Fuji Fellow

Subiegal: I was looking for my old FF-1 owner's manual, which specified about that special brake fluid. HOWEVER, in retrospect I think this isn't going to be an issue for you and Fujiko. From reading the many year's worth of threads about this resto project, I know you and / or Steve rebuilt the brake cylinders. Unless the seals that were installed came from some very old and dusty box from the dark back corner of some dealer's parts room, the new seals are probably the more modern synthetic rubber parts, which will work fine with DOT-3 fluid. The natural rubber OEM seals would dissolve pretty quickly in DOT-3 fluid. So if you've been driving Fujiko around and the brakes aren't leaking yet, chances are they're not going to. But do keep an eye out for leaks of course, just in case. The inboard front brakes on the FF-1 made the system prone to overheating. Yes, you are blessed with a mild climate up there in Seattle, but down in S. Texas, and again in Tucson AZ, there were a couple of times when the brake system gave me grief due to the heat. Maybe it was something to do with that special brake fluid, or maybe it had some moisture in it, which tried to expand. I was driving along, and the car started slowing down, and slowing down more... struggling like it was going uphill. It ground to a stop off the roadway, and I noticed that the brake pedal was locked up hard as a rock, no downward travel at all. About an hour later, it cooled off and all was good. In Tucson, I got into the habit of carrying a little 8mm box wrench. Whenever the lockup happened, I'd just crawl under the front and crack open the brake bleeder valve a bit. Some fluid would spurt out, the brakes would relax, and all was good again. I'm guessing it might have helped to replace all the brake fluid. There must be something about the FF-1 brakes, because all the FF-1 resto projects seem to start out with a car that has some kind of front-end damage <g>. That and the rust along the rocker panels. I know Steve spent a pile of money on a professional body restoration for Fujiko. Me being the poor college kid at the time, my process was much lower budget. I cut up an old galvanized slide from a swing set, and used it as patch material for the rocker panels, and for the trunk floor which had a stunning resemblence to Swiss cheese . You've restored Fujiko to a show car condition. I only restored my Pokuntsu-San to be a daily driver. I put steel belted radials (still a fairly new thing at the time) on it, and a Heathkit Capacitive Discharge ignition. Dual pipes with glass packs, and that little car would roar along getting me an honest 40mpg. Wasn't fast, wasn't pretty, but I loved that car. It was the first of 3 Subies for me. Ah, these memories. There's many of us out here reading your thread, thanking you for these FF-1 memories. James

