lostinthe202

Yeah, I noticed the 2008 outback seems about as wide on the bottom as my '96 but smaller on top. My buddy who's got a 2003 says the '08 (which is parents drive) is way smaller inside, almost cramped feeling. I assumed this was because of all the safety stuff they're stuffing into doors these days. If it's just plastic B.S. then that is tooootally lame. I agree about the headlights too, insects come to mind....

I'm with ya. The auto industry wants driving to be an easy, accessible thing for everyone regardless of whether or not the mouth-breather behind the wheel posses the intelligence to drive in a straight line in the first place. ( whew the menagerie that is DC traffic really makes a fella jaded huh?) It shames me to think I am a citizen of a country that forced Honda not only to start putting cup holders in the car but to "super size" them because Americans wouldn't buy the thing if they didn't have anywhere to put their slurpy. I could go on but I won't, I know this isn't really the point of the thread. As far as the car goes, visibility looks worse then a mustang mach II and that's saying something. I don't see one thing about that car I like except for the color. I guess they haven't figured out how to turn "ugly" into a pigment yet. As Monstaru would say, way so hella no cheers:( p.s. man, it musta been a hard few days!

Wait, you mean to tell me that the tools sold at Advanced (senility) Auto don't live up to the quality boasted of on the label??? :lol:

I was at Advanced Auto or Autozone or one of those homogenized parts places and saw them in their tool selection. But I think any hardware store would have them. If not, Mcmaster.com

That'd be great! I'm gonna try and hit it this weekend, probably saturday if the weather's decent.

Right on, glad you got it working! Will-

Yeah, I've been to that one (it's the one in Jessup). They didn't have squat for EA cars, I don't think I saw a single one, but I was looking for EJ stuff at the time so I might not have noticed. The one I'm planning on is in Mt. Airy, it's closer to Fredneck and is supposed to be better for the EA stuff. I may even make the trek to B-more. There's a used machine tool dealer up there I've been meaning to visit and I always wanted to tour that submarine they've got up there so maybe I can make a day of it.

Yes it does have a roof rack. I should qualify that answer by saying that's the Non-winterblend gas figure. In the winter 29 is the best I ever get, 27 being the average. I figured the OBS to get a bit better since it's a lighter car. fueleconoy.gov lists them as being the same (well 1 mpg different) as each other. But it seems to me the weight difference would equal some difference.

Those are some good points Gary. When I say "nearish" the two are both about 80 miles from me in opposite directions. 80 miles is actually nearish since if I'm going anywhere, I'm driving a 1/2 minimum, but still that's a bit of a haul. I might ask for some pics, though pics can lie, and see if that helps clear the waters any. I am leaning towards the '87 'cause of the neutral switch issue. I actually don't know for sure that I don't need it, and the car in it's current form has one (all spfi cars have them right?) and because if the whole diesel nonsense doesn't work out I'll be putting an EJ22 in, I think it might be wise to go for it even though it's got higher miles. Or hold out for a newer one with less miles or cheaper. On the other hand, I know those switches aren't that hard to install so it's not THAT big of a deal. I did find a yard somewhat near called "Crazy Ray's" (hehe) that sells trannies for $90 no matter what miles, condition or anything else. So since it's doubtful those other two are going anyplace, I'll hit that yard first and see if I get lucky. As always, thanks everybody!! Will-

Hmmm.... I don't think it matters to me, but thanks for pointing it out. Will-

Yeah, I guess I'll give that a shot. I've found a few others for more money and they weren't budging on price. I've always been bad and trying to convince people to sell me stuff for less then asking. thanks Will-

Yeah tell me about it, my 100 mile a day commute plus all the camping trips I take in far away states is really racking up the miles on my '96 OBW (I'll be breaking 200k before my next oil change and I've put 80k on it since I bought it in late 2006!!). This car is a road-dog, more Hulk Hogan and Less Fabio in the looks department so it'll get driven 'till the wheels fall off. Be sure to post pics of the lift (as if I need to say it:grin:) Will-

I've found two 5spd d/r 3.9 trans nearish to me. Option 1 - 170ish k $100 (1987) Option 2 - 130ish k $200 (1985) Both about equal distance from me. Is 40k worth $100 in ea81/82 trannies? How hard is it to change the synchros in these things? Thanks! Will-

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

Nice! That's my favorite color scheme on the OBS cars. When my '96 OBW wears out, I'll be on the look out for one of those. What kind of mileage did you get on the way home? I've always wondered what those get with the 2.2. If I can get 31mpg with my OBW on the highway, these ought to be a bit better. Could be a bad water pump too, But I suppose either way it will be taken care of in the reseal eh? Speaking of which, how many miles on the engine? Are you gonna rebuild it or find a JY ditty? Good luck, I hope this works out better than the toad! Will-

Nice, that is $250 well spent! How much lift are we talking? Will-

Oops! Yes, I did miss that, sorry! But the idea is the same. Hope Monstaru's PM solved it. Post the solution too so I can stop thinking about this!! Will-

OK, lets see if I can even follow my own logic here. Your single round headlight has three prongs correct? One is for High, one for Low, and one for Ground. This would be the same as the outer square bulb originally correct? What if the configuration of the three bulbs is different on each bulb. Like (and this is hypothetical, I don't know what the setup actually is) what if on the square's the center prong is the ground and the outer two are the high and low, but on the round, the left prong is the ground and the center and right are high and low? So if you have the original plug with it's ground wire plugged into either the high or low and thus the headlight's ground is plugged into a power feed, you would get both high and low on at the same time (maybe why they seem so bright) in one position of the switch, and no light (or really dim) in the other position of the switch. A light bulb will work no matter which way the power flows through it. I say you leave one side unplugged and just play with the other side. Take all the wires out of the plug housing and start switching them around. hope I didn't confuse you even more...

Never mind, Mountain Goat Gruff answered my question in his post about this very thing... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=94556

I've got a buddy that's looking into stuffing an ej22 into his ea82 wagon. He asked me if I thought it would have trouble passing smog. He lives in Oakland, California. I told him probably not, after all the ej22 is going to run better and cleaner then his stock '86 setup right? From a visual inspection standpoint, one subie motor looks much like another subie motor to the untrained eye right? What is California's policy on newer engines in older cars? Anyone have some experience to share? Thanks! Will-

haha, ain't that the truth!! Crazedlist.org is the best and worst thing that ever happened to me! Yeah I did offer $250 since it's a JDM and came with a warranty, but he wouldn't go for that so meh. There's a few listed on car-part.com that I'm gonna check out that aren't too far from me that might be had for reasonable prices. Will-

Well, the good news is that it is a US model so it is a 3.9, the bad news is that not only will he not budge on the price, but he won't do pickups so I'd have to fork over another $100!! Forget it. The hunt continues!!

Hmmm... a very good point...

I've been looking for a 5spd D/R trans which is supposed to be a non-turbo which means a 3.9 diff (right?). I found a place with a JDM unit he says has been sitting on the shelf for years. He doesn't know the miles but thinks it to be under 100k and is offering a 100 day warranty. He wants $350 for it. What say you? Yard pickin's are pretty dang slim around here, but I still think $350 is too high. What should I offer him? Thanks! Will-

Excellent, thanks everyone! Will-