What Have You Done to your Soobie lately? (Please post in here and keep it going)

[1 Lucky Texan]

czny - you might investigate axles from HERI, they have more extension.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

not cool enough this morning to 'test' the lithium grease trick in the starter.

 

I've seen diagrams of the internals and I'm not convinced the spray gets far enough forward.

[czny]

"czny - you might investigate axles from HERI, they have more extension."

 

Thanks 1 Lucky Texan, but axle angles are better, ride is better, ride height is even ft & rr now. Will try 1/8 inch toe out like has worked for me in the past. I get a little wandering at 0 toe in.

My same axles made it to Tucson & back before the 1 inch drop mod so they'll likely live longer now.

Edited November 14, 2017 by czny

[subynut]

cznz,

 

Tucson? You live in southern AZ too? I live about an hour south of Tucson near Sierra Vista!

[czny]

cznz,

 

Tucson? You live in southern AZ too? I live about an hour south of Tucson near Sierra Vista!

No, still live in Azusa CA but travel to my sister's place in E Tucson. Usually stop in Tonopah for lunch.

[bbbs53]

After 6 years of sitting, mine is in the garage for a total restoration. Pulled off the hood and started digging. First off I need to pull the trans and do the clutch and cover etc. Since it has a 5 speed, it will need an EA-82 set. I bought all of the parts years ago and now it is just a matter of getting them installed. Due to being close to the beach in Washington, I have some rusted fasteners, but none in the body. I have a Weber for it and it already has the rear disc brake conversion. Since it is an '82, it has power steering, brakes and air, all of which will be put right. The "third eye" and switch are in and it is getting a "roo bar" I had sent from Australia, all aluminum. I am going to install the 14" Pug rims that now have my studs on them, not necessary at the coast. Most of the expendables are getting done, shocks, brakes, struts, rotors and a new windshield and rubber. About the only thing I haven't found in this mess is the new T-tops I have, somewhere. The old rubber is, well, old rubber. Once the mechanicals are finished it will go back to black with the gold and red stripes. I figure all of this will take the rest of the winter. I scored a new set of bed surround chrome about 10 years back. This is a San Diego truck I bought from a fellow member on here in '03. No rust. I do need to find the EA-82 interior shift cover parts and the steering column covers. I toyed with swapping engines, but after compression checking, no need. The dash has a crack, naturally, and will need some repair, outside of that the interior is fairly nice. After 13 years and a lot of miles before I parked it, it is going to get the treatment it deserves. I did spring the driver door hinges in a minor snow incident when the door came open when it was being pulled out. I have a new top hinge and will make the bottom one work. I am really glad I don't have to find these parts now, seems they are getting hard to come by. Once finished, it probably won't see much use, my Z3 is my daily driver. I am going to do it because one just doesn't see '82's anymore and this one is worthy of the work. I haven't posted in a very long time. I have some fenders and other gen 1 Brat parts and a couple of sets of alloy wheels and a host of gen 2 stuff. Once I am finished, it will all be available. Since I am now retired, I can take my time and do it right. I will start adding pics in a few days. I did restore my last gen 1 I bought in Sumner from Ken and hauled back to Idaho. It now lives in Kansas. It still has the WCSS5 plate from '03 on the glove box. Like me it's a bit faded, but still there. It ran when I shut it down just fine and I suspect it will fire right up. Looking forward to getting her back in shape.

Edited November 26, 2017 by bbbs53

[1 Lucky Texan]

not cool enough this morning to 'test' the lithium grease trick in the starter.

 

I've seen diagrams of the internals and I'm not convinced the spray gets far enough forward.

 

didn't help

 

I might try to get some very small shrink tubing so I can work it farther forward (maybe) and have the can in a less awkward position - still not confident that would work.

[Knucklehead Saloon]

My brumby got new cvs all round. The fronts are drivetech extra HD.

 

Rears are reman units from cvjoints australia.

Edited December 2, 2017 by Knucklehead Saloon

[Knucklehead Saloon]

Also got new plates !!

 

[Naked Buell]

Man that is a killer front bumper on that Brumby. How about some more pics of your brat Knucklehead. That is a cool name.

