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Dilemma: too nice to part out?


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Hi all. This is a fantastic forum! Once again I meant to introduce myself in the meet and greet section but my parts car is here and I have many many ???'s

So here's an intro in the form of a question...

 

 

First, my driver is an '86 4X4 D/R Wagon, carbed. I love it (3rd Suby). I just bought an '86 GL-10 4x4 sedan (see pix) that I intended to cannibalize for goodies such as rear discs, rear sway-bar, and the fun up-down-up-down GL-10 front seats, etc.

 

Here's the catch: when I think of parts cars they are in poor condition. This sedan is in fine shape (less motor and turbo, which grenaded) with a great interior, perfect electrical, good trans. etc. A part of me hates to chop it up but the rest of me is drooling over the goodies for my wagon (cruise, power steering, trip computer... ... ... )

 

So what do y'all think? To chop or not to chop?

 

PS. If I part it out, parts will be for sale here on the board and many will be donated to the USMB auctions...does that sway anybody?

 

Take care,

Aiden

Canby, OR

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You're right, that looks like a pretty sweet ride (from here). The rule of thumb I'd use is: if you can make it go before it turns to rust, keep it. Otherwise, the parts could be better used in circulation - either in your ride(s), or for sale to others on the board. Good luck either way. And welcome to the board.

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if both parts are in good running order. why not take the goodies off one car, and take the leftovers from the other and put them back on the donor?

 

if you wanyed rear discs on the gl, then use the old drum setup and put them back on the gl-10. tyhey will interchange the same.

 

i take it the gl-10 is an automatic. and the gl is a stick?

 

86 is my favorite year for a soob. good luck!

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Sentiment definitely seems to be trending against using it as a parts car. Here are some thoughts:

 

Yes, Hondasucks, the GL-10 is an '85. My bad. The ad in the paper said '86 and I didn't look more closely. :rolleyes:

 

And, yes, Turbone I have seen the BYB site and I want a lift...for my wagon. The lifted sedans do indeed look awesome. However I work on a ranch in the Willamette Valltey and need the utility of a wagon. I also like to get back into the hills for backpacking, etc. and welcome the wagon's large dry space when returning from the soggy Oregon woods.

 

And to everybody on the right coast...I wish you good hunting for non-rusty buckets...I worked in Vermont in '96 and bought an old E-81 Brat for tulin' around the back roads. It was so rusted out that the rear shock mounts had come through the body and I left shreds of my rear tires every time I took a big bump...

 

Thing is, I have this car here...in my driveway. I have probably exactly 73 1/2 hours until the Oregon winter rains start (and don't let up til March:-\ ) and my nice wrenching weather ends. I have no desire to put another engine in this GL-10. I could sell it but wouldn't get enough $$$ to cover buying the parts I want to cannibalize for my wagon ( the parts I already have sitting in my driveway).

 

Hence the dilemma remains... I'll hold off for another day and see if I get more input for the board... but the rains are comin', the rear axles in my wagon are hummin', and that up-down-up-down GL-10 seat shore is fun...:-p

 

Anybody else want to comment?

 

Thanks,

Aiden

Canby, OR

 

PS More pics available via P-mail if anybody's interested...

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Thanks Miles, but the story with the GL-10 is that the turbo seized or burst a pipe which then caused a localized fire from the oil on the front pass side of the engine. The P.O. luckily was carrying a fire extinguisher rated for oils and put it out. But not before the front timing cover/belt/vacuum tubes were sizzled. (Note: fire extinguishers=good...oily engines=bad)

 

So the GL-10 doesn't run and I don't think I could get enough return on my effort for a non-running GL/GL-10 hybrid monster. Also, by swapping parts I am both doing 2X the labor and losing the use of the spare parts...If I could get enough $$ for the GL-10 afterwards , then maybe. But a non-running auto sedan???

 

Thanks,

Aiden

Canby, OR

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So....it caught on fire!

I have the parts you need to drive that car again. I also have the trick parts you want for your wagon. My shop is in NW Portland just past the St. Johns Bridge on Hwy 30. If you are interested write me in direct e-mail dld454@msn.com to exchange phone numbers. My parts cars will be liquidated (Schnitzerized) soon, as I re-invest in 90's vehicles. In other words, if you find parts you want and can remove them responsibly, there will be little or no charge.:burnout:

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suppose you can find a carbureted ea82 for cheap. slap it up in there, use the 86 distributor.

 

that is what i got in my 87 gl-10 turbo. got the car with the turbo motor in the trunk. put a car motor in there and drove it for 1000 miles. got the turbo motor together and drove it for a day or 2, until it took a dook. now i got the carb motor back in there.

 

that is the nice thing about 85 and 86 distributors, they work as standalone. i believe you can use the turbo dist from the car itself, it is standalone with a knock sensoe, wheras others(87 up) have the optical type

 

since the car is nice enough, you may want to consider that if you can find a motor for cheap. you will have to find a y pie too, but it will fit aginst the rest of the exhaust!

