MoscowSubaruDude

Very awesome. Off to try it right now, then I'm off to a muffler shop to see what they'll charge for a quickie weld job. If i have to pull the carrier, then fine, but can it be done in-car? make life a lot easier, as I'm pretty limited in my tool selection. Chris

Welcome aboard. Pisser about the motor, did that to an 83 I own recently. As far as front bumpers... check around, do a forum search... I don't want to leave anyone out, but there's a guy who does one-off fabs (forget the URL), AA does em, a guy by the the SN of mudrat does em, he's close to you, think PDX. As far as 4x4, try the offroad forum. There's a Hatch Patrol christmas tree dealie comin up here soon, and there's always people going out on the spur of the moment. If you lived closer to Idaho, say, Spokane/Moses Lake, I'd go with ya. But you're on other side of the state. Good trails over there, I hear. Anyway, welcome aboard, good luck on the engine, the bumpers, and finding an outing. Chris

Any specific procedure? or is it similar to the front? bash roll pins out, drop lower control arm (except the rear has trailing arm suspension:P) yank on the doj, and off she goes? Gonna experiment with it over the next day or three, get good at it, then go find some poor sod with a welder. Any info would be appreciated. Chris

Meh:P thats almost exactly what my first stuck looked like, except instead of the being in there sideways, we were in nose first. Crazy stuff. One think I forgot to mention, Justin has himself an 86 BRAT that we're workin on to make roadworthy... he's got the URL and should be registered here in a few days. Once we get his up and running right, there will be some crazy crazy pictures in the gallery. Not to mention a lot more mudpits on the mountain. I shudder with anticipation.

I *always* wear a seatbelt. I have been in a number of high-speed accidents, namely an 89 honda accord that my buddy owned, hit a ditch doing well over 60 on a curvy gravel road, flipped, and rolled numerous times in a field. Seat belt saved all of our lives, we crawled out of it and walked away. I *will not* even put the car in gear without my passengers having their belts on. I have a very large friend who has a hard time fitting in the seatbelts, and he won't ride with me because he doesn't like to wear em. And I don't move unless he's belted. The other night when me and a friend went wheeling (I'm sure ya'll have heard about it:P) there were several times when the frame slammed against an embankment on the up or down side, and I literally would have broken my neck on the roof if I hadn't been wearing a belt. So buckle the hell up.

Ok then, I'll take it for granted... I'm smart, but others are smarter:P So now onto second question: Where do I go to have the diff welded? I have zero welding skills, however I do have a friend who has high-school arc welding proficiency. Is that enough? or are the welds pretty critical? AKA do they have to be high-quality TIG? not sure what I'd weld, anyway. Does it have to be done out of the car? etc etc... any details would be kickass, because I'd like to get on this pretty fast, within the next month, as cash flow permits. Thanks in advance! Chris EDIT: Don't the axles hold the hubs/wheels on? Removing a front axle means you can't drive it. What about the rear? special trick? perhaps modify a dead axle to fit in there, just the cup? dunno, haven't looked at my rear at all yet.

HAHA! Worse... We had mud inside the cabin, due to our dumass's forgetting to roll the windows up for the first 3 runs... I think we got some innocent bystanders as well, some guy was standin by the dodge when we went by about 5 feet away. whoops

I've been wondering about these, or similar products. I have a good friend who has Detroits in his older chevy P/U, and the performance from them is absolutely amazing. I know that one of the options available to us with the Roo's is welding the diff. However, that presents certain driveability concerns. Question being: Has anyone found a locker-type diff (not an LSD, I know the difference) like a Detroit that has decent driveability. I realize that with a locker, the problem on the street is that hard corners+gas cause it to lock up, and the inside wheel goes berserk. That's fine by me. If anyone has found something like this, can it be put in both front and rear? I know it would come in handy offroad, in places where an LSD will not help, AKA with one wheel per axle off the ground. It's the only time I got stuck, and if I'd been welded/locked, I would have made it out just peachy. Any suggestions? Chris

Heh:P easier said than done... I've got a crapton of em on my buddies cell phone, but his dad discontinued the vision thingy that lets him send them via email... so now i'm just stuck drooling over them. So I'll try and describe my favorite part of the night: 50 footlong mudpit, ranging from 1 foot to almost 3 feet deep, with a large hump/jump in the center of it. Rutted all to hell. Hit it going about 25 mph, and that sticky idaho loam goes flying everywhere, including in your teeth. Great fun. Use your imagination for the rest. All in all it was an awesome first-time wheeling experience... I'm itchin hardcore to get back out there. This time with chains on all 4, then I will literally have no fear.

