1978 Subaru GF hardtop! now what?

[gfdan]

so i stumbled upon a 78 gf hardtop in a farmers field, covered in moss,with no dents, very little rust,5pd, 41,000 mi. I tracked down the farmer and he said for 300 bucks i could have her. i had never seen one of these cars before. (i thought it was an old b210 at first) i towed it home and to my surprise had it running that day. now i drive it everywhere and love it! Still have yet to see another one and even the internet suggests that the car is a forgotten piece of the past. but now what do i do? mine is complete and everything works on it (lights, ac,switches, guages, everything!) i wouldnt say its a fast car but its not the gutless rolls/welk/anhardly that my old toyotas were neither. i would consider it "quick". Does anyone have any info on performance upgrades for the 1600? or ideas at all for a GF? im having a hard time finding any info or anyone who has one or any any other evidence (except a few pics on the internet) that i dont have one of the last ones left. they cant be that rare can they?

[moosens]

Didn't the farmers daughter want it ?

 

No real performance upgrades. You can do some things but it'll still be an old Subaru.

Not too rare , but you may notice there aren't a lot of '78/9 anythings on the road.

 

Need anything for it ? I have lots of parts.

Check out crappy face book - there are a couple or so groups dedicated to old Subarus.

"Classic Subaru Network" and Old School Subaru Group are two you'll want to check out.

 

Here is great too for sure.

 

Good luck with it.

[Leeroy]

I concur, good luck! I have a 1976 GF and there a still a few others left getting around in Australia, at least.

 

Mine has been modified by the previous owner (EA63 heads and cam, different carb) and while no doubt an improvement it is not earth shattering!

Edited October 13, 2017 by Leeroy

[Subaru Scott]

Congrats on the find, those are cool cars! 

 

A weber carb conversion will give you a pretty good boost.

[kookeyes]

Post pictures,please. Very rare car. There is one posted on Craigslist in Eastern Washington not too far from you. He has it listed as a Leone, though. Hope yours is in better shape. Only other one I found was a year or two ago in Colorado Springs on CL. Guy was a three word responder CL flake, so nothing became of it. It was a white one. You can get the original 1978 Subaru brochures on eBay to see what they looked like brand new. Keep it as original as possible. It always pays off in the end. What color is yours? Congrats on your find!

[gfdan]

so ive uploaded some pics of the 78 gf.

[gfdan]

here it is

[gfdan]

or here

[gfdan]

and here

[gfdan]

so i was pulling a tape on the 2.2 the other day and its a little too close to call. does anyone know if it would fit in the 78 gf?

[moosens]

Car looks great.

[kookeyes]

It looks in great shape. Love the super-rare vinyl top. It's in great condition to be 40 years old.

[Rust]

so i was pulling a tape on the 2.2 the other day and its a little too
close to call. does anyone know if it would fit in the 78 gf?

 

Keep it stock, don't frankenize it.

[charles_thomas]

Nice find! I wish my coupe was in that good of condition when I found her, I wouldn't have done as many modifications.

Make that car Shiney.

[kookeyes]

Depending on what the interior condition is, you might be able to sell it on ebay for a nice figure as a survivor car. A recent survivor low miles all original 79 Subaru 2wd wagon went for 6k in Texas and an 80 4WD wagon with Desert Fox graphics sold for 10k in California. Sure, drive it for a year or so and have fun (plus insure it properly with classic car insurance), but I would recommend keeping it all original and get it in pristine condition so you can sell it at some point and use the profit to do an engine swap on another vehicle that is less rare and less valuable. Selling it when it is 40 years old in great condition with lots of pictures and detailed info on ebay is definitely the way to get the most out of your 300.00 investment. I was just in Spokane, Coeur D'Alene, Sandpoint and Post Falls almost exactly a year ago looking for old Subarus, but the ones on Craigslist had sold by the time I got there. Guess I should have driven the back roads a bit more.   

 

There's a reason why there is so little info/pictures online about the 78/79 GF Hardtops. There just aren't any left around.

[Burtenglewood]

I got this from the people who had it since brand new 100% complete as well and living on the coast in missippi it is definitely an eye catcher, people constantly ask what it is and few even go as far as would i sell it then get mad when i laugh and asked if they was serious lovely lookin car

[gfdan]

What a beauty! Is that the DL?

[moosens]

The Mississippi Meteor sure looks cool with the rack , rust , and Gulf color.

 

gfdan , I hope you’ll leave it stock too. 2.2 as a last resort. The 1600’s are reliable and can give you enough GO to be happy enough. It’s obviously not going to be a really cool and fast car. But you can enjoy it being cool.

[moosens]

After looking better at your pics I have to speak my piece.

 

It’s only that original once.

 

You’ve found something others would cherish. So before you kill that aspect of it , consider throwing it out there for sale and make some money to put towards a true project car.

 

You’re choice , enjoy it either way.

[impostor]

I would give it a nice home and leave it the way it is. Even the 'jerk' sticker.

[moosens]

Nah , I vote to clean it up proper , including removal of the “jerk” decal.

 

Seriously , I can see your left fender about to burst with rust at the top. This is VERY common.

You want to take the time and remove the both of them and clean and prep as best as you can paying attention to shedding water.

 

Subaru put a foam strip in there to reduce vibration noise. That acted as a sponge - Not Good - and even the “no rust zone” cars suffer this malady.

 

Also , being a GF you have a 5spd. Consider this a minor treasure.

 

Pretty sure there’s several of us here who would be really upset if you started messing around with this car and taking it away from originality. Not that we matter , but hoping you’ll see some light and make your own conclusion.

 

While we’re at it , you also want to immediately remove the cowl ( that grill thing in front of the front windshield ) and get down in there and remove any pine needles , leaves , etc. Right down to the paint and/or rusting metal. This is the second MUST GET TO area. If you see that any paint is gone proceed to look for pinholes using a flashlight or daylight while you are inside with the carpet pulled back looking all around under the dash especially on the passenger side.

 

Then go around each wheel well and inspect for rust where the tires throw the slop around.

 

Enjoy it !

[moosens]

Lastly , brake lines and the passenger side floor/sill.

[gfdan]

thanks everyone for the advice. i had to move to Kansas recently and was only able to take one car with me. you guessed it, i drove her 1700 miles to Kansas and left my other cars in idaho. i dont have the resources here in kansas that i used to in idaho and am considering SELLING IT as i may not be able to care for it properly. I'd let it go to the right person for a good price if i do sell it. im considering offers if anyone is interested.

[gfdan]

thanks everyone for the advice. i had to move to Kansas recently and was only able to take one car with me. you guessed it, i drove her 1700 miles to Kansas and left my other cars in idaho. i dont have the resources here in kansas that i used to in idaho and am considering SELLING IT as i may not be able to care for it properly. I'd let it go to the right person for a good price if i do sell it. im considering offers if anyone is interested.