jnorion

Hmm. Pacesetter #C605Z is the one that I bought from Rock Auto, and when it arrived it had clip mounts instead of holes. There's no number actually stamped into the part that I can find, so I suppose it's possible that it was boxed incorrectly. EDIT: I have filled out a return form with them today, but I don't know yet if they have the right one. Still trying to hunt down a definitive answer as to what I need.

This is not something that seems like it should be difficult, but I've so far been completely unable to find a new distributor cap to fit my car. I'm seriously wondering if I don't have a stock distributor. Mine has captive screws to hold the cap on, which are threaded directly into the distributor body. The only caps I've been able to find anywhere, locally or online, are ones that clip on. Rock Auto had a picture of one with the screws, but when it arrived it was also a clip-on one. Here's what mine looks like: It's got a Nippondenso logo on it, but I can't seem to find a replacement. Anyone know where I could get one? Or, as an alternative, I suppose a more standard distributor would also help.

I did soak all the bits of the top end that I didn't replace, but I'm definitely still considering the possibility of a full rebuild later if it seems like it's not enough. Taking the top off was a 10-minute job including reading the manual, so I haven't wasted any time. I got a full rebuild kit, so far I've just cherry-picked the pieces that were important (needle valve, top gasket, etc). Totally understand about the separate posts and it's a good point, I'm just not really there yet... at the moment I'm just thinking out loud. I still have an extremely worn distributor cap, a bunch of vacuum leaks, what I'm pretty sure is incorrect timing, and I haven't even looked at the fuse panel yet to see what might have blown, such as the choke fuse. New vacuum line and cap are on the way, and I acquired a timing light today. Once all that stuff is out of the way I will do a basic tune on the carb, and THEN if I still need help I'll ask in more detail.

Finally some progress today! I pulled the carburetor apart and cleaned it and replaced the float valve and gaskets and such, and now it starts and runs. The process was fairly straightforward, and really only included one surprise: That's the screen that lives inside the float valve assembly. It was entirely opaque and clogged, and had either been smashed or had collapsed from suction or something. I think that's probably most of what was causing the fuel delivery to fail. I didn't have a replacement in the rebuild kit, so I cleaned it thoroughly and bent it back to its original shape with some needlenose pliers. Now I'm a little uncertain what to do next, though, because the engine still runs badly. It's a little rough and sounds like it's occasionally missing, and although I did get it to idle after it warmed up, I had to keep on the gas while it was cold, and when I put it in gear and drove it 100 yards or so it was struggling as soon as the engine was under load and then when I let my foot off the gas the idle dropped way too far and it died. A couple of things I think I need to try now: I haven't yet been able to find a distributor cap locally that fits, and the one that's on there is definitely a bit worn, so I need to source that and replace it. Replace vacuum lines. None of them look like they're falling apart, but there are a couple that have T junctions in them with one leg that has no line on it and is plugged with electrical tape. After that I'm not really sure. Timing? Distributor points? (Does this one even have those?) I think I need to hunt down someone with more carburetor experience than I have to help me tune it up. Also, I didn't do a FULL carb rebuild, just the top end, and I'm not sure what's working and what isn't. Given that I had to rev it manually at first I suspect that the choke isn't working properly yet, but I'm not sure what else needs to be done.

Awesome! Wish you were closer by... I'd love to replace the seats but I don't think I can justify the shipping cost from New York.

Ah, interesting. I wondered why it didn't seem to have any tow hooks! That makes much more sense. The whole assembly is actually surprisingly light... I'd say 70lbs at max, probably less. But the skid plate is certainly sturdy enough to protect the oil pan from my bad driving. I wonder if it's sturdy enough to hook onto and extract the car if I get stuck, given that it's connected to the tow hooks?

Cool, thanks for letting me know. Yeah, after inspecting that bull bar more closely while painting it, I'm pretty certain it's homemade. The welds are not nearly clean enough for a factory thing.

Fresh coat of plasti-dip for the bull bar. Amazing how well new paint reveals the shoddy sanding job I did. Apparently this is going to be a multi-step process.

Huh, here's an odd question. I was browsing through old threads and came across this: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/103301-1979-4x4-crossmember-brushguard-hardware-please-help/ Is this by chance referring to the bolts that were holding through the holes I marked in the picture above? i.e. these: If these are critical to the safety of the car I want to make sure I know what I'm dealing with before moving it without them, or replacing them with lesser hardware.

Minor progress today. I pulled the skid plate off so I can clean and repaint it, and clean the bottom of the engine and change the oil. Half a dozen pinecones and a huge pile of dirt came out with it. Took some penetrating oil and the breaker bar to get the bolts loose. Luckily none of them thread into anything on the frame of the car... all 8 of them are just bolts through the frame with nuts on the other end, so I'm going to replace them all with fresh shiny ones. I'm interested in the the construction of this thing. turbosubarubrat mentioned that the side brackets weren't factory, but the main weight-bearing mounting holes are on those side brackets. Was this whole thing reconfigured with new side pieces? Or is this a non-standard one that's built very similarly to the factory style?

