Mechanical_misfit

Hell yeah dude! I really need to get some trips done in my wagon. My ea82 wagon was a road trippin' machine! Looks like a fun time. If you can get a hold of a set, I think that some white wagon wheels would look sweet on there.

Sorta, Its a base model `87 Toyota VanWagon. It was hands down my favorite vehicle I have ever owned. I have gone everywhere in that van. I had a lot of high highs and low lows in there. I actually wound up living in it for 9 months when I was on rough times. Hauled a lot of equipment to a ton of shows, even made it down to Chicago, and as far as the Keewenaw for some good old U.P. partying. I had to eventually give it up due to lack of space and to help fund my DL project, but I'll never take for granted all it gave me. It was more than just an old van to me. I know this is a Subaru forum, but I'll share a couple pics for anyone who is interested. These vans don't get the same respect our old Subies do. Loaded up for some paddle boarding one cold spring morning I also made it down some dirt roads today with the Desert Fox, I swear this car wishes it would grow up to be a WRX. Maybe once I have the time and money to do an EJ swap. I also found an early picture of it.

Nope. This one has been a Michigan car for a while now I was told. Thanks though dude, glad you dig it!

Nice score. It looks like the twin to my first subie! Mine was eventually swapped to 4x4. I loved it

My 84 is definitely less roomy than any ea82 ive had, but it's better with the escort seats I installed

Man, I wish I could score that set up for my wagon! Looks great

Looks like WI has a much larger Subaru croud than we do. I'd love to go to a show like that! Good to see a trash wagon too! And holy cow, that brat is sick

Thanks dude. My current plans are to keep pimpin' around with it. I have a 4 speed dual range trans that I want to swap in place of the leaky single range. I'm also waiting on funds to do the third light grill set up. I want to go five lug soon but I'm still waiting to hear from a machinist friend who thinks he can make me some front hub adapters. All of those plans are on hold until I find another dd for winter. I couldn't stand rusting this thing out more than it is. Plus having an extra car would help so I could have it not running for more than a weekend. I am hoping to get my hands on a loyale sedan that has a bad engine, but still havn't heard from the owner.

The stripes were made from an old school aftermarket set. Pooparu made them for me. I have only ever seen two other old subies with these decals. One was the mountain grizzly wagon that mcbrat had, then a very rusty hatch that sat in a drive way near my childhood home. I always thought it was pretty sweet. I agree on the single headlight look. The quad set ups are kinda goofy. As for the rwl 13s, I painted them with a white paint marker. They hold quite well as long as I stay off the dunes. The sand rubs the paint off

I scored some front mudflaps from a usmb member. Super happy with them

wow, that looks like a lot of work! Where is his air filter? I'll bet the front ebrake and that rear wheel drive set up could be fun.

Nice! I would love to have another ea82 wagon like that. I miss my `86.

So I did some more digging around, and it turns out I actually do have a hood off of my old three door still. it has a dent kinda in the middle, and a little bit of scale on the front but no rust holes, and its a little bit better than your current hood. Let me know if you're interested.

I really need to do the rockers and take car of any floor issues in my wagon. I wish I were as motivated as you sir. It's looking great!

Thanks again Tom for the hookup on the trans. I managed to get it de-greased and cleaned. I still have to order some seals. It's about a three hour drive down to Tom's place from where I'm at in western MI, but defiantly worth the trip. Tom always has good info, cold beer, and its cool to talk Subaru with some one who is interested in fixing these old cars vs turbos and wrx speak. Loyale, if you're passing through Hillsdale in July, I would love to check out your wagon in person. It would be worth the trip.

Thought I would throw up a more focused build and restoration thread here. Introducing The Desert Fox. It's a 1984 Subaru DL. I searched long and hard to get my hands on a workable ea81 wagon for a long time, and was able to pick this one up at a decent price. When I picked it up. After a good buffing, waxing, and cleaning. Added some trim on the wheels Took it on the dunes. Then It became the Desert Fox. It spends some of its time on the dunes with other Subies I still have a ton of work to do, but I'm getting there more and more every day. I'll use this thread to keep everyone updated on it. My long term goals for this are an eventual FrankenMotor and an awd 5MT. For now I'm going to be driving it as my everyday car and keeping it mostly stock. Either way I'm super stoked to have finally gotten my hands on this one.

I had just gotten pretty stoked thinking I didn't have to work this weekend. I have been wanting to go to this show for a while and finally have a classic Subaru that I would trust to drive that far. There is always next year though. I hope everyone takes a ton of photos.

Sometimes those old oil caps don't seal to well and you get a bit of condensation on them. Changing your oil wouldn't hurt. Check your coolant too though! When was the last time this car had a tune up? check your plugs and air filter first. I had a similar problem on one of mine and did a good tune up and fuel filter change and my problems went away

Great news! Most people would have just given up on it too. I'm glad to hear another quirky Subaru weirdmobile is back in action.