Scoobywagon

My experience has been that once the CD Changer starts refusing to eject CDs, the transport mechanism is usually kabroked. It CAN be repaired, but frequently it isn't terribly cost-effective. You're looking at about $250-275 to do a repair, depending on exactly what is broken, and you will generally get a warranty good for anywhere from 90 days to a year on THAT repair. On the flip side, you can usually replace the unit for less than that and have a good warranty on new gear. It really depends on what you want.

I'd think another option would be to start with the current impreza 3-door. Shorten it up by deleting the rear bench seat. Just cargo area immediately behind the driver's seat and maybe push the rear axle to the rear a bit. Again...doable on current parts

As near as I can tell, even the FT-86 is too big, as was the XT. In modern terms, I feel this car should be light in the way that an RX8 is light. Now, the RX8 weighs in at 2880. However, I can tell you that there's the best part of 500lbs in the sound deadening material, dash, wiring harness(es), stereo, etc. I mean REALLY strip this thing down. Yes, it should have a stereo, but 4 speakers and a CD player would do. No need for all the Bose stuff. use lighter plastics in the dash. I'm not sure why, but the seats in that car are just unreasonably heavy. I've started doing the design work on a car that I'd like to build from the ground up some day. But I'm talking here about a factory built car with all the safety features that go along with that.

So I was sitting at the grocery store waiting for my wife and it occurred to me that there is a car that Subaru has never built and I'd like to see them do it. I'd like to see a 2-seat Subaru about the size of a Miata or even an RX7. Little, tiny thing. Razor sharp handling, all wheel drive. Wouldn't have to have the blistering power of an STI. In fact, I think it would kind of detract from the car if it DID have that kind of power. I sort of envision this thing weighing in at around 2300-2400. 145hp or so would be about right. I think it should be available as a hardtop, hardtop convertible or Targa. What do you think? Something else you'd like to see them build?

Don't use a vacuum actuator. They're vary unreliable, especially as they age. Use an electronic cruise control. At my shop we would use part number 250-1223 from Rostra Precision Controls. This is a universal electronic cruise control. We would also use 250-3421 or 250-3742. These are both universal handles and the only difference between them is style. Finally, some vehicles will need a magnet kit to provide a speed signal to the cruise control. If anyone is interested, PM me and I'll provide pricing. Should give you some idea as to what to expect from a local seller. Depending on where you are, I may also be able to help you find a local dealer.

Glad the keyless entry worked out. Sorry to hear about getting hit. Here's hoping everything works out ok. Let me know what all you need parts-wise. I may have some stuff you can use if you like. Let me know.

Check for a couple of screws at the bottom of the dash bezel. Aside from that, it just pulls out, if I recall correctly. As for HD radio, it really depends on where you are. HD radio is a digital radio signal just like Satellite radio. That means that you either get all or nothing. Where I live, that just means you get nothing. It has all of the disadvantages of both terrestrial and satellite radio systems. Having said that, I suspect that as long as you are in a major metropolitan market and are not inside a parking garage or something, it should work just fine.

^^ What he said. Clean the drains and I bet your problem goes away.

There's this new invention going around. It just came out recently, but you may have heard of it. It's called an "Engine Hoist".

3m General Adhesive Remover. Available through NAPA. Then good glass cleaner to remove the little bit of film left. Takes just a few minutes even for LARGE decals.

This thread raises a question for me. In Europe, they pull some unreasonably large trailers with some outlandishly small cars. My understanding is that you are usually limited to about 40MPH when doing so. But does anyone know whats up with that? I suppose there could be some legal wrangling at work. Maybe the law says something like "when towing a trailer that exceeds the tow rating of the vehicle, speed must not exceed XX mph." Seems like there should also be some kind of law regarding liability. I don't know. Does anyone else have any ideas? I know we've got some European members. Someone chime in here!

When you purchase your new cap and rotor, try to make sure your get them with brass inserts rather than aluminum. It generally costs a bit more, but it is usually less than $1 difference and the brass inserts perform better and last longer than aluminum.

