submarine Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 hello my name is florian i am from germany and i wanted to say hi to the forum i just bought a very nice hatchback 1800 4WD AF5 with 3 gear automatic transmission collour all misty grey (94) identnumer: JF1AF5EL01G - 024469 JF1AF5BL01G002 209 engine number: 493359 EA 81 535 715 its the first time ever that i have a subaru i think its a dream car but i am afraid of having problems with it because i am living in germany and not in another country where these cars are more common i paid 1000€ for it which is like 1500$ which is a lot of money for a 20 years old car now i feel really weird because i just realized that basically NOBODY in germany has this car i wonder if it will get hard to get parts... i am very concerned about some rust on the car its only near the back tires but i hope it will not be too hard to renovate rust might be a big problem i wanted to ask all of you about your experiences with that car -especially rust and which kind of typical weak points it has - if it has any weak points i am sure at least rust will be a big problem with these cars i am glad for any hint that can help me to find out more about this modell maybe even links about its history regards, florian engel from germany (right next to luxemburg) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffroid Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 Welcome. You have come to the right place. I really don't have any particularly clever answers to your general questions, but I have had a lot of experiences with Subarus of your era. I am fairly new here myself, but I have found this site to be an incredible source of information, and frequented by some very nice and helpful people. Just keep reading here, use the search function, and ask specific questions when you need help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submarine Posted April 17, 2005 Author Share Posted April 17, 2005 thanks for your reply i also think this is a great forum i know quite a few forums and this one is very nice organized, also technically right now i am solely concerned about rust usually there are typical points of rust for every car rust on the body some modells are quite simple to renew rustwise others quite difficult,... Welcome. You have come to the right place. I really don't have any particularly clever answers to your general questions, but I have had a lot of experiences with Subarus of your era. I am fairly new here myself, but I have found this site to be an incredible source of information, and frequented by some very nice and helpful people. Just keep reading here, use the search function, and ask specific questions when you need help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffroid Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 Can't really offer any specific advise on fixing rust, never tried to do it. Of all the EA81s I've owned, only one had a serious rust problem, and that was on the rockers (parts under the doors) and bottoms of the fenders. That seems to be fairly common. The rust and a minor front end fender bender turned that car into a parts donor. Around this area, it's easy to find old cheap Subaru bodies which makes fixing extensive rust damage not really worth the trouble. I posted yesterday about picking up an 83 Gl-10 sedan for someone in need that needs a windshield. That car has fairly extensive surface rust on the top part of one of the front fenders, and much rust on the chrome front bumber, which I thought was kind of unusual. Luckily, there doesn't appear to be any rust around the windshield, which I am hoping will greatly simplify it's replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submarine Posted April 17, 2005 Author Share Posted April 17, 2005 dont forget i am in germany there are no subarus from the early 80ies here and the one i found is by far the less rusty one you can get around here,... Can't really offer any specific advise on fixing rust, never tried to do it. Of all the EA81s I've owned, only one had a serious rust problem, and that was on the rockers (parts under the doors) and bottoms of the fenders. That seems to be fairly common. The rust and a minor front end fender bender turned that car into a parts donor. Around this area, it's easy to find old cheap Subaru bodies which makes fixing extensive rust damage not really worth the trouble. I posted yesterday about picking up an 83 Gl-10 sedan for someone in need that needs a windshield. That car has fairly extensive surface rust on the top part of one of the front fenders, and much rust on the chrome front bumber, which I thought was kind of unusual. Luckily, there doesn't appear to be any rust around the windshield, which I am hoping will greatly simplify it's replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted April 18, 2005 Share Posted April 18, 2005 The weak point in your car is the automatic transmission. Rust is often fixable. Take a wire brush to it, primer it on the inside, rivet metal to the outside, and bondo (fiberglass filler) it. It takes some time and patience, but the sooner you get to it, the smaller the rust holes will be. As a rule of thumb, the rust hole will be twice as big as it looked after you wire brush it. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85Sub4WD Posted April 18, 2005 Share Posted April 18, 2005 91Loyale is right about rust - it is something we have all had to combat at one time or another, particularly owing to the age of our cars, and if salt is used in the area (big factor) washing the car off (including undercarriage) after it has been on salted roads helps a LOT fix it as he described, the sooner the better the automatic transmissions from the 80's do have problems - the must be serviced very regularly at (or before) the specified interval - I would also recommend you avoid the autobahn (I think that is how it is spelled) because the car is not geared for high speed driving (save your BMW or Mercedes-Benz for that) - an additonal transmission fluid cooler may also be a good idea, as it prevents the transmission from overheating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submarine Posted April 18, 2005 Author Share Posted April 18, 2005 ok the car has less than 60.000 kilometers which kind of service should i do change transmission fluid and thats it or other transmission specific things? 91Loyale is right about rust - it is something we have all had to combat at one time or another, particularly owing to the age of our cars, and if salt is used in the area (big factor) washing the car off (including undercarriage) after it has been on salted roads helps a LOT fix it as he described, the sooner the better the automatic transmissions from the 80's do have problems - the must be serviced very regularly at (or before) the specified interval - I would also recommend you avoid the autobahn (I think that is how it is spelled) because the car is not geared for high speed driving (save your BMW or Mercedes-Benz for that) - an additonal transmission fluid cooler may also be a good idea, as it prevents the transmission from overheating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted April 18, 2005 Share Posted April 18, 2005 You might want to contact Lukas, he's almost next door to you. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/member.php?find=lastposter&t=33850 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submarine Posted April 19, 2005 Author Share Posted April 19, 2005 thanks imagine lukas just answered in the german subaru forum! http://www.subaru-community.net/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14460&FORUM_ID=20&CAT_ID=3&Forum_Title=Justy%2C+Libero%2C+etc%2E+Forum&Topic_Title=1800+hatchback+bj%2E1984 unfortunately, there are not enough people with old subarus in germany thats why this forum is much cooler for friends of classic subarus i guess the german forum is great for the newer modells though... german forum says: the weaknesses of the 1800 are: - rust: nearly all the back part, armortisation included - rust: doors - drive shafts front, because of broken cuffs - petrol tank and filler - the automatic transmission Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submarine Posted May 1, 2005 Author Share Posted May 1, 2005 pictures of my car: http://subaru.cybton.com/index.php?seite=bilder&bilder=coupe&modell=Turismo84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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