Gyoas759

great! I got it in, but now even after pumping the brake pedal about 5 times, the piston hasn't tightened. What next????

I'm in agreement here. Subarus as a general rule are lightwieght, low powered cars with none of the qualities that would mark a good demolition derby car. And my sentimentality echoes everyone else here. Don't kill another sube. Really, if you want an import that would be a good demo car, you want something big and mean. Which subies are not, unless you put a load of work into them. Some of the old import luxury cars would fit the bill. Old Volvos, Mercedes, BMW 5 series and up, Mitsubishi Diamante, Acura Legend, Infiniti Q45, Mazda 929. You want something solid with at least a 6 in it. You'd probably embarass yourself killing a subaru in there. I just can't see one of our dear little subies going blow for blow with a bunch of other cars and coming out on top. It's not their thing.

Okay. Bought a 4 inch C Clamp and got to cranking. it got really tight and then bang! The C clamp broke in half. So I went a bought a bigger more heavy duty C clamp. I tightened things down and before the piston was even a half in in, it just got too tight to tighten any more. I mean REALLY tight. I even disconnected the caliper from the brake line to see if that might relieve the pressure. No luck. I have to think that this should be simpler. It's a Metro for crying out loud! Any secrets on getting that sucker in there? This C clamp is going nowhere fast.

Sounds like a plan. I think I'll just wait till I get it to PA for that. Cheaper parts out there. Gotta love Harry's U-Pull-it! has Tim said anything to you about doing this photo/video shoot in the next couple weeks? I have the trashwagon road ready and now with 15 inch Pugs and new glass. Just wondering if he still wants to try and get a gravel pit/power slide shot with it. That and I have that front fender and Radial GT wheel for you if you still want them. Let me know.

I'm replacing the brake pads on two of my cars today. My 83 GL Wagon and a 90 Geo Metro. This is my first time replacing brake pads, so bear with me. I got the caliper off without much trouble, but reattaching it is a problem now. I'm not sure what the name of it is, but that big round thingy in the middle of the caliper is pushing out so far that I can't get the caliper back on with the brake pads in it. Any trick to getting it back in? And is it the same story with the Subies? I'd assume the brakes are similar. Thanks!

GOT IT! Took about an hour and WOW... what a difference. I wont say it feels like new, but it goes into reverse now. First time it did it while sitting still since I bought the car!!! And much less movement in the other gears too. Amazing.

Also wondering if anyone knows a good place to find the compression fittings mentioned in the USRM article. Do chains carry them or a hardware store or what?

So I finally dug in to try and get this shifter slop taken care of. I took out the rubber top from the shifter and cleaned up the tranny shaft area. I was surprised to see that there was already a pin in there. Not sure if that was stock or not. Worked sort of like a wire brad or bobby pin spread out the end to seal it in there. Folded it straight again and after a bunch of tapping with a hammer and chunk of wire, I got it out. Is this normal? And from here, do I drill the existing hole out further to put a larger bolt in? I already went over the steps in USRM http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49954 Just not sure about this pin. Wanted to be sure before I drill anything. Would love some advice. Thanks!

Orbach's Automotive 365 REINHOLDS RD DENVER, PA (717) 484-2009 These guys have worked on my family's Subaru's for over 20 years. Randy and Tom are far and away the best and most knowledgeable Subaru mechanics I've come across. They're cheap, honest and they don't mind improvization from time to time if permitted. (Coat hanger = free vs. New hood latch cable costing like $25. for an 84 DL) The only downside is that they're usually pretty booked for doing muh work. But if you can describe the problem, they'd be excellent at diagnosing it.

Known as the trashwagon. Mine was originally designed as a replica of the first one made by Miles Fox and used in the upcoming movie. He's had like 7 or 8 subaru trash wagons over the years. All painted in pretty much the same color scheme. (http://www.economysuperstar.com/milesfox/subaru/mysubaru.htm)I bought this one from him about a month ago and have been repairing and upgrading it. Don't think there's ever been a trashwagon Brat before. Neat!

Yeah. I should have specified. 1983 GL Wagon d/r a.k.a. the trashwagon as built my the one and only Miles Fox. I bought it about a month ago and am continuing it's evolution with a lift, new rims/tires and a few other toys.

Went to the local Pick N Pull today and found a set of 15 inch rims on an old Peugeot 505. :banana: :banana:Trashwagon is soon to be getting a 3 or 4 inch lift. I'll be using it on the east coast mountains. Not much mud or crawling, just a lot of dirt trails that get nasty from time to time. Now I'm scoping out tires and wondering what sort of set up are recommended or have served you well. Right now they've got a mix of michelin and Kumho 195/70R15s on them, but they've got dry rot and will need to be upgraded soon. Any advice? Before After Matt

Went over everything carefully. Found the starter connection was loose. VROOOM! thanks for the advice.

I tried starting my 83 GL this aftrenoon and I'm not sure what happened. As usual it started and stalled out a few times before running. it started, stalled, started, stalled. (As is normal) But the third time I went to turn the key, nothing happened. No click, no crank, no nothing. The battery connection is good. I think the ignition coil is okay. I don't think the starter konked out. The fuses all seem fine. Any ideas? I'm sure it's something simple but I just can't find the problem. And I'm stumped because one second it cranked like it always does and now I'm not getting anything when I turn the key. Any ideas or advice would be very much appreciated.

Have read. Will listen. I was just under the impression that something was wrong with my transmission since it made that noise. Just glad that it was operator error and not my sube coming undone. Thanks all!

Sounds about right. I was testing it on pavement and I the rims/tires of the car are from 3 different subes. Good to know it's nothing unhealthy.

In need of some subaru wisdom. My 83 GL wagon runs and drives okay now. It has the 4 speed manual dual range tranny. Engaging in 4 wheel drive is no problem. It goes into the 4 wheel and lo range without a problem but when I take it back to two wheel drive, it makes a loud kaboom. Feels like the car should be dead afterwards but it keeps running. You have to push pretty hard to get the lever down. Any ideas on what the problem could be?

I recently bought two EA81 subarus that I'm combining into one good driver. The driving car is an 83 GL Wagon with the 4 speed 4x4 tranny. The parts car is a a GL-10 Coupe with the 5 speed front wheel drive. The GL Wagon has a very loose stick. I can't even get it to go into reverse and there's a lot of play in the stick. The parts car is pretty tight, so I'm wondering if the shifter bushings can be swapped between the two trannys or not. And if so, how do I do it. Never done it before. Thanks!

Miles, you'd know better than anyone. You think it's just a clutch cable adjustment? It only seems to want to go in reverse if I already have it rolling backwards. On another note- Does Subaru heaven have a good number of EA81 gen subarus? I'm thinking of running up there soon to get some new glass for the wagon. Matt

It's the 4 speed. Thankfully, the GL-10 is a 4 speed as well. My only other question is, if there would be any difference to work with since the GL-10 is front wheel drive and the wagon is a 4x4?Would it still be a direct swap?

I just bought an 84 GL wagon 4x4 that I have up and running (sort of) The tranny has a lot of trouble shifting into reverse. Mostly it wants to just grind. The guy I bought it from had swapped an EA82 engine into it and it runs fine. I bought a low miles GL-10 parts car with an EA81 Engine and Tranny that I may put into my GL. I'm new to deeper workings of Subarus. So can anyone tell me how to check whether I have an EA81 or EA82 generation trans in my GL (If the trannies even changed between the generations) and what would be the best bet in swapping or not swapping trannies in the GL. Thanks Matt