swiggy349

Ok thanks for the reply! I think that might be the way to go then. The rear quarter panels are almost gone, (with my friend who used to weld for a living) I am confident we could fix that and any other panels, the worrying thing is the floorpan and rear subframe integrity, which I probably would always worry about. I think using it for a while, and waiting until one with a nice body pops up is the way to go. I may try to pick up one with a dead engine or tranny and swap in my good parts, not sure how often these engines die though Enjoyed working on it so far, seems all you need is a metric socket set to do most things. I just need to fix the wheel bearing then its my daily driver for now. I picked up the whole assembly from a junkyard, thought that would be easier than pressing out bearings etc. Ive actually got the whole hub assembly, with the arms, brake drum etc. Im wondering whether its better to take this apart and just fit the actual hub and drum or swap the whole lot? Its a bigger job with the suspension mounts involved I think, but these arms are in much better shape than mine rust-wise, maybe worth swapping for that reason alone Got one lug nut off this morning using a propane torch to heat it, the others still wont budge. I love the smell of burning liquid wrench

Hi guys, new (first time) loyale owner here. Just picked up a 91 5spd 4 wheel drive version for nothing, it was basically being given away. I reckon the tires are worth more than what I paid for it. Ive always really liked the old subaru wagons, I needed a car after my 83 toyota got totalled, I saw this and it was pretty much a no-brainer. Theres a long list of things wrong with it (mostly fixable), cracked windshield, exhaust and cat that are full of holes (Im just going to weld a straight pipe through, no inspections here), filthy and slightly mouldy interior (going to steam clean it I reckon). It runs great, fires up first time, sounds fine, no smoke, got enough power and I measured it at 8l/100km. all electricals work, 4 wheel drive works perfect, I tested it on some gravel/mud roads. It had new cvs and timing belt 10 ks ago. The main issue I guess is the rust. Its not just body rust, the underneath is pretty bad too, the floorpan is actually perforated in the back, you can poke the carpet up from underneath. The back wheel arches are pretty bad too, where the rear seat belt mounts too is completely gone, you could touch the tire if you wanted to from inside, same with the tailgate area. The whole drivetrain is rust-free, the suspension and rear subframe are pretty rusty but solid enough for now. Strangely there is minimal rust up front, its all behind the front seats. I showed it to my buddy who reckoned it would be worth fixing up (hes pretty handy at welding) but I was thinking that its that rusty that structurally its a bit of a lost cause. I dont mind a bit of a project, I like working on cars, but would I be better off using it as a beater for 6 months, learning all the quirks of it then buying another in better condition? Or is it worth restoring? I just dont know whether its really possible to make it great again, from the outside definitely fixable but the holes in floorpan worry me a bit. I really like it so far, was amazed how well it went off road, I dont think ive ever driven a car so capable, honestly think it would go places a lot of trucks and suvs couldnt go. Would be a shame to go to waste since its in such good mechanical condition, real pity the body is so bad. If anybody has any great experience welding/restoring these I would love to hear your opinion. Ill try and get some pics up in next few days if anybody is interested. One more question (in the longest first post ever probably) Im having great difficulty getting the wheel lug nuts off (Im replacing the rear hub assembly, bearing is totally shot) the axle nut was surprisingly loose, moved quite easy with a 20 inch breaker bar. But I cant get the wheel lug nuts off. Sounds pretty stupid really, Im not exactly useless with cars and I cant even get a wheel off Ive coated it in liquid wrench for 2 days, got a 20 inch breaker bar and a sledgehammer and none of the 4 bolts will budge. It did just occur to me now, do subarus have left hand threads? I know some cars do but never come across one yet myself. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post!