newsoobdude

Good luck and hope all goes well. Be sure to grab some pics for us all.

Yeah, I got lucky. Best year for the Gen 1 even though I'd rather have an '80 due to YOB. Still cannot believe or figure why he started tearing it apart to fix his wagon. Oh well.

Well I can finally post a pic of a Gen 1 that is now mine . Finally picked up the other day. 01/1981 Build date, EA81, D/r 4spd. Plans include EA82 FI, Torquer Cam from Delta, D/r 5spd, rear disks, and a 4 inch lift. Will start a thread in the fall when I drag her down here.

Pics of my BRAT I finally got the other day. Needs a tune up and cleaning out but other wise alright mechanically. Will be needing interior plastics at some point and WILL BE DITCHING the topper (want tall topper), A Bar and possibly bumpers (DEFINITELY want a winch bumper for front instead hint, hint). Will be looking for interior door handle plastic trim pieces and new drivers seat (back rest latch not working). PO got it as a driving (he called it parts:eek:) car for his 1980 1600GL Wagon (which I got too for a steal:grin:). Don't know why he did it because it was a great driver before he got it and started pulling stuff then realized nothing fit between the two:confused:.

Went up to my preferred neck of the woods to grab my 1981 BRAT finally and ended up with a 1980 1600 Wagon as well that I had to buy to ensure getting the BRAT (price was too good to pass regardless). Then had to get them to the property and that took 2 days, a trailer, and tow truck. BRAT has no hydraulics but is an EA81 with D/r that I gotta put the disty back in and supposed blown head on the 80 (didn't have time nor battery to play, will have to wait til I go back up at the end of summer to grab the BRAT). Pics- Sleeping beauties waiting for my return

^ drrooooool :slobber:. Man that looks nice! Did they port them at all for ya?

Got to work on the Outback and finally replaced my Transverse Link bushings (no more clunking, kinda nice) and got around to replacing my radio antenna for the 2nd and (hopefully) final time. All I have to do now is make a support bracket for my new antenna as it's a little different than OEM.

I've got Grabbers on my Outback as I couldn't get BFGs and am happy with them so far. They do ok in the mud but do turn to slicks pretty easily and quickly but, even still. I've been wheelin them since Feb. and have gotten stuck only once because I went too slow, but that's another story. Rather quiet on the street and on the highways and handle decently too (they do flex though). I recommend them for dry fun.

Does anyone remember who had the diamond plate tailgate ONLY trim? DPDISXR4Ti, got any pic of her recently?

I was wonderin what happened to this. Good to know its being worked on. Are you gonna fill the ends of the frame?

That looks good! How well did it hold up to the punishment and how many coats did you guys apply? I'm lookin to do this to my Outback soon.

Looking good Kosta! Wish I was back up north to have an excuse to go to Sac and give a hand/ visit the yards.

Man that looks absolutely SIC monstaru!! How much ground clearance do you have under your oil pan and rear diff? Also, how close are the tires to the struts?

Thanks for the info Miles, have been thinking about roll vs spray so good to know. Now I gotta see if I can find a OD Green as the Hunter is too light and beige is also the color I'm painting one of my BRATs and don't necessarily want two beige rides . I do agree on the beige and black looking good and that's what the BRAT will be, I think. As for the body schutz, I might try that instead of the bed liner as the texture sounds better and not able to hold dirt as easily. I will be keeping it two tone though.

Been working on my Outback as it's the only one I have access to for the time being. Finally got all my lights wired up and into OEM switches, bypassed the neutral safety switch, mounted my Maglite, painted the wood grain inserts Green (need to redo OD Green), painted my struts flat black and disabled the ABS and disconnected said light bulb. Relocated my HVAC controls a while ago in order to put some gauges in but have been lagging on that and made my OEM fogs able to stay on with brights but going to redo as fully independent. Also painted the belt covers green but need to redo OD Green as well or maybe back to black.

Well upon spraying a test panel of Hunter Green, I realize it is too "bright" a green and I should just go with OD Green as the beige will be too big a PITA to make look proper.

Thinking of painting my Outback with some Rustoleum play-paint in either Hunter Green Satin or one of their Beige Satins (think tan primer) with Black bottom (bedliner). Which color would you choose?

On my 98, the seat belt receptacle has a wire coming out of it. I just unplugged it and all is good. Really nice as now my chime doesn't drive me nuckin futs anymore when I'm not belted in. I know on newer Fords, you buckle, unbuckle the belt so many times in so little time a certain way or something and the seat belt chime is disabled on them (not done personally but a lot of friends and ex-coworkers had done (F-series parking lot buss drivers)

subimonster, the HighGuys lift includes all the parts to drop the suspension and drivetrain down minus the center support bearing. On my Outback with 3 inch lift + Forester struts I just flipped the center bearing and dropped it down 1 inch to relieve stress on the bearing and u-joint. As for the Forester trailing arm, I know Austin did an Outback trailing arm bracket on his Legacy build with Outback struts and 3 inch lift (look for "water wagon" build thread). 30 inch tires will not fit without some massive offset and major cutting of the wheel wells/ fender openings (28s are a tight fit on my Outback and I've stuffed them in the rear without rubbing and in full flex). Granted I don't have a rear swaybar anymore but........

I would "think" it might be that you might have "muddied" the sensor and might have to re-submerge your ride as the sensor is dirty. Or you might have knocked it when you went through the puddle with a knocked rock.

Looking good, keep her up . MIght have my RSB going up for sale if you'd be intersted. pm me if ya want.

I have a Highguys ("Gloyale" on this board) 3inch lift on my 1998 as well as 04 Forester struts and springs. SJRLift.com is another option. Check out the off road forum as there are threads in there about lifting the newer EJs/ Outbacks/ Legacies. pic if mine-

"Enough" is what I always thought!!!

My friend had wired a stereo into his old truck a couple years ago and it wasn't working after the install. Started tearing everything apart and checking all the wires at the radio and everything with no luck. Drove him absolutely nuts as he couldn't figure out why no power. I asked if he ever checked the connectors he put on at the battery after a day of him trouble shooting. Of course he hadn't and it was the connectors that were too loose not anything else that he had ripped apart . Granted I don't do electrical as I release the smoke from the wires, but I generally start at the beginning and work from there, not the end back. On my Outback I put in a Group A Throttle Body spacer and the bracket for the throttle cable didn't work so I had to make my own after jimmy rigging one for the time being. Took my friend to school after installing and my idle was stuck at 1500rpms even though before I adjusted everything it was fine . Turns out my cable bracket was too long. Took me a while to figure out as it was only an 1/8 inch off. Thankfully my friend noticed that the butterfly flap wasn't going back to the stopper. It had taken me an hour of head scratching and everything and he noticed it in 30 seconds . Oh well. My dad had borrowed my Outback after I had put my new e-bay intake on it and he was saying it wouldn't idle or anything after having it for a day and no CELs. It was working the day before for him but then had the problem on the way home. Asked him to look under the hood for loose hoses or anything but he couldn't see anything. Turns out it was the big hose off the head for the intake and it took me 10 seconds to figure that one out.

Love these threads and FINALLY get to post in one!!! 1998 Outback Limited 5mt Highguys 3 inch lift with Forester struts & springs 215/70/16 Grabbers Custom bumper