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Verdurous's 1989 GL Hatch Build Thread


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When I was 13 my father gave me my first car, a 1986 GL 4x4 Hatch. I learned how to drive in the fields surrounding our house and it was a blast. Since then I've had several Subaru's over the years, mainly picking them up for winter beaters and selling them in the spring. I've had camaros, bmws, vws, and other great cars but I always come back to my GL with a smile. Sure it's underpowered and doesn't handle well but it makes me happy! Everytime I blast threw an obstical (be it a foot of snow, a stream or a mud pond) and hear that little boxer growl for more.  I decided to find one without rust, one that could be restored to like new condition. This was not an easy task when "cash for clunkers" came alone and killed all the decent shells. But I managed to find this 89 hatch and I drove it on and off for a few years till it hit around 330K then I decided it needed some love.

 

Originally this car came from washington state. It was on craigslist for $500 so I called the seller who turned out to be a retired policewoman. I asked her if she would be willing to drive it to the nearist frieght pickup for an extra $100 and she agreed. (risky I know, but I need my subaru fix desperately) I was mainly looking for a rust free shell and the pictures she sent me looked great. I didn't care much about the miles considering that at the time I had my own personal subaru scrap yard. $440, a week, and a train ride later my rust free 89 arrived in watertown new york.

 

The car looked like it had been in a barn for a long time it had a layer of dust on it so thick I gave it some personal graffitti. Did I pay too much at the time? probably, but good luck finding single owner rust free hatch on the east coast.

 

So here you have my build thread, a brief catch up to how the car is today.

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Edited by Verdurous
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The first thing I did when I got it back to the house was give it a tune up. With in hours of picking it up it had new plugs wires cap oil change and air filter. It really didn't need much being a subaru :) I also adjusted the suspenion to the maximum and took it for it's initial joy ride through the near by feild. I felt like a kid in the candy store, it was like being in a time capsule.

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After driving it around for a week or so the front seat started poking me. Apparently subaru engines can do over 190K no problem but their seats can't. A quick trip to the local pull it yard and I found some nice new bucket seats. They came out of a honda r something (maybe just an R badge on a fake one, you know how that crowd is). I didn't care, they were blue and comfy. I quickly welded up some nice e81 sliders for them. They were fantastic! I also took out my door skins carpet and interior for a good wash. It had that old musty barn smell that was buggy me bad.

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I always loved the way lifted hatchs looked with big tires. I knew from past experience that with snow tires alone, the 4x4 hatch could outdo most trucks and SUV's. So I hunted down some peugeot's 14's. The finish on them was awful and one of them was bent. A headache, some sandblasting, and a powder coat later and they turned out looking pretty good. Finished them off wrapping them in some cooper Mud and Snow's. I had all four center caps, but one is hiding in the garage somewhere still.

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The tires looked great but even with the suspension raised to the max there was no way I was turning a corner without ripping off a fender. Since I was going for the restored look this time it wasn't really an option. After looking through a few lift options and at the time I decided to go with SJR. I received my order within the week and the parts looked great! I gave them a red powdercoat before install. I only had one jack at the time, and not much free time to work on the car so it took me two weekends. End results were great though!

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Edited by Verdurous
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The following weekend the cars motor was upgraded with my first subaru's rebuilt block. This fully rebuilt engine had decked heads, agressive cam, msd ignition and a weber carb. For a short time I even ran it on freshly rebuilt dual carbs which had more over all power in the high rpms, but the weber seemed to preform better overall (smooth reliable power, better low end) so it was put back on after month. This made a heck of a difference in power, I found myself roster tailing all four wheels in the field smiling like a jackass. The car's final tune on a fairly freeflow exhaust idle like a harley. I will try to get a sound clip, it's pretty mean. I am very happy with it.

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Edited by Verdurous
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For the most part that catches up to 2014. This is when I finally decided to go all the way and strip down the car entirely for some much needed paint and body work. On my prior subarus I noticed that the floorboards would rust out from the inside. It seamed like the sound deadening marterial trapped moister and caused this. So I scrapped out all of it of, man was that a mess! Also my front bumper was a pain to get off, stripped many threads that day.

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Edited by Verdurous
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The following day I found some pretty bad rust, an actual hole had formed under my driver side rear window. Also here is the last picutre of my orginal windsheild. The previous owner must have had it replaced and whoever repaired it used some black glue that was nearly impossible to remove. I must have pry'd a bit to hard because the windsheild turned into instant spiderwebs.

 

 

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Next came days worth of surgery and sanding. All of the major rust areas were cut away. Also the roof got some much needed atention from hail damage. The black goop where the windsheild was put up a fight. The bump strip on the doors seemed to fall apart as I was trying to pop it off and it reveiled more rust. So I completely removed it with the idea of filling it in later. Also the front fenders had some battle damage from wheel rub, so those were cut back 1.5" with plans to tuck them in.

 

 

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Edited by Verdurous
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Next I went with a herculiner bed liner to protect the lower parts of the car. It filled in really nicely, I painted it on to where the old bump strips previously sat. It looks better in person. I mixed in some of the BMW Alpline white paint I had choosen to repaint the car with (I own two other vehicles in this color so it made the choice easy). In case the car does get scratched it will have a nice thick coat of beadliner underneath it. I am also planning to do the engine bay the same way.

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The paint job came out absolutely fantastic! It's not lambo quality but it's good enough for me :) I also like know all the work was done with metal, no quick bondo fixes here. I want this thing to last another 300K! The car had to be trailed that day to make room for another project. 

 

 

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So today I finally got a chance to get back out to the garage and work on the car. I washed all of the old weather stripping with soap and a toothbrush. I was amazed that even though this stuff was filthy and made when I was wee lad it had absolutely no dry rot. It all pressed back into place really nicely, for that fresh stormtrooper look. The only piece I am missing is the front windshield one, as that one was destroyed by the black glue the previous owner used on it.

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Awesome Hatchback!

 

I like what you've done to your Subie.

 


 

... the weber seemed to preform better overall (smooth reliable power, better low end) so it was put back on after month. This made a heck of a difference in power, I found myself roster tailing all four wheels in the field smiling like a jackass...

 

We all know that Feeling!   :burnout: 

 

Kind Regards.

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After trying to salvage yet another front windsheild weather strip out of the parts car this morning I ended up throwing in the towel on it and ordering a new one off of rockauto. It was the last one in stock, I am hoping it is the right one because I just butchered my spare. Does anyone know if you can get the chrome channeling that inserts into it new anywhere? I might be able to part together the old stuff but it's in rough shape.

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So today the rear hatch was reassembled and iis ready be bolted back on. I have these new gate lifters and I was going to replace the old ones, but noticed they are attached to the mounting brackets with rivets. The new lifters also have a smaller mounting holes, no room for the nylon bushing. I am thinking about just drilling out the rivets, repainting the brakets, and replacing the rivot with a very short bolt. Has anyone else come up with a more creative solution?

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I ended up using the old bushings off my hatch with the new struts and the pins with c clips that came in the kit. When i did it on one of my wagons i used bolts double nutted and it worked just as good.

 

Is the kit still available anywhere?

 

I give this a  :headbang:

 

Thanks Jonas!

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