Verdurous

The first thing I did when I got it back to the house was give it a tune up. With in hours of picking it up it had new plugs wires cap oil change and air filter. It really didn't need much being a subaru I also adjusted the suspenion to the maximum and took it for it's initial joy ride through the near by feild. I felt like a kid in the candy store, it was like being in a time capsule.

When I was 13 my father gave me my first car, a 1986 GL 4x4 Hatch. I learned how to drive in the fields surrounding our house and it was a blast. Since then I've had several Subaru's over the years, mainly picking them up for winter beaters and selling them in the spring. I've had camaros, bmws, vws, and other great cars but I always come back to my GL with a smile. Sure it's underpowered and doesn't handle well but it makes me happy! Everytime I blast threw an obstical (be it a foot of snow, a stream or a mud pond) and hear that little boxer growl for more. I decided to find one without rust, one that could be restored to like new condition. This was not an easy task when "cash for clunkers" came alone and killed all the decent shells. But I managed to find this 89 hatch and I drove it on and off for a few years till it hit around 330K then I decided it needed some love. Originally this car came from washington state. It was on craigslist for $500 so I called the seller who turned out to be a retired policewoman. I asked her if she would be willing to drive it to the nearist frieght pickup for an extra $100 and she agreed. (risky I know, but I need my subaru fix desperately) I was mainly looking for a rust free shell and the pictures she sent me looked great. I didn't care much about the miles considering that at the time I had my own personal subaru scrap yard. $440, a week, and a train ride later my rust free 89 arrived in watertown new york. The car looked like it had been in a barn for a long time it had a layer of dust on it so thick I gave it some personal graffitti. Did I pay too much at the time? probably, but good luck finding single owner rust free hatch on the east coast. So here you have my build thread, a brief catch up to how the car is today.

No build thread yet, that's a good idea though

Looking for a front windshield seal and a rear hatch glass seal. I doing a total repaint of the car and the old seals are pretty worn out. TY! Pics for attention:

This sounds promissing! Will give it a go.. thanks!

Damn that pic pic is crazy john! I was hoping not to have to take the whole dash out, but yeah looks like I'm going in. Bought a gallon of denatured alcohol and a sprayer, hopefully that does the trick. Decon sounds like a good idea for future issue prevention skishop69. Thanks for the advice guys.

I left my car parked near a barn last weekend. When I went out and started it, everything was great till I cranked on the heat. Then it smelled LIKE MOUSE and nearly no fan power! made me want to barf. Apparently a mouse decided to build his winter home in my vents. Anyhow, what is the easiest way to get the blower motor out? I unbolted everything I could see and the thing won't budge. Will I have to take the dashboard out? This 1989 gl hatch has ac too, less room under there than my non AC 88. I hate mice. ~ Verdurous

Clutch works great!

Well if anyone is interested I ordered BRUTE POWER / PERFECTION CLUTCH Part # 92225 4WD; Diaphragm; 8 7/8x21Tx7/8 21 spline and the 8 7/8's is what I counted / measured so hopefully it works. Such a pain when most of the part dealers have EA82 stuff listed for a hatchback, that or they have it all mixed together. Autozone can be annoying sometimes, I always just tell them I have an 1984 brat so they don't try and talk me into that ea82 stuff. Thanks for reading, peace.

I'm guessing it's Part # 92225.

So I have a 1989 GL hatchback with 4x4 D/R 4 speed high low. This is an EA81 with 21 splines. I'm currently on rock auto looking for the correct clutch kit and there are a lot of strange options and I want to make sure I am getting the right one. The only ones listed with 21 splines say fwd? For some reason they are listing 24 spline count for the 4x4's? is this just ea82 stuff? http://www.rockauto.com/ Also I see a few listed under autozone http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/1989-Subaru-GL/Clutch-Set/_/N-ihl1aZ6o243 I'd like to order from rock auto because I have a credit with them I would like to use up. If anyone could help I would appreciate it, thanks.

thank you kindly!

Hey guys needed a little help. I have one of the EA81 weber kits on my 89 gl hatch. It has the tall air filter that rubs on the underside of the hood a little. I'm trying to find the part number for the lower profile version that I see on some of the members rides. Anyone know what part number that is? or if K&N still makes one? Thanks - Verdurous

Yeah the styling was way ahead of it's time. I'm amazing that they balanced so well for being so old and beat when I started on them. The worst one was only 1/2 ounce off on the press balancer. I got lucky, my 14" pugs on the other lifted one are bent and beat to hell. I'd love to find a few replacements for those. Along with more center caps, only have 3 between two sets of pugs atm. Might try making a custom set.

Just on the stock mud flaps up front I think it is mainly the offset no big deal I noticed that car is on the absolute lowest setting on the front adjusters, they are soaking in pb blaster today, hopefully they turn nice tonight.

I'm in Binghamton, upstate right in the middle of the PA line. It's not bad but taxes and laws are getting pretty out of hand up here. Looking to move some place without salt soon. How do you like the change to Colorado?

Well it was a busy day today. The new wheels/tires are installed and they look great. The wet grass traction is not as good as I hoped it would be but the deep mud traction is pretty good. There was some slight rubbing but I am going to crank up the stock adjusters tomorrow and it should be fine. The new setup handles much beter than the miss matched 13's that came on the this $400 recuse that nearly got scrapped. I really like the look of the old 13" alloys, but the 15" pugs are great! I might clean up and powdercoat the old set just for fun. This weekend I plan to undertake some rust. This car, which I am naming RAY "rabid assault yeti" seems to be in good order. It may need a new clutch, but that seems to be all that's left to deal with. Wed is inspection day for it, but it should pass fine.

New Tires have arrived installing tonight! Snow doesn't stand a chance stopping me now!

NICE! Yeah I love the rims, only have 3 center caps though still looking for the third I'm sure it's lost in my bay somewhere.

Well I decided the just go for it ordered some 195/55r15's so I'll find out tomorrow. Got some goodyear nordic's on the way, they have some nice looking lugs on them. Had to order soon snow is in the forcast for tonight, and my BMW is on summer race tires and 3" from the ground.

Anyone? will less than 25" be ok?

So from what I have been reading, un cut/ non lifted ea81 hatch can run a 25 inch tire max without rubbing? Anyone know for sure.. need to get tires today. Thanks - Verdurous

Agreed, weber is amazing^ Hitachi's are only good when they come in dual.

Thanks! I used walnut to blast the old mess off them. Whipped them down with acetone, then denatured alcohol. Preheated them in the oven to 400 for ten minutes (to release gasses). Then Powder coated with a generous amount of matte black. Brought them to temp again 400 then let them bake for 20 minutes. It's so easy and the end result is very rewarding. I even powder coated my SJR 4" lift kit red It came out amazing too. I'm in the process of getting free ovens off craigslist. I'm making a mega Frankenstein oven so I can do larger parts.

So anyway I found out the issue. On the back of the intake manifold, that little EGR valve thing. Well it was stuck open. The seal must be leaking because it just stays open. I disconnected it and cut/drilled a 1/4" steel plate to cover it and made a new gasket. Also closed off the port for it on the head. Car seems to run better than ever. Thanks for the help.