sidekickin

Looks like I may have to take this guy to small claims court then. Even $450 is offensive, but I know how insurance companies are. Whatever the settlement ends up being, I want to be able to keep the car. Kelley Blue Book doesn't even go back to 1987 to get a value. NADA only lists retail...and low retail is around $2000. And that is classified as an exotic/classic car. I can't get a value on Edmunds either. And so far I can't find anything listed for sale around that year (at any distance) to use as a comparison. What a mess this is going to end up being... EDIT: Thanks edrach. You posted that info while I was typing my message with that info! :-)

edrach, thanks for your advice. I will definitely use it. If my other car didn't have a flat tire that day, I would have been in it instead of the Subaru. I would have MUCH rather had the accident in that car since it is more easily replaceable. I will keep searching for a replacement car. I am willing to drive a distance to get another one. I am fully expecting the insurance company to offer me an insulting $300 for the car. There is no way in hell I will accept anything even remotely close to that. So I am expecting to have a fight on my hands.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have been looking online for another EA81 with a good body to swap everything into, but I am having no luck at all. And it would be nice to find one advertised somewhere to show the insurance company what it is worth. If anyone comes across one, please let me know.

Last week someone rear-ended me and pretty much destroyed my hatchback. My back and neck are screwed up too. The other guy's insurance company hasn't looked at the car yet, but I know it is totaled. The passenger side rear is smashed in all the way to the rear wheel, the back window and side window are busted out, and the roof is buckled. Also the car will not track straight when I try to drive it. The unibody is noticeably bent and the rear driveshaft rubs against the exhaust. I'm sure they are going to try to screw me on the value of the car and want to haul it away. I'm wondering if I am better off keeping the car and trying to part it out. Mechanically the car is in pristine shape. Everything has been kept up on it and everything works. Tires only have 6000 miles on them. It's sad because the car has so much more life left in it. It purrs when you start it up and runs like a top. It's been driven easy its whole life. It has the legendary EA81 that is arguably the best, most reliable engine Subaru ever built. It even has the original clutch in it still. Anyway, I could ramble on forever about my baby. So what is everyone's thoughts about keeping it and parting it out? Is it worth it? What are the most valuable parts?

Thanks Allpar. I will look into Rust Mort and Rust Seal. My 87 hatchback's rear quarter panel was repaired with bondo about 10 years ago when someone backed into it. And now the bondo is starting to crack. So I want to avoid that possibility with this repair. There are six 96-99 Outbacks at the local pull and pay yard here...all with head gasket issues. I'll give them a visit and see if any of them have rust-free quarters. It's amazing the number of these cars that are junked over the head gaskets!

Thumbs up to the timing chain design. Back to the maintenance-free days of the EA81 engine! (or close to it)

Here are some pics of the rust...

It would be nice if there were patch panels available for the Outback. I've been searching for some, but haven't been able to find any. The portion that is rusted out is the rear fenders right above the bumper cover. The passenger side is also rusted out in the wheel well area just behind the rear door. Subaru360, I like your idea of cutting out rust-free sections from junkyard cars. What do you use to cut out the sections?

Looking to repair the rust on the rear quarter panels on my 96 Outback. After digging into the passenger side rust, there is a hole the size of a softball that needs to be repaired. The car came from the mountains of Pennsylvania, so all that road salt ate the rear quarters up. The driver side is not as bad, but it needs to be repaired also. Fortunately, the underside of the car is pretty much rust free. What would you guys recommend doing to fix this? I was thinking about using a fiberglass cloth kit. Since the car is white, it shouldn't look too bad if i paint the area myself after the repair. Also, what is the exact color of the grey striping on the Outback models? I'm hoping this will be an easy fix. I still have to do head gaskets on this car and the Duty C solenoid replacement. I'm on the fence right now as to whether the car is worth fixing or if I should just junk it and get something in better shape. It has 142,000 miles on it. Thanks for your help.

Yeah, it says right in the owner's manual and on the fuel door that premium fuel is recommended. I am not a fan of that. Although I somehow don't believe the previous owner splurged on premium fuel if he wouldn't spring for a duty C solenoid to fix the transmission. LOL. Logic, thanks for the offer. If I get up that way sometime, I'll PM you and stop by. Looking forward to getting this wagon fixed up and road ready.

Hey everyone, Finally went out and took a picture of my 96 Outback that I picked up last month. Thought I would post it for everyone to see. It needs work. It has the classic EJ25 head gasket failure and code 24 (Duty Solenoid C) for the transmission. Funny thing is that it didnt have torque bind when turning. So I go to look underneath it and someone has removed the rear driveshaft! Talk about hillbilly engineering! You would have thought it would have been better to just replace the Duty C Solenoid and still have the AWD than to remove the driveshaft. Oh well, a quick visit to the local pull and pay will remedy that problem. Could any damage be done to the transfer case or rear differential by removing the rear driveshaft?

As you can see, not very clean!

I'm with you 100%. I just picked up a 96 Legacy Outback, but I already know I won't enjoy that car as much as my 87 hatchback. I also am not a big fan of the full-time AWD. I'd much rather have shift-on-the-fly 4WD. Plus the gas mileage on the hatchback is great. Subaru has unfortunately abandoned good gas mileage in their newer offerings.

