Ever Victorious

I wouldn't have bought it if it were an auto. I've got the sneaking suspicion that I've got a shot radiator now... I'll go fire it up after dinner tonight to check temp.

are you sure you're not my good twin? I've thought the same thing for many years. I've had people question why I choose the era of cars that I do, and I've come to realize that in many car collectors' cases, they buy and fix up cars from their childhood. This is my generation's "childhood" era, so it's not really a shock to me to see it. This may just be the first generation that has an extensive collection of Japanese vehicles, since this is the time they first started to have explosive growth.

Be still my heart... It's my very first car! Minus the huge gash I made on the driver's side. It's even the same color!

Next stupid question: The radiator fan temp sensor, single-speed or multi-speed? As in, does it turn then fan on when it reaches a certain point and then keep running the fan at a constant speed until the car cools down, or does it turn the fan on at a certain point, and then if the temperature keeps rising, increase the speed of the fan at a higher temperature to cool the car off faster? (Getting very close to being able to take the car to Smart Service... but I need to know before I take it whether the cooling system is something I can fix, or if I'm going to have to bite the big one and have him fix it)

And FYI if the air bags deploy in a 5-10MPH accident, there is a defect in the system. There is a threshhold standard, and that standard is at 17MPH. Any impact of total speed difference less than this is not supposed to deploy them, and equal to or greater is supposed to deploy them. And a properly working system will stick to that properly... our Hyundai suffered an accident last year where my wife rear-ended a pickup on the freeway, with an approximate 15 MPH difference. Damaged the front end pretty severely (as it is designed to), but did NOT deploy the driver's airbag (passenger airbag was off because no weight was in the seat)

So when do we get to learn the fate of the T-coupe?

Man... the colored body crease... I wanted to do that on my other XT, but I sold it. That looks hot...

Yeah, uhm... so got that belt part number, jeff?

Know of one that fits? Just in case...

One of the fiddly bits that looks like it's for charging/discharging the system is currently held together by duct tape (the way I got it). I'll have Smart Service check when the car's down there, but I'm 99% certain the previous owner already vented it.

Sure, if you're not wearing your seat belt (air bags won't help with this), or if you have an extremely severe or head-on accident. I've been in accidents in both an EA81 wagon as a rear-seat passenger and an EA82 sedan as a driver. Not injured at all in either case, both were about 25 MPH collisions. Enough to destroy the tailgate on the EA81 and push the bumper in on the EA82 (but not damage the radiator support... any new car, your radiator would be in your intake with that kind of speed) Your seat belt is designed to keep you in place. What an airbag does is slow down your face's approach to the front of the car. You're not LIKELY to hit the steering wheel under normal circumstances. Most severe injuries in vehicles (at least as shown by crash test dummies) occurs when the passenger compartment collapses too much or becomes intruded upon by structure that crumples backward. Your old Subaru is NOT designed with advanced crumple zones like a Legacy, and there is absolutely positivley no way to MAKE them for your car. The frame and body are the way they were designed, which even for its day, was pretty darned safe when you compare them to other cars of the time.

The A/C on my 6 is shot... not sure I want to bother fixing it since it appears to be held together with duct tape. That, and it's not my daily driver, so that's a lot of money for not a lot of bang. I'd like to remove as much of the A/C system as possible, and certainly the easiest thing to get rid of is the compressor. Without this, obviously, I will need a shorter belt. Has anyone done this? If so, which belt is the correct replacement?

Ok... I still haven't yet gone and replace the brushes in my cybrid steering pump, but the pump also leaks pretty badly and I can't find anyone who sells the seal/o-ring kit for this thing (not even the dealership I got the brushes from). As I understand, part of the reason the steering is so heavy now is because the fluid in the system resists the turning of the wheel, because it's not flowing through the system, correct? If this is true, is it possible to drain the fluid from the system and somehow "cap off" the rack so there's no fluid in it, and none can enter it? Would this make feel more like an XT DL sans power steering? And would it run reliably this way, or is the fluid also some sort of lubricant and use in this manner will cause steering system failure in the short term? (I ask this because I'm not sure this cybrid pump is rebuildable... and $450 for a new pump vs... ??? for disabling the system?)

x1,000,000.... nuff said.

Air bags are way more than just a steering wheel. there's sensors, computers, chemical propellants/inflatants... the phrase "don't bother" comes to mind.

I know this is a long shot, but were there any FWD Imprezas there?

Did anyone ever end up picking up the one that was for sale in Tacoma last month?

From what little I was able to drive it, the suspension felt good... a little better than any of my previous XT's (in that there was no odd back-end rattle). I really can't wait to get her back on the road. But first I have to get my Kia out of the shop... she's got some electrical gremlins (driving my wife's Tucson today because of it).

Thanks. I like how it sits now. Will probably like it better when I get a new strut and register it.

Dunno about the rotors themselves, but have always had good luck with Raybestos pads.

I would presume "same MAF" would also have the same voltage problem. You might be able to find something that will generate the voltage you need (i.e. be a 5V MAF) that will fit in the same location or style, is that what you are looking for? If so, my money would be on a 300ZX-T or RX-7 3rd gen.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=11597&cat=500&ppuser=14593 http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=11596&cat=500&ppuser=14593 http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=11598&cat=500&ppuser=14593 Pics of the "completed" suspension project.

Rear shocks and coils are from EA82 4WD wagons. Front struts and coils came from a '95 Impreza FWD.

On an '02 Spectra I had, the default colors were a slight bluish-white. I replaced the white bulbs (with blue nylon covers) with red bulbs of the same size, and it gave the dash a wicked look.

Well, my friend and I finally finished the strut conversions on the XT6 over the past 24 hours. Sadly, I can't drive the car at speed yet because I failed to check the struts when I took them from the J/Y, and it turns out the left front was pulled off a car that had collision damage on that corner. The strut is damaged, and the front left tire's top leans in towards the engine quite badly. At this point, since the "hard" work is done, I think I'll just take the car to Smart Service and have the strut replaced with a new one. On the bright side, it appears the radiator on the car is good. I fired it up and drove it around the block many times and at speed, the car cools down to a reasonable level, but it rises up again when the car slows back down to 1st gear speeds. The fan still is not coming on. We're fairly certain this is the radiator sensor (assuming that it has a high and a low position, and the low is out). Didn't have time to rebuild the steering pump, but I at least have the brushes now. I also need to bleed the brakes. Stopping might be nice. I took a few pics with my friend's digicam, and he will email them to me sometime in the next couple days. The ride level on the car is actually pretty good... the rear is too high compared to the front, but the difference is small enough that flipping the rear mounts doesn't actually look like it would be worthwhile. I will say this... the car rides HIGH... on ALL corners. Edit: Oh yeah, we broke one impact wrench, and the air compressor's regulator assembly isn't working right now...