IdahoJak

There's 3 of them listed on car-part.com. http://www.car-part.com/ [url=http://www.car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi][/url]

Great job! I've never seen a car in the junkyard with that much rust, I'm just amazed you saved it.

Of course there are many variables to gas mileage, but here is a link to the government fuel ratings. It is a good place to start. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

You want a walk-through with lots of pics, try this link: http://home.comcast.net/~trilinear/clutch.html

If you want to learn more about oil filters here is a really good link: http://www.knizefamily.net/minimopar/oilfilters/index.html

Great info GD, my '86 Hatch is currently running great, but I may do these mods anyway. If I do, I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks, Jack

I'm no expert, but it does sound like timing may be a problem. When you had the timing light on it, I presume you had the car at idle, warmed up, and the vacuum advance line plugged up. Did you rev up the engine to see if the timing advanced via the mechanical advance in the distributor? If it advanced quite abit (I'm guessing about 10 degrees more) then it is probably working OK. Then connect the vacuum advance line back to the dizzy. Rev it up again, it should advance even more, (maybe another 5-10 degrees) if so, it is working OK. Good luck, don't give up yet, it probably is some simple little thing and you'll feel real good about yourself once you find it.

Good job, so how's it run now? I need to do some of that to my hatch one of these days. It is running fine, but a little preventive maintainance is usually a good thing.

Are you talking about this link? http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/80s/wheels2/wheels.html

Found this site that allows you to plug in a tire size then it calculates diameter or speed or gear ratio etc. You might want to check it out: http://www.oly4x4.com/4x4calculators.htm

I wonder if your dad didn't tighten the filter or drain plug when he changed the oil???

You can also find an engine at this site: http://www.car-part.com/

Here is a gear ratio chart for you to compare the differences: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/80s/mick/gear-ratios.htm

Sounds like it could be a bad coil. If you have access to a spare you might try swapping it.

Nice looking wagon! I really love those wheels. :cool: If you ever want to sell them, or if anyone else has some for sale, I would be interested.

Russ, you need to post a sign our there "Laramie Brat Company" or "Brats R Us". Looks like the start of a good project. Recently saw a pretty nice '80 Brat DL for sale around here, but they wanted $3500 for it. Seemed too high to me, but it disappeared in a few days, so I guess they sold it. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. My 86 Hatch just keeps running like a clock, so I never have any problems to post about.

She sure looks purty! If you'd rather have a faded moss green hatch, I'd trade you straight across

Sounds to me like your fresh air intake/vent is plugged up or not working properly. When you drive by something that smells (like a dead skunk or deisel exhaust) do you smell it almost instantly? If not that's a good indication you are not bringing in any fresh outside air. I know our old VW bug would fog up real quick if the outside air intake vents were shut-off.

Wow, Andrew, I can't believe all the problems you've had with the coupe. I sure was lucky when I picked it up in Portland and drove 400 miles to Idaho without a single problem. Then I drove it every week or two around here, for short drives, until you came and got it. That car must have been afraid of my wife. She was with me when we drove it from Portland, and told me that if that car breaks down on the way home she was going to be really mad (She didn't like the fact I bought it in the first place, part of the reason I ended up selling it). I sure wish you luck in getting it in good shape, and sorry for all the trouble you've gone through. Appreciate the phone message you left today. Jack

Good job getting her home Andrew! I've been following the posts with great interest. If I read things right you still had trouble with the charging system? Any other problems? Glad you made it safely. Jack

Nice pick-up Russ! Just goes to show if you're patient and keep your ears open you can find some pretty good deals out there. By the way, did Andrew ever pick-up his '75 coupe? I sold my '85 Hatch, but am using the '86 regularly, and love driving it, looking forward to see how the 4x4 works in the snow and mud when winter gets here. Take care Russ.

I just did 700 miles of mostly highway miles doing about 60 mph, mixed with some city driving and mountain roads up to 9000 feet altitude, I got exactly 30 mpg. Not bad for an '86 GL hatchback, 4-speed manual, 1.8 ea81, with 169K miles. By the way, there is a government web site that shows what fuel economy your car is expected get. Over the years, I've found it to be fairly accurate, but as you've read, there are many variables that affect gas mileage. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

Here is an interesting site about checking engines with a vacuum gauge that might be helpful: http://www.users.bigpond.com/ergoff/vac1.htm

I made a hook with a piece of clothes hanger, but there wasn't enough room to force it between the oil seal and the speedo drive gear. I ended up leaving the old seal in. Then taking into consideration GD's tip about grease melting I used some "premium high temp grease" (maybe it won't melt) on the speedo cable. I then pulled the speedo head (not an easy job). Cleaned the speedo air gap with some penetrating solvent. I now have a working speedo, (for how long, who knows). I sure wish I could have got that oil seal replace. Altogether I spent 5 hours on the job, if I had to do it again, could probably do it in 3 hours. If anyone ever comes up with a good method of pulling the oil seal, I would appreciate learning their method (other than pulling the tranny out). Thanks GD for your advice.

Maybe I should also mention, the mechanic suggested putting grease in the speedo cable to act as a plug to stop the oil from migrating up the cable. Anybody tried this? Any ideas or suggestions are much appreciated. This is me now This is me if I fix my speedometer