Hello to Steve, Subie-Gal, and all the others following and contributing to this wonderful thread! I'm late to this party, but I got here soon as I could. The very first car I owned, was a Subaru FF-1 2-door sedan, just like this one. I bought him for a hundred bucks, wrecked and junked, from a neighbor down the street. I pushed him home, and spent the summer of '78 restoring to a functional roadworthy condition (fixing the rust same as Fujiko had, fix the brakes, and replace the exhaust). I drove him 400 miles a week to college in S. Texas, then in Tucson for 3 more years after that. Mine was never restored to the absolute perfection level of Fujiko, but to me he was my Sedan DeVille. I loved that car, named him Pokuntsu-San. He was the first of a long series of Subies for me. To Steve: The Subaru world will never forget your dedication and commitment that you had for this car. Your engineering and innovations defy words to describe them -- the results speak for themselves. I have trouble trying to decide which is more impressive -- your work on this car, or how beautifully you have documented it for all the rest of us to share. Yes, this Feast Of Life sometimes serves us a turd sandwich, and we just have to roll with it. I'm delighted you are still with us on this thread, to see the fruits of your labor. To Subie Gal: There may very well be no one else in this country who could have taken over on this car as you have done (and are doing). Financially, this undertaking would be completely illogical. But as we all know, this goes beyond logic -- it's truly a labor of love. Fujiko (a wonderfully Shogun-ish name there!), shines now in your obvious love for Subarus. Thank you, for continuing this project. And for continuing to document all that you're doing here, for the rest of us to share. Fujiko's heart beats on with all of us. I wish that the Internet had been available back when I had my FF-1. The parts situation would have been so much more workable in that case. As it was, back in that day you'd get to be on a first-name basis with all the local junkyards. And the local dealerships would refuse to take my money any more, because they couldn't in good conscience say if or when they would ever be able to get the parts I needed (such as brake cylinders, brake drums, shocks, etc). The power of the Internet has really changed all that. I'm having to restrain myself here, because I could write on and on and bore all of you with my own Subaru experiences. But for now let me leave you with some quick questions about Fujiko: 1) Did you have any trouble with the brake fluid? The FF-1 as I recall, used natural rubber seals in the brake system, and required a special brake fluid from Subaru. If you put standard DOT-3 fluid in there, it would disolve those seals, and the brakes would leak out fluid and be ruined (I experienced that a lot). 2) People are 'amazed' by those inboard front brakes. Subaru used that design to reduce the unsprung mass, and simplify the design of the suspension. But in practice (especially in hot areas like S. Texas and Tucson) I found this design places the brakes in the hot air flow from the radiator, and reduces their cooling and makes them susceptible to overheating. Maybe in rural Japanese villages this wouldn't have been a problem. I'm wondering if you've driven Fujiko hard yet in hot temperatures and had that problem? 3) People also are amazed by that dual radiator design on the FF-1's. The sub-radiator was supposed to be the heater core. In theory this worked, but in practice I found that at any speeds over about 30 MPH, it wasn't very effective. South Texas winters are not especially 'brutal', but the high humidity makes even 45 degrees feel quite cold. I was probably the only driver there who wore a snowmobile suit while commuting in the winter <G>. 4) Are you planning to eventually restore the center console 'hump' there over the shifter linkage? Even of not for appearances, that console will help reduce interior noise while driving (assuming that's an issue for you). And yes, do keep us updated on progress with the bumpers. That little bit of chrome, you see, will make a lot of difference in Fujiko's 'smile'. Well, I did mention that I have to restrain myself, so pardon me as this post is already growing long. I have sat here literally all day, reading this thread, mesmerized by this wonderful story. Live Long, Fujiko-San. It's obvious that you are in loving hands.

This thread caught my eye. My Sube is an 88, 1.8L SPFI, D/R 5spd 4wd. 230,000 miles. On HOT days (85F and above), after the motor gets fully warmed up, the idle speed will suddenly become very fast, anywhere from 2200 up to 2800 rpm. It will be ok one moment, then then the engine idle will suddenly JUMP up, like it's being commanded to do so by the ECM. At this point, I'm suspecting either a vacuum leak somewhere that's being brought out by the heat, or maybe a sensor that's breaking down at hot. During this hi-rev idle thing the engine continues to run ok and the car can be driven, just allowing some extra time between shifts. I'm planning to start checking and replacing all vacuum hoses and any sensors related to heat... any other ideas or suggestions? There IS one other piece of info that's involved, and on edit I wanted to add this in. My power steering pump has been seeping out p.s. fluid, which has made the top front of the motor stay kind of damp with a film of oil. I'm just wondering if maybe this power steering fluid which got on hoses and parts up around the top front of the motor, might have degraded them. Maybe I should fix the power steering pump thing and clean up the oil film before I start chasing this other problem? Thanks, James

I had one! It was my first Subaru. Bought it for $100, back in 1978, from a neighbor lady. Spent an hour digging it out from under accumulated debris in her garage, pumped up the tires, and pushed it down the street to my house. Spent the summer of 78 fixing it up into somewhat roadworthy condition, after which I drove it for 5 years to college, and to work later. Most people hated that car, but damn I loved it. I put steel belted radials on it, dual pipes with glasspacks, a Heathkit electronic ignition kit on it, and that car got 40mpg out of that little 1100cc engine. I'd still have it today, but that I just could not find parts for it. Too bad I didn't have the resource of this forum, or else I'd surely still have it on the road now. Such memories... farewell my old Pokuntsu-San, wherever you are. James

