daeron

the truth of the matter (as i understand it from discussion here) is simply that fel-pro is a top of the line company who has dedicated much effort in developing superior headgasket technology in the 20 years since the subaru gaskets were designed and built.. the subaru engineers never looked back at what the massive long term condition of the headgaskets were, and never tweaked them because the model was all but abandoned in 1989-1990, and totally abandoned at the change of model year 93/94. Fel pro gaskets all use the same research and development in their materials and construction. SO, the fel-pro version of the headgasket has alot more effort into it than the subaru. Fel-pro is a company in existence to get people to buy their gaskets again and again... thats how they do it. I suppose whether this opinion on the superiority of their product is true or not can only be decided by the number of voices who say "i vote fel-pro." but it seems to my estimation that the vast majority of the people here who have extensive experience, and have racked up hundreds of thousands (millions anyone?) in their various subarus...... will mostly say "fel-pro" they also dont seem to need to be re-torqued like the other ones do, either. this is a factory claim, but again, im going by hearsay in saying that its legitimate.

then it makes me wonder, how many XT6 owners are left that are uneducated at this point...:-p

if you do a search through the archives (go to search, and click advanced search, its mush easier to use and you get better results) and look for ford fuel pump, you can find information on a very common swap to a very common, inexpensive, and simple to swap in fuel pump.. i dont know the details, but I've read the threads. If you want, ive got two adobe acrobat files that contain the engine/electrical section of the FSM.. its a chunk that floats around here. i could email them to you.. i downloaded them but i didnt bookmark it, someone here has them on the webpage. not a complete FSM but alot of thorough information, the tough stuff that you need to have data on to fix the FI system etc.... send me a private message with your email address, and let me know if you can take a ten megabyte attachment in your email.. otherwise ill ship one at a time, so to speak.. i got em for free, its very useful data, the least i can do is pass it along.

that was a great nutshell. i was under the impression that the XT6's steering was full power, and NOT power assist... but i was obviously misshapen sounds over-engineered to me. im assuming its more trouble than it is worth to try and retrofit a more standard EA82 power steering system on there, huh? here i go threadjacking again. hey, i figure its all data, it just might help :-p

my sentiments exactly. I actually happened across the forum doing a web search, and only discovered the vastness of the rest of the site a month or so ago... anyone else who hasnt explored yet, do so. it will change your life. again. oh yah, GLturbo: those wheels on ebay arent the right bolt pattern.

has anyone else here ever taken the balancer off of a washing machine? i imagine these interior freewieghts work along those lines, more of a dampener than a balancer.. but i dont know. just throwing that concept out there. the washer has a big ring filled with some sort of fluid (i think? maybe really tiny BBs or something) that rides freely along the top rim of the tub...more of a ballast than a balance. it obviously works though. incidentally, i _just_ realized where the name for BBs came from. Ball Bearings. duh. that one only took me 25 years....

holy freakin crap!!!! ive worked on hydraulic tools alot, so im at least familiar with hydraulic basics... what is so special about this fluid? any clues? i realize its power steering, and not power assist like 99.999% of cars with "power steering", but beyond that factoid, i (obviously) dont know jack about the system. just idle curiosity.

i _think_ those are enkei aftermarket rims made for peugeots.... do a search on peugeot +enkei on the forum here, there was a thread recently that had rims that looked like that but were gold.

Im not trying to pretend my Zcar is laying 175 to the ground by any means... but it shore aint no 125 neither.... and they didnt get too fat until they became ZXs either. GVWR on my 280 is like 29something... and i know the maximum load (passengers+cargo) is 420 pounds. so yah, my GL10 is lighter than my 280Z... but ithe soob is fuglier too.... (no offense, they ARE pretty homely little sedans without any trim on them...) gee, wonder why THAT number sticks out in the ol' brain.....

okay okay okay NO!!!!!!!!! stock flywheel HP on the 280Z is 174!!!!!!!!! wheel hp was 145! you AINT gonna blaspheme against my BABY like that BIATCH!!!!! bgd can go on about the 3 main boxer as long as he wants, nothing is gonna make me stray from MY love for the OHC inline six

