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back on the wagon!


rrgrr
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...When the guy's insurance estimator showed up I gave him the rant/tour about how much work I'd done, the pile of receipts I could send, rarity of this model/condition in this area, blah, blah,..He took some pics and said rarely did he see a car this old he could mark "Good" and was impressed. He also liked the convertible...

 Anyway, less than 2 hours later He calls and says it's a wash -they can't fix it for what it's worth. They valued the car $2,675!! I keep the car and walk away with $2500. -one week after the wreck and I was paid! Way better than expected! :blink:  :clap: 

 Went back to the jy (car where I got the rear door I've been prepping) and got the drivers door, an '86, -so the mirror style(which I prefer) and trim on that side will be different.

 The tire shop gave me a Free New tire w/the road hazard warranty and the wheel is not bent, so good there...I think the ride is okay.

Think I'm gonna try to find someone to give her a decent paint job -cheaply, of course -if I can do some prep...now I have a Blue drivers door and the one for behind it poorly matched & painted brown, both in the garage.

Need to take the carb apart again, it's spitting gas at idle...had to work over the choke housing to get that open, re-bent the spring -been trying to get it dialed in... 

Winter is coming on fast and I need to get this ready! -No more Trouble, -Please!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Fuel supply got all wonky like no gas getting to carb. Went thru the wringer w/the auto parts momos, trying to get a good fuel pump. Got running just in time for the snow, poorly, with no heat but got in some tasty donuts & drifting :) ...worked on cold start, choke, in short bursts, could only stay unfrozen a few minutes at a time. Carb was funky, so I rebuilt it -twice. The acc pump tore on the first one, took me awhile to figure out.

 In my vacuum leak hunting, All the old hoses and ports pretty much snapped off or cracked in the cold. 

The Hitachi schooled me for a week. Would not run under load -out of gas condition. Worked float, vac routing, tried everything... 

The day After I ordered the new Weber, I got it figured out. (I don't give up)

The secondary diaphragm tube goes on the wall of shame with a crack on the inside bend.

Put all that goofy stuff back on minus the afterburner, w/new rubber, spfi egr, running the old fuel pump(better fit, pumps better)

She is rockin' now! Just need a little tweaking.

I will run this Hitachi as long as as it's efficient.

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Changing strut rod bushings, getting a little rub on hard turns under power, hope this helps. Also ordered inner tie rods, don't know if I need them, still trying to firm up front end.  Figured might as well replace everything, it's old. Having a bit of "shipwright's disease"  :unsure:

Alignment is kind of a mess now.

Hotwired 2nd fan, worked for a while, -now it sounds like an elephant. Something's rubbing or it's toast. Heater parts, thermoswitch, etc. on the way. 

  :banghead: Destroyed my hood when it came open ~40mph Yay. Working on the grille, thought it was latched & went for a quick ride, BAM! Didn't bust my windshield, didn't crash. Going to go get the other 86 doors anyway, so my mirrors match, and mine have a touch of rust...the paint job is on the horizon.

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Found the best crappy hood I could, wasn't much to choose from. Swapping all 4 doors, figured might as well match the fronts, back had a touch of cancer, too. They were reasonably cheap, I feel a little sick about unbuilding this thing, they are never the same...Taking her to Maaco after New Years, the ugliness is out of hand. I have grown to like the Brown, but the PPG shop match was terrible, and I'm skeptical about anyone getting it right. A Bad Brown is going to bum me out. They probably won't do door jambs, etc, Nothing really goes with the brown interior, either. I could live with Black, and do the details later myself...Please if you are reading this thread, tell me what you think!

 

Wifey wants me to rename the car Schleprock, due to all the lousy luck it's had! :o

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Found the best crappy hood I could, wasn't much to choose from. Swapping all 4 doors, figured might as well match the fronts, back had a touch of cancer, too. They were reasonably cheap, I feel a little sick about unbuilding this thing, they are never the same...Taking her to Maaco after New Years, the ugliness is out of hand. I have grown to like the Brown, but the PPG shop match was terrible, and I'm skeptical about anyone getting it right. A Bad Brown is going to bum me out. They probably won't do door jambs, etc, Nothing really goes with the brown interior, either. I could live with Black, and do the details later myself...Please if you are reading this thread, tell me what you think!

 

Wifey wants me to rename the car Schleprock, due to all the lousy luck it's had! :o

 

 

It sounds like this car has had its share of bad luck for sure. I'd say keep it brown, I really do like that color on pretty much any old subaru. Are you planing on painting the whole car, or just the sections that need it? Maaco should be able to a pretty good job at matching it. They did one of my friends saabs and it came out really well, and another friend had his S-10 done there as well. As far as the jambs go, the local shops near me can mix up custom spray cans, usually $20 each. They tend to be a little flat, but for the jambs they would look fine. 

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Love a good burgundy/maroon -actually first choice, just not sure with the brown inside...I'd like to see one. 

