unverviking Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Howdy all, Happy New Year... On my 93 Leg Wagon, the liftgate release handle is all rusted out. I was shown by the previous owner that it needed to be pushed back down, so that it could be shut and then reopened later. I've been doing that since I got it (10/03) I noticed the other day that the hinge that the release bar from the inside has rusted through and it is wearing the other side. Can the handle be replaced without doing the entire liftgate. It looks like the lights for the license plate is a part of the handle as well. Anyone have any experience with doing this ?? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jclay Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Happy New Year to you too, and to everyone else! I did this same operation on my '94,which had the same symptoms. i'm not sure if it will be identical to your 93 or not, but if i recall correctly, the handle was seperate from the light mechanism, it was a matter of taking off the interior plastic cover of the lift gate, and accessing the mechanism. after disconnecting the connecting rod from the handle to the actual latch assembley, two bolts hold the handle to the body of the lift gate, no problem to swap in a new handle from a JY and reattach the rod. I also swapped out another spring on the actual latch, lubed it all up, and have had no further problems... I hope this helps, if i missed anything, i'm sure someone ese willfill in the blanks! Jared Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesbaru Posted January 5, 2005 Share Posted January 5, 2005 Commuter posted very complete instructions on this replacement, with parts numbers and everyting. I ordered the parts from 1stsubaruparts.com and used his instructions to replace it. I don't know how to search for that thread, but give it a try (or someone can post the link?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unverviking Posted January 5, 2005 Author Share Posted January 5, 2005 Commuter posted very complete instructions on this replacement, with parts numbers and everyting. I ordered the parts from 1stsubaruparts.com and used his instructions to replace it. I don't know how to search for that thread, but give it a try (or someone can post the link?).Thanks everyone. I found Commuter's original replacement instructions. Here they are copied and pasted from that thread. Commuter... Thanks to you too. Even though you haven't yet posted here... Since this is headed for the archives, I thought I'd add this. Part name - LICENSE LP BRKT (per my invoice) Part no. - 84927AC020. Price - $18.65 Canadian (probably about $12 US) The plastic bag it came in said Made in Japan. You will have to remove the interior panel from the bottom of the lift gate. There are about 6 button headed plastic pins to pull along the bottom edge to loosen it. Just pull these. I was able to do it with my fingers and nails. You may need a small flat head screwdriver or something like that. Note that there is a round clip that the pins go into. They have 4 flared tabs that go through the panel and snap into the sheet metal of the lift gate. Remove these as well. If you open the little trap doors for changing the back up lights, you can see a couple of the attachment points along the top edge (6 as well). These clips are integral (well, sort of) to the panel from the inside. Just pull straight out and the panel will come free. With the bottom edge free and once the outside edges at the top are lifted, you can reach in from underneath to help pull the ones toward the center. From the outside, there are 2 screws, one at each end. I was surprised that these screws had a machine thread as they just screw into a plastic insert. Mine were rusted, so I bought some stainless steel screws to replace them. The originals were an 8mm hex head with integral washer. (Note - size of head, not of thread). The replacements I found are a pan head with a Phillips (star) drive. Shrug. As long as the diameter and the length of the fastener are essentially the same, the thread won't really matter since it goes into plastic. There are the two license plate bulbs that have to be undone. These assemblies are held in with two Phillip head screws each. Interestingly, these screws are stainless steel. They fasten to the bracket itself, not into the lift gate. Be careful not to loose the little hard plastic spacer block that the screws go through on the underside of the bulb assembly. You will have to unclip the wires from the inside. There is just a short (~4" to 6") wire pigtail on each bulb assembly. Back to the inside. Now you need to disconnect the latch handle linkage from the handle itself. The handle has a projection part at one end that goes through a hole in the metal to the inside of the lift gate. There is a vertical rod that runs from this projection part down to the latch mechanism at the bottom of the lift gate. The top end has a "pin" that snaps into the handle. Just pry or tug or tap (I can't recall exactly what I did) to separate the two. The pin is threaded onto the vertical rod. Watch that it doesn't spin around a few times on you. This would "adjust" the length of the rod unintentionally and could cause problems. The latch handle itself is held by two nuts on the inside of the lift gate. Remove them (10mm IIRC). Now the handle and the plate will come free. If you have made it this far, then you will have no trouble putting things back together. One minor point. I put the plate on the lift gate, then put the license plate bulb assemblies on. I don't know if you could do it the other way around. It would be easier on one hand (and less chance of losing that silly little plastic spacer), but there may be interference between the bulb and the reflector panel that runs right above this stuff. A minor point, but I thought I'd mention it. Hope this helps! Commuter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unverviking Posted January 8, 2005 Author Share Posted January 8, 2005 Consider this job done... Very simple to do. Wonder why the previous owner didn't do it... Took about an hour... 30 Minutes to gab (coffee too) with Mom & Dad (Tore down my garage in the fall to make way for the new house and 4 car garage), 10 Minutes to shovel the side walk for Dad, 20 minutes to replace the latch. Oh Yeah and $15.26 for the handle at the local dealer. $14.09 + Uncle Sam and Gov. Pataki... Thanks to all BTW... Selling my 73 VW Super Beetle $4k obro. Pics @ http://www.bruisebug.com More to follow later this week (weather supposed to warm up) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commuter Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Note that the instructions were for a 97 Outback. I suspect that the 93 is similar, but i'm not familiar with the earlier vehicles. Commuter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 unverviking, have you considered putting an EJ22 in that bug? Talk about a sleeper. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unverviking Posted January 9, 2005 Author Share Posted January 9, 2005 unverviking, have you considered putting an EJ22 in that bug? Talk about a sleeper. . . That would be great... It's got a lot of guts for a small 1600. But with a 5 Speed it would be a lot better. I found when the carb got rebuilt that it's the hi performance ends of the stock PICT 30 and PICT 32. Not sure which is which (top or bottom) The intakes are polished and it has an electric fuel pump with an adjustable pressure regulator. I haven't had it dyno'd but it feels like a lot more than the 48 HP that was stock. Maybe the next one in 5 years of so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unverviking Posted January 9, 2005 Author Share Posted January 9, 2005 Note that the instructions were for a 97 Outback. I suspect that the 93 is similar, but i'm not familiar with the earlier vehicles. Commuter Your instructions were very thorough... The only difference was that there are no "light bulb flaps" on this one. I looked at my 01 today, it too has the flaps that you mention. Thanks for the help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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