Sam, these headgaskets are the weak point of the motor. the blocks, from what i have gathered, are pretty durn near bulletproof, but the heads may as well be made of glass. get a spare set of heads, prep them to go on the car. you can have your heads for "spares." What kind of Z do you have? mines a 75 280 2 seater :grin: The heads do develop cracks, the rule of thumb is, if you cant fit a fingernail in it, its OK. seriously. The front fenders from any loyale/GL will work (right guys?) you *might* wanna go with a slightly smaller exhaust, or at least a slightly smaller colleting point before expanding out to 2.5".. but youre talking turbo. i have a non turbo, so i may have glossed over absorbing that info. non-interference engine. go ahead and do the timing belts now, and keep the old ones as spares in the trunk. never hurts. theres debate over it, but ALOT of us leave the front timing belt covers off. this changes a timing belt job from 2-6 hours (probly less, if youre good with a wrench) to about 30 minutes (or less) i *think* the hood should be the same as any loyale/GL series.... right guys?? not an rx/3 door owner here.... but as i said, the fenders should be the same...... there is a very very recent thread about the blower motor speeds that you should read. within the first two or three pages. it has ALL you could possibly need to know. the radio... they wired the front and read channels with common groundwires... there is only a right ground, and a left ground, coming out of the stereo..... no front/rear.. so the best way is to re wire the speakers with new wire. if you have a trip computer, youre gonna need to order a kit from crutchfield to install an aftermarket stereo and keep the trip computer controls where they go.... unless youre car has them down underneath the ashtray, which is where they got moved to on later years. in which case, the easy way is to get an install kit.. the stock stereo is just a bit smaller in all three simensions than DIN size (aftermarket stereo size) that, and i want an RX. hell, id be happy as a kid in a candy store with a 2wd 5speed in my GL-10..... but i figgered id share what i knew regarding your issues. the body panels, im about 95% sure on.... good luck with your winter ride, im trying to convince a buddy of mine to do exactly what youre doing because he wants to learn how to wrench and properly customize his own vehicle...... but he wont just bite the bullet and buy an old car to do so on. so as i said, good luck and happy soobing!

Oregon Donor on the motorcycle tag.. i really like that one..... anyone who doesnt _quite_ get it needs to say "oregon donor" out loud.

I must (shamefully?) admit that the only thing ive ever used the BFH on in my car (big effin' hammer) was the dying starter.... why is the BFH such a vital soob tool???? im missing something here....

ah-ha. please forgive my slight condescension then.. i hate sounding like a jerk, but sometimes one fails to recall exactly who one is speaking with.. the whole lowest common denominator thing, once more I apologize :-p

just a wheel balance at a tire shop should cost less than ten dollars... its just annoying to see four wheel balance and four tire mount charges on your bill, taking your $160 set of tires all the way up to 200.. i cant imagine you would get any alternative fix for cheaper, and you definitely wouldnt "know" its balanced like they do when they spin it on their machine...

just bite the bullet and fill up with 92-93 for a tank or two. see how she runs. fuel additives, other than those specifically designed to clean the fuel system, are bunk. seafoam, MMO, lucas fuel injector cleaner etc are good products, but they are cleaners, not octane boosters or any other sort of snake oil type product. besides, at 20 cents difference per gallon, thats only a difference of 3.20 a tank.. (16 gallons) how much could a bottle of additive cost? i know it sucks, ive run lo test in all my other cars but the soob wouldnt stop pinging on low test (mines non turbo) so I had to switch. give it a shot, as an experiment it certinaly cant hurt anything, and for an extra six bucks for two full tankfuls, i would say its not that expensive a diagnostic myself.

the question is, do you want to repaint your car the original color, or are you looking to repair a section and have it match your car? because the paint on your car is no longer the same color it was coming from the factory.. if you want "original" color for a comlpete paint job, its no big deal.. if you want to match one zone of your car with another, then you need to take the car (or just the gas door) to a paint shop and have them analyze and match it.

thats friggin awesome man.....

Opposed

if your engine is reaching temperature, and not overheating, and you are getting bubbles into your coolant system, that is a prime indicator that the headgasket has blown a hole between the combustion chamber and the coolant passageway. It NORMALLY manifests itself by bubbling into the overflow reservoir, because you are pumping cylinder compression into the coolant system.. have you checked your radiator cap?? have you checked the overflow for bubbling into it? I realize that you are hearing noises from the other side of the engine, which seems odd.. but as I said, the bubbling into the overflow (when engine is operating temp but not hot AT ALL) is a pretty sure sign that the gasket is popped.

if you go shopping at tirerack.com, you can select any particular size you want.. and once youre looking at a tire, you can select to see "sizes & pricing" for that tire. That link goes to a chart with all available sizes for that model tire, and has tons of specs on each, including outside diameter or circumference, i forget which.... but you can compare available tires along with side-by-side comparison to stock tire size, if you want...

i got nada, zilch, nothin. I dont even have a job right now, :- ( I have spare time, but not enough gas in my car to drive from outside miami (60 miles) to somewhere in colorado.. and if i did i would visit the half of my friends who up and moved out there a few years back. I dont get to travel much though.

is it bad that i keep reading this thread every time its updated and wishing i could take part, even though i'm like three thousand miles away?

hmmmmm... might wanna try and sneak some steel underneath the carpeting then. I only say so because you mentioned framerail rot.. and derbying a unibody car with rusted out framerails, i mean, yah.. it just doesnt sound very optimistic for "next year's performance"

Bollocks!!!!! at least the guy was a decent human being about it... that stinks for you, though... getting all excited about it and whatnot, only to have your hopes and dreams dashed into little bits on the jagged rocks of seller's remorse......