1988 Subaru, 1800 with throttle body injection. I read here earlier about a guy who was having idle problems, and traced it down to the big black rubber air-horn part that sits on top of the Throttle body. He was having air leaks in that part, upsetting the vacuum balance and messing up the idle. I think mine's doing the same thing. So what is the official name for this part? Or better yet, the Part Number? Or even better than that, where I might find one? Thanks, James

Sometimes I tell my friends that my Subie has an exclusive automatic built-in anti-theft device. They say Really? I say yeah, you can see it on the side of the fender down there, where it says S-U-B-A-R-U. OK, no flames please, it's just a funny. I'm a Subaru lover... been driving nothing else since 1978, and I'm on my 3'rd one. Cheers and peace.

During the 16 years that I had my much-loved and dearly-missed 82 DL Hatch with the 1600 engine, I found that it was sensitive to what kind of oil filter was being used. It really liked the OEM Subaru filters. Aftermarket filters would make the valves clatter on cold starts. I was told by a Subaru tech that Subaru puts an anti-drainback valve in the filter, while other brands have the valve in the oil pump. How true this is, I have not verified... but from observation I can say that my 1600 EA81 did start up quieter with a Subaru filter. My current EA82 1800 (spfi) doesn't seem to care. Long as it's got oil, it goes.

Can you tell us more please about the process of getting the inner door panels off? Is there a special tool required, etc? Thanks, James

In these forums I've heard of a test for Hydrocarbons in the coolant. Is this a test that can be done easily at home, or does it require going to a radiator shop? What equipment is involved... something special? I'm suspecting my 88 EA82 wagon is beginning to have HG troubles. It shows the classic signs of slowly overheating and puking coolant after a time on the freeway, but it will sit and idle indefinatly with no temperature problems. I guess if it tested positive for HC in the coolant, that'd be a sure sign of of the head gaskets leaking. I'm wondering... has anyone ever just retorqued the head bolts and had that be enough to fix small HG problems? I know it's kind of a moot point because by the time you've done all the work to disassemble down to the heads, you might as well take them off and replace the gaskets. BUT, just curious if maybe "aluminum creep" in the heads was allowing the HG to leak a little, that retorquing the head bolts might fix that. Anyone?

Adam, Can you tell me more please about the HC in coolant test? How is it performed, what equipment does it use, etc? I have sort of the same situation going on with my Subaru -- overheating despite new thermostat, pressure cap, etc. Sometimes it'll puke coolant out the overflow tank, then when I refill it sometimes I see bubbles in the radiator. Not sure if that's air pockets being flushed out of the water jackets, or maybe it's combustion gasses getting past the gaskets. Anyway, I gotta get this problem fixed, and the HC in coolant test sounds like the next thing I need to do. Thanks, James

Yes, I've heard that too, that back in the late 60's there were Buick dealerships that would give you a 'free' Subaru 360 if you bought a new Buick. The joke was something along the line of, 'You don't need a spare tire - we give you a whole spare CAR in the trunk.' James

"Underdrive Pulleys" place somewhat larger diameter drive pulleys on components such as the alternator, the power steering pump, and sometimes the water pump. These oversized drive pulleys effectively reduce the drive speed of these auxillary items, and lower the peak Horsepower loads they place on the engine. It makes the engine able to rev up faster in response to the throttle, and so undrive pulleys are favored by rally and street race performance tuners. The downside is, as has been posted here, that the undrive pulley on the alternator sometimes makes it spin too slowly at idle to keep the electrical system charged, so folks who use underdrives have to watch out for that. James

THE DUDE, Your post answered a question I've been wondering about for a while. We had the 2.2 engine, which was very reliable. Then we went to the Phase 1 2.5, which had the internal head gasket failure more. And the Phase 2 2.5 has an external HG failure mode. The question I was trying to figure is, where'd they get the extra 300cc to make the 2.2 into the 2.5? Was it done by increasing the stroke or the bore, and you're saying it looks like it was by increasing the bore - to the detriment of HG reliability. Are there any other big differences between the various 2.5's and the old reliable 2.2? Specifically (and I've got a reason for asking), are the water pumps and thermostats interchangeable between the 2.2 and the 2.5's? James

