dxrflyboy

Outside edge wear is usually due to the tires being toe'ed in too much. Definitely check the alignment. I'm not sure what the exact specs are but if you set the toe to zero, you shouldn't have any problems. Incorrect camber will also cause uneven tire wear but not nearly as much as toe will. Also, usually camber will cause uneven wear on only one tire and make the car pull.

The shields on the front pipes are there to keep the exhaust hotter when it enters the catalytic converter. Hotter exhaust means more efficient operation of the cat and quicker light-off.

The woodgrain thing might actually improve the B9 Edsel, er, Tribeca.

Stock wheels should have stock size tires on them, which would be 195/60/15 in your case. As a general rule, as you increase your rim diameter, decrease the aspect ratio by 5%, given the width is the same, ie, 195/55/16, 195/50/17, 195/45/18...

I'll second that. The only way to accurately measure gas mileage is actual miles/actual gallons used.

I'll second the lazy nature of the transmission. I normally manual shift the transmission on road tests, since they normally refuse to shift down into second after a right turn onto an entrance ramp. I HATE lazy automatics!

Also, replace all 3 grease/dust seals.

Autozone may have a "Hub Tamer" for rent that will help you remove the bearing from the knuckle on the car. You will still need to remove the long bolt on the bottom of the knuckle to pull it out for axle removal. Chances are, the bolt is rusted in place and will require a breaker bar with a "cheater pipe" over it to break it loose. Subaru does instruct technicians to replace the "shipping grease" with bearing grease when installing the new bearings. The "shipping grease" is pretty much just diluted candle wax that gels up in a short time. I use a bearing packer, where possible, and "pump" the "shipping wax" out of the bearing and fresh bearing grease in. Also, make sure not to overtighten the axle nut. Unlike most other makes, tightening the axle nut all the way puts too much pressure on the wheel bearings and you will barely be able to turn the hub by hand. This will destroy the bearing in short order. You must be able to turn the hub by hand without too much effort.

The fuel hoses must be replaced with high pressure fuel injection hose. Standard gas hose isn't made to take the higher pressure. It's available at any auto parts store. Just make sure you specify the right hose. The coil pack only gets replaced if it fails.

How long have you had the car? How are you measuring your gas mileage? What are your driving conditions? How does the car run? Is your check engine light coming on? To answer your question, yes, you should expect better than 15 mpg but exactly how much better depends on how you use it.

FLUID FIGHT!!!!!

. As long as the container says Dexron on it, it's the right stuff (unless you found it in your granddad's basement and it's from the early '70s-hehe), even though it says Mercon too. If it says Mercon but not Dexron, it's probably Mercon V or Mercon SP, which is the wrong fluid.

Every Dexron III container I have ever seen has been labeled Dexron III/Mercon. This is because Dexron III meets Mercon specs and vice versa. Dexron and Dexron II are obsolete. Mercon V is a different fluid than Mercon/Dexron III and shouldn't be used in Dexron applications. The container will only say Mercon V, with no Dexron designation, so it's unlikely that you will confuse it with Dexron III/Mercon fluid. Ford is currently using Mercon/Dexron III and Mercon V, along with Mercon SP and other fluids.

Dexron III and Mercon are the same fluid, but Mercon V is different. Dexron III is backward compatible to Dexron II and Dexron. A simple drain & fill will take about 4 quarts.

Andrew, I'd love to see your collection one of these days, especially once the latest additions arrive! If only my Kingswood was roadworthy, I'd offer to bring both cars home for you! Someday I'll have a vintage Chevy wagon hauling vintage Subes from coast to coast! For now, though, I'll have to settle for dreaming and drooling! If you're anywhere near Enfield (my g/f's daughter and grandson live up there), I'd love to stop by. My dad's first Sube was an FF1 1300G wagon like the one you just bought, and the second was a 1400/4sp wagon. I know we New Englanders tend to be apprehensive about these situations involving people we've never met. But let me tell you, when I bought my Kingswood on Ebay two years ago, two individuals in western PA that I never met who posted on a forum like this one offered to help me out. One drove me from the bus depot to the seller's home. The other put me up for the night and helped me get some electrical probs worked out before the ride home. I tend to be a trusting individual, and many would have considered what I did too risky. But the trip would have been, at the very least, much more troublesome without their help.

The pics are a little blurry, but is that a 1300G emblem on the grille?

