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that is just plain stupid

John, I can print and mail it or post/send the images to you. We live in the mountains with no internet/no cable/no TV options (which is totally fine by me!) so I totally understand having hard copies verses digital.

I have an 01 OB with 257K on it, 03 OB with 258K, 99 Forester with 205K, unfortunately the Forester recently hit a deer and isn't in driving condition. I agree with the other comments, the automatic is much superior in this generation of Subaru. BTW, I had an 02 OB a couple of years ago with 350K, still had the original transmission (auto of course). As others have mentioned you have to keep up with the maintenance if you want to drive a Subaru with lots of miles on it. Head gaskets, brakes, timing stuff, struts, radiators, etc. Keep you oil level where it belongs, be very careful with overheat issues.

I've had this happen before. 1. smooth the mating surface with fine grit sand paper. check the water pump too just in case it got knicked. If you think you got it smooth, addressed the problem area then reinstall dry. 2. if that doesn't work or you're uncertain, I use permatex water pump sealant on both sides of the gasket. Just follow the directions - it can be used alone or with a gasket. Or just skip trying a dry gasket if you don't want to go back in there again.

I used to use a very thin film of RTV on both sides of the gasket, as a sealer. Do not use so much that it oozes out into the cooling system. The bolts should not be in contact with coolant. The holes should be blind.

That's actually not surprising. Current Subaru's in my driveway have 265k, 233k, 210k, and 135k and all of them I'd take on highway trips and routinely see hundreds of thousands of miles of trips. Rust or multiple owners/poor maintenance usually does them in, not the actual mechanicals. Usually takes some maintenance to get there, particularly to do it reliably or without feeling like something is always needing work. brakes, struts, CV boots, gaskets, seals, timing belt, hoses. A non-car person often just drives until those things pile up, a DIY or car person will track and do them in time and/or preventatively. A little effort keeps you in a 200k vehicle reliably. Subaru hobbyists or DIY can usually manage all of that stuff on pocket change and preventatively, but many people just change oil and hope for the best while those things become nagging. I've given or helped people get dozens of Subarus. The vast majority are just looking for A to B cars and literally think about nothing but gas and oil changes. By the time they're ready to get rid of the car it's often got a lot of needs. So yes - 250k would be surprising for someone just driving it on oil changes and no preventative thoughts at all. But for a little bit more than "change the oil and i'm good" mentality, it's not that hard. But really high mileage and "running it into the ground", is just one way of thinking about it. If I buy at 120k and sell at 300k, it isn't advantageous financially or for my time/effort. If I buy low at 120k and sell high at 175k I can almost break even. i end up doing a little of both - keep a high mileage one or two in the fleet for specific purposes (7 seater, winter, towing, work), and rotate some others. Just depends what you're after and what your time/skill sets are.

On November 19 I posted a pdf file for the outer cover. Here is the Inner cover. Bolt length, location and torque sequence. Rear Chain Cover.pdf

Well, finally some progress. We redid and checked the ignition timing like 4 times. This final time we timed it with the green jump connector hooked up and thus the ECU in test mode. The timing was probably 20 degrees off, so we fixed it and it runs great now. The tach and fuel gauge (Digi dash) still aren't accurate, but otherwise it works. We'll see how it goes from here. Thanks to all of you for your help and suggestions thus far.

just a coupla comments. A lot of rodents have urine that will glow under UV I think. Not sure which rodents ot what wavelength UV - worth researching .... Rodents MUST chew due to incisors that never stop growing. rodents are able to get into really cozy spots. If ALL the cuts are to wiring with 'clear and easy' access to a persons arm/hand equipped with diagonal cutters....suspicious.

New wheels

First and foremost, pirate4x4.com and the Pirates of the Rubicon are two entirely separate things. Yes, pirate4x4.com DID start out as a message board for the Pirates of the Rubicon, HOWEVER, it is no longer just that. It is more of an extreme rockcrawling board than anything now. It brings together pretty much the best of the best in the offroading industry. From baja to crawlin, a lot of people in the offroading industry check that board out. So, to re-iterate my point, if you are talking about the Pirates of the Rubicon, you are talking about a very small and select group of individuals. If you are talking about board members of pirate4x4.com, then you are talking about something entirely different, as they absolutely are not one and the same. I think there are quite a few things that EVERYONE needs to learn about fully modifying a vehicle. #1. Most of the members of pirate that post on a regular basis have hand built a lot of stuff on their rigs. They've fabbed the suspensions, the steering, all of it. Yes, they've used parts from different vendors along the way. Hell, you bought the lift from pkdavis, did you not (this excludes mudrat, et al who did their own lifts)? However, not everyone has the same access to certain tools that other do. Not everyone has a lathe or whatever sitting around. #2. Have you ever actually read the board and just not paid much attention to the BS that goes on? Certainly, there is plenty of flaming that goes on, however, there is a TON of tech, and there sure are a helluva lot of great guys on that board. And I'd venture to say that a lot of the people on that board are responsible for actually trying to keep the Con and many other established trails in Cali open. Read the Rubicon Trail Talk forum sometime and you'll see what I mean. I realize why you guys did it, and you (I'm sure) knew you'd catch flack, hell, it happens on your home turf all the time, does it not? Maybe you didn't do all 26 miles, but hell, you attempted it, and now know some weak points on your rigs. Oh, and another point, sure there are plenty of vehicles that are modified that are no longer much of the OEM manufacturer, but at some point, that is necessary. Just like mudrat making a 12 inch lift and wanting bigger tires, the parts aren't always strong enough and you can do one of two things: Get bigger axles, etc. or keep breaking and wasting your time fixing it. Which would you rather do? I know if someone (like Bobby Long and his magical process) made a strong halfshaft, you'd probably jump right on it, correct? Or if someone made different gearsets. It's the same when someone puts a bigger axle under their vehicle or simply put a locker in. It's modifying the vehicle to do more than it already does. All of us need to quit bickering like a bunch of children. It's doing no one any good, and we all look stupid arguing about this. And yes, you did get some haters on the board, but you also got some great support, and I'll post the links up as soon as I get them. Jamie