I have heard that Japan has such severe auto emissions regulations, that when a car there hits 100,000KM, it must get a NEW ENGINE. Not a tuneup, not an overhaul, but a NEW motor. Yikes... 100,000KM is 62,500 miles... which is just barely getting broken in good for a Stateside Subaru. So what do they do with these 100K engines from Japan? They crate them up and send them here and sell them... to folks like us with 97 Imprezas with mega miles who's engines finally passed on. It's a strange business, but hey, it works. James

It's right above the passenger's feet. Push the passenger seat all the way back to give yourself some room to work, then take off the kick panel underneath the glove box. You should seen the outside of the blower motor, and it has a big wire bundle coming out from it (4 wires in a cable). These 4 wires go to the unit you are looking for, the resistor block. As others have described, carefully take it out, and you'll see the resistors which are actually wire coils (very low resistance). These wire coil resistors sit in the windstream created by the blower motor. As a side note... if your blower motor ever gets bad bearings and slows down, the first thing to go then will be one of those little resistors, because it won't get cooled enough. I got a new resistor block from someone one Ebay. They are available... good luck!

DO replace the tensioners, provided you can get them, and time and resources (ie, it's not an emergency roadside repair). It isn't easy to see with the naked eye, but all the hardware associated with the timing belt takes on a 'set' wear pattern after being run a long time with that belt. If you just change the belt, the new belt won't last as long as it will if you change the tensioner too.

Some folks might be surprised and even balk at hearing this... but I've seen it done where old motor oil is wiped onto the exposed surfaces of body rubber seals (such as windows and trims). Leave it on for a a few hours (a sunny day helps) then wipe off the excess. They say the oil gets into the pores of the rubber and seals it against water and sun damage. I'm not saying how well I think this might work... only that I've heard of some serious 'car folks' doing it and liking the results. James

Hey ShawnW, Great advice you and everyone have given here! It's ok to brag. Brag with some more details, if you would... what sequence of steps to replace the axle, since it can be done by the home mechanic? James

I was reading the Divorced Transfer case thread, where some folks from here took their modified Soobs up to Rubicon for some hard-core rock climing. A sub-thread came up about new vs reman axles, and I think it was ZAPAR who suggested starting a new thread about it. So I am. A couple of years ago I slid off wet pavement and kissed the curb with the right front wheel of my 88 wagon. This caused a rather spontaneous rearrangement of the front end drivetrain - scrap one wheel and tire, strut, lower control arm, and axle shaft. My dear State Farm insurance wanted to total the car for this, saying it would cost $2200 to fix (with all new parts of course). I talked them into letting me have the car fixed at my local favorite Subaru junkyard (Jim Reed Motors in Austin, you may have seen this place referenced in another post from me). Anyway, they did a great job on the rebuild. It aligned just fine, and drives just like new. They put in used parts which were in good condition, but now I'm starting to get some axle clicking from the right front when making sharp turns under power. It's becoming apparent the axle shaft they put in must have had quite a few more miles on it than the original. My question: What if any is the risk of just continuing to drive with this axle? I don't do a lot of off-roading, maybe the occasional beach trip. Most of my driving is highway and commuting to work. The clicking shows up only under the sharpest part of a turn, and goes away as I straighten out. Should I go ahead and shotgun this axle, or is it safe to just live with it?

Arrgh, Partsman, sorry about getting open and closed loop modes confused. It's been a long night . I was readin' about the OBDII systems, in that they are less prone to ground problems because they get their ground reference from the 4-wire cable, rather than having to hope all the ground contacts (exhaust-engine-transaxle-body) are there and intact. The article I was reading mentioned a tech who did a clutch job on a customer's car, and then the car had Check Engine light issues afterward... turns out the tech had forgotten to connect that ground cable. Anyway, thanks for the correction .

