Virrdog

Wow, this is amazing. I wish I could do all this with my wagon! Awesome job!

I think one of the fans will always run if the HVAC is set to A/C.

Or his mind slipped up and just put a 2 where the 1 belongs. Oh well, life goes on. That happens with the mind sometimes... misplaced memory. He had a turbo brat with an EA81t. This kind of thing happens more the older you get. A few months ago I was telling a lady with a Baja how she should replace her EGR valve, it's simple and cheap and can help the car run better. Yeah, it wasn't until a few days later that I realized I meant to say the PCV valve.

My '93 did this after I put the dash back together from a heater core install. I think it's just a matter of the adjuster knob moving slightly too far and starting to engage the heat/defrost selection. I just consider it a convenient "extra" option.

Long time ago in my young and dumb days... went into off-road park on my lunch break from work, alone. Had never been in the park after the snow melted in spring time. Well went through a "puddle" I had been through many times before. But this time there was a little bit more water than I was expecting and the water started to come over the hood of my Brat! Then I felt the tires starting to barely claw at the rocks below as the Brat started floating. Kept the throttle open and my momentum going and made it through. Now mind you, this was the way in and out. So I had to go through the whole ordeal again just to make it back to work. The water would come up and stop about 6 inches away from the back edge of the hood!

If he is right about the block being scrapped... then they drilled the holes because the engine block was not supposed to used again. It's only supposed to used for metal or as a door opener or paperweight, etc. The reason for scrapping could be for legal reasons. I think you could get the matching cylinders re-sleeved with a steel liner and then run under-sized pistons. The side with the hole could have molten aluminum poured into where the back of the new sleeve sits. Then the rest of the block could be tapped and then threaded with a bolt. It's a low-power engine so the solution does not have to be crazy with the relatively low cylinder pressures...

I had a crazy idea come up in my head (no pun intended) of tapping that hole with some threads and running a threaded rod in there with some red loctite. I realize that thing has to deal with combustion temperatures and pressures. But if you figure out the logistics, might be the best ghetto fix ever!

r81gsr95, I tried earlier in the thread... But it's like trying to teach water to not be wet. :-\

Wow, lots of progress since I last checked this thread. It's starting to all come together. And I second the http://www.bcae1.com/ website for some weekend reading to get caught up on electrical stuff. I used the calculators doing some bigger sound systems to get the wiring sizes right.

Sweetness. I just read about that stuff, and am very impressed seeing it in action.

Hmm, gotta listen to the voice of reason... But in my case I replaced the radiator 2 years ago.

My car is exhibiting very similar symptoms. Only difference is my car likes to run cold... until it gets up to normal on the gauge, which means its on its way up and the heater comes on. Any progress in diagnosing it?

Does... not... compute...

I'd believe it. I have an automatic family car ('95 Camry) and I put it in neutral at stop lights and such for the fuel savings and reduced vibrations. When you hit neutral sometimes the car starts to nose dive because most of the braking pressure was being used up in stopping the forward push of the transmission being in drive. Once that pressure from the torque converter is relieved the car stops much faster, this is most observable at slow speeds. I hate automatics...

Lookin good so far. Just ignore the haters.

Thing of beauty... Makes me want to powdercoat my wagon spoke wheels.

http://www.vwvortex.com

That looks awesome, nice find!

The thing about the moving ones is that there no way for the bulb to no where it was, so to speak, the last time. So they will be in a slightly different position each time. Hardly an ideal situation. And there is absolutely nothing in the ECE regs about bulbs that can move themselves. It always the housing itself with self leveling and servo motors that can go back to the exact same spot to be properly aimed. Otherwise movement is not allowed. I just hope you stay safe on the dark roads, though.

People compare themselves to Ken Block now? :-\ He's improved greatly and has very nice skills, but he's still in the minor leagues of driving.

Use a piece of wood, then wail away with the hammer. Only use the hammer directly on the tire or against the wood if hitting part of the wheel.

When I had crazy electrical problems on my Brat it was the wires going across the bottom of the tailgate area were corroded and breaking. Doesn't sound like you have quite the same problems, but it wouldn't hurt to pull off that access panel real quick and check them out to eliminate a possible problem.

I stick the car into 5th gear (it's the opposite of what you normally do, but this time you want the gear with the least mechanical advantage on the wheels) and pop that bolt off with a breaker bar. Hasn't failed me yet.

And should stay that way, IMHO. If any stray light would make it to that area, black would keep the car & wheels looking the cleanest. If you look at wheel advertisements they always completely black out the area underneath the car and behind the wheels (unnaturally, of course). Because this keeps the car looking the best with whatever wheels are on it. I try to follow this on my cars, but unfortunately in real life the turbo legacy has big shiny disks (brake rotors) behind all the wheels. But I can completely understand having the inboard rotors white or red or whatever engine scheme you choose to go with. That should look pretty cool when its done. And this is all just my opinion of course.

Paint or powdercoat the drums black. It's my personal belief that drums should never be snazzied up in anyway that can take focus away from the wheels.