Subydooder Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 (edited) Greetings, I have purchsed a 1983 Subaru GL wagon and have been going through the car to make it a daily driver. I bought it with 300 K on it. 700 bucks and an extra 1800 engine. The car was pretty trashed inside. In the two months I have owned it I have .... Treated the floorpans for rust. Coated soundproofing on the floors. Resealed floors and truck bed liner on the rockers. New carpet and padding Rebuilt the instrument cluster and polished the face. Rebuilt the fuel system with new pump filter, IC chip in the relay etc. Repaired numerous bad electrical connections. Restored the interior panels with 303. Rebuilt every door, locks, latches, window guides. Replacing the rear hatch and lift cylinders. Sealed all door bottoms inside with POR 15 Added 60 watt strobes in each corner light. Hazards on steroids. LOL. Blew a head gasket and am now replacing the motor after going through the extra. It was also blown with many issues. I have a ton of pictures. I am really appreciating the Subaru. They were designed to be worked on. I am a long time jeeper. I have military trucks and a couple rare civilian jeeps. I belong to Oregons oldest 4x4 club the BrushBusters. I enjoy the outdoors a lot. I thought it would be a good idea to get online on a suby forum so I could learn more. There are a couple local subies that have massive lifts and one even has 33"s:eek:. I plan on original for now. Famous last words. I look forward to lots of reading (when the motors done) and learning. I'll post up a couple pictures. Off to the shop. Glad to be on board. Edited June 7, 2009 by Subydooder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo'J Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Nice Dooder! Welcome to the board! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 You do nice work! I like your style. It's rare to see anyone with your eye for detail. Seems we are locals to each other - We should definately hook up and talk shop. I have tons of parts and info to share. I appreciate the military vehicles as well although I don't own any - drove them a lot in the Army. Would love to own a Duece someday. I have a lifted 84 wagon (same body as your's) with 28's, and an 83 hatch (shorter wheelbase than the wagon) which I'm planning to roll on 33's with a nissan or samurai t-case behind the subaru transaxle. Just got into a house with a 2 car garage and shop about 8 months ago and I'm organizing and setting up my metal-working area to get started on the hatch. Eventually I would like to build some chain-driven portal hubs for the EA81 bodied Subaru's (like our's). That's the big advantage that the H1 Hummer's have over the Subaru independant suspension. It would take the stress off the stock drivetrain, and would give amazing ground clearance. I'm thinking double or tripple o-ring chain with about a 1.6:1 reduction. Perhaps we could bounce some idea's around eh? GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subydooder Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 Absolutely, I am not far out of PDX at all. I have seen a couple here that are pretty hogged out. It looks like fun. After messing with Jeeps for 30 years it's kind of refreshing to find a new rig to tinker with. I should have bought a Subaru years ago. I was hoping to put the second motor in today. I had the wrong throw out bearing for the clutch. This motor was far from ready to run. Helicoil kits are expensive. Somebody was very hard on this motor. I also had a casting flaw in the block. It was weird. It penetrated into the water jacket. I made it round and pinned it with a tapered steel pin bedded with high temp epoxy. I faced it and threw it together. Fingers crossed.:-\ I hope it works or I'm tearing in to the original 300 K motor. The more I work on this car the more I like it. Thanks for the welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Absolutely, I am not far out of PDX at all. I'm in West Linn myself - where are you in relation to PDX? Any plans for this next weekend? Maybe a junk yard run is in order? I'm planning to hit a few myself. I have seen a couple here that are pretty hogged out. It looks like fun. After messing with Jeeps for 30 years it's kind of refreshing to find a new rig to tinker with. I should have bought a Subaru years ago. I felt the same way - and after experiencing the H1's in the Army, I felt that there was a lot of potential in the independant suspension system that was not being taken advantage of by the majority of the "wheeling" crowd. With solid axles - it's all been done. There's no challenge there and there's little room for imagination - just open your wallet and the sky's the limit. For me, that's too easy. I enjoy the challenge of doing something that hasn't been done and can't be "bought" for any price. There's a certain amount of pride in my own craftsmanship that's more important than making it through the deepest mud hole or the over the biggest rock. I think that sense of adventure and trial & error has been lost in a large portion of the crowd. For a lot of the wheeling crowd it seems to be a "dirty" version of who has the biggest SUV in the neighborhood. I was hoping to put the second motor in today. I had the wrong throw out bearing for the clutch. This motor was far from ready to run. Helicoil kits are expensive. Somebody was very hard on this motor. I also had a casting flaw in the block. It was weird. It penetrated into the water jacket. I made it round and pinned it with a tapered steel pin bedded with high temp epoxy. I faced it and threw it together. Fingers crossed.:-\ I hope it works or I'm tearing in to the original 300 K motor. The more I work on this car the more I like it. Thanks for the welcome. I have come to appreciate the simplicity of the design. It's a real engineer's car. The 4WD system is right/left symetrical - axles are the same length on both sides in the front and in the rear. And I absolutely despise a transverse engine layout as is used in virtually every other front wheel drive platform. Really, the EA81's are about as simple as an old chevy truck - just with lighter parts. If you need any parts let me know. I have several EA81 engine blocks and numerous sets of heads laying around. My plans don't include using the majority of this stuff. Unfortunately, while there will always be a place in my heart for the EA81, the power isn't there and soon the