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North Idaho GL


Idasho
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I guess I should join the ranks and post a "members Rides" thread of my own. :clap:

 

 

November 6th 2010 marked a very special day for the automobile stables at my place. It was the day I brought home my very first Subaru.

 

Currently going by the name "Little RU", this is the story of my 1984 Subaru GL Wagon.

 

 

I was surfing Spokane Craigslist that evening, casually looking at 8-10 year old Impreza wagons and legacy wagons. Then I came across this one.... Not very good photos, but it was very clear that it was pretty clean, and low mileage (130k) It was already getting late, but I called on it anyways. Then I made the drive up to Spokane that night, looked the car over in a Safeway parking lot, and drove her home.

 

And the rest... as they say, is history!

 

As she looked when I brought her home.

 

RU01.jpg

 

RU02.jpg

 

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RU04.jpg

 

RU05.jpg

 

RU06.jpg

 

RU07.jpg

 

RU08.jpg

 

RU09.jpg

 

more to come...

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Just getting into November, and knowing that our winter snowfall is VERY close, the first order of business was to fit the Subaru with proper snow tires. The car was running great and quite honestly had very few needs to sustain one winter.

 

The e-brakes were sticking and the motor was a leaker. Both things I could worry about later. At this point, we needed a winter duty car. One of the main reasons I purchased it!

 

So I fitted the car with some studded Hancook Zovac tires on some junkyard steel wheels.

 

1796Tread.jpg

 

Then proceeded to check out the 4wd. Had to make sure it worked! :D

 

RU13.jpg

 

RU11.jpg

 

RU12.jpg

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About two months later I find myself with a whole weekend to my own.

 

X-mas

 

No company in town, wife has her own thing going on, so I retreat into my shop and get some work done.

 

My first ever Subaru motor pull.:headbang: I was determined to stop the leaks. :popcorn:

 

New seals installed, new trans mounts, rebuilt oil pump, etc.,,

 

service02.jpg

 

service16.jpg

 

service18.jpg

 

service21.jpg

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After everything was back together I found that my primary leak was actually very fresh, very clean gear oil.

 

So the trans was removed and torn down to replace the infamous input shaft seal.

 

4speed01.jpg

 

4speed29.jpg

 

 

I also spotted another leak. Lucky me, the PO overtorqued the case bolts :Flame:

 

Guess Ill let that one leak for a while!

 

service01.jpg

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Once back together, the Little RU took us on a light snow wheeling trip to close out 2010 and welcome 2011!

 

And it did great!

 

RU14.jpg

 

And soon after the Little RU made a successful trip to the slopes with a TON of gear and peeps

 

skiru.jpg

 

RUski.jpg

Edited by Idasho
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And soon enough, it was time for a road trip down to CA to visit family.

 

Unfortunately, this is also the trip that resulted in a tow back to Idaho....:popcorn:

 

CARU02.jpg

 

CARU01.jpg

 

 

The Hitachi carb killed the vacation, so it had to go. Bring on Weber. :headbang:

 

RUweber01.jpg

 

RUweber02.jpg

 

RUweber05.jpg

 

RUweber09.jpg

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And the front bumper guards and fog lamps were removed in favor of a push bar and pencil beam off road lights :headbang:

 

RUbumper01.jpg

 

RUbumper02.jpg

 

RUclean03.jpg

 

 

I also went junkyard shopping again, and found a matching tire on a matching rim, to work as a full-size spare!

 

RUspare01.jpg

 

Modified hold down.

 

RUspare02.jpg

 

RUspare03.jpg

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Beautiful car, my friend! I really do love how you have managed to gain some storage space under the hood, and adapting the original air filter assembly to work with the weber was a GREAT idea. I, personally, don't much like the look of the stock weber filter either.

 

Nice ride!

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Thanks guys.

 

One of mt main goals is when performing mods, to do them in a manner that look as OEM as possible.

 

Next up was my solution to the lack of an aux input for the radio/sound system

 

I worked out the wiring on the factory radio, and wired in an aux in. At the same time I installed an oil PSI gauge and driving lamp switch.

 

Thread on the forum for this mod is here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=127418

 

All worked into the ash tray slot.

 

pod.jpg

 

radio07.jpg

 

radio11.jpg

 

 

Unfortunately, I am very unhappy with this particular gauge. I picked it up for the green backlighting, but it is way too dark to see during the day. I hope to replace it with a green digital gauge soon. Like this one:

 

!B8BP-dQEWk~%24(KGrHqQOKpYEy%2BjCy!rEBM10l86IGw~~_35.GIF

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Next up was a zero mileage rebuild of a second hand ea81 Hydro motor.

 

The motor in this car runs real well, but it has issues I cannot ignore. So Im running it until I have the time to swap it out. In the mean time, Im building a new motor for it.

 

Thread for the build is here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=132000

 

 

And here are a few photos...

 

newmotor04.JPG

 

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  • 1 month later...

Okay, back at it, FINALLY with an update.

 

Sooner or later this motor and 5-speed will be in this car :popcorn:

 

Ive been collecting parts... and Im just about there.

 

new Empi front axles

ea65.jpg

 

New rear axle CV boots. Strange, made in USA???:-p

 

ea66.jpg

 

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New radiator hoses

 

ea68.jpg

 

Various parts. New OEM front and rear main seals, new OEM intake manifold gaskets, and a fresh set of NKG plugs

 

ea69.jpg

 

New INNOVATE Digital Oil PSI and Temp gauge. This will replace the crappy gauge I had installed in the console. Expensive, but should be well worth it.

 

ea70.jpg

 

And finally, new EA82 clutch kit, large version EA81 flywheel, and all the goodies. New TOB and pilot bearing. Just need to have the flywheel turned and machined to the proper thickness.

 

ea71.jpg

 

 

More to come :headbang:

Edited by Idasho
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Take the driveshaft from the car and have it lengthened. Getting the center carrier bearing in the old 84 style body is usually hard to get dialed in right. I just measure the 4spd trans and the 5spd trans and have them put the difference in length into the driveshaft. I am sure the length is also posted here too.

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I'm still trying to fix my 5-speed driveshaft woes, and I have both a 2-piece driveshaft and a custom new 1-piece driveshaft! In an '86 Brat.

 

The 1-piece had issues, because the angle seemed slightly altered and so the rear diff was not quite parallel with the tail shaft of the transmission.

Possibly if I was able to alter the mounting points of the rear diff, I could fix problem by tilting it's angle and securing in a new position?

 

With the 2-piece driveshaft, I'm having some of the same problem, noise from U-joint harmonics at different speeds I think. Problem with my 2-piece is I had to mount the center section not-quite-in-line more off at a steeper approach/departure an angle from the center section (my just-fabb'd exhaust was in the way).

So, I need to cut-out a center section of my exhaust, change the driveshaft center mounting to a more centralized location, then re-weld my exhaust together in some space that is available.

 

I think this will fix my driveshaft noise/vibration issues.

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Im pretty well set on using the 2-piece. Ive heard people having problems with both, but Ill give the 2-piece a try first.

 

We do not have a driveline shop in town. So at the very worst, with the 2-piece installed I can at least drive the thing to a town that has a driveline shop and have them lengthen my original driveshaft.

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