rrgrr

Got it -the ball joint was shot. Changed that out and things are good & tight now. still have slop in the steering column and the 4wd Low light won't stay lit. Any help is appreciated

That is awesome! Love the snorkel!!

My new-to-me 85 GL DR Wagon has a couple issues making me nervous: 1)The main thing is when I get up around 60mph or better and steer to the left, i get this big scary DDDDDDDDD vibration like I'm gonna lose that wheel. I just changed that axle, and that seems good, the PO said he had the struts done, the ball joints seem good, steering is tight, bearings seem okay, at low speed I get just the occasional clunk on decelleration, or turning, rolling back down a driveway something that only happens when everything is just so...What am I missing? I mercilessly drove this thing home at 75 for 3 hrs, didn't even notice anything until I took a fast ramp -now that I'm aware of it, it seems floppy but only under the right circumstances. 2) The steering column seems to be sloppy - I noticed the same thing on an 86 wagon a friend recently bought -only His is worse, almost like the tilt lock mech is loose, but that all seems pretty well tied together. Is this characteristic of these cars? 3) I am new to the DR trans, so it is difficult for me to tell whether I am in Low or High range and the "low" indicator seems intermittent -it will sort of blink when I engage it but not stay lit -(at least I think it is engaged) Could this just be some sort of short in the light or is it possibly popping out of Low and into High? Sorry to cram so many Q's into one post, but I know this awesome forum will get me straightened out!

Yep, another forum member has got me a 2" Boss kit on the way! love the way they look lifted!

Finally found a good 4wd wagon, wanted one since I let my first suby go so long ago, always missed that thing, and it was what started it all...Had to settle for an EA82 car, rarely see a gen 2 around here anymore. It's an 85 GL DR and came from out West, so I won't have to fly out there to drive one back here to the rust belt. Pretty clean, too, rebuilt engine, some new parts, +set of studded snow tires on Jackmans,(except the paint is shot)- a good base for my dd/fun car. Here it is and my needs list -if any one can help me out: Headlight, passenger side parking/corner lens, drivers side Dome light cover a decent set of center caps

Getting the new-to-me 85 wagon fixed up: Steering bellows (inner tie rod boots) replaced, new plugs, p-side cv axle, ran some sea foam thru everything (cough), sea foamed the bumpers, plastic/rubber trim, cleaned up interior plastic, getting better!

dude I have never in my life typed ROFL but I was losing it on that one

You guys have done everything -sounds like it's probably a bad idea. Guess I'll find something better to do Thanks for saving me from my stupidity!

So the bellhousing is too long -is that what you mean? If I swap anything it will be to get 4wd.

I want the best of both worlds: -EA81 w/97 trans, running gear, car. Has anyone done this? I really like the Impreza OB sport, but can't afford any w/ under 200K miles...and i love my EA81's. Please redirect my post if this is the wrong forum...

81MV- Thanks for that pic, nice variety there! I think maybe that was a shop on the East coast(?) Mine is still the only one I've seen with 3 windows. If you checked out the album, you may have noticed mine was done out West by Matrix3 Co. They put big steel rails connecting the subframe- and it is Solid! I would have no worries swapping in a 4wd-how much fun would that be! Looks like they made more than a few yellow ones, too. I'd really like to get someone to build me a hard top in fiberglass that could go on/off...

Wow that thing is gorgeous! One of these days I'm gonna fly out West and grab me one of those beauties to drive home...or maybe just stay out there with it!!