parts won't be there either. There's a large community that has grown up around swapping the EA series engines for the EJ series - mostly the EJ22. While it does have timing belts, it's easily just as reliable. It's got roughly double the HP (130 to 140 depending on year), tons of torque, they are cheap, and with a relatively simple adaptor plate and drilled flywheel will bolt up to the 4WD transmission's in our cars. And a car that was designed light enough to be moved by 74 HP is a ROCKET with 140. Plus there will be parts available for them for the next 20 years as they aren't much different than the newer WRX engines (the rally-sport, hood scooped Subaru's you see all over around here). GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferox Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Rebuilt the fuel system with new pump filter, IC chip in the relay etc. Welcome, did you pick up this chip somewhere locally or did you order it on the internet? I need to replace two myself. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niku-Sama Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 you said you "restored the interior pannels with 303" what is that and where can i get my mitts on some, that'd be great for all my cars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subydooder Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 Well lets see. The IC chip I bought from a local electronics supply place. I build a lot of custom stuff so this place is one of my favorites. It is in Beaverton Oregon They are called NORVAK ELECTRONICS. 503-644-1025 or 1-800-938-1025 My receipt says part number NTE 55 @ $4.80 Get some desoldering wick also as it's quick to use part number 1822-10F @ $2.40 When I put the chip in the board I test ran the fuel pump. The new chip got hot so I knew I either had possible faulty diodes or other components on the board. Or the fuel pump was working the relay to hard. Since I wanted to build out the car for reliability and replace the high wear parts so I put a new NAPA 3-5 PSI rotary vane fuel pump in and presto! The IC chip stayed cool and it was running great till the head gasket let go. I'll have the new or reworked motor installed in a couple hours. Vroom vroom... no wait, wrong brand:) The 303 protectant is absolutely amazing stuff. I restore old cars and am a custom car builder by trade (layed off right now transitioning to self employment) the protectant is equal to 40 SPF for UV exposure. The neat thing about it is it's ability to rehydrate old gaskets and rubber trim pieces. I tinker with old military trucks and civi jeeps and some of the rubber pieces are trashed and no longer able to be found even surplus. My MV trucks buds and I have found that soaking these parts in 303 for about 30 days will bring the part back to it's original shape and restore it's pliability. I have used several gallons of the stuff. Vinyl car and jeep tops love this stuff. Here is the bottle. As for my interior. It was faded in some spots. The dash vents were falling apart. I replaced them with a junk yard car replacement. Before I installed the better vents I sprayed 303 on them for a couple weeks till it was dripping. I just kept doing it. They look way better and hopefully will stay together longer than the ones I removed. Every door panel was soaked for a month. I would follow with a very damp rag keeping it wet with 303. The change is great. Be sure to wear gloves. The console and all arm rests were treated the same. A couple of hot days with the windows up seemed to help it penetrate. I wiped it all out and have been enjoying it since. I looked for a separate tech forum. Is this the place to ask a question? My question is can you swap flywheels from E81 to E81 and not have balance issues? Are they indexed? I did not look long but the bolts all looked spaced evenly. I need a drivers seat. Some mice had a few late nights in my foam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subydooder Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 BTW, I ended up using new carpet for a brat from JC whitney. It fit great and the remaining interior carpet I color matched locally and cut to fit. I did find a place online that sold the drivers side rubber foot well pads for making new carpet for your car. The JC whitney stuff was simple cut and sew seams and bulk carpet could be made into a very good looking new carpet job in a short amount if time. Has anyone found any other sources for the GL cars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 My question is can you swap flywheels from E81 to E81 and not have balance issues? Are they indexed? I did not look long but the bolts all looked spaced evenly. Actually the bolt pattern is not evenly spaced. The flywheel can only bolt on one way. But to answer your question more in-depth - the balance indexing is done with the pressure plate. The flywheel and the pressure plate are both supposed to be stamped with balanceing marks that are (according to the FSM) supposed to be placed between 120 and 180 degrees apart (IIRC). The problem is that many times the marks are ground off when the flywheel's are resurfaced and most of the pressure plate's sold by aftermarket parts dealers don't even have them. In practice it rarely makes a difference. I have never had to take one back apart due to vibration. Theoretically it could happen according to the FSM's, but I've never seen it. I need a drivers seat. Some mice had a few late nights in my foam. Seats (in good condition) for EA81's are difficult to source. EA82 seats (the '85 to '89 body style) are easier to find in decent shape - those cars are more plentiful in the yards. You have to make some brackets from flat bar and weld them to the bottom of the seats to mount the older style rails as they are a bit over 1" farther apart on the newer seats. They fit fine otherwise though. I have set installed in my hatch if you would like to have a look. How's about a junk yard run? GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niku-Sama Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 i'll have to check it out, theres alot of air plane nuts arround here and theres all sorts of protectants and stuff in a bunch of stores. infact the local napa isnt far away from a popular minicipal airport and they carry alot of high end 3M compounds and polishes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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