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1988 Subaru Wagon Qs


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Hello,

 

First of all I want to thank you all who pointed me to Richie's Subaru shop. He not only fixed the problems I wanted fixed, he gave me all of the options from the cheapest to the most expensive with their advantages and disadvantages.

 

I have a 1988 Subaru DL wagon with SPFI (I'm pretty sure), dual range which Richie swapped in for the original push button, 5sp, no AC.

 

I have a few questions about this Subaru:

- what do you guys do for cup holders?

- what do you guys do for more comfortable seats?

- how do you guys drive around with much larger tires without changing front and rear differential gears?

- have you guys felt the need for skid plates? If you do for what components?

 

Thanks a bunch, you guys are full of good info.

 

Andre S

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Another thing about Richie's shop, they're pretty thorough about checking everything else in the car while working on the main problem. So far I've driven it 1500 miles and will add another 1500 in 3 days' time. After the first 1500 miles, I am confident enough it'll take me another 1500 miles.

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Originally posted by rabbit_39

I have a few questions about this Subaru:

- what do you guys do for cup holders?

 

Coffe cup with a lid, between the legs:D

 

- what do you guys do for more comfortable seats?

 

GL-10 seats have height adjustment and lumbar support adjustment. straight bolt in swap.. I recently sent a set to the crusher, as no one wanted them :(

 

- how do you guys drive around with much larger tires without changing front and rear differential gears?

 

Ya just do. My tires are only a little bigger than stock. about 25.5 inches as apposed to the 22.5 inches that the stock tires were. I have 3.70 gears.. 3.90(which you already have) would help me a bit.

 

- have you guys felt the need for skid plates? If you do for what components?

 

Mine came with a facvtory skid plate to protect the oil pan. Yours being a DL might not have it. I'm sure someone here has one they would sell to you, or you can get them from the wrecking yard pretty easily. they are stout and can take a pretty good beating. Haven't really found a need for other skid plates.

 

 

Hope that helps.

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i have a cup holder screwed into the dash. also, if you had the dual range, you can hold a smaller size drink between the 4x stick, the e-brake, and the front of the console. this is gl so i'm not sure about the console.

 

gl-10 or XT seats are the way to go. i just put on an "racing style" seat cover. they are pretty comfy but the seats mentioned would be much better.

 

i don't have larger tires but i still 4 wheel.

 

i would rig up skid plates everywhere that could get hit by rocks or other debris. definitely protect the diffs and the driveline. you'll need protection under the engine too. just experiment. you can't really overprotect the underside.

 

i noticed that you swapped D/R for S/R. Why? Was the D/R shot?

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regarding the cupholder dilemma..

go to wal-mart and pick up an "euro jr." cupholder.. it is adjustable for just about any sized drink. it has these lame little velcro tabs that dont work for anything... throw those out.. next, cut a thin piece of wood a bit bigger than the base of the cupholder.. then glue it to the little change holder tray thingey just in front of seat belt to the left of the ebrake. the cupholder has a small hole in the center of its adjustable track that you can use to screw it into the piece of wood you've already glued in place. so there ya go.. a new cupholder.. enjoy...

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I think you read my message incorrectly. Originally the DL had push button, and Richie swapped in the D/R for me. Now the wagon is ALMOST exactly what I want. I just need AC and turbo. It's difficult to find a wagon with:

- 5sp

- dual range

- AC

 

I wanted the turbo, but I found out that it doesn't ever come with 5sp. Someday...

 

I'm hesitant to put much bigger tires on this wagon. As it is I feel the lack of power and compensate by using the rpm. If I go to bigger tires, I'm probably going to need a clutch every few thousand miles. :-)

 

When I have the time/money I'll have to see if I can crack apart the tranny and maybe see how I can change the ring and pinion.

 

<sigh>... almost the perfect rig

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I wanted the turbo, but I found out that it doesn't ever come with 5sp. Someday...

 

Lots of them came with 5 speeds.. robs 86 turbowagon is a factory 5 speed 4wd car.... just not D/R 5 speeds.. but either way, its an easy swap.. My turbowagon used to be an auto:D

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So now I just gotta wait until I can find a turbo motor and swap it to my current D/R 5 speed. Does it make that much of a difference in torque/power? Anyone make a torquer cam for the EA82? I'm not power hungry, I'll be happy with 200ft-lbs at 1500rpm :-) or a 4:1 low range with 150ft-lbs at 1500 rpm or...

 

Anyway, I guess I'll just need to drive this around, get familiar with it like I did with my Jeep Cherokee.

 

Is it normal to get about 21mpg mostly in town driving?

 

Thanks,

 

Andre S

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Originally posted by MaroonDuneDoom

i have a cup holder screwed into the dash. also, if you had the dual range, you can hold a smaller size drink between the 4x stick, the e-brake, and the front of the console. this is gl so i'm not sure about the console.

 

 

yeah, that spot is perfect for a pop can, 20 oz coffee, or maybe even a 32 oz fountain pop

 

the dual range trans has a lower final gear than the pushbutton, so it would turn bigger tires easier. you can also use the fatter turbo axles from an automatic that matches the same spline

 

you can put on 14 inch pufeot wheels, for bigger tires. or you can mod the hub for 6 lug toyota wheels, or swap in an xt6 suspension to fit subaru 5 lug 13-17 inch wheels

 

it would be easier to put all that into an already turbo car, but if you can find a turbo motor complete with wiring harness, its worth a shot.

if you change the whole wiring harness to the whole turbo car, you can use the instrument cluster with the tach an oil p. gauge

 

the spfi motor has somewhere around 95 hp, and the turbo has 115 stock, but a good 125 hp can be had with simple boost mods

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