If it's the place full of junk cars in the back, it's R&R. If that's where he works, I sure would like to know what happened to my '71 Kingswood parts car! I went there one day to get something from it, and it was gone! I'm a newbie on the scene at H's, so I can tell you how things are right now, but not how they got that way. The OM is still running the show. His wife is no longer with us The addition has been in service for quite some time, and the 360 pickup is mothballed in a classified location. I'm sure it will show up again when they need a conversation piece, but I'm sure it's a family heirloom that will never be sold. I haven't run into anyone there with an old Sube yet (besides Tom), so I hope your friend shows up sometime in the near future. My old car collection doesn't include a Sube - I have a '71 Chevrolet Kingswood Estate fullsize wagon that's mothballed until I have the time, money, and space to restore it (it needs the body-off-frame full meal deal) and I HAD a parts car whose owner hunted me down when he found out about the one I already had. I haven't seen an ff1 in 20 years or so. They don't show up on Ebay either! My interest in these two cars is because my folks had them when I was a kid The big wagons are being smashed into oblivion by demolition derbiers, so I grabbed one when I got the chance. It's in rough enough shape to be considered derby fodder, but it's what I have to work with. I can't allow myself to sell it off to a derbier at this point. At least the ff1s (if I ever find one for sale) aren't getting destroyed as quick as they can be found.

Use Dexron III ATF of any brand.

The Phase I DOHC engines have spark plugs going in the heads through the center of the valve covers. The Phase II SOHC have the plugs going diagonally into the tops of the heads. The timing cover widens at the cylinder heads on the Phase I engines to acommodate the two cam gears, while the Phase II cover remains flat due to the single cam gear.

I live at Holmgren 40 hours a week at least, so I'm easy to find there. If Jesse runs Clayville Auto in Griswold, I know the place. There's also Coureville's and R&R Repair (I've seen a bunch of Subarus over there) in Canterbury. I worked with Roger Lerose's nephew a couple years ago at a Ford dealer (he co-owns R&R Repair).

He bought both cars new. I do have access to a '76 service manual that clearly states the 1400 has wet liners and the 1600 has dry liners. Since the 1400 was discontinued, I'm not sure what changes were made to the service engines after that, but the replacement never had a head gasket problem. It seems that when the 1600 was introduced, the 1400 received similar cylinder heads, but the block was the same as before.

Will do. We might have a chance to meet beforehand, since you may figure out by my 1400 post that I'll probably be at your nearby Subaru place the next time you are.:cool:

OOH OOH OOH I GOTTA HAVE IT!!! (or at least SEE it!) I already have one of the cars my folks had when I was a kid (a '71 Chevrolet Kingswood fullsize wagon that the ff1 would fit in the back of), but the Subie is almost impossible to find, and they're not getting wrecked in demolition derbies the way the big wagons are! Seriously, I would LOVE to see that car if that is possible...

AWD NOS donuts in the parking lot, huh? So that's YOUR tranny input shafts in the shop with the gear teeth stripped off it!! The 360 is mothballed in a classified location right now. I did hear last nite that years ago a couple kids tried to steal it by loading it into the back of a dump truck. There is an electric golf cart, but I'm afraid it's a bit bigger than the 360 My experience & knowledge of the 1400 is also limited, unfortunately, but I will share what I know. The 1400 had removable wet liners in 1976, but replacement engines either had the liners pressed into the block so they did not move or had dry liners like the 1600. I know this because my father owned a '76 1400 wagon. The original engine chewed up head gaskets and spit them out constantly. The engine was overhauled in '79 or '80. Shortly after that, the oil filter gasket blew out and the engine seized. The car was laid up for MONTHS while we waited for a replacement. The new engine never had a head gasket failure. Since this car was used as a commuter up here in the snowbelt, it rotted into oblivion. This was my father's second Subaru (the first one being a '71 1300G wagon) and he hasn't owned one since. I came close to buying another '76 with a blown engine as a teenager to put the engine from my dad's '76 in, but the car was sold before I made up my mind and my dad's car was junked. The seller thought his car had a 1600 and that the 1400 wouldn't bolt up to the trans (it was a 4-speed). I'm not sure what he was thinking, but he probably thought it was a 1600 because of the exhaust ports. In retrospect, I'm sure it was a 1400. Unfortunately, I don't know about block dimension differences between the two engines, but I may be able to find out.