Wrench Princess

Yep, I'm coming! I was so pissed about missing last year. I also know Erik (Bratwerst) is planning on coming, I think only for sunday though. I figured I'd post it since his internet died again. We didn't quite get his Brat done last weekend so he's probably not driving it.

I really like that one OZified. It's very Subaru with the coloring and the symbol which is partly what we were going for I think! Good work.

I really like this one but possibly get rid of the Subarus and put Subaru. I definately agree about the Subaru blue and gold too. Again, the incorporation of the Subaru symbol would be nice too. You guys are really coming up with some good ideas though. I am very impressed! Keep the ideas coming. The only problem is that they are all so good, it may be hard to decide in the end.

I know my say doesn't really make much of a difference but I think maybe the WCSS7 part should be just a little smaller so it fits better inside the the Washington outline. It all looked really good though and I also agree about the star. Maybe if it's not getting into too much detail you could still add the Subaru symbol somewhere, not too big or anything. I just think it would add a nice extra Subaru spin. The colored ones you did look awesome by the way but would probably be way too much for shirts and mugs, etc. For fliers and such it would be perfect. Anyway, that's my cent and a half. I really hope I will be able to make it to the show this year, I was very sad that I couldn't attend WCSS6.

And me, I was there! It was really nice too. I was glad to find the Subaru table even though me and Connie tried not to over crowd it. By the way, your wedding made a good excuse for the best road trip I've had in a long time. We even stopped at the tattoo convention in Vancouver on the way (and both left tattooless).

I would keep a rag or two handy if you plan on doing that though or you could end up with a big oily mess. Just my thought though, feel free to make soobie soup if you'd like.

Sounds like a plugged up fuel system to me. Try changing BOTH of the filters and also make sure your throttle cable isn't too loose, as that can also cause these symptoms. Also try and use up as much of the old gas as you can and keep putting new gas in it to flush out the system better. When gas sits for long periods of time it will get all thick and gummy and smells like vinegar. I hope it starts working better for ya man!

Checking the plugs in a situation like this is always a good thing. Helps you figure out what you're dealing with a lot of times. If they are all black and wet, you are getting a lot of oil in your cylanders which would explain your blow by. If they are just wet looking you may be having trouble burning all of your gas which could mean plug gap is off or coil is going out or wires aren't working properly. If they are really white and clean you could be burning water in your cylanders. And if they are really black and crusty then they are just not happy and you should change them . Hope that this may help you out some.

I hope you get it figured out soon. It really sucks that you have to deal with this when you and Shannon are getting ready to move. Pretty sure the pressure plate always changes shape a little when you bolt it on. Don't think that's anything unusual. I hope it's something simple too. Good luck on getting it working right. If I lived closer I'd be down there helping ya wrench away on it.

My boyfriend had similar issues with his XT. We went out and got a remanned alternator from Schucks cause his was still under warrenty but it was dead. So we put it in and it ran great again. The next morning we went to start it and the battery was dead. New battery from Schucks also under warrenty that day and came out the next morning and the new battery was dead! My boyfriend finally did some testing with a multimeter and found out that when the car was running the alternator was charging fine, but when it was not running it was draining the battery. Got another remanned alternator from Schucks and finally no more battery draining issues. The guy at Schucks was a major wongleflute though cause he wouldn't believe that the alternator that he had just given us was not working and was draining the battery. It's a good thing my boyfriend works for Fluke and has like fifty thousand multimeters around the house. My suggestion is to charge up the battery really good and unhook the alternator. Leave it overnight and see if you still have a dead battery. Or if you have any volt meter or multimeters you could try testing that way. Hope this helps.

I would be thanking the Subaru gods that you are alive if I were you man! Good thing that soobs are tough little bastards! Surviving something like that is unlikely but having the car survive too is awesome.

I've helped do it to a fwd XT before (non turbo though) but it was all pretty easy. Like Ross said, I think the hardest part was the pedals. Everything else was pretty simple. Subarus are great to work on because of how simple they are and how much room there is in the engine bay. Welcome to the world of Subaru fanatics and addicts. You can ask pretty much any question and someone here will know the answer. An awesome and insanely knowledegable group of guys (and girls like me). Best of luck with your upcoming project too!

I'd say the alternator is shot. They tend to do stuff like that when you bump your stereo too loud. My boyfriend had that problem in his 88 XT a while ago. We were going to buy a new alternator because we already knew his wasn't keeping up with his stereo. Well, luckily he had a warranty so we got it for free. The next morning he came out and the battery was completely dead. So then we went and exchanged his battery (warranty on that too ). Tested the alternator and it was charging the battery when running like it was supposed to. Came out next day and again the battery was dead (the new one). He finally had to go back to Schucks and tell him that the alternator that he had gotten a couple of days before was draining the battery when the car wasn't running (he tested it before going). Luckily that problem is fixed now and hopefully the 3 farad capacitor will help the alternator and battery both last longer . Now it just needs a tune up and it will be perfect.