[Knucklehead Saloon]

No worries NB. I'll take skoob on a photoshoot in the next week or 2 and post it here.

[Thanatos]

Howdy everyone, new user here.

I have been digging through these forums for a bit for tips and tricks, and I must say, everything has been very helpful.

So, to begin, I have an '88 GL Wagon D/R 5spd with just a hair over 250k mi on the clock. I purchased it used about a year ago because we had owned another several years ago and these things are hard to kill. Unfortunately, the first one we owned was from New England area and was so rusted I was literally unable to change the brake calipers when they started locking up, so it had to get scrapped (sad, but I didn't have tools or a garage at the time)

 

Well, on to the newest addition to my personal transportation fleet:

 

I managed to find one at the local pick-n-pull, so have mostly stripped it of anything useful and easily carried (CTS, TPS, IACV), plus the rear tailgate lift struts, dash bezel, one rim (for a full-size spare) and a few other odds and ends. 

 

So far since purchasing, I have repaired / replaced the following:

 

Front Half Shafts

Brake Pads / Shoes

Coolant Temp Sensor

Idle Air Control Valve

Rear Hatch Support Struts

Tune up stuff (Plugs, wires, etc.)

New radiator / Hoses

New Timing belts and tensioners (broke while driving - thank GOD for non-interference engines)

 

Still to do is clutch and possibly a few tiny adjustments on the engine.

 

I have to say, this little F%$%er runs like a champ and is about to take a road trip to Colorado from Tacoma, WA

I will see if the junkyards there have any parts to snag while I am in town.

 

Additionally, I managed to convert my side / front marker lights (the white ones at the front corners) into combination marker / turn signals, so the former turn signal lights under the front bumper will become fog light locations.

[Johnnyboy]

Fitted LED headlights

[Len Dawg]

1993 Loyale 5spd 4wd Wgn last fall new front rotors and pads yesterday new rear drums and brake shoes.. kinda bent/madd because i gots ta use more brakes now to get front wagon wheels to fit again... apparently I picked up the wrong ones for the snow tires!! Yeah that ought to take another 10yrs to wear down so they fit aAgAiN!! LOL!!

[Eatmore Mudd]

Replaced a tail light assembly, door lock cylinder and fixing the blower fan system.

 

Long live the GL.

[kmpdx]

I finally changed the fuel filter. I was reluctant because the factory hose between the "in" part the screw was turned inside toward the  master cylinder and not really accessible. I bought a ratcheting offset screwdriver which I had to grind like 80%of the bit down to get it short enough to fit in there. I spent at least 1.5 hours getting the f-ing screw and clamp out. But I did it!

 

Turns out the fuel filter that was in there was backward!

 

In the process, I noticed that the longest spark wire (1?) was not in good shape. I bought new NGK wires for less than $22. The motor is runnnig better than ever! I had seriously underestimated the importance of fully functioning spark wires. Changing this wire along along with the rest, fixed my high-idle problem! I had chased it and partially fixed it through a bunch of other crap, but I could never get it to idle below 1000 RPM for the most part. 

 

Fianlly since I bought it it is consistently idling near the correct 700 RPMs.

 

I plan to create a post outlining this since around a year ago there were a few people interested in this exact same thing.

[MR_Loyale]

Did another warranty replace of alternator in red sedan. 

[Len Dawg]

Check this..... I have had a drivers side wheel bearing squawking with kinda serious vibration at 55-60mph and a narley familiar bearing r-ree r-ree r-ree.. driving through town, which I know something is going on because I walked outside of my car in a parking lot at work with the motor off coasting and I'll have to go in to pack or replace.

 

i took the wheel off and rotated to a diffrent lug location and it got 90% better although i think it could be the inside bearing.. yes I'll brag.. it got better but it's faint.

