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I'm going on a 3500 mile trip, what should I look out for?


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I'm taking my $100 '82 GL Wagon on the BABE Rally. VA to NY to New Orleans and back to VA. My sister will be with me. Tim Hanson and Miles Fox are going to be there too.

 

I've got reasonable tires on the car. Good brake pads. An extra distributor. An extra clutch disc. Extra almost new reman alternator. I'll try to bleed the brakes before I go. I plan on adding a coolant overflow tank, coolant does have a tendency to disappear. I don't know where it's going, but it doesn't overheat. I've only driven the car a couple hundred miles, so I'm not totally familiar with it.

 

Any wisdom you wanna slide my way?

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If it were me, I'd also take some extra plugs and wires, Radiator/heater hoses, fuel pump, and maybe a change of oil. Since you don't know much about the car it can't hurt.

 

Also, I just want to say good luck, and we're all counting on you.

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I took my $50 '82 wagon on a 3,000 mile trip from CO to WA and back. It made it fine. Watch out for the wheel bearings. And the oil pumps on the EA81 engines can go out sometimes. And standard stuff like belts, hoses, etc. Other than that, they seem pretty bulletproof. New clutch and accellerator cable might be a good idea just in case. And lots o tools.

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I do have extra plugs, too. I might pick up a belt.

 

If I blow the clutch cable, then I'm going to be doing some rev-matching, i suppose.

 

Tools certainly won't be a problem.

 

I put new CV boots on up front, and packed some new grease up in there. I haven't heard any noise from the rear, I'm going to hope it stays together.

 

Part of the spirit of the event is to fix as little as possible and deal with it when it happens.

 

One guy is driving a gremlin from Wyoming as we speak, and he thinks he's got a cracked cylinder wall. If he makes it, then I'll be fine.

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Have you put together a list of board members on or near your route? They might be of invaluable help in a pinch. Good luck! I'll bet the car does just fine! :headbang:

 

EXCELLENT idea.. you won't be in my neighborhood but I would be willing to help if needs be...

 

I would go to a junkyard and get an alternator belt and a TENSIONER... just to be safe, since it is so small anyhow.

 

Do you have a fullsized spare tire? that might be wise.... dizzy cap and rotor, too.. (if not already on the spare dizzy) all junkyard sourceable.... no need to worry about starter issues with manual tranny..

 

Just think about all the subsystems.. driving the engine accesories, (alternator etc) coolant subsystem, ignition subsystem, fuel subsystem... and driveline. anything you can think of that would be cheap and easy to grab a spare from the junkyard, cant hurt to have on hand.

 

Do you have a phone or a notebook you can bring along for emergency access to the USMB? :grin:

 

Good luck, man! representin'!!!

 

 

soobies in the point aint CHANGE.......:cool:

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i`m by newburgh NY, not sure if that will be of help, but i can help you with emergency parts. (i`ve got a whole parts brat, extra motors, ect.) i`ll give you pretty much anything you need for free, just happy to see your doing this in an ea81 subaru.

 

rock on:headbang:

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My decal connection has fallen through, so I've got a local company doing it. He came out to measure some stuff, and then he noticed a snakeskin protruding from between the door and front fender. "I ain't gettin in that car!" he proclaimed loudly. He thought the whole idea was hilarious. After learning that I had done some aluminum welding for a semi-local fire station, he said he'd lower the price for me. Sweet.

 

All I have left to do to the car before i go is put in the new blower motor relay and install an inner fender liner.

 

Anyone else live on the route?

http://www.baberally.com/babe.esp?PG=route

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i`m by newburgh NY, not sure if that will be of help, but i can help you with emergency parts. (i`ve got a whole parts brat, extra motors, ect.) i`ll give you pretty much anything you need for free, just happy to see your doing this in an ea81 subaru.

 

rock on:headbang:

 

If you'd like, you can PM me your phone #, and if I scatter parts, I'll give you a call.

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A can of fix-a-flat, a set of jumper cables, road flares, a road map, fan belt, a tube of stop flow for a radiator leak, a gas can, a flashlight, a sense of adventure. And a .45 semi-automatic handgun.

 

NO stop flow! That stuff will crud up your whole cooling system. If it's a small leak, use good ol' table pepper. A packet from MacDonalds is about right. (It flows to where the leak is, expands from the liquid and will temporarily seal small leaks.)

 

(Also...look out for deer about sunset on country roads :lol: )

 

Emily

http://www.ccrengines.com

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