RE: The O2 sensor affecting MPG. Yes, a bad O2 sensor can certainly cause a rich running condition. The O2 sensors in this generation of cars were single-wire sensors, which don't use an external heater as in many other OBDII systems. They depend purely on the 2200-degree heat from the exhaust stream to start working properly, and this doesn't happen until the engine's been running for several minutes. (For this reason most early generation ECM's will operate in Closed Loop mode, ie, ignoring most of the feedback inputs, until the engine reaches operating temperature.) But I digress... point being, it's a pretty good practice to replace the O2 sensor generally whenever you replace spark plugs. They both operate in much the same environment, are built about the same, and will wear about the same. As was mentioned in a previous post, double check the wiring from the sensor as it routes up around the transaxle, to where it enters the wiring harness. Make sure the wire isn't frayed, and that the connections are clean and tight. The O2 sensor develops a small voltage, in the 1-volt range, which the ECM must be able to ACCURATELY receive, in order for it to process the signal properly. After you've checked the signal wire from the O2 sensor itself, NEXT check the ground return connections. In single-wire sensors, ground return is made from the exhaust pipe, up through the engine block, then to the transaxle, and finally from a heavy ground wire that goes from the car body to either the transaxle or the engine block (usually the transaxle on our Soobs). Make sure this body-to-engine ground cable is present and clean and tight. If the ground connection is poor, then the ECM can't accurately see the proper signal that the O2 sensor is sending... often resulting in some squirrely things happening such as a mysterious bumping cutout of the engine as you run along the highway, or overly rich mixtures, etc. In general, a lot of mysterious driveability gremlins can be banished by going over all hoses and electrical connections, making sure everything is clean and tight. G'luck matie

