Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

Rust.... and work on Mtn Grizzly


Recommended Posts

took these while doing some work on Grizz....

 

the frame rails are fine, but where the rockers were bent from offroading they rotted away... the entire passenger side is like a rocker flap.

 

rs_grizz-passenger.jpg

rs_grizz-drivers.jpg

 

and here's the mounts I made and welded in so I could run the ea82 rear coilovers....

 

rs_ea82-mount.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Minor rust! Come to Pennsylvania.

 

But seriously. I just did a 1984 wagon that had rockers MUCH worse than that. Found a guy in Cali that cut a set out of a car he was scraping and sent them to me. Tacked a 11/2" angle underneath the car to act as the bottom hem to weld the rockers to. Really stiffened up the car too! Seam-sealed them in, undercoated them and painted them out the color of the car. I'll try to snap a few pics later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My 82 gl wagon was in much worse shape than that! the rear quarters and rockers consisted of expanding foam and fiberglass when i bought it for $100, I found a site that sold rocker panels from a loyale that were reproduction, and they made new rear quarters for my car. A month of bodywork later here she is

1-1.jpg?t=1291470325

 

Yours is very fixable! The site still makes rockers as well, I just bought some for my 84 wagon. They are like an inch short if I remember correctly, but they are affordable, and the closest thing you're going to get without making your own or cutting some off from another car.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

heres 1 site. Ive ran into just a few researching Brat rockers and doors. Seem to recall subaru offering both new' date=' pretty expensive though.

http://www.rustrepair.com/index-mf.html[/quote']

 

that site needs work.

click on subaru, fine

click on subaru sedan/wagon 80-84 == NOT FINE. cuase its doesnt have parts for those years...

bad site imho

 

bh

Link to comment
Share on other sites

how 'bout this one:grin: '84 might be tough...i was looking for later model stuff

http://www.showcars-bodyparts.com/subaru.html

 

not much better site.

they have fender and rear wheel arch for pre 84 thats it, and that site is not listed by year kinda a mess too the way they mix them all together.

fail again just not as bad you are getting there.

next site?

and thanks for searching i am glad you helped the newer gen people

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you in Worcester ma?

 

I'm in Worcester Vermont, A town of around 800 people that no one has ever heard of, I have three gen 2 subarus and I think they are probably three out of around 10 or so left in this state still on the road!

 

What's the website?????

 

I used rustrepair.com the rocker panels are $40.70 a side which I didn't think was too bad after spending the time making my own for my Brat. I remember the dates and such being a little funny on the site. I have new rocker panels from them still n the box in anybody wants me to take pics I would be more than happy to!

-SB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

uggghhhhh. I hate working on rusty stuff....

 

okay, so I'm replacing the trailing arms on GRizz...

take the rear calipers off. check

remove rear coil overs. check.

axle nut and hub/rotor. check

axle pins out. check.

axles pulled. not a chance in hell... rusted onto the diff stubs, and hub stubs. nice. I'll just drop the whole rusted up mess as a chunk because I've got good spares.

remove driveshaft bolts. check.

remove bent mustache bar. check. (got a reinforced one off my red brat...)

pull backing plates. check. but not without grinding down the rust buildup off the outer hub so it would slide off.

remove top diff mount bolt. negative. bolt is rusted to the inside of the metal bushing... and the mount brack on the bolt head side...

remove trailing arm pivot bolts. negative. same deal. rusted to the inside of the bushing...

 

so with just 3 bolts remaining, I'll be switching to the sawzall :) then we'll start the reconstruction...

 

The biggest contributors to the state of these last 3 bolts, are the guy I originally sold it to back in 2003 maybe. he did a lot of "swamp wheeling" when he would go to his favorite fishing grounds... (probably contributed to the state of the rear bearings as well) and then around 2005-06 it spent a year in Northern Iowa with a lot of gravel driving and more salt on the roads...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 bolts ended up needing cut out with a grinder....

 

now it's just a matter of putting all the new pieces in, with lots of anti-sieze :) and welding a cross brace between the trailing arm and the torsion arm on each side...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I got out to the garage at about midnight last night :)

 

straightened out brackets for trailing arms and top diff mount

mounted welded diff in

searched for proper trailing arm pivot bolts. found one that would work, then found 2 of the real ones...

installed trailing arms

installed beefed up moustache bar. I think this bar was last in MtnGrizz back in 2003...

bolted up driveshaft

reamed out inside of backing plates and installed.

installed axle stub in the trailing arm

installed rotor/hub assemblies

installed deep cup rear axles

installed caliper bracket

installed new pads

lubed slides, and finished brakes.

finished routing diff breather tube.

installed an adjustable set of ea82 rear coilovers.

installed wheels

 

I had to cut the exhaust off before grinding off the bolts for the old trailing arms, so I need to put that back together, but the muffler is toast, so I need a new one of those first.

 

noticed something is leaking from the engine... will have to adress that after I finish the exhaust...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got a ProComm 30,000 BU wall heater, with a box fan hanging above it at an angle ponted down so it circulates it through the wole garage...

works very nicely. it helps that my walls are insulated and there's a ceiling of sorts....

 

so I got the exhaust all back together last night, and dug a slant radio console out of my stash and put in a new CD/mp3/receiver...

 

drove it to work this morning... needs a few tweaks.

 

the rear coilovers I put in were adjustable, and I have them at the lowest notch. I'll need to put them up to the highest notch I believe.

 

The non-adjustable ones I took off were about a half inch or so taller.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...