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What I am about to say will upset alot of folks but it won't be the first or last time for that matter.

 

An '85 sedan with no motor or engine wiring really is good for one purpose only. PARTS!!!

 

If you want those goodies for your wagon weigh what the cost will be for those parts and then consider what you paid for the sedan. If you are ahead then do the scavenge. I have stripped much nicer ones than that one and a number of members are running the parts.

 

If someone wants to step forward and pay you what it will cost for all the parts you want to put on your wagon then that should be considered. But I seriously doubt that will happen. Considering that the parts you mention will cost around a $1000.00 from just about any wrecker in Oregon. Don't feel bad about making your car better for you.

 

Think of it this way. How many people have used XT6 suspension on there GL's to make them better. Something has to die to become an organ donor. Sounds to me like yours qualifies.

 

Flame suit is on and functioning. Let me have it.

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on the contrary, the only wiring a carbbed motor needs is the wire from the dist to the coil.

assuming the headlight and alternator wiring is not burnt up......

 

and if the wiring to the coil is burnt, run a toggle switch to both it and the fuel pump(after swapping in a carb fuel pump)\

 

i dont know, that is wah ti would do at least. considering there are NO soobs in junkyards in my area, and me having a spare motor.

 

its all a matter of circumstance and personal preference!

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I agree w/ Ken. It is an 85 and an 85 Subaru is 17 years old. You could spend 20+ hours gettign it running and hundreds of dollars. What for? Someone on the board would want to give you like $700 bucks for it?

 

 

If it was a 88 With LSD or diff lock it might have some value but as a 85, put the doors on ebay cuz they do look nice.

 

 

 

This would have been the perfect complement car to my 85 RX Sedan I parted out. Between the 2 someone would have had something.

 

 

Hey Sunflyer61, we have a small shop in NE. What is yours called? You specialize in Subby's or ?????

 

richslaw@hotmail.com

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Originally posted by TROGDOR!

Qman, your west-coastness really showed in that post. ;)

 

Over here any Soob in that condition, running or not- that decision would be a no-brainer. Even if it took 2 parts cars to get it going again, it'd be an easy choice.

 

Yes... but you still have to part two cars for that. If they are that hard to find how will that work?

 

The other thing people seem to miss is that a sedan will not fit his needs. People are not going to pay him what he needs to get all the parts for. And the sedan will effortlessly give all of them up for him.

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agree w/ Ken. It is an 85 and an 85 Subaru is 17 years old. You could spend 20+ hours gettign it running and hundreds of dollars. What for? Someone on the board would want to give you like $700 bucks for it?

 

How about knowing that you have a solid car that cost peanuts to insure and pay taxes on?And whats 20 hours to a single guy?

 

Something to consider if you know about life on our end.But I also agree that a carb'd sedan is low on the list of cars to bother with.It's all up to the end user and what they expect to do with it.If you want to dump your time and money into it it'll never make the $$ back but you can drive it mighty inexpensively here and not be embarassed by its looks.Quite contrary to driving most 80's Subarus on the east coast.

 

Coin toss!!!!Heads it's EAST ,Tails it's WEST

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Originally posted by Qman

Yes... but you still have to part two cars for that. If they are that hard to find how will that work?

 

It's not that they're hard to find around here... give me 24 hours and I could find at least 3 $100 EA82's. The problem is that the bodies are so rusty on all of them here. I can find drivetrain parts out the wazzuu, it's *body* stuff that's the problem.

 

And yes, I know it won't meet his needs, and that on the west coast things are different. I was just kinda joking around, I meant that someone could tell what coast you were from without even looking at your location just from that post.

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As I was driving down I-5 the other day I passed a flatbed semi with the snitzerized flattened hulks of cars stacked on its bed. Another load of metal for the melting pot. I could tell by the plastic and fiberglass that most of the hulks were those oh-so omnipresent (and, IMHO, oh-so-yawn inducing) class of 90's American vehicle-clones that Detroit has been spewing. Most of the new cars today not only look too similar to tell apart, but look too similar TO CARE to tell apart. I thought to myself: I wonder if in, say 20 years, there will be the Ultimate Taurus Message Board or the (God Forbid) Ultimate Aerostar Message Board. What is it that makes a vehicle (or anything, actually) something to be collected and something to develop affinity groups over?

 

By the directions this thread has run it seems that what is collectible or desirable is always situationally based on your locale, personal taste and preferences, and how much money (I'd much rather be collecting late 50's era Porsche 356's than 1985 GL-10 sedans) and time you have to spend. And also what will fit your individual needs.

 

Because of this great discussion we've cooked up on this thread I've decided to part out the sedan, use the mechanicals for the wagon and sell the body panels, doors, interior, etc. Look for items to be posted on the USMB marketplace and also donated to the USMB ebay auctions.

 

My wagon will live longer for the death of the sedan. We all gotta eat.

 

Thanks everybody,

Aiden

Canby, OR

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