Durania

Friday night, I finally got a chance to tackle the shifter bushings from DRW. Thanks to @SuspiciousPizza for telling me they were an option. https://drwbushings.myshopify.com/products/subaru-2wd-5-speed-shift-linkage-bushing-set First time working on the shifter of an EA series car but I got them knocked out. Having a lift spoils you on something like this. I took a before and after video but can't link to it but it was a definite improvement. I also replaced the pitch stop rod bushings but I've not driven it to see if there was an effect.

Drove the GL to work for the first time Wednesday and have some initial impressions. 1. I need an alignment. 2.The heater is fantastic. 3. Driver side axle started knocking like my brat did back in 07 with a janky parts store axles. 4. I need a cupholder. 5. Hard left turn, my fuel gauge went to zero and then came back up. This was before I filled up with 100% gas so I assume it was sticking float. Once it came back up, it registered half-a-tank. I got a few thumbs up in it. Definitely gets more attention than my WRX does.

Thanks man. I'm definitely familiar with the shifter joint fix on the EJ series as I've done it three times before and makes me hate roll pins. I shot DRW an email to see what they have for it, I appreciate the referral.

Do you mean EA81?

Guess next on the list is to try and get some of the shifter slop cleaned up. How much of this fix applies to the 5MT?

Good to know Dave. No going back now for me though, if it still frays the belt some, I'm going to live with it and change the belt regularly.

Well, I'm still confused. I still don't know why they list two different ones on RockAuto. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/subaru,1984,gl,1.8l+h4,1268344,cooling+system,water+pump,2208

That's what I thought too until I saw that they offered two different sizes on RockAuto and then found this thread:

Replaced the water pump with the GMB 1601030 since it listed it being shorter. I'm not 100% but I really think I had the longer GMB pump, hard to tell from the level picture. Yes, those are monster hose clamps.

Alternator changed Friday evening and had a muffler put on by a local mom-n-pop shop this morning. Next on the list is a water pump. I noticed my belt was fraying after that quick drive up the road last week. I am confident I've got the water pump for non-AC GLs and it's slightly out of alignment.

Wrapped up the cooling system project this weekend. I ended up going with this radiator: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DK323PVN. The fitment of it was good, not excellent, but good. I had to enlarge some holes at the bottom of the fan just slightly so I could get the bolts to line up with it. While I was in there, I replaced both hoses and installed an OEM thermostat and gasket. The real snafu was after I had pulled a vacuum on the system and got fluid in it to install the cap, only to find out the cap that I had ordered for my 84 was way smaller than this radiator could use. I did some research on here and found a GD post here that stated I needed the 82's radiator cap. Found an 82 cap locally and drove it up the road during a rain storm yesterday. I did notice the windshield seal is leaking so gotta get a plan on that, not that I'm going to be driving it much on rainy days anyway but we get quite a bit of rain here in the fall months. After the drive, I noticed my brand new Continental belt had some fraying on the sides of it. I did notice my alternator was quite loud and had planned on eventually replacing it. I threw on a spare that I had that came with the wagon and it was totally dead with nothing on the volt meter. Ordered one from Rockauto this morning.

Yeah, that Dewalt ratchet was a birthday gift to myself and that thing is super handy. Love that you can swap between 3/8 and 1/2 drive on it too.

Had a few minutes last night to piddle so I got started removing the radiator and hoses. Didn't get the thermostat out but I hope to sometime this week. Someone used a piece of PVC to merge the busted lower hose together at some point and looked to be slightly kinked. And not in a good kind of kink either.

Huge thanks to @2brat82 for shipping me a set of rear hatch struts so that I could use the brackets off of them to complete the hatch replacements.

That was the first real drive I've done in it since getting the blower going and I did notice I had good heat at the feet so at least it's flowing through the heater core. I'm going to get a plan of action with this radiator since it's currently dripping and I'm going to be changing the lower hose that's been roadside-repaired with a union piece.

I noticed that as well when I was driving it. I do know that I have a seeping radiator and trying to get a plan in action to either get it repaired or find a replacement. I did order an OEM thermostat this morning because I know how finicky the EA81 can be about aftermarket thermostats and I have no clue what's in it. The good news is the fan does run, unlike the others that I had that ran the fan all the time. My brat with an OE thermostat usually sat around this line that I have marked and I watched it constantly. I am also going to replace the radiator cap. Are the Stant ones okay? I asked my dealer and I can't get an OE one anymore.

Not sure why someone stuck this kind of bolt in the pinch area of the hub but luckily I had a spare:

Changed the axle seal yesterday on the driver side. Now that I know how to do it, I could definitely do it again. I think having a shop press would making it easier in the future. I do have a Harbor Freight gift card burning a hole in my pocket. You can see the damage on the seal here. Fixed a flashing issue on the turn signals too. Someone stuck too small of a bulb in it. Took it for the longest drive it's had since I got it. Tried to give her some beans to get any junk ran through the carb. 806970020 Adding this for anyone else: CV axle seals/LHD Left/driver side is 806727180 Right/Passenger side is: 806727170 2 o-rings are 806970020

Thanks Bennie, Yes, that's what I'm doing. I have the o-rings as well and was able to get them new from the dealer. All I had to go on was this diagram

Had some time to do some work today on the GL. Got the axle out of the way for my axle stub seal replacement, ordered a knock-off of the sundial gear socket and did a test run on this spare transmission that I have. Looking at, still not sure how I'm supposed to get this center seal out. I did knock out the ball joints on it and I'm so glad I bought this Astro socket several years ago.

Next on the agenda is replacing the axle stub seal on the driver side. I was able to get the seals from a dealer and they showed up yesterday along with a new alternator mount bolt.

I really appreciate the insight. Thank you. I been out of the EA game for a long time and I been trying to get back up to speed on current part-trends.

Well, I stand corrected. I swear last time I checked it, it was available in stock. Ding-dang.

Looks like the most available and cheapest model is the one from RockAuto: https://shorturl.at/IpZnH The one that's installed isn't terrible but it's definitely got a drip from the endtank. Radiator shops don't exist anymore around here or I would have it repaired. I'm sure a splash of stopleak would be great if someone was wanting to half-rump roast it and sell it.