With Heavy Heart I May Have To Retire My Beloved 84 GL

[roadsubiedog]

my ol reliable friend for the past 11 plus years. I bought her for $650. have gone 80,000 nearly trouble free miles. with 333,000 plus miles she is starting to show here age with squeaks, squeals, clicking, vibrations, and clunks.

 

funny thing is , is that the motor runs great and tranny is smooth. she gets between 30-35 mpg and passes smog with no problem. however its the bones that are starting to go.

 

front suspension is wearing out. I think the rear end is starting to go with clicking, clanging and squealing coming from back along with an occasional clunk when engaged in 4wd.

 

have checked axles and shocks or struts. they seem to be fine. the rear end has been clicking for years. now there is an occasional clanging. serious enough for me to stop using it for my 85 mile daily commute.

 

its a real shame if I have to put her out to pasture. this was my go to vehicle when I lost my head gaskets first on the 99 OB and then 5 years later when I lost the tranny.

 

this girl did all the heavy lifting..... literally. dozens of trips over the years for heavy loads of firewood. she was featured in the local newspaper as a Woodstock art car a couple years back. its covered with pictures from the 1960's. I think some pics of it were posted here back then.

 

I even had some interest from some prince in Dubai when I posted it on craigslist there when I posted it for sale as a joke for $17 million dollars.

 

with the cost of potential repairs, smog and registration, it probably is not worth it. I have another 84 with a good body and frame with only 177k on it. I can transfer the motor and tranny in it so this amazing vehicle can live on.

 

thank you "World Famous Penguin Car" and thank you Subaru.

[two85s]

Cool story and understandable.  I know how you feel.  Happy new year to you and your family!! Aaron

[roadsubiedog]

im feeling guilty about not willing to lay out a bunch of money for what has been a loyal friend.

[DaveT]

I know the feeling.  I've had to give up a few due to rust getting away from me.  But the parts live on in my current cars.

[el_freddo]

Sounds to me like the real issues are struts/shocks all round and some rear drive shafts that are needed.

Keeping your old faithful on the road is a thing of passion.  I'd know, I had a replacement vehicle ready to go and couldn't do it!  I purchased a rotisserie and got to work.  Looking back at it now the next body will only be welded in the door jams rather than along every joint in the body between the struts.

I've done over 200k km in my old faithful.  Only the body and doors are really the original things on it these days!

Cheers

Bennie

[el_freddo]

Just to "back up" what I said above:





Back on the road again:



I'm glad I've kept her going - many good times had since this repair work (took about 3 months due to the heat + silly season and other bits and pieces) and she's never felt as strong in the body when I first got her.  Very happy and also learnt a few things on the way too.

Here's the link to read about it if you want - sorry for the oversized images.  Seems that Imageshack forgot my sizing when they converted to the new layout.  VERY FRUSTRATING!

So again I'd say a new set of strut all round and some new drive shafts seem to be the cheaper/easier option.  You'll have the "I regret" cloud hanging over you for the rest of your life otherwise, at least I reckon you will!

Cheers

Bennie

[roadsubiedog]

 Bennie      WOW!!!!!!!!! now that's love!!!

 

for me it comes down to economics and the climate. I have no heat and we have winter 6 months a year. plus the rear end has been making noise for the last 5-6 years and it just got much worse. I still drive it around town for now.

 

with smog, registration and such it will be about $200 but the repairs would probably be hundreds more and plus a ton of my time. im gonna retire it for now. I have 2 other 84 gls. the better one looks almost like yours and it only has 171k on it.

 

the motor and tranny in this one has 333k miles but it runs great. im gonna keep the whole car whole until I retire this year and then go from there and decide if I want to retire or rebuild. I have to do head gaskets in the 171k gl and a lot of small things but the body and skeleton is in very good shape so that is gonna be my first project.

 

I was floored by your pictures. appreciate your responses. I will definitely update.