My first Soob was an FF-1. I bought it wrecked and not running, for $100 from a neighbor lady two houses down the street. I spent the summer of 1978 fixing it up into generally roadworthy condition, and used it to commute 380 miles a week to college. I kept on driving it until 1983, at which time it had 150,000 miles on it. The car had been terribly abused by that neighbor's kids. They had bounced it through citrus groves, trashing the suspension. They had taken it to the beach where it filled full of salty wet sand. Then they had a fenderbender with it, which broke a headlight and then it wouldn't pass State inspection, so they had just parked it in their garage for a couple of years, where it sat there rusting and decaying. It took me an hour just to dig it out of their garage, where trash and junk had piled up on top of it. I pumped up the tires, and pushed it down the block to my yard. In retrospect, most people would have taken one look at this poor car and said put it out of it's misery, haul it to the junkyard. But being a financially challenged college kid, desperate for some wheels, can be a marvelous motivator. In addition to the crash damage on the left front corner, the whole body suffered from major rust. All the rocker panels were just Gone, and half the trunk floor was like swiss cheese. I cut up the galvanized slide from an old kid's swingset, and used it as patch material to rebuild all the rusted out areas. Two coats of hand-brushed red primer later, the body was in workable shape. The brakes were totally gone. It seems the 71 FF-1 used natural rubber seals in the brake cylinders, which required a special Subaru brake fluid. If you ever put any regular DOT-3 fluid in there, it would disolve the seals. And that's what had happened. So I had to rebuild the entire brake system, top to bottom. The steering rack and pinion was shot. The tie rod end boots had ripped open, and from the various beach excursions those kids had done, sand had worked into the rack and pinion gears... to the point that there was about 8 inches of play in the steering wheel, and it would skip teeth while turning corners. EXCITING. I found a newer rack and pinion set at the junkyard, which cured that. The engine - aside from having oil inside that looked vaguely like green Koolaid, was actually not in very bad shape. It was an 1100cc EA-61, if memory serves. Same classic H-boxer layout, with a 2 barrel carb and points and condenser ignition. Oh, the exhaust was totally rusted gone, as you might guess. It needed a whole new exhaust system from the header pipes on back. I put dual exhausts on this little baby, with glasspack mufflers. WOW, that was a unique sound. Once I got it kind of running, to the point where I could take it down and get it licensed and registered, I started doing things to it to improve fuel mileage. With the commute I had to do, and the budget I had to work with, I wanted best possible gas mileage. Originally it was getting only about 20mpg, because some bozo had reversed the needle jet assemblies in the carb barrels, making it always run rich. Once I put that right, the mileage became 30mpg. I put a set of used steel belted radials on it, and that got it up to 32mpg. Then I put a Heathkit capacitive discharge ignition in it, and that got it up to around 36. Depending on how I drove it, most days I could get almost 40mpg. The car had no air conditioning, of course. It did have an AM radio. I eventually reupholstered the seats, and painted the body 'Dolphin Blue'. It had a really funky heater system, though. The heater core was actually up front, behind the grill, in the form of a tiny little 'sub-radiator' sitting next to the main radiator. This sub-radiator worked in parallel with the main radiator, dumping its heat down a vent under the hood. When you wanted heat in the winter, you moved a lever on the dash which operated a flapper in that vent, which sent the heat into the interior. AT least IN THEORY... but in reality, if you were going more than about 30mph, the windblast kept any real heat from building up. It wasn't the greatest design for a heater, and more often than not my heater in that car was a snowmobile suit . It had a 4-speed transmission, independent suspension, rack and pinion steering, and was overall a decent little sled. The front brakes were DRUMS. In order to simplfiy the layout of the front wishbone suspension, the front brake drums were located INBOARD, right up next to the tranxaxle. This was a poor place for them, as not only did they not get cooling air from the wheels, but they got hot windblast from the engine. In the hot summers of south Texas, and later Tucson AZ, the brake fluid would overheat and boil, and make the brakes lock up. The brake pedal would become hard as a rock, and the car would not move. You could either sit there and wait 30 minutes for things to cool down, or you could take an 8mm wrench and crawl under the front end and crack open the bleeder valves. Brake fluid would squirt out, you could hear the brake shoes relaxing, then you could drive away. The back end of that car was so light, you could get a flat tire on the rear and it wouldn't even compress the tire all the way down. It was always fun to pull into a gas station on a rainy day when the concrete was wet, and deliberately park too far from the pump... then get out and grab the rump roast end of the car by the bumper and with the gas tank empty, casually side it over to be next to the pump. I always thought that might be impressive for ladies watching... but of course most of them were far too turned off by such an ugly little car to notice who was driving it . But anyway... I think everyone probably goes through that experience of their FIRST CAR, such that no matter what kind or condition it is, it's your first car and you love it. Such it was for me. I did everything I could to keep that little car running, but it was coming to the point that I simply couldn't find parts for it any more. Parts departments in dealers and supply places were actually refusing to take my money for parts orders, because they knew there was little or no chance of getting them. I had lived in Tucson for 8 years by this time, having bought my 82 Hatchback. The FF-1 sat in my driveway, until I learned that my job was moving me across the country to the east coast. They were relocating me, but they would only move cars that were licensed and running. So, I found a guy who had a ranch, and very sadly gave the FF1 to a new home, knowing it's condition and that he'd take care of it. I'll remember forever watching him drive off in it... listening one last time to those glasspacks, as he double clutched and downshifted around the corner because those darned brakes had gone out yet again. I miss you, Pokuntsu-san, Wherever you are.

My windshield leaked rainwater down into the A/C duct. This ruined the blower motor (rusted the bearings) and of course killed the resistor block. I was gonna go hi-tek and install a PWM DC motor controller, such that it would have infinite speed control on the fan. But I cheaped out and found a used resistor block on Ebay for a few bucks, and all is good again.

Check your fuel pressure. It's possible the fuel pump is getting weak. Change all the fuel filters, this can be a quick cure. If the fuel pressure is weak, a fuel pump swap is pretty easy on our Soobs (just be sure the tank is nearly empty).

It is possible you have an out-of-round tire. They can develop this problem from sitting too long, or just from the tire becoming defective. You can get this checked at a tire shop, but for a quickie check yourself, swap that wheel with your spare and see if the flop flop noise goes away.