1986 Subaru L-series

[Haugsb]

Hello!

I've been a lurker here for almost three years wanting to make a post about my project, but have never gotten around to it. Until now.

In december 2014 I bought this blue 1986 Subaru L-series from an old man here in my area (Sunnfjord, Norway). He was the second owner, and bought it from the original owner when he became too old to drive. The second owner took good care of the car, but only to the mechanical side of things. As we all know, these cars like to rust. Western Norway is very wet, and the average rainfall in my area is 2,2 meters (or 6.5 feet). And so there was rust, and lots of it. So bad in fact that the rear crossmember had rusted from the inside and snapped. This was welded back again, so the car was drivable when I bought it. Luckily, the other rust damage was concentrated mostly to the rear, and under the windshield.

It wasn't until summer of 2016 I started working on these issues. Many hours of cutting and welding went into this. I have a lot of pictures of the process, and I am going to share them here so you can follow along on the project.

You can see the ceiling of the garage through the bodywork in this shot.

Edited April 25, 2019 by Haugsb
Resized and moved pictures

[Haugsb]

Because of the broken crossmember, the car was never going to become road legal. I searched far and wide for one, and even contacted a Subaru dealer in the USA. No one could help me unfortunately, until a parts car suddenly appeared. This was a 1988, and had a lot of issues, but the rear crossmember was (mostly) good. I bought the car, and hauled it back home.

The Toyota HiAce is known for being severly underpowered with only 90 hp, but luckily the L-series is pretty light!

After some minor repair work and sandblasting, the crossmember was good to go. Suddenly the first major problem was gone, and my confidence grew.

The old one was welded with an angle iron, and looked like this: Junk

The new one was only damaged in this end:

I sand blasted it looking for other surprises, but found none. Helper kitty inspected the work, and he looked happy.

A piece of exhaust pipe fitted pretty good inside the "tube", and was welded in.

The weld looks terrible, but I got better at it at the end.

First rust primer...

...and then a couple of coats of rim/wheel paint. From a distance, it looks almost new.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by Haugsb

[el_freddo]

Welcome to the forum! Awesome to see another L being saved. 

I’m guessing the green L isn’t as good as the blue one - both are touring wagons so they don’t have the same trim spec as such. Personally I prefer the series two which is what the green one is. 

I’m looking forward to more of your build pics  

Cheers 

Bennie

[Haugsb]

Thanks! I can't remember when I last saw one of these on the road, so I think it is important to save the ones we can  

The green one has many issues. At least one blown head gasket, a bad clutch, bad brakes, and of course, rust. It is a shame since it has only done 140 000 kms. Who knows, maybe it will become a future project.

I like the first ones because of the light and wiper switches, it just adds to the many quirks  Are touring wagons the ones with the tall roof? I have never seen one with a low roof actually.

[Haugsb]

Next, It was time to dismantle the car and start localizing more rust and other surprises.

Found some!

The fuel filler neck was also leaking, so I tried to remove it. It went into about 3 million pieces. The parts car's fuel filler was even worse.

I then started sand blasting to get a clear picture of the repairs necessary. In order not to have sand and dust everywhere in my fathers shop, I covered everything with tarp. Quite cozy inside!

 

Now it is very easy to see what is solid metal, and what is rust.

[Haugsb]

Let's weld. This was my first major car project, and I see now that I have sometimes made thing harder for me than necessary. My welding skills have also improved underway. 

Rear part of the right side done.

[Haugsb]

Not that much left after rust removal.

Quite complicated area to fabricate metal for, but very satisfying to see the result. Had some minor fires, but nothing serious. 

[Probz]

That is actually really nice rust repair! After grinding the welds i recommend body sealant (i believe its called seam sealer), its amazing and it will look factory after that!