Thanks for the help. If I can find a good 2.2 motor somewhere, I would probably rather go that route. It seems to be more reliable (not as many head gasket issues) and it gets better gas mileage without requiring premium fuel. Any special issues with swapping in a 2.2? Does everything bolt up nicely, EGR ports line up, etc? Do I need the computer out of the 2.2 car or is the 2.5 computer the same?

Thanks for the advice. The motor has 142,000 on it. Still runs great but has some piston slap especially during warm-up. It also overheats and bubbles out coolant from the recovery bottle. There is also oil in the recovery bottle.

Hi, Just picked up a 1996 Outback with the EJ25D motor with blown head gaskets. Obviously the motor needs to be pulled out to do the work. It has been overheated a few times. The problem is that I want to completely overhaul the motor while I have it out and I cannot find anyone who carries the pistons for this motor. I can find pistons for the 1997-1999 EJ25D, but not for the 1996. It seems like Subaru had this motor for one year and then made changes to it for 1997. Would I be better off swapping an EJ25D from a 1997-1999 model into the car or possibly swapping in a 2.2 from the same model year? I am not too keen on the 1996 EJ25D requiring premium fuel either. Any thoughts or suggestions on what to do? Also, does anyone know where I can get pistons for the 1996 EJ25D for a reasonable price? Or is this a hopeless cause? Thanks for you help!

Thank you so much. It is greatly appreciated!!!

Gloyale, Just PM'd you!

Thanks for the help. I guess I may have no choice but to look into junkyards to find the part. The problem with that is there are just no Subarus around here anymore, and most of them in the junkyard were crushed years ago. I may get a few more months out of the one on the car, but it is getting pretty bad. It is popping and binding with every turn I make. I don't want that joint breaking while I am on the road! Hard to believe that there is not an aftermarket part for a wear item such as this joint!

It is definitely the universal joint connecting the two shafts...

Hey everyone. I have a popping, grinding, and squeaking coming from my steering. It is felt and heard through the steering wheel, but after thoroughly examining all the steering components, I have determined that the steering u-joint is bad. There is a lot of play in it. And having my helper turn the wheel while i observed under the hood, it is obvious that all of these noises are coming from this u-joint. The problem is that it is impossible to find a place that carries this part, other than the dealer. And I am not paying almost $400 at the dealer for the part. Also, people on the board use the term u-joint and rag joint when discussing this part of the steering. Is that just two different names for the same part? Also, any suggestions on where to get this joint for a reasonable price? I would like a new part and not a junkyard or used part. The vehicle is an '87 EA-81 Hatchback with manual steering. Thanks for your help! Bill

The hatch has the EA-81 in it. As far as which Hitachi, I don't know. It is 4WD and has no ECU or oxygen sensor either. I see 2 Hitachi rebuild kits listed. Not sure which one it will be. Unfortunately, the serial number was wiped off when I did a good engine degreasing years ago when I bought the car. Those carbs must be made out of soft metal. Out of curiosity, I was wondering why the 4WD hatchbacks get much worse gas mileage than the 2WD hatchbacks. I have come across old magazine advertisements for the 2WD hatchbacks claiming mid 30s to low 40s for gas mileage, while my window sticker for my 87 4WD hatch says 24 city / 28 hwy. Was wondering if this is a carburetor difference between the 2WD and the 4WD or if it is just the extra weight that contributes to that significant drop in mileage. I'm sure some of it is due to the extra weight, but a 15 mpg drop in mileage is pretty significant. I'd love to get mileage in the 30s for my car if it would be possible. I average about 25 mpg. Are the Webers more fuel efficient?

This car is probably my favorite car of all cars I've owned. It just gets harder and harder to put big bucks into it. The reason being is that I don't know how much longer the body/unibody will hold out. I live in the rust belt and there is a fair amount of rust damage to the unibody. I'd hate to spend big bucks on a repair and have the body fall apart 2 months down the road. The unibody "frame" underneath the driver's area has a hole rotted completely through which has me concerned. Floor is not rotted through, just the unibody "frame". Also, I have the mustache bar in back on the driver's side rigged up with a ratcheting strap because the unibody rotted completely off where that mustache bar mounts. Don't know how serious these things are and how much longer until the car collapses from unibody damage. The car still seems sturdy though. Any thoughts? Thanks...

Ouch! That is more than the car is worth! I'll have to rig something up because I can't justify putting that kind of money into the car. I've done the rig jobs on other stuff on the car, like the exhaust. Not going to spend more than the car is worth for an exhaust either. I'll buy the rebuild kit for $20, get it apart, and figure out a way to rig something to take care of the throttle shaft leak. If I can't, I am only out the $20 for the rebuild kit. I already have someone who wants the motor for an airplane if I can't fix the carb. So we'll see what happens...

Thanks GD. I was afraid of that. I guess it is time to for a Weber. Any suggestions on where to purchase one and what I should expect it to cost? Do I need to buy anything extra to make the Weber fit?