The low tow ratings reflect a couple of things. First, most modern cars are pretty light weight. Obviously, that effects the car's ability to stop when there is weight pushing the car forward on the bumper. Second, the engineers generally do not assume the presence of any type of trailer braking when they set about determining max tow ratings. Essentially, they look at the car's weight, brakes and tires and work out how much EXTRA weight the car can reasonably be expected to stop. A car that only weighs 2500 lbs cannot be reasonably expected to stop a trailer that weighs 2300 even with the excellent braking action provided by modern braking systems. This is because the brakes stop being the weak point. Those brakes will happily lock right up because the car does not weigh enough to generate higher friction between the tires and pavement. Obviously, ABS will try to put a stop to that locking up nonsense, but that just means that your stops run WAAAAY long because there's nothing to be done about the friction between tire and ground. Trailer brakes help with this, even if they are just surge brakes. You're on the right track with the brake controller. If the trailer can provide its own braking action, then the car just has to stop itself. It is important, though, to make SURE that the brake controller and trailer brakes are calibrated properly. I would think that in a situation like yours, you'd want the brake controller to stop ever so slightly harder than the car. This will give the trailer a tendency to pull the car to a stop. That will make your stops shorter and straighter even under panic conditions. The other thing I'd advise is to take the car in to a good transmission shop and have them add a transmission cooler and an ATF temp guage. If you're going to be towing for long distances, you might also want to add diff temp guages. I don't know what the specs are for the trans and diffs in your cars, but you may also want to look at that. Heavier duty fluids may be in order. You may also wish to consider adding a remote oil filter system. Such a system allows you to move the oil filter to somewhere other than directly on the engine. It also means you can add an oil cooler and go to multiple oil filters. This adds to your overall oil capacity and more oil means generally lower operating temps. That'll be important when you're working the engine hard. The down side here is that you'll have several extra lines to deal with during maintenance. It also means that you'll have to periodically flush those lines. I did this to a Ford Ranger years ago and I found that the best way to clean all those lines out was to bypass the remote filter head and connect the "in" line directly to the "out" line. Then I'd fill the crankcase with ATF and run the engine at idle for just a minute or so. Don't let it get hot and don't rev it. Then I'd drain the ATF, reconnect the filter head and refill the crankcase with motor oil.

Might try sleeving up the frame rails with heavy angle stock. Just have it reach as far fore and aft of the dsamaged area as possible.

We have had pretty good luck installing the antennas WAAAAY up under the dash. As high as you can get it. Just keep it away from any high-current items like the blower motor and you should be just fine. For best results, you should run the antenna to the outside. The antenna will work better with a good ground plane and a clear view of the sky. It will work under the dash, but not quite as well.

Welcome to the board. New faces are always welcome. And post up some pics.

The best rattle can paint I've EVER used is SEM. EXCELLENT stuff. Lays down almost as nicely as some single stage acrylics.

I understand that. But it answers the original question.

If you're doing it out of rattle cans, then GD has a point. Forget the clear.

I tend to look at these things from the standpoint of having to do it at work. A/C is one of the things we do. Swapping the pulley means evacuating the system, removing the compressor, wrestling the old clutch off, wrestling the new clutch on, reinstalling the compressor and recharging the system. So its all the same labor as replacing the compressor, but with the added work of swapping the clutch too. Functionally, doing the swap isn't THAT big of a deal on these. It requires a good strap wrench and an impact gun. You just have to be careful because the clutch is spring loaded and there are a few small parts in there that you don't want to loose. Its not under a ton of spring pressure or anything, just be real careful.

It CAN be done, but quite frankly, you're likely to be better off replacing the whole compressor. I don't know why it should be that way, but every time I've changed a compressor clutch, I have to do the compressor a few months later. Might as well just do the compressor at the beginning and skip the intermediate headache.

Oddly, so does your wagon. Prius is .25 cD. Your wagon is about .27 cD. Aerodynamically, you're really not that far off. You might just go to a taller set of tires and see what you get. Its effectively a taller set of gears. I'd find a set of steel pugs (they're lighter than the alloys) and put on some tall, thin tires with a hard tread compound. I bet that something like a 195/70R14 would do well.

I have yet to come across a single state or federal law that makes the use of HIDs illegal. As a matter of fact, in the state of Washington, the regulation cites federal DOT standards and THOSE merely regulate current draw, not luminosity. The website you mention says that HID kits are illegal, but that appears to be based on legislation in Europe. The letter on the link is in regards to a specific product, not a class of products. Finally, the NHTSA rules specified only apply to direct replacement products. None of that regulation which, by the way, is not a law, applies to a modification of the lighting system. Thus, HID is a legal solution so long as you do not also run afoul of federal, state and local laws regarding light color.

Consider an HID conversion. Being where you are, I'd recommend 6000K HID headlights and, if you are so inclined, 3000K HID fog lights. As near as I can tell, headlights are generally regulated by current draw rather than candlepower output. So, yes, HID lights should be perfectly legal. Check your local laws, though.

I wouldn't bother with it. You can transplant the drain system, but it adds on a LOT of work. The aftermarket kits are usually junk. The short version is: Don't bother. At some point, it is GOING to leak. Those leaks are, generally, repairable. But its just another maintenance item to be checked off regularly.