The local PPG shop did mix me 2 cans to spray the door supposedly to 569, but it is Way red, looks terrible. If they can't accurately sample from the car, and show me, I don't know...Here's what I got from a "real auto paint shop"

 

 

post-33119-0-33457500-1388455846_thumb.jpg

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When i painted the engine bay in my 86 3door, the 569 code cross refferenced PPG with 'Crest Brown Metallic. The shade was slightly redder than the rest of the car, but not toticeable except for the bumper where i ran out of paint on my last coat. You should consider painting the whole car to match. My car may have been painted before as there was evidence of body repairs after i tore the car apart, and the crappy clear coat job.

 

I am partial to the brown color, so my opinion would be to keep with that color, especially since you don't see brown cars any more. But i have seen newer soobs witha similar brown color, more of a taupe color, though

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Thanks Miles, I went back and reviewed your video and there are good shots of the engine bay, it looks very much like what I got mixed. I touched up my engine bay with it as well and it looks fine in there, but I sure don't want the whole car that color. This original is a Good Brown -all the new brown cars I've seen (there are a few) even subys -look poopy to me.

post-33119-0-65632500-1388506441_thumb.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Too Wintery to give up my snowmobile now, decided to go ahead with the Weber swap -the Hitachi just doesn't want to behave & I'm tired of messing with it (finally) :horse:    Soooo Worth it, idling purrrfectly right away

  :banana: no more blipping the throttle trying to get it down!

               Pretty too!  -never had a new carb before, but figured She's been thru So much lately, needs some Fresh & some flash... DSC03019.jpg

 

And other things, too ...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Spent most of the day yesterday in a fab shop where I had the local metal artists build a bumper/brush guard I designed. I think they did a real nice job -wasn't near as simple a job as I thought due to the frame angles, motor in the way. It was supposed to sit a little higher, but it got complicated when I insisted it be bolted on, not welded. DSC03046.jpg

DSC03044.jpg

Also received in the mail some Weber stickers from the UK. Not a big fan of stickers/advertising, but want to show this car is a little more than a beater w/a heater. And I love my Weber  :D

 

 

post-33119-0-52339700-1391732118_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Changed d-side inner front wheel bearing & seal, it was making noises/vibrations at certain speeds. All better, almost drives like a new car now- it Should I've replaced 95% of the front end  :huh: Used a steel sealed type from Fastenal.

 The leaky windshield is out and will be replaced Friday after I clean up the mess and rust caused by water running around it. I'm por-15ing it today. The previous glass guy should be beaten, it was pretty gommed up. This windshield is Really expensive around here, and the seal is no bargain either.

I will be glad when rain doesn't drip on my gearshift anymore.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

great work and glad you put that weber on. i gave up on the hi-crotchies long ago..webers rule :headbang:  :headbang:

you have been through alot and never gave up on that soob....definately makes you one of the clan...keep up all the great work and good luck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks, bertmann - what was supposed to be a driver/fixer seems to have practically turned into a restoration! 

Been prepping & wet sanding for a bit -I'm about over it. I just want it to stick and look reasonably good for a while, keep the rust off.

This should be the last (blurry) shot of Matilda (Brown) in primer:

harmony.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well it's a bit lighter in color than I wanted, but it is Nason Maroon 143, nuthin' fancy. There's a lot of boogers in it, too, but it's covered and looks fine moving or from 20 ft. Don't hire me for bodywork, either, -I shouldn't be doing that, terrible at it. Anyway, here it is -Blast away!

DSC03086.jpg

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Finally got the brush guard tweaked and sitting pretty much the way I wanted. :)  I'll put some lights on there someday, probly under the bumper inside.

DSC03095.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

Recent developments: I have intermittent cruise control, and a/c is operable - I think it needs a relay, will run sometimes even when off.

Wipe New worked really well on the bumpers, some of the dash, window sills, side trim. A little does not go as far as they say & $$. Still cleaning off my primer overspray everywhere.

 Been racking up lots of miles w/out-of-town work -and loving it.

 Jacked with the jy stock radio, trying to make a useable aux player out of the tape deck, still too noisy. Cannibalized 2 radios, 2 tape decks in the process. Now the buttons are wonky about half the time, and r side speakers are cutting out. Waste of time. Think I'll go ahead and find a mech-less unit when funds permit. It's green anyway, looks dumb against the amber dash lights.

 Lost the p-side timing belt, and swapped one from the old motor to get it home. Ordered this PCI kit, and changed all included parts. Had to pull the alternator to get a look at the d-side sprocket. Much screwing around with the p-side, due to the belt wanting to run off the sprocket there. Ended up using that side's tensioner from the old motor,(main suspect -the new one looks a bit untrue) -which at least got the belt all on the sprocket instead of 1/8" off toward the motor.

It ran, but pinging like hell. So I went back in, -looked like I missed the position on the driver's side a bit. To be sure, I removed the a/c, and water pump feeder-(dumping my antifreeze in the process) I miss the EA81 :( what a mess. 

Waiting a day to refill and run it, because I put some rtv on the water pump tube -fingers crossed. :rolleyes: 

More to Come as always...

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