zyewdall

Yes, a good controller is key. But, I haven't seen many controllers capable of dynamic braking with the series DC motors that are usually used -- because in forwards operation the field excitation is provided by the same high current as the armature current. Keeping a stable field current in reverse operation is alot harder than it would be in a shunt DC motor. This is one reason I'm looking at an AC motor for mine.

Seriously, if anyone is driving back east with an empty flatbed trailer, they could make some money bringing a few rust free subaru's along....

Sorry :banana:

5W40 full synthetic in the winter. 20W50 snythetic in the summer. It seems to burn alot less if I use that, compared to dino, or 10W30 stuff.

Great idea. Feel free to PM me on any questions, as I have been researching electric car conversions since I was 12, and am currently in the process of converting my ford courier pickup to electric. If you can get lots of used parts, your budget might be okay, but I'm planning on around $10k for mine -- I also want an AC drive system so I can do regenerative braking and go up steep hills at somewhat near the speed limit (I have alot of hills....). The DC drive system is just fine for most stuff and quite a bit cheaper though. I've heard mixed reviews on using 12 volt batteries though -- most people end up going to 8 volt or 6 volt batteries to get the necessary AH storage. Lot's of weight. I just put 3.6kW of solar on my house to prepare for solar charging it (another 3kW on the yard later perhaps).

Oh, its not that hard. Just drive over compacted snow of some sort, deep enough to lift the wheels off the ground. I do it fairly frequently -- plow into two feet of winddrift or something.... But. as long as the wheels touch the ground, a subaru with blizzaks will not stop. I went up my parent's driveway when it was glazed ice, pouring rain on top, 20% grade. Still moved.

Yes, the engines are the same -- some parts might be different like the carbs or intakes, but the basic engines are the same. No rust and already lifted, with the new engine for it -- maybe $300 to $800 depending on how much you want to pay. If it were east coast, it would be worth alot more, since there's no rust. But in CA, they're not that rare. Z

Thought you might enjoy this pic of my wagon going up to my friend's house -- his driveway is half a mile of this. It's above the roof of his FJ40 for alot of it. Just a mite bit too much to drive through without plowing it, even in a subaru

You only have to raise one corner of the car to release all the tension in the driveline and allow it to pop out of four wheel drive (assuming the mechanism to pull it out of 4 wheel drive is working)

Uh.... that's what you need to pull a boat. I like the syling of the '73 or even the '66 a little better myself, but '78 still isn't bad. I don't need a truck that big, but if I ever do, I want to get a early 70's F-series, and put the drivetrain from a newer Isuzu NPR in it -- 4.7 liter 4 cylinder turbo diesel. 190HP at 2600rpm, 380ftlbs torque. Little different than a subaru huh It gets 15mpg in my company's 16 foot box truck.

It also depends on where you take the pressure reading... I have a mechanical oil pressure guage on my VW rabbit -- but it's wired to the oil pressure port on the head where the oil pressure guage is supposed to go. It goes to near zero at hot idle. But, if you plumb it to the outlet of the oil pump, it stays at 15psi at idle. Which is correct?

It's not so much the covers, as the A/C, alternator, belts, idler pulleys, crank pulley, electric fan, and everything else you have to do to get access to the covers to take them off and get access to the belts. Maybe I just have fat hands, but I can't get in there without removing a bunch of stuff.

Yup. All six lug wheels have the same pattern (except apparently the early dodge dakotas had a smaller 6 lug pattern). But Chevy, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Isuzu (and their US branded clones in the 70's and early 80's) -- all the same. Apparently it's because the japanese reverse engineered some '30's chevy trucks left there after the war and used alot of their design when they started selling stuff back to us in the 70's. I've heard from a few people that the engines in the 70's landcruisers are very similar to a 1937 chevy pickup.