 

Then -in a RARE episode as i don't beat on my subaru eveyday- today trying to merge a lane in traffic with signal activated to please let me in nobody would give me a shot to get in..so i had nobody behind me and nobody in front in my lane so i slowed back past all those tightwads that wouldn't let me in, I wound up the rpm's up and dumped the clutch and burned the rubbers not just the powerwheel rightside but both, then one of the tight wads decided to pull out and cross in front of me to a side street. So I slammed the brakes and again burnt the tires to get in... yeay!! f$%<× s@#&heads!! I gotnin!! and meanwhile slooowing to a stop at the next light whadya know? No more bearing noise! Not that I would suggest following my remedy but it's my belief that perhaps I spun the bearing?? Lol! Never thought of it... but still I'll have to go in a repack or replace plus i should get a center ring just because perhaps it's just that... who knows right? Lol!

Edited March 6, 2018 by Len Dawg

[1 Lucky Texan]

seems more likely you had a stuck caliper and the agressive braking may have freed it up.

[Len Dawg]

Well... spoke too soon it's back!! Kinda... sorta..in a round about way... it's a weird one, left front squeaks when I turn left ????????????????????????????????????????????

[subyrally]

i have done a lot, depending on the definition of "lately", lol.

 

i built an engine for my wrx, sti block and crank, eagle rods, cosworth 100mm pistons, arp head studs, BC high rpm valve springs and retainers, headers, blouche 440xt turbo, turbo back exhaust, process west verticooler, id1000 injectors, iag tgv deletes, and probably more that i cant remember, lol. tuned to 390whp and 395 tq with a bad spark plug, lol.

 

more recently, i got a jdm ej20x to swap into my baja turbo that ate a piston a while back. that swap is getting close to done, just need to finish the timing belt and drop it into the car.

 

even more recently than that, i picked up a set of mostly rust free doors for my brat. i also got a full 2012 wrx suspension to try to fit under it. i also got a freshly rebuilt set of 4/2 pot wrx brakes to go with it. i am hoping to get it up and running by this summer and set up for stage rally by next race season.

 

ive been busy, lol

[jj421]

Took my tax return and put it towards doing the suspension on my Legacy. It's a 1998 Legacy L wagon, so I had base suspension on there (with some 205/70/R14 tires for a little lift). I did a bunch of research and decided on Outback struts, Forester springs, 16" wheels, and 27" A/T tires.

 

 

Very very very very happy with the result. Exactly what I wanted, lots of ground clearance but could still pass as stock to the untrained eye. I put all new 1998 Legacy Outback KYB GR-2 struts, all new KYB strut mounts, all new 1998 Forester base M/T Moog springs, all new OEM Forester upper spring perches and seats (for the front struts), all new Moog inner and outer tie rod ends, used Outback trailing arm brackets, used 16" 2nd gen Outback wheels, and all new 215/65R16 General Grabber AT2 tires.

 

Handles VERY nicely. Even though I'm higher up, it corners much better than before (mostly due to new struts). The suspension is a lot stiffer than it used to be, but still smooth and comfortable over bumps and offroad. The tires are a perfect fit! The only rubbing I've heard so far was at full lock doing a tight u-turn, and maybe once while backing up and turning. But it's so minor, even with the radio off and no noises, it can barely be heard. Maybe if I had mud flaps, they might rub on the front. Also I'm very impressed with how well the tires fit in the wheel well. I was worried the offset on the wheels (and wider wheels) would make it stick out more, but it's perfect.

 

 

Performance hasn't been a big issue, even with the 3.9 gears and 2.2 engine. I'm used to driving my 2" lifted EA82 on 27" tires, so for reference, it's easier to drive than that. Acceleration is definitely slower but I didn't buy this car to go fast. These wheels/tires are around 46 lbs a piece, whereas my 205/70R14 tires on steel wheels (before I lifted the car) were around 40 lbs a piece. For how much tire I got, that extra weight is really marginal. I am planning on getting a 4.11 Outback gearbox and diff in the future, but I just replaced my transmission a couple months ago (got the car for cheap, wouldn't go into 4th, then clutch started going out), so I am not looking at doing that any time soon.

