch but do you really need it? Other items you mention should fall into the $600 to $1000 range. If you need a clutch and headgaskets, you could be in around $2500. I'd keep evaluating my options at this point; expecially avoid that $6700 deal!

Does the car stall and run like crap when parked in neutral? I don't quite know how the sensor would affect the engine's running when you're not at speed. If it won't run at idle, I'd look for the simple things like broken/cracked vacuum line or hose, dirty air filter, etc. first before I get too deep into troubleshooting this. KISS applies here until proven otherwise. Having any CEL codes?

Regarding the overheating issue: it should not overheat when you are driving at speed....fan working or not is not the issue here since it's not needed at cruising speed. It only matters when sitting at a traffic light and having the engine idle and not moving any air through the radiator. Pics look pretty good except for the shabby radio "installation" and cracked dash. Having replaced a dash in my time (thanks again for the help Turbone), be aware it'll take you the better part of 10+ hours for two people to do it once you have an acceptable dash to install. Car looks like a great project car with excellent potential; just be aware of what you might be getting into as well as the possible cost of parts.

Thermoswitch is likely okay; it's usually a bad connector or bad ground that makes the fan not work.

Look for the rust. Some common places: underside of the tail-gate and under the car in the left rear quarter panel where the tail-pipe comes out of the muffler. Exhaust gases combine with water and cause the bumper mounts and frame area to rust out. Look around the door frames also. If the car is perfect it is worth $2500 easily, but I certainly wouldn't offer much above $1500 for it at first. '82 was a unique year since the rear tail-lights, headlights and trim are different from any other year. Is it a DL or GL model? GL had t-tops and instrumentation and is worth the prices mentioned. DL would be okay to use but worth significantly less to purchase or re-sell. Make sure rear bumper is straight; bumper pieces are no longer available new and hard to find used. Check out the tranny; find a good dirt road and make sure it will go from 2WD to 4WD easily. Drive it on the highway at 65 to 70 and make sure it doesn't overheat. Good luck; sounds like a nice find.

Some of the Shuck's around here (Bothell, WA) also take anti-freeze. Depends on local county regs. Ask them.

Interesting comments, GD. You'll be surprised that I have no more 4 speed gearboxes. My Brat has a 5 speed, but the synchros there are pretty shot so the Redline did not help much. Other than that, the Redline NS is only in my daily driver and the Impreza that I use mainly for rallycross and backup use. I will be installing it in my wife's Impreza as soon as I get around to it.

Water sprayed out is usually the sign of a bad head gasket.

I use the 75W90NS from Redline. The NS is an additive to promote friction on the synchros and is to be used specifically for older gearboxes. I used it on my '91 Legacy when I first got it--93K miles and a distinct crunch going into 2nd. The crunch went away around 100K and I have 172K on the gearbox now. I don't know if the better shifting is due to the Redline NS or that I compensate for the crunch by shifting slower. Either way I can't argue with success. By the way, for us Seattle people, Chris at Bow-Wow Auto Parts in Lynnwood sells Redline 75W90 (and the NS version on special order) by the case for $9.75/quart plus tax. Considering I use 4 quarts or so in the Legacy every 100K miles, that's really pretty cheap. Correction: I looked up the bill for the last case of 75W90NS I got and it was $8.95 per quart plus tax. You can call Chris at Bow-Wow at 425-771-6411.

We're going but wouldn't be much help; starting from Astoria, OR and heading east on Monday or Tuesday.

Probably in the pics that I didn't reduce for posting. It's hard to see details like that when looking at a page of thumbnails trying to decide what is worth posting.

As promised here are some pics. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=893

Those of you that missed it, missed a pretty good event. Turnout was abysmal....something like 14 cars. PRG made the best of it by getting 6 runs per car and fun runs and finishing up by 2:30 in the afternoon. Course was mostly wide open and flowed smoothly from turn to turn with no funny kinks; great second gear course for my Impreza until the finish which had two 180 hairpins to slow you down before leaving the field. Water truck only went out for dust control and course was only impacted near the finish line. Due to the low turnout, all competitors ran together and only PRG people worked the cone shagging duty. For those of us who would like rallycrosses closer to home than Oregon, PRG is the answer. Hopefully, they don't go broke and discouraged by the low turnout. I know it was last minute scheduling that created that, but...... Anyway, enough of my rant. I'll post pics as soon as I have a chance to process them.

If it's melted around one wire that's your bad connection; wire around it for a decent connection and one more of your problems will be solved. Doesn't matter where it goes until you fix the bad connection.

Get a smaller diameter drift tool to go INSIDE the roll pin and first knock out the drill bit. Then try to remove the roll pin the normal way. I always use a craftsman 42885 drift tool (I believe that's 3/16"). Soak the roll pin and DOJ with PB Blaster or similar and it should come out.

I personally prefer the quads since conversions are less expensive (i.e. actually available....I know of no aftermarket replacement for the composite headlamps) and throw much better light than the composites.

Wow, I sell complete rear disk brake conversions from the pull a part yard for $100 plus shipping. Weight is 45 lbs for a set; it might be worth it to ship a few sets to OZ!

EA82 models with the GL designation came with the composite headlamps as well as most options. The less expensive DL model came with quad headlamps, cheaper interior finish, and no tach I believe. Looks like Mick beat me to it (I'm too wordy). But if you look at the expanded pic of the rear of the wagon on the link you posted, you'll see the subaru DL badging.

Local pull a part price for wagon wheels here in Seattle is $12.50 plus 9% tax for tire and rim together. They won't sell them separately here. Needless to say I only buy them with good rubber unless I really want/need the rims. Alloys are more expensive.

I had a set of the earlier EA81 wagon wheels sandblasted and powder coated about 7 years ago. It cost a small fortune at the time (I didn't know any better), but they still look good after 7 years of use. Just as an aside, check your wagon wheels for "trueness" (sorry, I don't have a better word for it). When I first got into Subarus I started to collect the EA82 wagon wheels (they look the same but there is a minor difference) and I had a collection of about a dozen. I also noticed that I had a slight front end shimmy no matter how much I had the wheels balanced. The shimmy went away the first time I mounted alloy wheels. After that I took my 12 wheels down to the local tire place and had them checked; I only had 4 good ones out of the twelve! I kept those 4 and trashed the other 8. The point is if you're going to sandblast (glass beading is better) and powdercoat, do it with wheels that are true and won't give you any grief.

From Erik on the nasioc board: Rally-x Sunday Aug 6th, Straddleline ORV park! Tentative schedule for the rally-x on Sunday: 8am tech inspection 9am First Car Out Run groups TBA based on attendance. I believe the cost is $30. Come out and support the PRG Rally-x series! The more people we can get out to the events this year, the greater the chances of a WA rally-x series next year. The organizers are hoping there is enough interest locally to support a full WA rally-x series next year.

Yea, having grown up in northern NJ, it shook me up the first time I heard it. And the Washington Brooklyn is a town of maybe 12 farmers and their families, so most Washington folk don't know where it is either. It is certainly in the "boonies."