Scoobywagon

<hijack> Hey Subiemech... just wondering how much extra horsepower you are getting out of that synthetic turn signal fluid and whether the low-friction muffler bearings really smooth out the idle at all. Thanks! </hijack>

The New Process NP-204 was available in GM light and heavy trucks. Full-time 4wd w/ dual range. Chain driven, practically bullet proof. Oh and it weighs more than your current engine and tranny....combined.

I want to make some...interesting modifications to my interior, but I don't see an easy way of removing the seatback for the rear bench seat. Granted, I haven't pulled off all the plastic yet. The seat bottom doesn't look difficult, but I just don't see any apparent seatback retaining bolts. Anyone know what I'm missing here? TIA!

Raising the front with the factory adjusters is almost a requirement for membership on this board. Welcome! To my knowledge, there is no commercially available adjustable lower control arm. However, I've seen a few around with fabricated ones.

I'm liking the back wheel on this one.

bump...again

bump

check your u-joints

This sounds like fun.... YOu know you need a better Subaru dealer when you tell the person behind the parts counter what car you have and they say "Is that a Subaru?" It was funny though because that guy was new and all he knew about were Impreza's. The OTHER guy cam over and he knows me by both car and name. No problems.

ok...the 83 and the 81 are both in need of a bit o' tranny work. I asked around and the only tranny shop near me with a good reputation wants ~$800 to rebuild mine or $500 if they can find one that's already rebuilt and trade mine for theirs. This seems awfully high to me, so I did some investigating to try and figure out EXACTLY what I need. So here goes... the 81: The synchros are shot on third. first, second, fourth and reverse all work just fine. If you try to go from 2nd to 3rd, though, it will grind. SOMETIMES, you can get it to go into third by going from 2nd to 4th, bouncing the clutch and quickly shifting back down to 3rd. As I understand it, this indicates that syncrhos are shot and a rebuild is required before the whole thing nukes itself. Unfortunately for me, I've never once had a transmission open although I did once see the insides of a GM TH350 on the highway. That was kinda neat, but I don't think it'll help me rebuild a 4-speed d/r. Transmissions scare the crap out of me, so I'm wondering if there is anyone near me (sort of?) who would be willing to either help me rebuild what I have or trade me a good one for mine plus parts/work/???? I'm out on the Olympic Peninsula. the 83: Got this car for free a few months back. Trans oil looks DISGUSTING! I'll be draining it this coming weekend. Does anyone know of a good way to flush a manual trans? I was kinda thinking maybe I'd drop in a qt of ATF, top off with 80w-90 and run it a while, then drain and refill w/ 80w-90. Sound reasonable? Also, are there any additives that recommended for the refill? Power Punch? MMO? Magic Purple? All input appreciated. THanks!

My 83 was doing this for a while. I've got it tracked down to a combination of a tired alternator and a poor ground condition. Mine does this when I've got a lot of electrical stuff on. I'm in the process of getting better grounds by running 10-ga wire to various places on the body to try and get around the worst rust spots. Later I'll tackle the alternator. What I figured out was that system voltage would drop to a certain point at which the fuel pump could not move enough fuel to feed the engine above a certain speed (~3k rpm). Then it would do exactly what you are talking about. I've replaced my coil, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, both battery cables and terminals, the battery and installed a bunch of new ground wires. The ground wires were what finally did it for me.

I use the Parts Plus or Napa store brand oils (both are valvoline) in 5-30 weight. No pressure problems, no leaking oil pump. Change it every 3-4k and twice a year I flush using a cheap oil filter, a quart of ATF and top off w/ oil mentioned above. Run it aroung 75-100 miles, drain and refill (new, quality filter, of course) and voila...clean engine.

I'm starting with what I have, mostly as a proof-of-concept. If I can get it to work more or less the way I want it, then I'll move up to turbo goodies and start tweaking on it to get engine management all tuned up. Mostly, I thought this might work as a means to boost low-end torque for more 'wheeling goodness. Either way, I'm just in the planning stages at the moment.

Don't know about a Mazda Supercharger, but Ive sorta been working on retrofitting an Eaton M90 (Thunderbird SC) to an EA81. So far, I need a custom manifold (working on it) and some better carburetion. I'm thinking about using a pair of weber side drafts for that. Not real sure, but I suppose we'll see what we shall see.

I've had this happen twice in my 81. It is my learned opinion (based on experience) that there are AT LEAST 2 types of hubs out there. One has s[lines in it that are less than a quarter of an inch long. These are the ones that fail. The other has splines the full depth of the hub. These seem to last forever. The problem is that they both (apparently) have the same part number at the parts store. I suspect that the first kind is a cheap knock-off from Lower Slobovia or something. My solution is to insist on hubs with full-length splines and accept no substitutes.

