Mechanical_misfit

Ahh yes, I saw your thread on Ben. I had a Loyale similar to him for a while. It was actually a pretty clean car. I named it Whitey, and pimped it out with some badgeing from an old Maytag dryer. It really was a great car until my girl friend at the time smashed it exactly as what happened to Ben. They do hold up well in those aspects. I sure hope I don't get any first hand experience with TDF though. :cool:

Here's more dis-assembly pics I plan on swapping to the Cyclops light, so this is the last you'll see of the stock grill. I also found out that I need a drivers side corner lamp. They had some deck screws through the back side that were holding the bulb/socket in place. It must have been damaged in the fender bender that happened before I had it. You can tell the entire drivers side has been repainted. It doesn't look quite as good as the passenger side. Bumper is off, and I only broke a couple bolts on the underside. Usually our Midwest cars like for most of the bolts to snap off in the body. Then I got the drivers side off, and found less rust than I thought. I noticed that sand likes to hang out on the inner edge of the radiator support. I'll have to keep an eye on that when I wash it after being on the dunes. It has a little bit of surface rust but the metal is solid. This is all getting sealed up, I don't want her rusting out for a long time. Same story on the passenger side. It looks pretty good. I also pulled the headlamps. The rad support has a bit of surface rust too, so I'll be painting that as well. Its crazy to see it stripped down this far. I never figured I'd be getting this far in to it. I'm lucky to have inherited my Grandparents `93 Olds 88 and have been using that as a DD, so now I actually have time to work on TDF. I also got a package in the mail yesterday from The Sucker King. I got two gauge clusters and a factory radio/tape deck combo! Thanks John. I'll be working this week on getting the required LEDs and rebuilding one for TDF. My odometer never really worked, and my bulbs are pretty dim. I still have a big ticket Item coming from Colorado. I think I might keep that a secret for a while though. Next week is going to be like a 2nd xmas.

It's gotta be nice having all those spare parts on hand. After my silver `86 Wagon died of rust, I got rid of the majority of my parts. I figured I was out of the game. You know how hard these cars are to come by. I figured I'd never get another one, then along came The Desert Fox. Good to hear its still treating you well though! I still have a hood for you too, probably can't bring it down until my wagon is back together, but its here and not going anywhere.

Super clean! Mine changes its own oil too, I'll be doing the re-seal once I have all my 5 speed parts gathered. Also dig the lift. I'm still torn on lifting mine, but might go for a similar stance to yours. Did you build it yourself?

So has anyone done business with these guys? Looks like they offer 4x140 to 5x100 adapters.

It seems like every day there are more of us Midwesters turning up. I'm stuck on that peninsula that looks like a giant high five. Welcome! I also read and enjoyed your members ride thread. Keep us updated on your progress.

Thanks for the positive comments guys! It does pretty well on the dunes. It's all about tire pressure. I can make the biggest dunes they have at Silver Lake without too much trouble. It's hilarious seeing lifted and built full size trucks struggle when I can cruise right past. Just ordered two new EMPI front axles from rock auto, and some other goodies from Amazon. I also got the parts needed for my welder. I'll be stopping at the metal shop after work tomorrow to pick up the last of the steel I need. This weekend is going to be productive!

Don't give up! He can't take it with him Hopefully you can give it a good home!

Very cool story! Sweet wagon too! I'd love to have that interior in my wagon.

THIS ONE!!!!!!! Dream Car It's crazy. I think I'd have a better chance at owning some super rare American muscle car, than I would at ever owning an ea81 like this. I bet its even rare in Japan. I'll never see one like this in person, that's why its a dream car I guess.

So after hammering away for an hour or so, all the sound insulation came out. It was cold and chipped off without too much trouble. I've got more holes in the floor than I thought. Nothing too bad though. I have most of it cut out, and will start patching it up tomorrow. I'm still waiting on some parts for my welder, so that's the big hold up at this point. I also scored a factory tape deck and radio from a fellow USMB member. I can't wait to get that and install it. I'll post more pics once I've got all the rust repairs done. I'll even try to use a good camera. My Ipod doubles as my digital camera, and doesn't really do much justice for that sort of stuff.

I really miss my `86 wagon

Ill give that a shot when im back at it in the morning. It all came apart pretty quickly I'm going to give everything a good cleaning, and probably repaint most of the interior trim. The rust is pretty similar to other ea81 wagon rust repair threads ive seen on here. It shouldnt be too big of a deal to get it all welded up. I'll probably be doing the rockers here soon too. These are probably the last pics of it in driveable shape for a while. I'm going to be busy with this rust. Then I'll be doing a clutch and adding a dual range trans. I also plan on refreshing the front end with new struts, breaks, and axles. I'd really love to drive out for the WCSS this year.

So I've started the long uphill battle with rust. Got the interior stripped, and now I'm working on the floor pans. I'll have pics later. In the mean time does anyone have a good method for removing this tar like rubber material that the factory put on these floors? I took some if off in big chunks, but now I'm left with the sticky stuff. My wire wheel is just making a mess rather than taking it off.

Good to see you finally found your way here! Welcome to the USMB.

Yep, B&R did them, very nice stuff too. Its funny, there are no old Subies like this around here, and I live in a small town. People start to recognize it and give me a thumbs up or wave. My next project is going to be a BRAT that gets the same theme. Then I'll have a matching set. I wouldn't mind seeing a BRAT done up in the Mountain Grizzly decals too. Has anybody ever seen one of these other than the red wagon McBrat had or the one I have? here's some more pics from thanksgiving day. I hit some trails to help the turkey settle.

Very rad ride! I'd love a BRAT like this one.

After all the work he has done on this, it's hard for me to see how he is ruining this. Let the dude lower it and haul some drunk hot chicks.

Looks nice! Are these something that will be available soon?

Awesome to hear is going to a good home!

I'm actually very interested in this. I'll have to send you a PM tomorrow. I have to be up for work at 2:30am.

did you ever get your steering wheel installed on this?

Any updates on this thing? I cant wait to see that new grill on there!

I may have a chance at getting some good used 175/70/13 Hankook snow tires for cheap. Anybody have issues with that size tire on their 4x4 ea81? I'm also hoping to get my H wheels blasted today, then powder coated Monday, and hoping these tires will work out. Here's some more pics of the Fox. It's stashed away right now for winter, but I'm thinking of maybe just going for it and running it through the winter. I'll have to spend some time rust proofing it though. Any suggestions there? it sure has come a long way, I keep finding old pictures on my hard drive.