SaltCar

A brand new windshield is a wonder to behold. Unless you can find a new one in a junkyard, go ahead and buy a new one. Should be $140-$200 professionally installed. Think about it, you look at (through) the windshield more than any other part of the car. If you have comprehensive insurance the windshield is probably free.

My hatch lock was corroded inside and I had to take it out and take it apart to free it up. I thought I had key problems at first.

I have seen porous aluminum but it was blasted or cleaned with oven cleaner. If you remove the anodization, it will leak. Leaky crankcases on a two-stroke can drive you crazy.

Instead of wasting money on air filters why don't you spend a little on a code scanner? I bought one for $45, on sale. Search for the thread by Nipper on the ScanGuage, costs more, I want one.

Change it now and change it again while it still looks new, before it deteriorates. You can flush it yourself, this article tells how to do it. Here is a link to an article about changing the fluid in a ford truck but it is the same technique. http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/9/057/article/Changing_ATF_Fluid_in_a_E4OD_and_4R100_transmission.html

I put the box in the driver side panel but I had to run a wire under the hatch sill to the other side.

Caustic Soda is Sodium Hydroxide or Lye. You can buy it as drain cleaner, Red Devil or the equivalent. It is also what gives oven cleaner its kick. This stuff is very dangerous and will blind you or eat holes in your leather boots if mishandled. Don't use it on aluminum, it will eat up the anodization and make the aluminum leak. If you don't want to create a toxic waste dump to get it clean, an automotive machine shop will probably throw that line in their vats for next to nothing.

Back in the 1970s you couldn't switch radials from side to side, that has changed. Unless the tire has a directional arrow or other recommendation from the manufacturer to not do so, you can switch modern radials from side to side. Tires with power to them wear more evenly. Tires that freewheel tend to wear the leading or trailing edge of the tread unevenly. The unevenly worn tires may benefit from crisscrossing to the other side to even out the wear. If you wait too long the tires will be noisy for a while after the swap.

I just went through the leaky filler neck thing with my 1996 Legacy. It had a metal filler neck from the gas cap down to about where the back axle is. Then there was a flexible plastic hose that went above the tank. Exactly as described above the shield held the salty dirt against the metal and it rusted through. If your car has one, take the shield off and clean up in there as best you can. Take it to a car wash, whatever. Pour in a little gas with a gas can or at the pump. Watch under the car to see where it is leaking. When I say pour in a little gas I mean count to three or five while pouring gas. If you can't see under the car take a board or two with you and pull that tire up on them to give you more height. Use a flashlight. Break down a cardboard box to lie on to keep you out of the dirt. If the filler neck is rusted and leaking, shop around and buy a new one. Patching the old one is false economy. Take off the tire to give you room to wrestle off the bad filler neck and install the new one.

Interesting threads, thanks. The Paraut pump I bought cheap for my pending timing belt job on the '96 2.2 has the cast impeller.

If the guys at the muffler shop can weld it you may save yourself a lot of grief.

Air conditioning is limited to about a forty degree difference between ambient temp and vent temps. After your car is parked out in the direct sun for a awhile it is probably 120+ degrees in the car and on the pavement. For a while your AC will do all it can to blow 80 degrees or so out of the vents. As it cools the car the vent temps will drop. Make sure the condenser and evaporator coils are clean and then check the pressures compared to the ambient air temp. If you do not understand a temperature-pressure chart let someone else do this. If you want to learn ac, read about subcool, superheat, sensible heat and latent heat. Read about the difference between a system with an orifice and a system with an expansion valve. When you can understand where the refrigerant is and what it is doing you can fix an ac.

The timing belt cover gasket is a dust and weather seal it does not hold oil. Read about timing belt changes and head gasket changes and all of the related work. You are on the right track thinking about the clutch. I would have to at least consider getting another car at this point. If you want to drive this one another 100K, fix it, if not, maybe sell.