 

As far as alignment goes, I did my own alignment (I work at a shop) and was able to get everything in spec. I had purchased camber bolts for the rear struts for camber and toe adjustments on all 4 wheels. I got everything within spec, and it drives straight. All 4 camber adjustments are maxed out, and one rear toe adjustment is maxed out (other is almost maxed). But like I said, all within spec and pretty close to preferred values. Rears have a little more negative camber (-0.7) than preferred (-0.5). Fronts have a little more positive camber (+0.0) than preferred (-0.2). Rear wheels are barely toed out (-0.10) compared to preferred (+0.0). So yeah, it's just barely off of preferred values but still within spec and I can hardly tell the difference in how it drives (most people wouldn't notice, I just do alignments for a living so I can notice). Going to be doing another alignment soon now that the suspension is more broken in, curious to see how the numbers changed.

 

Curious to see how the CV axles hold up too. I think they will be fine, they don't look like they are at too bad of angles (especially compared to the EA82), but you never know. All in all, it took me a day to do everything. Did it at my shop so a lift, full air tools, and a wall-mounted spring compressor made easy work of the job. What wasted my time was one of the tack welded nuts on the trailing arm brackets broke, so I ended up cutting a hole in my floor pan under the rear seat to put a socket on the nut. Anyways, I'll stop rambling on, haha.

 

Edited March 14, 2018 by jj421

[MR_Loyale]

Had to do the hood release on my car as the old one broke. I found a kebab skewer worked well to open it up. 

[Subaru Scott]

Well, I finally took the plunge after limping my 13" maypop baldies with belts showing along as long as I could, till one did pop. Just didn't want to buy any more 13s. 

 

 

So after many hours of reading about 6-lug swaps here, I decided that would be the cheapest, easiest route. The problem with most of the threads here is they are all about off-roading with lifted cars. There was very, very, little I could find about doing this swap on a stock height car with low-profile tires. What little there was had no pictures anymore because of photosucket.

 

So I took a trip to the only pick-n-pull in the area. Really, a terrible yard, with absolutely no organization whatsoever. You have to go over the whole yard usually, just to start and see what's available. And many of the cars are so packed together, you can't even walk between them. I found one set of 15" steel Isusu 6-lugs in the offset I figured I would need. 60 bucks for the set... pretty happy about that.   And they were actually going to charge me extra for the mixmatched, flat, half-bald tires that were on there (??) but they removed them for free.

 

Now, these wheels are well made, but HEAVY!! The center flange that I had to drill was 3/8" steel  and the rest of the center was a healthy 1/4". I was gonna weigh them before I got them on the car, but I was too excited to stop and do so. Really, part of me just didn't want to know. 

 

I was gonna hit up someone here to send me a front hub, maybe one with stripped splines, to use as a template, but I ended up just taking one of mine off, and bopping two of the studs out. I then made a drill bushing with a nut by first drilling out the threads with my pilot drill bit, and then, with the nut spinning on the pilot bit, I dressed down the OD with a right-angle grinder (shadetree lathe), till it just pushed inside the stud holes. 

 

 

Bolted the hub to the wheels, drilled the pilot through the bushing, then drilled to 1/2", Bob's your uncle.

 

After hours of brooding over tire size, I finally settled on 205/50R15s, which are ever so slightly taller than stock, and filled out beautifully on the 7 inch rims. Wallyworld got me Hankooks for 50 bucks each, and they really look like great tires. Took hardly any weight to balance, which is a good sign for the rims and tires. 

 

Fit without issue on the front, but it gets close in a couple of spots. The rear... was going to rub the inner fender lip under compression. I've never rolled any fenders, but I remember an old hot rodder telling me about using a baseball bat to do so. I couldn't find a full-size wooden bat anywhere locally, but I did have a piece of 2" PVC electrical conduit. Started out driving the car forward with the conduit rolling between the tire and body. With a stick and a string on the loose end of the conduit, so I could guide it (would work better with 2 people). Then finished by letting the car roll back down the driveway while levering the conduit down to push the flange up. Worked great. 

 

Then, after some cleaning and Krylon, I can't stop looking at it!! 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I have yet to try and drill a chamfer on the new holes so it will accept a traditional lug nut. For now, I just have regular nuts and lockwashers on the drilled holes, and center the wheels on the car with the factory holes. It's smooth as glass at 80 mph, so I think I can go back now and chamfer the drilled holes, as long as they are perfectly centered around the stud. Or, I could just get some flat-bottom chrome acorn nuts, and leave well enough alone. 

[Len Dawg]

Nice looking ride ☺