As promised, here is the story of the anomily I found around this time last year: http://s802.photobucket.com/albums/yy304/rrgrr/83%20GL%20Vert/ I've always liked the classics, but funds became tight, and unfortunatly the 74 TR6 had to bail me out:( As I handed the keys over to the new owner, we reminiced of our favorite rides past -mine being my 83 GL wagon, then my 88 GL Hatch, each of which I drove for 10 years, so 20 years of driving subies like I stole them, half a million miles between them. I had been subie-less for 5 years. The rust never sleeps around here. Another fave was my 64 Falcon Sprint which I fitted with triple carbs, and eventually sold to a guy in Australia, when the project got too big for my wallet. Here it is with the hatch in the background- Anyhoo, I began searching for another EA81 car to fill the void. When I read "84 GL convertible" on CL in my area, I was like whaaat??...Had to go see. Well, the pics on the ad showed it clean and garaged- which it definately was Not...the PO had driven it up from L-ville to the suby guru south of here to look into getting the carter 1 bbl fixed -and there it had sat -all summer- top and windows down. In the last month, the mechanic (unable to get the carb parts) pulled the top up and parked it on his shop lot under a pine tree-which is where I found it. It had been raining for a week or so, and the glass windows were down, the plastic ones and the top were taking a beating. I think this car aged 10 years over last summer exposed to the elements. The rescue mission had to be done. I quickly got it tarped and contacted the owners to make a deal. The mechanic allowed me to take the key and she started right up:clap: When I saw how clean the engine bay was, I was really There. Better than any of my classics. This thing was virtually unmolested. Despite the difference in the car shown in the ad, the owner would not budge on the 1500. price, saying there were plenty of calls about it yaddayadda, with people ready to ship it here or there. Fine. When we met to make the deal, I got right in and pointed it at the road -they thought I was out of my mind: "you gonna drive it home?!!" Hell Yes!! It had a little stumble, but I knew I could get it up to speed gently and make the hour plus drive home. I was grinning ear to ear the whole way. That good old cockpit felt just like home to me. I spent the next few weeks drying her out, cleaning up all the pine needles and ressurecting the interior. I couldn't find anything for the Carter, so I went to ebay to find a Weber on the cheap. The one I found had come off a Nissan, the seller said had run until he took it off recently. I got the plate kit from Redline and did a quick and dirty swap to get her on the road asap. I've since rejetted it, but my heavy foot has not let me get much better mpg than 20. Maybe someone can throw me a link to jet sizes etc. the kit from RL was Way vague -and I'm a carb guy. Now I knew having a new top made would be more than I paid for the car, so I searched for ways to keep what I had together (and still do...) I went to the local upholstry guy and bought a new sheet of plastic for the windows. The PO had them restitched once, but even that, I felt would be a little pricey. So the hot glue gun went to work. The pics inside the garage show the first attempt -which came out really well. Until I came out of work that first hot day in spring to find my rear window fell out. I just dropped the top and drove my verti all summer like that. Luckily it was a very dry one. Last week the fall rains began -yeah, I got caught a few times, but I was sill loving it. I went back with the glue gun again and added some silicone to the big rear window for extra support. The most recent pics are at the bottom of pg 1 of the album linked, I think my best work yet -and she is ready for winter. The fabric is a bit stretched out, so I've done some things to take the slack out of it. It needs new hydro cylinders -one leaked and made a mess, so for now it's a manual up/down, and that's ok for now. It is Crazy how much attention this thing gets around here -way more than any of the classics I have driven. Not a day goes by where people aren't stopping me, giving me thumbs up on the road, etc. It's almost annoying for a low-key guy like myself. Sometimes I forget and give people that -"What are You looking at" -vibe! Now the picture album is a bit random in order, but I think if you look thru 'em you'll see the various stages of progress. As a side note, when I signed the title I didn't realize it showed a guessed 86K and was printed last in '97. I had to put a few thousand miles on it before I could make it legal!

I thought I was gonna be the low weigh-in! -here you go:headbang: oops, wow that is a big pic! 84 GL convertible! more to come (see members rides)

Dude, you really scored a nice survivor for this part of the country -I hunt daily as I am a EA81 nut! Haven't been back to Muskegon since I was born there, but we love TC and the dunes area. My latest fantasy involves a flight out West and a cross-country drive home in something like you got!

cruise control.

it's a DG spun 180 -my linkage is on the driver side, choke to rear. Anyone with this setup care to post a pic of their linkage setup?

can someone help me find the shorter cable for my reversed weber on ea81? the swap was from carter-weber setup and that cable worked, but apparently it is ~6" shorter than what everyone is selling. Oops, let me correct that- the cable I need is shorter by 8" or so with more exposed cable/shorter sheath- Do I need to modify the cable sheath? thanks for any help

Can someone help me find the correct thermostat and thermoswitch for my 83 GL? -my local suby dealers don't stock anything like that, & the parts store stuff is not cutting it.

Sucker- thanks so much for coming thru for me! I was at a loss. Is that a Bently book? I didn't cut power, so when I opened the fuse 'capsule' the thing had disintegrated -and the bit of wire bridged the hot to something else and quickly burned up the insulation all the way up to the big harness, -smoking while I pulled fuses and tried to get it free!!, Anyway thanks again for your help -R

i posted before but i am getting nowhere -been on my head 2 days under this dash hunting for relays and resistor block & can't see squat. it will be 95F by this afternoon, I really need this back together -any help appreciated! under the wheel: the one relay shown runs the headlights...

Please, if someone could put up a pic of where the relay is -I swear there is nothing I can find -and where is this resistor coil thingy? is it all the way at the firewall? how to get it out? I've got no power at the fan pigtail, and I don't see the four relays everyone refers to on the drivers side -I can post a picture if someone can point it out..

The 83 GL verticoupe is coming along-but I need Help! - been working on my cooling system trying to get my cooling fan/thermoswitch situ figured out, now my heater blower has quit working all at once. Removed the fan and hot wired it -it turns just fine, the fuse has power w/key,... I've been thru Alot of threads, and can't find any relay under the dash where they are described, just one for the headlights, and the wiper thingy. Near the coil I discovered 3 relay doohickeys, one of which is funky-that runs the AC fan -don't know about the others, but I think those are cruise, and something else with a weird plug. Can some one help me find if there is a relay on this car? -R