rrgrr

Well the transformation is mostly complete! Still some kinks to work out -getting that bent wheel doctored up, alignment Friday, then I'll paint the wheels black -but I wanted to go ahead and share this with the USMB -without which none of this would have been possible. Nobody does this around here, in fact this is the first lifted Suby I've seen in real life -and it is frikkin awesome! They're 215/65/15's and they don't rub a bit!

So I've read probably every thread on this, but haven't seen anything too detailed, so I'll give it a shot for those nervous types like myself. I didn't want to go drilling the hubs -just in case I didn't like the result, and also because I had some good snow tires on wagon wheels, and want to be able to swap 'em out at will... I went and found these 15" 6 lug wheels at an affordable price -these came from a 98 Nissan Frontier with the 5.5" lug spacing You can see the hub section is fairly flat and the offset is good to keep the tires inside the fenders. Went to the suby yard and got a front hub & knocked two of the studs out to use as a jig. Then I bolted that carefully to the back of the wheel with the suby lugs and let the bevel center them up. I was able to borrow a transfer punch that fit the lug hole from a local shop, and went and got a good 1/2" drill bit -just slightly bigger than the stud Gave that punch one good whack and it was drillin' time. I drilled the holes enough to get a good start, then removed the hub and finished up drilling thru. The Milwaukee "wrist breaker" met its fate after about 6 holes. I don't recommend using this type of drill, I just thought (wrong) that electric power would be better than battery. Turns out the Bosch cordless finished the job with much less effort. A quick test fit just to get an idea how things will work Seems okay -the lugs had no problem tightening down on the front side, everything seems solid and centered -I did not bevel the holes. there's not a lot of space between the wheel back side and shock, but I am going for some smaller big tires 26"-ish maybe a 195-205/70 or 75 we'll have to do some test fitting to see what works... I sprayed down the hub before I put on the wheel to see what kind of contact I was getting with the hub -if you see the dark spots around the outer edge of the wheel hub -that is where much of the mating surface is on this type of wheel and not so much right surrounding the lugs -that apparently is the way they are designed. On the undrilled lug holes, there's a bit of an indent -I think I'm going to hang a thin washer on those lugs just to fill that in and pick up a little more surface contact there. The center of the wheel draws down nice and tight. That about covers it. Pretty simple, really -about 30 minutes work (being careful) once I had all the tools together. Tomorrow is tire day, (I hope) and I will be back with the final results. Let me know what you think and if I've left out any detail...

Looks like a runner How many miles on that clean machine?

Replaced D-side front axle, D-side lower ball joint r&r -Don't like the way the new axle sounds, -still hunting for some clunks I hear at certain angles, but everything seems good and solid, so I'm gonna abuse it for awhile and see if anything surfaces. Might just go ahead and change tie rod ends... Also, painted the pillars, replaced interior lights, wipers, repainted/installed rear deflector, gas door, door speaker swapped, my radio's tuner is crap, but the tape deck works, so I rigged up a cassette adapter to run an mp3 player thingy, doctored up the parking lamps, put good headlights in -what a difference!Oh yeah, ashtray light (tricky), -Next it's 15" wheels & new tires to complete the lift...pics to come soon as I get those on!

I'd kind of like to see a Morris with a Suby motor in it! Make sure if it happens, we get to see it in the forums! BTW -This thread is seriously jacked!

Wow nice Brat! MM's powder coating is looking awesome! I wish I were closer I'd ask him to do some for me...wagon wheels look perfect on the Brat.

Looks like a great ride for cheap! Way to preserve the DF!

Thanks, Gloyale -that is what I was hoping to hear! Should I try to bevel the holes or just make holes? I think I can do this myself -I am going to get a hub to use as a jig/template and I think a transfer punch is what I need...?

I am looking at these wheels from a 98 Nissan Frontier, and basically the same question -Do these look okay to redrill? The back side looks pretty flat, just wanted to get advice/opinions from some who have done this or anyone running this type of wheel...

Looks Good! Tell me about your basket, me likey

I am seriously doubtful that Any carb swap as a single upgrade can make 30 hp -unless you are seriously starving the motor currently. If there was that much lost power, I believe Subaru would have done something different in the interest of efficiency.

Great looking wagon, and good photo too!

Those are incredibly hard to find around here, I've been looking!

Okay thanks!

Can someone tell me how to get it out of there and change it? 85 GL wagon

What can you tell me about those wheels and tires? size?, from what?, offset?

Went to the subaru mine today, here's some of the stuff I found: Good door, speaker, gas door,roof rack bars, hatch spoiler!, etc., good day! I'm trying to avoid drilling hubs -kind of want to be able to run the 13 snows as an option. Like to keep it cheap like toyota steelies, or... ? with much backspace. pugs would be ideal.

Miles I was hoping you would notice those lights! I hear there is a support group for brown cars... I like the wagon wheels (have another set w/snow tires) -but It looks funny to me lifted w/13's -so I am looking for some 14 or 15" wheels to redrill -unless you have some cheap pugs lying around...

Thanks for the support, Boxer -I've been kind of wondering if I did the right thing -didn't do the back, so the inside reflects a bit, too. I am a freak about the blind spot and it takes some getting used to...

Scraped the remaining clear coat off the top, hood, and sides down to the stripe. It came off in big pieces and flakes with the razor. I think I might just try to Rattle-can it in flat black primer -down to the stripe, while I touch up the rest of the body and decide whether to have it reshot or just flat black the whole thing... Also got the rear side windows tinted at probably too dark, -really kind of hurt my fishbowl visibility -Never had this done before -but it does look cool!

Ironic -The car I just bought spent a Lot of time in Beaverton!

That is exactly what it feels like, but the tilt mech seems fine. Now that you mention it, it is much worse in my friends' 86 -and his drivers' seat is much more worn out as well... It's not very noticeable when driving, but when sitting there. The play is nowhere past the dash -the shaft and knuckle seem good.

Got my BOSS 2" kit installed -was easier than I expected! -only 1 axle came apart & had to replace before test driving. Looking for some nice steel 15" wheels to redrill, cheap -the 13's look funny now Thanks to bratman18 ,& BOSS!!

Thanks for the help! Had a bad ball joint, got that out, that took care of the vibration. Got the little position switch for the DR tweaked -and Yes, I can definitely tell Lo from Hi driving -and Love it! Went for a little romp in Lo and had a blast -luckily I mad it home because... ...When I put the lift in, the other CV axle puked its guts so I am getting that today -the lift is awesome but I haven't driven it yet... (pics to come in member's rides thread} Still would like to know if others' Gen 3 cars have this steering wheel slop...?

Very Nice! I was just thinking -'where are all the Touring Wagons?'!