Awesome, thanks. I'll hunt them down and see what I can find. Hmm, ok. I'll test it out and see how much spacing it needs to clear the trailing arm. I'm very wary of it but that GL-10 sounds like it was beaten harder than I intend to do to this, and if it survived that way it's probably likely that it'll be fine.

Wait, so I could transfer plates from my newer car, and then just put it through DEQ to get new plates for it? That's a good loophole to know about. So if Webers are legal in Oregon, I'll repost my original question: any chance you have a working spare that you want to sell?

What is it that inspectors don't like about them if they can pass the sniffer test? I mean, what would cause it to be not street legal if it wasn't producing unacceptable emissions?

I may very well go that route with the wheels. I'm still trying to figure out which wheels go to which generations. I haven't been around here very long... do you know offhand who that is that might have the parking brake cables?

Good to know. I was trying to find out details of what effects it had. I do have to go through emissions testing. I guess I'll rebuild.

And you've continued to run them safely after that? Reducing the number of threads for the lug nuts to grab makes me nervous.

I've been considering the rebuild kit, although I will say that you're the first person I've encountered who says the process is easy. I mean, I have no doubt I could make it happen, but I haven't been expecting it to be easy. Was also considering a Weber replacement, but it sounds like that may have some consequences when it comes time for emissions testing. I believe they are EA82 wheels, yes. I'd definitely still like to use them, but grinding a notch sounds a bit scary... doesn't that compromise the structure of the trailing arm? Also, it's kind of hard to tell, but it seemed to me like it would need a good deal ground away to make enough space for the rim. Are longer studs and spacers an option?

You don't happen to have a good one and an adapter plate that you'd want to sell, do you? If there's a reasonably plug-and-play option I think I may rather do that than try to rebuild the Hitachi.

Well. I'm an idiot. Turns out the offset on those wheels is wrong, and the rear ones were scraping against the trailing arm, and I just couldn't see it in the dusk yesterday. Put the old wheels back on the rear and it all rolls freely. On the other hand, the carb has died completely and is delivering no fuel to the engine, so it's still stuck on the other side of the street without enough power to get it up my steep driveway. But that's much better because it's a known problem. If I spray starter fluid straight into the carb the engine starts right up and runs til it runs out of starter fluid, so I know the spark is good. If I disconnect the fuel line and crank it, the pump sprays gas into a container. But the float bowl no longer fills up during cranking. Pretty sure this means the float needle is stuck, or a valve is clogged... either way I think it means dismantling the carb.

It seems like it may be worse than I thought... Now that's it's up on jack stands, neither one of the back wheels will spin by hand. Adjusting the brake shoes doesn't seem to change anything. I'm not sure what would be causing that... 4wd is off (unless the selector is jammed? Doesn't make a difference if I put the car in neutral), brake cylinders I believe connect to opposite corners so there's no single point of failure for both back wheels. I'm very confused.

I'm hoping that's the case. I mean, I don't *want* to have to replace cylinders, but I would really like to be able to drive the damn thing 50 feet to get it back into my driveway.

However, the bad news is that sometime in the process of moving the car from the sloped driveway to the flat street so I could change the wheels, one of the rear brakes has apparently seized. Seriously this happened while it was sitting there. It rolled fine from the driveway to the road, and then from the road to another spot on the road, and then when I tried to go back to the driveway it wouldn't move. #@$*! So now it's parked on a public street, covered in rust and looking trashed, with no plates, and no easy way to move it. This got exciting fast! Guess I have to learn how to dismantle and repair a drum brake sometime, right?

OK, so good news first: I installed new wheels last night and the whole thing looks considerably better already. These were $100 on craigslist including tires.

I saw that blue one on craigslist as well, but the current owner said I wouldn't be able to drive it home so I decided it wouldn't be worth messing with. Would be cool to have a parts car but I've got nowhere to put it. I hadn't looked closely enough at the bumper before, but I see what you mean... the '79 has one that wraps further around. I'll keep my eye out for another :-) I've barely begun the restoration process and I'm already running into the fun of having an older and rarer car. I've so far managed to stump the local parts store on what distributor cap I need, and I haven't yet been able to source parking brake cables. This should be exciting!

Haha, ok, good to know. At the moment I'm pretty excited about restoring and driving her, but if that doesn't pan out I'll keep that in mind as an exit strategy. Although shipping to Kentucky might be rather expensive for a parts car... Huh, I didn't actually realize that any of the brush guards came from the factory. I assumed it would be either homemade or aftermarket. There's a wired plug on the passenger side which looks like it was meant for lights, so I suspect that the added bits were meant as mount points for those. I may use them that way again.