Kostamojen

BTW, what do you guys think about this paint scheme for the rear? Note the black in the "indented" part of the rear of the car... Seems like theres too much space back there between the lights, and i've seen a couple other model FF-1's with black accent pieces between the rear lights that seemed to help. Heres the original for reference:

I really don't understand what you guys mean by that... I'm 100% serious about cars, and I do value everyones input and opinions on this. However, if you are expecting a 100% return-to-original-condition restoration, you might be in the wrong place...

Doesnt have to be 100hp, but I can see at least a few different directions to go, including just using a 1300 engine since that starts out at 80hp... I might just try and see what I can do with the 1100 to see what happens... I could even re-use most of any of the upgrades I would do for this motor for any other early-gen EA motor (carb, distributor, ignition, etc.) and maybe try a custom delta cam grind, perhaps some extra head porting to go with it. Honestly, i'm used to spending $$$$ in order to get just a tiny bit of power out of the n/a EJ motors in the two Imprezas i've had, while for these EA motors just a couple relativly cheap modifications can really make a big improvement. Even just going to the 1300 from the 1100 is a big bump from ~65hp to 80hp. Plus, all the work I did with my '78 has me intimitly aquanted with this engine configuration, so I've got a few ideas of what I want/need to do this time around... But, engine work is not the first thing on my list :-p First comes repairing the body/body panels and restoring what compenents I have that are capable of being restored, THEN I need to start working on the details like what engine to go with...

Don't know anything about that car other than the pictures posted, they were found via internet searches aparently... Doing the right-click trick, I see they are posted from this website: www.nostalgiccar.com But its all in Japanese... Can't help you there

Its going to take at least a year for the major work to be completed with this car, its definatly a longer-term project. I plan on either restoring (or replacing with NOS parts) every component on the car as best as possible. I may have to have some custom compents made like bushings or some interior parts, but so far from what I see other than the body it looks promising. If you have that last bit of trim that would be awesome. I still need to remove it to repair the rust around the small bolt holes on there... Ya, I do like this 1100 motor... But I would like to get ~100hp via the easiest route possible, enough to make it freeway useable around these parts for driving to and from meets and such. As for a photochop with some mag-like wheels, I can do you one better... Someone over on NASIOC found these pics, I think you guys will enjoy them!

I meant i'm not a fan of chrome, period. OR steel wheels :-p Those mags are ok... Would look ok painted black maybe, but aren't that great. There are a couple other wheels i'd go with before those. But don't worry about how the car will look, no matter what happens I wont let it look like crap... I do have an Art/Design degree after all

Not a fan of chrome or steel wheels, so don't expect to see either of those on the car... I can't really keep the chrome anyway, several chrome pieces are in bad shape (the side blinker front and rear chrome has corroded underneeth a little, it will need to be refinished) or missing (the front right trim piece is gone completely, and the bolt holes for all the side trim have some rust, they will need to be removed and Ill probably have the holes pluged/repaired so ill just go with some black rubber/plastic/vinyl strips or something of that kind instead). I still havent decided on wheels guys, but for right now this is whats on the car.

Alright, time for my first official Design Photochop I went through, cleaned up some things, plus tried out some different paint colors in spots to see how it looks... I plan on going with black accents in terms of paint color, with the Satin white, but of course none of that is set in stone right now. Let me know what you think... Here is the photo it was based on for reference...

They arent clean :-p Its due to the low resolution of these photos that they look clean...

Day 7 (well its not really days at this point, but Ill stick with it) I drove it!!! I drove down the driveway into the court and around and back up. Parked on the street a second so I could clean the driveway under the car of all the dirt that came off of it, then put it back up. I realized at first, there were no brakes! I checked the fluid and it was empty, so I filled it up and pumped the brakes a few times and much better *whew* The shifter is really loose, needs some work for sure. Could probably use a new clutch. The rear tires hit the fenders of course on bumps (but I was driving carefully at this point anyhow). Steering is tough at low speeds same as the Wagon... Otherwise drove ok, but its not like I went more than 5mph anyhow... I also took the liberty of removing the bumpers and rear tail lights/reflectors/etc. and covering up some of the holes that were exposed that shouldnt be to keep the rust from getting worse at those spots. I have to say, without the bumpers on it looks more 510-esque in the rear than I expected. Anyhow, couple pics from today... Once again, sorry about the lack of video, but the video camera lense is 100% gone now:

Oh, and sorry about the lack of video of it starting up My video camera has been having trouble this year... The lense seems to go in and out of showing an image, but now its 100% gone I'll see what I can do about fixing it or borrowing someone elses camera...