For the most part, a Subaru doesn't run enough current to warrant wires of that size. Really all you need are clean connections. Having said that, I'm running 4-ga between the battery and the engine block, the block and the body and the battery to the body. I've got 4-ga running from the battery to the starter and 8-ga to the fusible link cluster. My wire size choices were made predominantly by the fact that 4- and 8-ga wire was what I had on hand when I needed to do all that re-wiring. Realistically, you could get away with 12-ga grounds all the way around without a problem. You just have to make sure that the connections are clean and tight.

Wedge 1 breaker bar across two lug studs and put a wheel under the hadle end of it. Then use your other breaker (with a cheater pipe) on the axle nut. Now...while cranking away on the cheater pipe, it is IMPERATIVE that you swear as loudly and as continuously as possible. The more swear words you can string together, the better it works. If the yard manager doesn't come out to make sure you aren't killing someone, you aren't doing it right.

You know...I really hate people that can't frickin' park! Just tonight I was delivering pizza to this "family". White trash stoners all around, right? So I get there and pull in to the driveway. There was nowhere to park on the street. I get out and I'm handing the lady her pizza when her asshat kid whips in behind me, parks, shuts his car off and goes inside. The lady pays me and says she'll go get him to move the car. I said "Oh don't bother. I can get out." I had to do a little bit of maneuvering in the driveway, but then I dropped it into 4-lo and drove right up and over a 4-foot embankment back up to the street. When I looked back down, there they all were with their mouths hanging open. I laughed all the way back to the store. Frickin' open-mouth breathers!!!!

I found that its just easier to go to the wrecking yard and find one with keys. Take the whole column and put your wheel and plastic back on it.

Well, since we are posting silly street racing stories... I managed to beat up a riced out accord. I was sitting at a light and this kid with a kazoo exhaust was throwing revs and being silly. Being the smart @ss that I am, I reved back. Mind you, I don't have a kazoo exhaust, what i do have is a muffler that is rusted off and a pipe that has 6 rust holes in it, and those are just the ones I can count. So the 83 sounds fairly mean right now. Anyway, riceboy looks over and asks if I want to go. I said "Sure! I know a good spot. Follow me!". I took him to this ugly little dirt road that only has one or two houses on it. It winds around a lot and did I mention it was ugly? I mean U G L Y. Pot holes everywhere to the point that the road was ALMOST smooth again because the potholes were starting to overlap. Know what I'm talking about? So I pulled on to this little road and told him "It winds around a bit and comes out on this xxx road. Winner waits for the loser?" He said sure, I pulled the handle and drove off. Well, ok...it wasn't exactly "driving off" .I waited a good 10 or 15 minutes for him, but he didn't show. Either he got sutck, broke something or turned back. Not sure which. Doesn't really matter I suppose. That was a couple weeks ago. Ran across the same kid a couple days ago and he called me a name that, I believe, starts with A, ends with E and has an H in the middle. Any guesses?

I've found that the keys to successful junkyard scrounging are as follows. 1) Look around and find a yard that consistently has the parts you need 2) buddy up to the guys in the office. 3) stick with that yard unless they just don't have the part you need. They might screw you periodically, but they'll hook you up just as frequently. It all works out in the wash. The longer you work through a given yard, the better deals you'll end up getting. There's a yard here that I spend lots of time in. At one point I let them know that I wanted an LSD. Finally, they had one come through which they sold to me for $100 as "rebuildable". What I got was a good diff (even had clean oil in it), both axles, disc brakes and all the associated hardware. As far as starting up a Subaru yard, you'd be hard pressed to get the licenses you'd need. At least in WA. However, I've got a small bit of acreage. If someone wanted to put a container out here with a pad lock on it, I'm sure we could work something out.

ummm.....beat yourself soundly about the head and shoulders with a breaker bar??? In all seriousness, though, if the bolt is broken off at or above the crank, then you might just try the simple approach first. I've had luck in the past (other engines) with using a dremel tool to grind a large slot across the broken end of the bolt. Then use a screwdriver with either a socket head or a hex at one end (so you can put a wrench on the screwdriver) and use this to pull the errant bolt out.

Bob, I think you've got it backwards. Your switch appears to be working fine. At 95 +/-2, the switch should close, completing the circuit and grounding (earthing) the fan(s). The fans should then run until the coolant temp reaches 91 +/-2 at which point the switch should open, faulting the circuit and stopping the fans. Additional thought: You could just get an el cheapo switch and use it to run a relay that would turn the fans on and off. Reduced current at the switch and all the high-amp stuff stays under the hood and out of the cabin.

My 83 has the same exhaust problem that you describe, i.e. rotted off at the flange. Here is what I'm doing about it. Went to the JY and snagged a flex pipe in good shape from a hatch. Hacked off the flange, bought an 8' section of 2" exhaust pipe from my local parts plus store (Westbay, for those out here). Won't need much bending, so I'm have the bending done by a friend who happens to own a press with the attachment dohickeys to bend exhaust pipe. Then I'll have the hangers welded on. As for the mufflers, well I got those for free from my local Harley custom shop. When I'm done, there'll be a pair of chrome harley mufflers hanging out from under my bumper.

Haven't had any emails or PM's with any info yet. Hoping that's not due to lack or interest. BUMP!