And whatever you do, DO NOT turn carb upside down to clean it out. Stuff gets stuck in the jets and you will have serious issues. Ask Austin about turning your carb upside down. Big no no. Other than that, carbs are not too hard to take apart. Putting them back together on the other hand (just kidding, tee hee hee). Jusk keep track of all of the little stuff.

For starters, I don't reccomend an EA82 for a four wheeling car for a beginner because of their tendancy to overheat and crack heads. Four wheeling tends to heat up the car pretty good sometimes and if you are just starting out in this kind of thing, EA81 is the only logical choice for you. This of course is just my opinion though, either EA81s or EA82s are good. I personally like EA81s better because of how much easier they are to work on. LSD means limited slip differential and I am not sure exactly about how all of that works but I do know that everyone says it's a must (or a welded diff of course). Anyway, that's my two cents worth, hope it helps. By the way, I don't remember if anyone explained this (it's probably obvious though) but EA81s are the earlier models (80 through 85 I think) and EA82s are after that so the car you were talking about getting should be an EA82 since it is an 86. I don't know if that helps at all but I thought I would add it anyway.

My boyfriend likes to weld and play with his cutting torch and tubing bender and such. He is always talking about wanting to do a project like what you want but I think he might be a little too busy to start something right now. After all, planning for his birthday and my birthday is a full time job! I know there are tons of people on the board who can do exactly what you are wanting. Sounds like you are going to have some fun with your car and you don't even have it yet!

Something else to do is check for vacuum leaks. I am more willing to bet that your fuel filter is plugged but a vacuum leak could cause some of the same type of problems too. Try checking vacuum lines and spray starting fluid at the base of the carb and where the intake attaches to the heads and if it speeds up your idle, you have a vacuum leak. It's always good to check for vacuum leaks anyway, even if that isn't the specific problem you are having. Good luck!

I have broken a plate on one too! It takes a lot of patience and finesse to get those suckers off without breaking them. Just take your time and your best bet is to try and tap it loose as much as possible because prying it is more likely to break it. When I broke one I wasn't even prying between the plate and the engine, I was just prying and the plate was so stuck on that it cracked in half (and I am a girl so obviously those things are fragile). Of course, I am exceptionally buff for a girl!

By the way, we have several other birthdays coming up on the board. I know two other people who are having birthdays in the next two weeks. I want to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all of you who have birthdays coming up! I hope everyone gets what they want (including me!).

Well, my boyfriend fixed his exhaust problems. He had some big holes in it but it's all better now. Just gotta do a few last things and his car should be good to go for a while.

Welcome! My birthday is June 3rd too! I am going to be 22 though, I know I am old now. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this board and have fun with your future Subaru. If you have any questions on anything, there is always someone on here that will help and it is cool that you are semi-local. Us western Washington board members like to help eachother out whenever possible. These are a great bunch of guys and girls. Hope you like your time on the board as much as the rest of us do. Happy birthday in a week from thursday!

How much would you want for the entire exhaust (assuming it is all good)?

My boyfriend just did the auto to manual switch on his '88 XT. He didn't have any trouble getting the new pedal cluster to fit into his car but he did say that if you do not use an XT pedal cluster it will not fit right because they are different, you need the type that has all three pedals connected together. If you have the right pedal cluster it will fit just fine. Also the steering colomn needs to be out, which you have already done. I don't really know what else to say to help but my boyfriend says that if you have any questions, you can give him a call (though we live in the Seattle area). His name is Dave and his phone number is (206) 542-8983. Unfortunately, his XT decided to develop ignition troubles so we still don't have it going again yet. Hope this helped some and if you have any more questions about the swap, maybe we can help.

You can try Pull A Part in Lynwood (or the one in Everett if there is nothing at the Lynwood yard). I have helped pull motors from there several times. The worst part about it though is that you can't use a jack or a hoist so you have to have at least one other person with you to help you lift the motor out of the car. According to the Pull A Part price list, a longblock will run you $124.50 with a $5.50 core charge. Me and my boyfriend are going to Pull A Part (or PAP as people on the board call it) tomorrow to get parts for a friend's van. I hope that I helped some. Oh yeah, and there are a ton of us from the Seattle area so if you have any other questions or need help working on your Subaru, just let us all know and someone will probably be willing to help.

So was that you that got pulled over or Matt, or you for rope towing Matt? Looks like you guys had fun! Hope that you have a bigger group next time though, how many people actually went anyway? Just don't forget, after you blew up your last motor (after rope towing the sliver wagon and the moron wagon with it) you said that you were not going to use your car for towing again. Don't be surprised when your motor blows up again! Glad to see that you all enjoyed yourselves! Lots of cool pictures too!