Depending on when it is, and where, I'm pretty sure I could make it. The later in december the better, tho. I live in moscow, so Montana is just a trip to Spokane and then hop on the interstate. Let me know, I'll keep an eye on the thread. I'd love to wheel around with ya'll. Chris

Well... my buddy Justin and I went up on Moscow Mountain tonite, in about 4 inches of snow. Our original intent was to only see how well the hatch handled in the snow, which it does, quite well. We came across a coupla guys in a brand new Dodge cummins, 6+ inch lift, 37-inch tires, the works. They also had a 4wheeler. We wound up putting chains on the rear of the hatch, and having some fun with it, getting into contests to see who could take their rig of choice in the craziest places. In short we spanked them soundly, only getting stuck a few times. Mostly it was coming down a steep embankment straight on, too slow, and getting hung up on the front bumper. After the 4wheeler pulled us back a few feet, I'd get up enough speed and just ramrod through. Another problem I found was that any seriously off-camber sections of trail/snow left the car high-centered with one or more wheels off the ground. At one point, they guy on the wheeler pulled up and said 'It's kinda said when a 4wheeler can pull you out'. Me, being the smartass that I am, retorted somethin like 'It's even sadder when a 4-banger with chains can make it through a mudpit that your big dodge can't. Yeah... it was extremely fun, the guys were really cool overall. The look on their faces when I told em it was 4wd and had a crawl gear was absolutely priceless. Overall, I'm extremely impressed what this little beast can do. As soon as I get it licensed and insured, I'll be up there a lot more. Next on the list of aquisitions... a 2-ton come-along with a tree strap and a good tow strap, so I can do my own recoveries. [/end meaningless rambling about a whole lotta fun] EDIT: I'll try and lay hands on a camera next time, and to snag some pics of the roo as it is atm... covered in mud from rump roast to teakettle.

Does anyone know where one could lay hands on a wiring schematic for this system? the ignition system, that is. I've got a really fubar'd ignition switch in my EA81 hatch, and i've been looking into a race-car style starting panel, only with a key- a switch to turn ignition on, a push button to crank, and a key for security... the panel itself can be had via Summit or Jegs, but I hate wiring, and a schematic would make my day. Anyone? PS: sorry for the shameless hijack, I didn't see the use in starting a new thread about the same thing.

Next time ya'll go on a weekend, PM me, I'm up in Spokane on most weekends, seeing family, I'll try and come out. Never offroaded a Roo before, looking forward to it:)

Awesome help, thanks a ton. One more question though... are axles interchangable from from to rear? I would imagine they might be, however, I haven't bothered to really eyeball it and find out. Are the track widths different? Thanks in advance!

Errrr.... Shameless bump

Few more questions... Current car is an 86 EA81 4wd hatch, 4sp d/r, etc etc. Parts car is an 83 EA81 2wd wagon, 5sp, burnt motor. A few things I'd like to learn before 8am morrow morning: A) Steering column swap... the ignition/turn signal dealie is totally ripped out, replaced by dime-store ignition switch held to the underside of the column by electrical tape. looking to take the one from the wagon and throw it in the hatch. Multiple things to think about: what do i need to replace? how far down do i have to unbolt/unhook/remove to get it to swap? anything i need to look out for? special tools, problems/complications that may arise? Axles. The front right axle is missing a boot on the tranny side of things. Starting to click. I'd like to swap out axles, because the ones in the wagon are still almost new. However, the right-hand axle on the wagon has worn splines on the wheel side of things, due to a stripped rotor/other problems. Biggie question: Can I take the driver-side axle off the wagon and have it go into the passenger of the hatch with no issues? not sure if cv's are directional or whatnot, don't see what it wouldn't go though. B1) Axles. The rear left axle is also missing a boot, on the wheel side of things. Not making any noise that i can hear. How long can it last like that? I plan on replacing the axles anyway, but if i can get away with running it on the street for another month or so without it dying on me, it'd certainly help my checkbook a bit. C) Shifter feel. Is there a bushing kit for this? the 4sp is so sloppy that i cannot tell by feel if it is in gear or not, i have to try to move it in and out of gear. At times it will not disengage out of fourth, making starting a ***************, in 4lo with lots of clutch burnage. Is it cable operated? or rods? More of an annoyance, not as big an issue as the axles/column, but it'd be nice to fix. D) Clutch. Last Q, I swear it. Whats it take to do a bloody clutch swap? never done any *serious* work on a car before, however, i am very mechanically inclined, but I am lacking in large tools. Would I be better off letting a shop do it? or is just a simple 'jack car up, drop tranny, throw it in, replace, lower, drive'? It runs, it drives beautifully, just has very little clutch left... any pressure at all on the pedal, and it slips. Very annoying. Sorry for the constant, lengthy, 'help me i'm an idiot' posts, and I just wanted to thank those who have helped out, you've been a great help, and I hope to pick your brains further, for quite some time. Any help is a great help. Chris

