ukkiwi

Shifting fork is the bottom end of the gear shifter (top end has gear-knob). When you move through the knob to select a gear you are levering the fork and shifting the gears in the gearbox. If the fork breaks off then it won't shift gear. I'm not a mechanic so I'm not sure why it still works in 4WD... the fix requires opening the gearbox unfortunately. Lots of labour, very expensive.

Pretty sure there's no removable cap on any of the CV joints I've seen. Old one was NTN brand. Only way in is throught the CV boot end. Even if I had managed to knock the CV joint hard enough that the pin ended up on the inside of the cup then I wouldn't have a way of removing the clip. I would still need to break the ball cage to remove the clip. It might save me having to grind through the "gear" though.

http://www.adl.co.nz/Catalogue/SUBARU/LEONE+4WD/AF5+4WD/8847/ I bought a bunch of CV boots from these guys and they list outer CV joints as well; but not where I got mine. I've had mine on the shelf since I did the last one 4 years ago. I think I found the one I did such a pain that I just reused the old one on one side. I bought it at BNT Automotive - "Drivecraft" brand part#SUB223. I googled this and got nothing. From memory there's 2 different spline counts so pays to check that.

I was thinking this. That's an odd looking inner joint. Doesn't look like there would be much play in that.

My How to Keep your Subaru Alive book says that the outer CV joint and Axle shaft are inseparable - but I know they're not as I have replaced one a few years ago. I couldn't find any advice on how to pull them apart so I thought I'd share how I did it. Not many photos sorry. It's kind of an afterthought. Feel free to add further advice - I might learn something about an easier way to do it next time. Also, I'm not a mechanic so my terminology might be a bit off. The CV joint is basically 3 parts: - The outer cup and axle stub which fits through wheels bearings and wheel rotor. - A star-shaped "gear" that attached to the axle-shaft (used wikipedia for this description) - A circular ball-bearing cage with fits into and pivots inside the cup. I'll work off the assumption that you know how to remove the inner CV Joint (technically a Double Oscillating Joint). The picture attached shows a split star-shaped gear (with the splines that fit around the axle shaft) and the clip that holds it in place. Note the groove on the left (inward) side of the "gear". Also note that the right (outer) side of gear opens slightly to a larger diameter. As you will see when fitting a new CV Joint; the clip is slid over the end of the axle-shaft until it slips into the groove on the axle-shaft (both ends of the axle-ahaft look the same). That slightly larger diameter mentioned above compresses the clip so that is slides inside the splines in the "gear" on the CV joint until it snaps into the groove shown on the left side of the picture. The bottom line here is that the clip which holds the CV joint on the axle-shaft is completely concealed! When the CV joint is attached to the shaft and the clip is in place, it can't be hammered off as easily as it goes on because the abrupt edges on groove inside the "gear" and on the axle-shaft are designed to hold the clip in place so the join doesn't fail! Hammering the joint off might damage the edges of the groove on the axle-shaft which might make the new CV Joint come loose? So here's how I removed it: With the boot removed and the CV joint at an angle and the circular ball-bearing cage exposed, I whacked it with a standard claw hammer until it broke. It's quite brittle and breaks fairly easily. Rotate the CV joint expose more of the ball bearing cage and repeat. Without much effort the ball-bearings will fall out and the cup can be removed. This leaves you with the star-shaped "gear" on the axle'shaft - held in place by the concealed clip described above. Not wanting to damage the axle-shaft by smashing it with a hammer I elected to use an angle-grinder to cut the star-shaped "gear" off - being careful not to cut right though and into the shaft! I finished off with a chisel just to be careful. I think last time I did it I just bashed it with a hammer until it broke though. Up to you if you want to try it. Installing the new CV joint is pretty easy. Pretty much descibed above. My new CV Joint came with a new clip but I didn't notice it was there until I'd installed it using the old one! Have a look what's in the CV joint box before it's too late!

The attached photo is from How to Keep Your Subaru Alive. I installed my Gen1 Brat (no power steering) struts as per top picture. With the top of the shock in the rearward position. Based on the fact it's 4WD; and not a Sedan or Hatchback. Is this correct? And if it correct, has anyone experimented with fitting them the other way round. I have some ideas of what I think this would achieve but rather than describe them (because I could be wrong) I thought I would see what other peoples thoughts are on this.

I bought KYB shocks from Summit Racing about 5 years ago. The spring seat was way bigger on the new shock so I took all the new and old bits to a suspension guy and he put a bigger diameter spring in to fit the strut and matching top plate. I cant remember exactly how he did it - I'd have to take it out and look. My point is that a wider diameter spring fits no trouble. It wasn't very expensive to have it all sorted as the guy just had to get the parts I had to fit together. Only comment is that my new springs are way too hard. Going over speed bumps feels like crashing. One day I'll have them swapped to softer springs but I haven't got aroung to it yet.

In the end it was a damaged shifting fork. Many dollars later I have it back repaired and it probably drives like it's nearly new - which isn't as good as maybe I had hoped it would be. A 35 years old car is still 35 years old no matter how good the o/haul was.

My 1981 Subaru (Brat/MPV) lost drive in front wheels. No prior warning. I slowed for an intersection, waited for my gap and when I went there was a whiring noise - a bit lighter than a light grinding noise perhaps I could say. I changed in to 4wd Hi (and lo) and could drive like this. Took it to a mechanic and have left it. Anyone know what this could be? Anyone have a diagram or picture of the guts of this engine. Thanks