tractor pole

:banana: gives me an excuse to visit my Grandma!

that looks good!

^^^^Thanks!^^^^ I added a rear air deflector a couple weeks ago.

so the D/R went in the same time I did the five lug swap, it is a completely different car. as for the DL headlights I have H4 55/100w low beam(outboard) and H1 135w high beam (inboard) housings. Surprisingly the yellow allows more light through than the pitted and scratched up plastic covers that were on there originally. I might entertain the projector option at a later date. but I think that my setup that I already have will be plenty of light. Ben

I have thought about doing a build thread for a long time but I wasn't sure that my car would qualify. so here is a little back story... I received a phone call from a friend in the fall of 2008 stating that he was at a Jeep dealership and they would only give him $200 for his 91 Loyale Wagon and asked if I was interested... of course I was. So after we met up the next day we went and transferred the title and I was trying to hide my face the whole way back to my house because the "tick of death" was so loud I thought it was a rod knock and to tell you the truth at the time I really despised these cars. So I brought it home and three weeks later after a thorough cleaning and fluid change I was ready to go for the winter. I had just moved into my house that spring, I was worried how the hill to the house was during the winter. My daily driver at the time was a 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 2wd truck and I was not interested in seeing if it would get around in the snow... It barely likes getting around in the rain. The winter was the worst in recent memory, we had three feet of snow at my house for more than three weeks. I know for you midwest and northeast folks that is nothing but for the pacific northwest that is a hell of a lot of snow. the car performed flawlessly in the snow the TOD was barely audible:D. After the first winter I parked it for a few months, I gathered the parts to fix the TOD and finished not even a week before I had a catastrophic fuel injection failure in my truck... The wagon then became my daily driver, during the next few months I seemed to "fall in love" with it if you ask my friends who don't own Subarus, who would shake their heads as they commented. I really loved this car by now, so planning and more parts hording commenced. Swapping out the 3AT for a 5MT D/R , Five lug swap, Xt6 sway bars, VLSD rear diff and DL headlight conversion. here is a pic of the progress to date, winter wheels/tires Here is a recent pic with summer wheels/tires and a Yakima LoadWarrior basket. (I still need to paint these wheels bronze)

assuming that your 93 wagon is a legacy, yes they will work. they are both 5x100 bolt pattern.

here is a list after a quick search... link you would need to remove the existing lights to confirm though... hope that helps Ben

Having a good toolbox is always a worthwhile investment especially at 55% off. I like your choice of color too. Ben

WOW!! that switch panel is badass!! I am in big trouble, I just spent 25 minutes looking at the site and projects are already coming together in my head... I just picked up a load warrior for my wagon, After seeing the pictures of your wagon I might have to pick up the extension for it. thinking of adding some brake lights and maybe some Hella 500's. Bump for Clean/Cool wagon. Ben

You could use a DEI 530T power window control module. this module allows up/down "one touch" operation from the drivers switch. pretty easy to install. if you want this one touch to work on the passenger side you have to run a wire into the passenger door to the switch. Ben

I have had a DMM from Sears for 10+ years, it won't break so I have an excuse to buy a Fluke meter... I think I paid ~$50. Ben

what condition is the oil pump "mickey mouse" gasket in? I had a bad gasket, replaced the oil pump and it took a spirited 5 minute test drive to get the hla's to quiet down. Ben

PM sent

I will look into the front Miata struts. and check out the springs at summit. thanks cool thanks I will be bringing the wagon in to you for an alignment when I get all this stuff done. Ben

found it. thanks! I already have sleeves so I just have to play with spring rates. Man those Miata struts look really short. my wagon is going to be low!! (for the summer)

Russ, I remember you telling me that you have ebay coiliver sleeve sets so you remember what spring rates you have? I am thinking about going with the AGX's front and rear if the NB Miata rear will fit already have them saved on my Amazon wish list. not going to take it to the track but I would like to be able to adjust the dampening. this project is turning into more of an obsession:cool:

So what I want is a little lower... not dragging the rockers or rubbing fenders low, just an inch or so. I had a feeling that the spring rate was way too high at 500lbs. I think I will start looking for some Eibach coils that are a lower spring rate. I do like the adjustable feature of the sleeves. Did you use the NB Miata rears or just figure out that they will fit? I also don't mind paying a little more for some good struts that will hold up to the coilovers. however I was too cheap to just buy ground control coiloevers in the first place. oh well...

I was thinking about the spring rates, the springs that came with the kit (for an Impreza) are 500lbs, I think. I will give them a try and order up new lower spring rates if I don't like them. also thought about trimming the lower perch for the stock coil down so they aren't so big around so they would be dedicated for the coilovers.

Soooo.... I want to make an extra set of springs/strut assemblies for summer driving. I am thinking if going with KYB GR-2 (or Excel-G that's the new name) Front and rear.with a set of coilover sleeves. has anyone used these shocks/struts with coilovers? and good/bad experiences. I want to retain my set I have now for winter: Front 94 Legacy struts and springs with Ea82 top hats. Rear stock 91 Loyale 4wd shocks/springs, planning on making a small 1" spacer to level out with front height. thanks, Ben

Don't know if you already have one of these, but they are a great resource. Kind of spendy though... http://www.bentleypublishers.com/volkswagen/repair-information/vw-jetta-rabbit-diesel-1977-1984-repair-manual.html I had one for a gas mk1. it was great for tracking down problems. Ben

Woohoo!!! Don't forget duct tape. :-p

it took a couple times looking at that pic to notice the bearing on the left... looks pretty bad. good luck with the project.

welcome. this forum has been a huge help for fixing almost everything I needed to. I also scored my 91 for $200, but as with everything I get it didn't stay stock for long. Ben

I want those wheels! Looks Good man, can't wait to see the finished product. Ben

I can't remember if they are held on with screws from the back side of the door panel or if they are a "plastic welded" stud that is melted against the back of the door panel, either way the door panel needs to come off. the best way to get one is from a junk yard, or from a member here that has an extra one laying around. it looks intact, you might be able to fasten it back on with a little creativity. and the best part is most of the time it turns out to be really cheap or free. Ben