If you read my first post in this thread, I didn't ask for help. I was trying to offer suggestions to the person who orginated the thread. :-p

No reason, other than because I don't like relays and I would rather run 10AWG wire, than add another relay.... Relays on old cars seem even flakier than wiring, but it's easy for me to replace wiring. The direct starter switches I've seen actually never have wires come through the bulkhead -- the switch portion sits on the engine side, and the the pushbutton sticks through to the dashboard side -- obviously these don't work if you can't easily see both sides of the bulkhead -- like on any car newer than 1965 or so.....

How much does a starter relay draw? I guess I could measure it huh? The pushbutton starters I'm thinking of are actualy on vehicals without a relay coil on the starter relay -- they push in the plunger on the relay directly, so essentially, it's a 200A pushbutton you are pushing...., not just a 5 or 10 amp one. Obviously retrofitting a subaru would be alot lower amperage than the 200 amps, since it does have a relay mounted on the starter. I figured running 10 guage wire into the dash and back would be fine, as long as the switch is properly rated.

I'm just going to put a big black pushbutton in the dash.

Yeah.... the first error being not buying a subaru.

Clicky starter -- problem on three or four subaru's I've owned. Sometimes I've gotten them for cheap because "it won't start". I've always just put in a new starter for $25 (okay, that's a used one...). I agree that the wiring to the EA81 starter is somewhat crappy. Right now my EA81 has to be jumped (touch +12v wire to solinoid terminal on starter) because the ignition switch starter position isn't working, as well. But your problem does sound like the starter. I'd run new #4AWG cables directly from the battery to the starter, and from the battery to the engine ground. Then, if that doesn't help, just get a different starter. We had a 1981 school bus that wouldn't start -- the big 4/0 cables were corroded just enough to not carry the high amperage a DT466 requires to start. Took a day or two to figure out, and we took the cables off and put them back on and tested them multiple times. That's why I suggest just putting new battery cables on there -- electrical gremlins are headaches, so eliminate them wherever possible.

Yeah -- if you aren't going to put good snowtires on it, don't even bother getting a 4 wheel drive at all. If you've got bald tires that won't grip the snow, does it matter if it's one wheel drive, two wheel drive, or three wheel drive? (unless you have locking front and rear diffs like unimogs have, or some really fancy computer traction control like audi's or such, it's never really 4 wheel drive). Bad tires is a large part of the problem of most of the SUV's (suddenly upsidedown vehicals) that I see stuck or flipped.

Yeah, I have to shift into first alot of times when I'm still moving. A particular switchback on the highway up to my house comes to mind. It'll lug down and stall in 2nd, but there's no way I'm stopping in the road then putting it in first. Also, I coast to stoplights and try not to use the brakes (not downshifting either -- just keeping it in 4th or 3rd whatever I'm in till I have to put in the clutch at 900rpms or so), so alot of the time, I'm still moving a little when it turns green if I haven't quite gotten to the line or the next car forwards yet -- but slow enough that it doesn't like taking off in 2nd. I find that revving the engine a little helps it slip into first while moving sometimes. And yes, sometimes I just keep it in second and throw it into low range instead. But, it does sound like your first has no synchros left -- it's usually just hard to get in gear -- not grindy.

SPFI EA82, 220k miles, all original engine I think when warmed up -- about 10psi idle, 40 - 50psi cruising on the highway (2,900 to 3,500rpm) when cold, I've seen it up to 85psi (almost maxed out), and will idle about 40psi. No oil leaks amazingly enough (but it doesn burn a quart (5W40) every 400miles or so.

I'd just zip tie them to the inside of the hood or to the charcoal canister or something. Horns aren't too picky.

Bump. Updated the photos on the first post. Look at the articulation -- not even straining in that pic. Benefits of a solid front axle. On the other hand, it's really squirelly in the snow compared to the subaru which feels like a rock even when sliding sideways. Guess each has its advantages.

You guys get nasty snow and ice back there. I like the nice soft colorado snow better For that ice ridge that the plow pushes up and freezes the car in, I use a machete to hack through it (watch you don't hit the car though). In the rare cases that we get icy stuff, that works great to chop it up.