carfreak85

I think you are wrong in your forecast. People want horsepower, sure, but the number one driver of vehicle sales, beyond style of vehicle, is fuel economy. In 2025 the EPA has mandated the fleet average mpg must be 54 mpg. If you think HP is what's driving sales and development in the market right now, you'd be wrong. Petroleum is not an unlimited resource. We've used up enough of that resource that we can't just find it bubbling up from the ground anymore and we're having to resort to more extreme ways of harvesting it, like stripping it out of shovel-fulls of oil-soaked sand, or by using hydraulic fracturing to force it out of the ground. Now, that's not to say people don't still like fast cars, but those fast cars will soon be powered by tiny turbocharged engines, most likely with an electric-assist motor.

I would get the model with eyesight, especially if your teenage kids will be driving the car.

I'm pretty sure the hardtop has a completely different part number for the front windshield glass, not just the trim.

Nothing has come of it yet, but it is nice to see a bit more interest in this as time goes by. I need to reestablish contact with the manufacturer and take several measurements on the parts I do have on hand. For those folks who are interested in EA82T hoses, I would need similar measurements, or to borrow an example part.

If it were a turbocharged car I would say only use an OEM sensor, but in your case, the NGK will probably be fine.

In for part numbers.

Now what we REALLY need is a new source for the side window seals.

Autometer makes decent, affordable gauges. I would shy away from the Eqqus (sp?) or other cheap gauges from Wal-Mart and the like. The point of replacing the gauge is to get an accurate reading, right? No sense in risking a blown head gasket to save an extra $20 on a gauge.

I'm sure the information is out there, but I doubt it has been consolidated into one chart. Best bet would be a google search, then a LOT of reading. I know Impreza/OBS/forester is pretty much a direct year-for-year swap, with some forward and backward compatability. Obviously OBs and legacies are interchangeable.

What type of EJ207 you buy determines what features it has. All should have forged pistons, but not all came with twin-scroll turbos.

JDM engines are less of a gamble than a used USDM engine. Japanese generally put far fewer miles on their cars and maintain them to a much higher standard than U.S.-owners. The EJ207 is the cream-of-the-EJ-crop and I would highly recommend one of those, probably purchased from JDM Racing Motors. They have a location in Canada and on the East coast of the U.S. I've heard nothing but good things about them. (I am in no way affiliated with JDMRacingMotors, just heard many good things about them. I also do not have an EJ207, but from my research they have better components than a USDM STI engine, have much more power than an EJ205 and can be had for roughly the same price, but with lower mileage.)

I might be interested in some of those EA81T parts if you do end up swapping in an EJ.

Pics!

Yes, VW fuel tanks used to be front-end mounted. We also used to use mercury in household products, painted our houses with lead paint, thought that cigarettes made you more healthy, drove cars without seatbelts and steel dashboards and if someone was sick, we used to bleed them out. Yeah, sometimes change is for the better...

Theophilus, my point is, how sure are you that there is only 10 ml of PAG in your drier? Your A/C system is designed to run a fixed volume of oil, let's call it 100 ml for the sake of argument. You decide your drier is finished and remove it to put the new one it. How much of the 100 ml of PAG your system needs is in that drier? 10 ml? 50 ml? Unless you measure how much oil was captured in the drier, you will have no idea how much needs to be added. Does that make sense? Taken directly from my employer's HVAC service manual: "Under normal operating conditions oil is circulated through the A/C system with the refrigerant. When the system is not operating, the oil settles to the lowest points in the system. These low points are typically the suction lines and the evaporator. Oil will usually settle out in the cooler parts of the system. When a component is serviced the small amount of oil that is retained in each of the components must be replaced. It is necessary to balance the oil charge in the vehicle when servicing components and/or the refrigerant charge... It is important for proper compressor lubrication that this amount [of oil] be maintained as close as possible to the design intent."

I would review Subaru's service recommendations for working on the A/C system for your specific vehicle. I write the service information for my employer and we REQUIRE the system be put under vacuum when serviced. Cracking open the A/C system, unless you have the proper tools/gauges/what-have-yous, is best left to the pro mechanics.

They have no way of knowing if you need 10 ml or 100 ml, of PAG, that's why they don't include any.

I saw those mowers and the matching pressure washers too! Pretty neat, but not $400 neat. I wonder what the bare engine goes for... As it sits the thing starts and drives, so until something fails I'll try to put as little money into it as I can. Tires will probably be the first thing on that list, along with a new seat.

Yes, yellow gel coat.

I got into the vintage Subaru game about 14 years ago. The idea was to find a cheap 4WD car that could get me up to the ski slopes and maybe some light off-roading. One day I stumbled across the USMB and it was as if Pandora's box had opened and I dove head first into Subarudom. I came across McBrat's old "Subarus of the 80's" webpage and the moment my eyes locked onto the Fun Wheels BRAT go kart, I knew that one day I would own one, if I could ever find one. So I started searching. They would pop up every now and again; "BRAT Kart body for sale," "BRAT kart, no engine," "I have this neat fiberglass BRAT kart body, but it's been cut up into pieces, FOR SALE OBO." And so it went... Most of those karts that did come up for sale were stupid expensive, or were on the East coast. And so with a heavy heart I pushed the BRAT kart dream to the back burner, where it would simmer for years. Fast forward to last week and I find not one, BUT TWO brat karts for sale, and one of them was in Washington state! The description said that it ran and drove, but needed some work. The only two photos in the auction showed what looked to be a pretty well preserved barn find of a kart! After a brief email exchange with the seller, it was clear that this was going to be my kart. A few days later the auction was over and I was the proud new owner of the kart. When I took delivery of the kart the seller informed me that he had been contacted by a local scrap dealer. She told the seller about a running BRAT that she had for sale and he agreed to buy it from her, thinking it was a full-size BRAT and not a kart. After I took possession of the kart and had a chance to look it over I was impressed with how well cared for the kart looked. Some spider cracks in the gel coat, a few small cracks in the fiberglass body. Somebody used the original seat as a step and broke it, but I still have the shell. The kart is powered by a Briggs & Stratton Model 90702 3 hp engine that doesn't appear to be original (build date is 02/23/1987). The only thing I can tell that was missing were a few of the body-mounting bolts. I cleaned and lubed the drive chain, rewound the starting rope, replaced the body hardware and lubed up all the bearings and cables. Despite having horribly cracked tires and a piece of wood for a temporary seat, this thing is a blast! Easily my finest Subaru purchase to date! More to come as I get to know this kart better! Photos once I figure out why I can't copy/paste anymore...

On the hardtops? Apparently there are existing applications that will work. Dannybreadman apparently used 60's Camaro 1/4 window seals, but he hasn't responded to any of my messages regarding what he used...

Yes, brand new OEM IAC with a new OEM gasket.

You need to measure how much PAG oil is in the drier and top off the system with the same volume. You don't hear about a lot of people doing this because most people leave A/C repair to pro mechanics who have the proper recovery tools. There is an ideal ratio of oil to refrigerant. The idea is that if you open the system and replace a component, you should replace the amount of oil lost from the system in that failed component. If you use only 1% of your bottle of new PAG oil, so be it, that's all the system needs (Or just replace ALL the oil in your system).

I have a Tactrix cable and RomRaider loaded on my laptop. The problem is that I'm unable to copy/paste on USMB for some reason, which makes it tough to link to anything. I will try linking to my log file on a different PC.

Any progress on this project?