HUZAH! It started I took a look at the points, notice it was just 2 screws and one wire... But that wire was frayed and not connected right. I replaced the points and reconnected that wire properly and it started right up!!! Right now, its actually running BETTER than my '78 Wagon was! Its not backfiring, not making smoke (other than the burnoff from the hole in the muffler), not hesitating much (a little with slight throttle input, but revs VERY well!) So, I guess I wont need a motor right away

I've got a set of replacment points... I didnt bother installing them cause I havent done that before and figured I'd try it before doing something more complicated.

Well I've got some news today... It cranks, but isnt starting. I swaped out the spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, checked all the wires to make sure everything is pluged in and the fuses are ok... I'm getting fuel (fuel pump is working for sure) and the starter is definatly cranking the motor, but i'm not getting spark. In fact its heating up the positive power side and the starter cable so much they started smoking and melting some of the rubber wire coating Think its the ignition, or something else? I re-tryed the old distributor cap and rotor but that didnt change anything.

Thats interesting... But would that 5-speed transmission case have the proper bolt holes/etc. required for the inboard brakes?

I'll probably be ditching this smog pump setup on my 1100 at the very least, so I'm sure I could at least use some bits and pieces off of those motors (intake manifolds, ventilation piping, brackets, etc.) but I'll find out more when I see how this motor is doing...

I can probably find a 1400 locally... But I'm not finding too many diagrams for that motor yet. Replacement drums... Dont know if I need those yet, don't know if I need an engine yet, so really, no worries :-p

I'm at work of course...

Ya, i'm definatly thinking Weber + Electric disty + upgrade ignition, whichever engine I use...

Honestly, other than the engine, theres really no other Subaru that the FF-1 is similar too. The Chassis, Suspension, body parts/accents/etc. are all completely different than any other model... But thats why its so great

Oooh, the 1400... I'm interested. Although, what are the differences on the intake manifolds and heads between these three motors? I know the 1100 has the "3-piece" intake manifold, I think I should ditch that for a single piece if possible to eliminate those two extra gaskets, but I dont know the specifics about the setups for those other two motors to know for sure what I might want/need...

Thats the plan I'm expecting lots of noise and stuff coming out of the car... Especially since the muffler has a huge rust hole in the bottom of it :-p

I think the tank is empty, but I need to get the ignition on to see if it is or not for sure. Got a part number???

Day 6: Well it was actually some of Saturday and Sunday... I decided after looking at most of the hoses that they needed to be replaced before I tried starting it. I had some trouble getting the right oil cap, but I found this rubber one that at least plugs the hole for now. I also had to bring back the oil filter I got since it wasnt the right part number (used the Fram filter that was on it to reference which one to get). I replaced the fuel lines, all the easy-to-get to vacuum hoses, and the top two radiator hoses... As you can see, theres some sort of wierd smog pump setup on this car. It will be complicated to remove if I decide to do so, i'd need to replace the metal breather lines with something else at the least in order to do so. I also managed to free up the frozen throttle... That odd 90 degree turn thing its attached to siezed up, and a bit of pb blaster and silicone spray got it operating nicely Here are a couple of detail engine pics for those interested: Next up... Starting it Its got oil and coolant now after re-attaching the lines. Ill need to put in a battery, swap out the plugs and put in the new wires and distributor cap/rotor, and see what happens...

Got a few parts from napa today to try and get it started tommorow... But I did find the throttle linkage is seized (it has this wierd secondary throttle linkage I dont recognize, its not even in the service manual)