Hudmud

I am spending hours searching this board and online parts store sites to determine what parts are interchangable. I have an 82 GL Wagon 4WD that runs (albeit roughly) but is a serious rust bucket. No apparent drive train problems and the EA81 just needs a serious tune up. CW carb, 4MT I also have an 84 GL Wagon 4WD that runs (a couple quirks I am still working out) which is in good shape all the way around. EA81, Hitachi carb, 4MT I am going to look at an 86 GL Wagon I believe is an EA82T, 5 speed MT and was told that the front drive (axel(s)??) is/are messed up. Not sure what all is wrong but engine is supposedly good and body is in fairly good shape. All three have less than 170K and I am trying to decide if I should pick up the 86 for parts/fixer and if any of the 82 parts will work with the 86? Is there a definitive information source that I can access that would tell me what parts are interchangeable between all years and models of Subaru (both body and mechanical) instead of wasting your time asking these (stupid) questions here on the board? I've learned alot from reading messages on this board and you guys are great!

Thanks for the info. Didn't think there was going to be a problem but it didn't hurt me to ask and I even learned som thin!

In an attempt to further eliminate an easy solution to my 84 GL's surging/hesitation problem, I am replacing the plug wires today and I am curious to know if there is a correct wire routing procedure that should be followed to address the following concerns. "Crossed Wires: You may see guides on your car that have the plug wires crossed over each other, rather than in nice parallel lines. This is intentional to cancel out magnetic fields. Wires in parallel may cause one wire to induce a voltage in another wire, causing it to fire when it shouldn't ." "Some manufactures criss-cross wires on long runs to cancel out magnetic fields which would otherwise induce voltage from one wire into another and cause mis-firing. " http://www.inct.net/~autotips/plugwire.htm I realize that there are no "long runs" like one finds with a V8 but I just wanted to check. There are 2 sets of wire clips for the #2 and 4 cylinders that wind around the alt and does it matter which wire goes where? Can a problem be potentially created if a plug wire is too close to the alt or it's wiring? Any recommendations for running the #1 & 3 wires as well as the coil wire?

Thank you for your welcomes and replies. I am in South Central WI, Princeton to be exact. The reason I was asking about the 14"s was because I just bought a brand new set of P-205/75/14 that I put on an Aerostar that is now after 2 weeks with the new treds, requiring more repairs than I care to invest so I was hoping I might be able to use them on the subbie. It sounds like a little more than slight modification would be required in order to use these tires. Thanks for the info Bratman2. As far as parts exchange is concerned, I am not sure what a (Gen2) body style is as compared to ???? This is my first exposure to Subaru. The body and under carriage on the 82 is rust city so there is no salvage there... it's primarily my ice fishing machine. I am interested in learning which body parts interchange but my main concern right now is mechanical soundness. Thanks McBrat. The parts I am curious abought are such things as the distributor, carb, all brake components, wiper motors, radiator, starter, alt, AC , windshield, tail lights, blower motor, heater core, fuel pump, H2O pump, drive train and axel, ect, etc..... in other words, in my used car and junkyard searches, which makes and models are going to have parts that I can use on my 84? Is there not a reference manual or some web site that I might be able to glean this info from? As an example of what I mean, while searching for a replacement vacuum advance for the distributor I learned that Subaru used both Hitachi and Nippon. Do the advances interchange? MT, Auto, Turbo make a difference? Any other make vehicles use the Hitachi dist that I have? I know I have a long road here but I'd like to go as the crow flies if you know what I mean. Thanks again for the replies, there's no place else to go but "onward!"

Hello, just wanted to introduce myself as a new (older Gen) Subaru owner. I have recently acquired an 82 and 84 GL wagon(s) and will have a ton of questions as I embark on my restoration/maintenance projects. I have just perused the last 30 pages of posts in this catagory and if nothing else, I must admit, you guys are fanatics! Power to ya!! I may end up becoming a full fledged member myself??? Any way, I am having a similar surging, hesitation, jumpy tach, fuel/electrical/vacuum problem with the 84 as I have noticed others post about. (I think I have it narrowed down to that!!) I have replaced the fuel filters, installed a new accelerator pump piston, (previous owner used cheap rebuild kit) and rebuilt the faulty vacuum advance on the dist using a rubber inner tube as a diaphram. The hitachi dist has some play in it but I cleaned and greased it for what it is worth and overall the car runs better than it did before but it still isn't right. The plugs look really good but the wires (1) is torn up and so new wires are coming tommorrow. Now for a couple questions regarding 84 GL Wagon 1.8 MT 4WD: 1) Is there a correct wire routing for the plug wires? 2) Is there a reference source that would tell me what parts are interchangable between years and models of Subaru or other makes? 3) Will any modifications need to be made other than rims to switch from 13" to 14" tires? I'm in Wisconsin and there ain't many Subarus in this part of the country so I need to aquire as much info as possible so that I may proceed with my projects as expeditiously and inexpensively as humanly possible. Thanks and I look forward (hopefully) to becoming a part of the family which this message board certainly is!! Rock and keep rolling!!!!