rallyxPOS13 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Just wanted to introduce myself. I've just picked up a 1986 GL wagon 4wd for winter beater duty. It's laughably slow, but strangely entertaining to drive. I picked it up for cheap, it has a few dents, and the wheels were rusted (now rattle canned) It seems to have a weber 2 barrel instead of the stock carb, and plenty of emissions stuff removed/moved As I am quite hard on cars, I'm sure I'll be around for a while asking stupid quesitons, and I thank everyone in advance for putting up with me. I come to subaru from driving a Nissan 240SX for 6 years: This car has been my motorsports whore, being put through autoX, rallyX, drift days, and track duty. And while it is unstoppable in snow with its VLSD and snow tires, I can't in good conscious put another winter's worth of rust under it. My daily driver is a BMW 540i 6speed. 300hp and 1wd is miserable in the winter, and like all great german engineering, breaks quite often. So I'm with Subaru for the winter/ however long this car lasts -Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd45 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Hello, welcome to the boards. You will like it here. Soobies are great cars. They are not very fast but, they go any where no matter what the weather. Wagon looks good, enjoy her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Just wanted to introduce myself. I've just picked up a 1986 GL wagon 4wd for winter beater duty. It's laughably slow, but strangely entertaining to drive. I picked it up for cheap, it has a few dents, and the wheels were rusted (now rattle canned) It seems to have a weber 2 barrel instead of the stock carb, and plenty of emissions stuff removed/moved As I am quite hard on cars, I'm sure I'll be around for a while asking stupid quesitons, and I thank everyone in advance for putting up with me. That's a great rig with the Weber. Generally quite reliable, just remember to keep up on the timing belts as they rarely last past 50k. And monitor the cooling system as the stock radiators are pretty pathetic 20 years later. Easily good for 250 to 300k. I come to subaru from driving a Nissan 240SX for 6 years. This car has been my motorsports whore, being put through autoX, rallyX, drift days, and track duty. And while it is unstoppable in snow with its VLSD and snow tires, I can't in good conscious put another winter's worth of rust under it. Perhaps with a taste for 4WD you'll want a REAL rally car.... My daily driver is a BMW 540i 6speed.300hp and 1wd is miserable in the winter, and like all great german engineering, breaks quite often. So I'm with Subaru for the winter/ however long this car lasts So get rid of the problematic 1WD, and get into a 300 HP AWD. Try on a gen 1 Legacy turbo if you can find one - the blocks are good to 400 HP or so on stock internals. Quite reliable little things too. Replace your BMW and your Nissan all with one low-priced alternative. When you can find them they are around $2k or $3k in good shape. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94Loyale Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Welcome! That's a nice GL. And like you said "it's strangely entertaining to drive" I agree, there is just something about driving these that I love, besides being unstoppable in the weather. My friends didn't believe it until they drove mine. If you haven't gotten a chance to try it in the snow yet, you will be amazed! That's a beautiful 540 by the way, BMW's are my first love. Having a 94 525i, then a 90 325i, and wrenching on BMW bikes is my job If you ever need any help with your GL though, you have definitely come to the right place, these guys really know their stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Welcome aboard! Subarus can become an obsession...many of us can't own just one ( me, personally, an small time with 2 ) And many of us came from other makes ..like you...got one as a winter beater and just swapped over. ( I was a Ford Mustang person and a truck kinda gal...71 Mach1 Mustang 428 CJ,66 Pony Tang 289, 70 289 coupe..and LOTS of trucks..got an 88 GL for newspaper delivery and have owned Subaru since..9 of them total). there are members who rally their wagons..many like to do an EJ22 swap into them to give them just a weeee bit more umph:cool: :burnout: These are great cars..some of us have a love/hate relationship with one of them but deep down we still love the car or we would get rid of it ( my XT6 case in point) Have fun with it...check out the USRM ( repair manual online tips from those who have done it before) and enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaruguru Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 hey welcome there are alot of nice people here and lotts more nice and not so nice cars but we love them all. hers a tast of what you will see here this is my project/winter car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted December 3, 2007 Share Posted December 3, 2007 Welcome To The Board I used to have a 89 BMW 635 CSI with the rear cooler and thehydraulic assistance and everything. I got it cheep but man that thing had problems, was fun to drive though. Did about 140 on the freeway (in the middle of nowhere naysayers) Youve got a good car there. Should be great enough in the whinter. These are quirky cars sometimes but people on here have been through it all and know how to help you. If you want straight up no nonsence reliability just stick with the motor youve got. Ive got 200 thou on my clock but people on here have up to 300. Welcome to the world of Subaru Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyxPOS13 Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 Thank you all for the warm welcome! Perhaps with a taste for 4WD you'll want a REAL rally car.... AWD rally cars are 1/2 the fun! :cool: But seriously, I like doing things a bit differently... probably the reason I ended up here The Dude Abides: You might like my bumper sticker The car only has 122k miles on it, so I think it'll last me for a while. Besides the odd drivetrain noise every now and then, and the possessed dash electrics, seems to run like a champ! I drove it in my first ice storm this morning, and came away impressed. Thanks again, -Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 possessed dash electronics?? Enlight on what they are doing..if its light coming on for no apparent reason..glowing..etc..The alt may be hosed..when they start to self destuct they make the dash light seem possessed and do crazy things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi subbie Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 nice wagon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyxPOS13 Posted December 8, 2007 Author Share Posted December 8, 2007 possessed dash electronics?? Enlight on what they are doing..if its light coming on for no apparent reason..glowing..etc..The alt may be hosed..when they start to self destuct they make the dash light seem possessed and do crazy things The voltmeter is jumpy, but only in a 12-14ish range. At night it will sometimes not come on at all. Also, with the dash occasionally needs a "love tap" to light up when the headlights are first turned on. On cold mornings the LH turn signal is reluctant start blinking, and the same for the intermittent selection of the wipers. The alternator is fairly new, I checked it at a solid 14V when I first got the car, even during periods of weirdness, so I'm just chalking it all up to dirty/loose connectors Other than the headlights being mostly useless, this is a great beater! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beast I Drive Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 what you have is basically what i started with, same color even. I wish mine had come with a weber though..... Lucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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