Ok... I just got home, have myself an 86 GL hatchback, EA81. 4sp, d/r, fun stuff. Now... questions. I've an 83 EA81, 2wd, 5sp wagon, that is burnt, that i plan on stripping for parts before it goes elsewhere. What, if anything, is interchangeable? I'd like the keep the front axles off the 83, will they fit? how bout steering columns? the 86 is in need of a new one, kinda busted up. Struts? brakes? also, the 86 is manual steering, thinking about pulling the power system off the 83, is this feasible? and how hard is it? any advice would be great. Also, clutch on the 86 is very odd, will not engage until the pedal is almost all the way released. Is it simply in need of adjustment? or do i need a new clutch. I'm going out to tinker with it right now, would like some feedback on this. Thanks a ton. CR

Well... I figure it's had a good run, ticked over to 232k on the way back, so I guess that's it. Thanks:)

Well... this weekend i went on a short trip from Moscow to Spokane. Get there, just fine. Tool around for 8 hours and a tank and a half of gas, just fine. Get ready to leave, stop by a friends house, notice the temp gauge is literally 100% pegged at the redline. I freak out, pop the hood, it's not steaming or anything... wait for engine to cool a bit, pop the radiator cap. It's completely emtpy. Dry. So I wait 3 hours for it to cool completely off, so as not to crack the block when I add water (I did this once upon a time, long story). To make a long story short, it started up fine, temps were doing ok, yaddayadda. Got from Northtown to downtown, it did it again. Rad was almost empty. Steaming like a mother. I've a jury-rigged overflow can, about 8 inches of surgical tubing and a tupperware bottle, and it never used to overflow, except during long climbs when temps would rise. Now, it bubbles and spits fluid even when it's cold. Crank the starter, it spits. Heater doesn't work either, for some reason. WTF is wrong with my beast? Second question... So after this has happened, I head out, carrying loads of water, stopping every 10 minutes or so to refill the rad. It starts acting normal, 20 minutes later, temps are redline again, and it's dry, making no power whatsoever. Stall out near Colfax, manage to coast/push into some llama farm thingy. Get some water into it, get it cooled off, and go to crank it, and it absolutely refuses to start. Cranks ok, sounds really weird, not to usually chuggy noise, but rather a whiny wee-wee-wee-wee noise. After about ten minutes of cranking, it catches, I take off. Still no power, at all, 0-40 takes about 2 minutes, won't go much faster. Does it a few more times, dies at various stoplights, finally get it home, dies on the spot. Haven't touched the damn thing since. So the question is... is it fried? I'm still rather new to owning my own car, this is only my second. I've fried one car, it had several of the same symptoms, but it had quite a few more. So as a general consensus... is it fried? And if so... who wants it? EDIT: Car is a 1983 2wd wagon, 5spd, EA81.

Awesome info. Thanks a ton, bro(s) Chris

Also... lift kits, for both... availability? pricing? bolt-on? etc... sorry for the flood of questions, it's 0230, i'm runnin on caffeine and nicotine, and my brain is in overdrive:P Chris

Awesome... I'll take a better look at the RX now. If any of you are bored, a rundown of the differences in teh 4wd system ( i get the impression there IS a difference there, but not what it is) is between the two of them, engines, trannies, etc. I live in moscow, both cars are for sale in spokane, and i don't feel like running up there without cash in hand to tear them apart. Thanks a ton, I'll letcha all know what i get. Chris PS: also, one of my preferences/hopes is what i can do with the car. AKA is it better to jack it up 4 inches and put 15's/31's on it? or is it better to leave it stock/lower it an inch, put 15's/lo-pro, and have some street fun. I'm much more partial to the offroad stuff, btw. So whatever is better for that, I'll do.

Ok... I love Subaru's. No doubt about it. But I know next to nothing about them. I hear all these terms being bandied around, engine designations and whatnot, TOD(tick of death), EA-this, and EA-that... and I have no clue wtf ya'll are talkin about. So lets hear it. Anyone willing to cough up a few brief details about what all this is? As well as anything you can pull out of your head? I'd love to know more about Subaru's, besides my current knowledge. Said knowledge consists of how to work on *mine* and that this 2wd beater will go places that lifted 4wd trucks are scared to. Any help? Much thanks, in advance. EDIT: Also, a comparison of an 85 2door 4wd 4sp, and an 87 rx Turbo, 4cyl, 5sp, 4wd, would be great... debating which one to buy. Only can afford one:( Thanks!