Subasaurus Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Alright so im going to pick up an EA71 1979 1600 GL Wagon 4WD around monday for $125, good condition with no rust (been in Texas its whole life) why so cheap? the mechanic is tired of seeing it back there abandoned since 1999 and wants it gone and his money back from the labor over 15years ago (hence the $125 or he would just give it to me for free) (mechanics lean title transfer blah blah blah) now i've never experienced an engine thats been sitting for so long and then start it up for the first time, what should i do first before i damage something internally? my other cars that were sitting for 2-4years i just cranked on it, adjusted and replaced things that it needed.. right now what i know is the distributor, well somethings wrong with it says the mechanic, don't know what since i haven't cranked on it, and the other thing is it has a stuck rear (drum) brake from sitting so long. how do i get it unstuck? i have to load it on a trailer and bring it back home on its long journey. thanks for any help! Edited May 27, 2015 by Subasaurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Brakes will give drag, or just plain size up, just from sitting. Mainly caused by shoe/pad contact with drum/rotor. Rust happens..... Mostly over-come just by moving/driving vehicle. As far as engine goes; I would try a socket on the crank bolt to see if it wants to move Maybe, just pull plugs, squirt some lube in there, hand crank it over a few revs, just to break things up in the cylinders. Definitely want to flush the fuel lines out., along with the gas tank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) I got an old EA81 wagon out of the woods in vermont about a decade ago. Had been sitting 14 years I think. Fresh gas and battery and it started after about 30 seconds of cranking Expect that the carb will need a lot of cleaning or a rebuild to run right. brakes as mentioned. Drain the fuel and you'll want to use seafoam once the motor is running again to clear stuff out. Mostly though, if there's still oil in it, I'd turn it over by hand to be sure it isn't seized, put new spark plugs, oil change and fresh gas and battery in there and see what happens. texas is a pretty good climate for cars to last. Got my grandfathers 59 Edsel from houston - sat in a barn for decades and was actually a pretty simple project to get going. Edited May 27, 2015 by AdventureSubaru 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subasaurus Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 dont know if the engine is seized up or not thats what sucks, either way im still jumping on it for $125, but it shouldn't be seized up, (hope not), but what kind of lube on the top of the cylinder before rotating the crank bolt? just regular plain oil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Unless it sat with no oil or open to the elements in some way, you're probably fine. Yeah, I'd just do an oil change like it's any other car and crank it over by hand a few times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Check for mice in the air box , etc. Drain the old oil and while plug is out hand crank as mentioned above. Put in 5w 30. Good regular oil is fine , not going to debate synthetic at this time. You're just getting into this and the price is excellent. Lots of us have spare engines and you can still score one local if you search. But no worries like that. You're enine is probably fine and you're issue will be something like distributor off or bad voltage regulator or alternator etc. Bring it home ! The rest will happen. You'll be happy real soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcommie Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I put a crate engine from 1995 in my 78 wagon and used a pre-oiler which was a glorified oil tank with pressurized air forcing oil into the oil pressure switch hole. I poured a teaspoon of oil into each cylinder, poured some oil on the rocker shaft, and put 1qt of oil through the oil system before cranking it. You probably shuold put some oil on the rockers, in the cylinders, fresh oil in the tank and some in a NEW filter, and crank it without spark plugs until it builds good oil pressure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subasaurus Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) so turns out the title can't be found, registering it here in texas, either the vehicle goes to auction and im the highest bidder (screw that) or i bond the title once i have a bill of sale but turns out to be $6,000+ to go that route just to have a title and have it in my name (plus towing and fixing the car!), tomorrow a 1979 Subaru will be crushed, sorry, its the county's fault. im just gonna look for another one to buy, prefferably a brat and not a wagon. thank you for all the help guys, if im ever in this situation again where the engine hasn't been started in so long, ill know what to do! Edited June 2, 2015 by Subasaurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spicypeanut Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Strip everything off of it, sell the parts or keep them as a stash. Then junk the chassis. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subasaurus Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 good idea, i will check on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcommie Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 I'm interested in some parts too, I have Paypal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subasaurus Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 I'm interested in some parts too, I have Paypal! mechanic woun't give me it! or any of it... unless im the owner of it 100% legally. he doesn't want to be responsible incase the original owner returns (hes being stupid, its been over a decade) soooo, hes basically dissapearing it and letting a tow company take it and scrap it somewhere, he doesn't want to get sued i guess.. sorry about that :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdweninger Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Buy it from the tow company. You will give them more money than a scrap yard ... right? You don't need a title for a parts car. And, before a metal recycler can accept a car, they have to see the title. So, the tow company will get a title thru abandonment. In Oregon, that costs $75. Or you can do that yourself, once you have the car in possession. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subasaurus Posted June 5, 2015 Author Share Posted June 5, 2015 i see what your saying, i will post up if i get it, i will try then you guys can ask me if you need any parts.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonNorin Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 First of, you are lucky to have that for that price. It could make a great project car. Did you manage to have the thing started? It might need more than an oil change before it starts running normally again right? Been out of the game for 16 years so the suspensions might have also accumulated some water damages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subasaurus Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 (edited) First of, you are lucky to have that for that price. It could make a great project car. Did you manage to have the thing started? It might need more than an oil change before it starts running normally again right? Been out of the game for 16 years so the suspensions might have also accumulated some water damages. sorry for the long wait..mechanic changed his mind and didn't want to be responsible later, i went to him on june 25th to buy it as a parts car to see it gone, he told me he knew of a junkyard place that takes cars without titles, so expect to buy a piece of subaru history on a 2018hyundai sorry for the useless thread i made back in may, got over excited about another 70's subaru i was about to snatch up, ill make sure i own the car first before talking about it :/ i sure do miss that wagon.. Edited July 7, 2015 by Subasaurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 (edited) I don' think it was a useless thread Subasaurus, disappointing sure but not useless! Edited July 8, 2015 by Leeroy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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