jonlittleford Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) I've been looking for this car for literally years. My long and convoluted history of attempts for my most perfect ride: -My first Subaru was an '82 front drive GL wagon that I bought for $400. I drove her across country multiple times, putting on 80,000 miles (to 230,000). She was still running like a top when the impound happened (Oh, those rebellious years.) I thought I'd be clever and buy it back at the tow auction rather than pay $600 in impound fees... but I went too low and was outbid!) Since then I've owned... -An '80 4wd wagon with a thrashed interior, enough dents to be called a different body style, and gearing just a little higher than a riding lawnmower. Tenacious little car though, I sold it to my friend 4 years ago for $200 and she's still driving it. -A '77 4wd wagon with terminal cancer. I wasn't up to giving it the hospice care it deserved. Sold it to a guy who had fond memories of bouncing around the back of one just like it as a kid, while his mom nipped bourbon and tore along on mountain back roads in Montana. -A really nice '81 4wd wagon that sat in a barn for 10 years. It was white with brown and tan "Four-Wheel Drive" graphics. That was a score, except I didn't have the know-how and/or money to get it running. Hopefully the next guy did. -A stunning '83 turbo wagon that was (by far) the nicest car I've ever owned. 96,000 miles and so close to flawless that I was literally afraid to drive it. I took it on one 3 hour road trip and a flying rock cracked the windshield on my way home. Never mind that the over-crowded engine compartment intimidated the h-ll out of me. (Maybe if I was a better mechanic I'd have been up to it... but this one was just out of my league.) -And now I've finally found it. A 30 mpg 4wd with (reasonable) highway gearing that I can repair myself, at least most of the time, for the next 20 years. I bought her with an overheated (and ruined) engine, and just had a good used one put in. She's got a near perfect body and interior with comfortable seats, excellent clutch and tranny, about 140,000 miles engine & car both. 4wd works great. The steel wheels (below) are different than anything I've seen. Anyone know something about them? She needs CV axles, rear bearings, front brakes soon, and a half dozen little odds and ends... and I'm in love. (sound of birds singing, poop splatting on roof...) Edited January 9, 2011 by jonlittleford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Welcome aboard, jon. No wonder you're in love--she's beautiful! You've found a great place for help here. Good folks who will give you great guidance and advice. And learn to use the search function, fantastic amount of info from the past. Yes, those singing birds just love to aim at a white car! Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyeights Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Looks GREAT:clap: Must be about an 84, does it have a 4 speed or an auto? What color is the interior? Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonlittleford Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) Thanks for the welcome! The interior is blue. Velour back seat, some kind of tough, corduroy like material on the front seats... really firm and comfortable. While I'm on here... I'd love some input on details I want to take care of. - The blower fan works only in 3rd & 4th positions. Also a slight thuk-thuk-thuk noise, as if something is barely touching the fan. I haven't taken anything apart, but it seems like it would have to be the switch, since the fan blows in 3 & 4. Right? - Any tips on repairing the rear window defrost wires inside the glass? Only one wire gets warm. It seems like there's got to be a way to patch the broken ones... - Special tools needed to replace a cv axle? How much trouble am I getting into here? - Cautions about rear wheel bearing replacement/ anything tricky there with the 4wd? (The last time I replaced rear bearings it was on my front drive wagon. That was straight forward. - Where are these seats from? They seem to be too firm and, um, comfortable to be EA-81's. Also, there's a pretty big gap between the seat back and bottom when it's up, and the seat belt spindle is digging into the seat top when it's folded down. Anything I can do about this? (I know, some of these are really minor things- just curious.) Thanks for the input- Jon Edited January 9, 2011 by jonlittleford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfour73 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Those seats look just like the ones in my brat so they must be from soob. as for the blower if its anything like mine you can get to it by removing the dashboard. just be careful of the wiring, the cluster and spedo cable. there is a book online that you can google and probably download. i learned about it here. It is called How to keep your subaru alive. it has worked wonders for me as I mostly worked on classic chevs and other thirsy v8s. I was recently forced to park my 62 chevy truck and drive a smaller vehicle due to gas prices. I figured that if I am to drive something small I was going to find an old corolla, datsun 510 or hopefully my favorite, a 78 brat. fortunately there was one for sale here in vegas at the time I went shopping. Now I have subaru in my blood and it is sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1982gl4 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 They look like ea82 seats out of a newer GL. Nice ride I love my 4x4 gl wagon! -SB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swampbrat Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 welcome to the board - beautiful wagon! Nice seats , snazzy matching floor mats, very clean. I think you will find your blower problem is a resistor pack. Fairly easy to change but hard to find a good one in the junkyard ( common problem ), new ones are pricey. If you search the board , there is a lot of write ups on them. -Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael appel Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 need any help finding parts I make lifts for it let me know be obliged to help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru_dude Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Those wheels are Calmasters. Good shape too. I've got a chrome set but they're rusty. Never seen the black with chrome lip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonlittleford Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Those seats look just like the ones in my brat so they must be from soob.as for the blower if its anything like mine you can get to it by removing the dashboard. just be careful of the wiring, the cluster and spedo cable. there is a book online that you can google and probably download. i learned about it here. It is called How to keep your subaru alive. it has worked wonders for me as I mostly worked on classic chevs and other thirsy v8s. I was recently forced to park my 62 chevy truck and drive a smaller vehicle due to gas prices. I figured that if I am to drive something small I was going to find an old corolla, datsun 510 or hopefully my favorite, a 78 brat. fortunately there was one for sale here in vegas at the time I went shopping. Now I have subaru in my blood and it is sweet. Thanks. I just bought an old hard copy online. (Looking at this screen too much as it is!) Good luck with your brat- hard NOT to have fun in one of those! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonlittleford Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Those wheels are Calmasters. Good shape too. I've got a chrome set but they're rusty. Never seen the black with chrome lip. Yeah- it looks like all those allen bolts are the real deal. Eventually I'll have the chrome lips re-chromed (they're still pretty rusty) and blast and repaint the black. They seem to be wider than stock rims-- good for summer tires. Make me feel like I'm fast or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonlittleford Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 (edited) welcome to the board - beautiful wagon! Nice seats , snazzy matching floor mats, very clean. I think you will find your blower problem is a resistor pack. Fairly easy to change but hard to find a good one in the junkyard ( common problem ), new ones are pricey. If you search the board , there is a lot of write ups on them. -Greg Hmmm. Where is the resistor pack? I've replaced the relay on a turbo before, and I've already pulled a switch (maybe good maybe not) from the local yard. Is this a different part? (I'll search the board...) Also, those mats are up for grabs. They're a little too "blue-flaming-skull" for my taste. Shipping cost gets 'em. Edited January 15, 2011 by jonlittleford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Yay another local If you want center caps for those wheels, odds are les schwab has some that will fit pretty cheap. The same caps would fit most 6 lug small import pickup wheels so they would not be special order or anything... Those front seats look EA81 to me... maybe from a DL or something?? Looks like a kinda rough (but durable) fabric. Bring that thing to the west coast subaru show and show it off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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