WagonsOnly

Oh, you would've been using the warranty--no doubt about it--but practicality aside, the 4-banger Sonatas are a blast to drive (with a stick). Visibility and cargo area (again, no wagon) steered me away. And since I'm in the snowbelt I like the AWD. The first snow of the season was today.....

The headlights, or the markers?

Well, you could always buy a Hyundai. Their reputation's improving very quickly. But: -No AWD except on the Santa Fe -No wagon models -MTs are hard to find but it's hard to beat a 10-year warranty.

Phase II isn't supposed to be interference, and the timing belt interchange was extended to 105K miles in '99 on the Forester and in '00 on the rest of the line. In '00 platinum sparkplugs were also dropped as standard equipment on the Phase II (not that that has anything to do with the engine design, just thought I'd throw that in there).

GM and Suzuki parts with a Subaru logo doesn't make it a Subaru. I'd be interested in a late model Vivio or Elten, should they ever come stateside, though.

Keep the new sensor in (or install it if you haven't already). I had the same problem at 48K in my Forester...and then again at 64K. I haven't replaced it yet this time, as it's been flickering on and off. Are they designed that poorly or is something else frying mine?

New York, Mass and CT all list wagons as "STWAG". The same goes for the Forester (in Mass anyway) but I think that's because it meets all the Federal passenger car standards...there's no difference in commercial and passenger/combo registrations up here, except combos and commercials are required for pickup trucks, and you can't drive a combo/comm licensed vehicle on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in CT. I know this doesn't help much--why do you want a combo plate, anyway?

GD, the interlock button on the auto tranny (and the plasticy stuff the stalk is made of) would prevent bending the AT shifter for the cupholder. You'd probably have to replace the entire top half of the shifter with something bent back towards the rear of the car, and relocate or rewire the button. I think bending the metal shifter rod on the manual would be easy enough though--assuming you wanted to do all the cutting work on the center of the dash.

I'm pretty sure the cubbyhole in EA81s is quite a bit smaller than EA82s...you'd have to remove everything in the center dash panel to mount that. Ashtray, and radio, or the balance control for the stock stereo would have to go and quite a bit of cutting would be required. I think it's a little too close, even for the AT shifter, too.

The switch on the steering column is so you can keep your parking lights on with the ignition off, since the parking lights won't go on with the switch on the turn signal lever and the ignition off. I think it's a rather clever feature, myself: it saves me from my own stupidity.

With a one-ton curb weight, who needs low range?

Sorry Miles, I misread your post.

Miles, the under-hood washer nozzles were for '87 too. And '86 has a different turbo setup (but that probably doesn't have anything to with the electrical problems).

185 series tires are NOT going to fit in a turbo, there isn't enough clearance between the inside of the hood and the spare tire rest. (That's why EA82 turbos weren't offered with a full-size spare option and 185-series tires.) Otherwise I think you're all set.

I'll pick you up, drive it back to my house, pull the tranny, get you and the tranny back to Milford...everyone's happy. What say you? I'm free next weekend.

I honestly think the 360s are safer than the old bunny. Neither the van nor the sedan have rusted out floors, bad brakes, lousy shocks.....you get the idea.

Moosens, I though the 4WD tranny was different from '84 to '85. Where in Mass is this wagon? I'm right over the CT/MA line, just south of Longmeadow on I-91. I'd be interested if Paul isn't. Please post more details if you have them (color, options, etc.) and location. Thanks, Andrew

Very nice. I like the paint (mica red pearl is my favorite, I wish they hadn't axed it). But I can't say that a fairly new/fast car is guaranteed to cause trouble--so far I've had one "mishap" in a '99 Forester, no damage (someone rear-ended me at a red light), no tickets, nothing. That's over about 6 months now, and 20K miles. My previous daily driver was an '83 VW Rabbit, and to have to live with that again, especially on the highway, would make me buy a better bicycle. (I had no mishaps/tickets/etc in that, either, but it was scary going more than 45 mph. I think in some cases a faster car is safer.)

VW did the same thing in the early '40s. The original Beetle prototypes had radial 5-cylinder engines that were almost perfectly balanced. They were gas guzzlers, though, and the technology to produce and balance radial engines is prohibitively expensive (there's a reason they're only in helicopters).

Everything I've gotten from the Moose has been as described and dirt cheap. Someday I'll have to pay him full price for something, just to help level this out... I got (am getting) a set of H-pattern alloys from the board for $75, plus shipping. Not too bad. And I got two whole EA81 parts cars for the cost of the tow (sold to Chris Lantieri for $15/ 2 for $20)(Chris, the bees are gone!) Finally if anyone down here is interested my local Soob dealer has a set of remanned EA82T heads for a hundred bucks. The only thing is they're Gen 1--anyone for a 5k mile special?

Uhhh...Chris? Do we live in the same county? I count mostly EA82s, Outbacks and Foresters. There's the occasional first-gen Legacy sedan, and some Imprezas. All the EA81s are gone except mine and Chris's (and another Cream Yellow 2WD I've seen cruising around). And I have yet to see another '70s anything around here. The only two I've ever seen are mine and Chris's.

Use a very fine body/paintwork rubbing compound. If they're really scratched/oiled, start with a coarser grit. I use No. 7 brand orange body compound for the coarse work and polish up with Turtle Wax Extra-Fine.

A Metro motor? The Justy had a 1.2L 3-cylinder. The Swift/Sprint/Metro had a 1.0 liter Three or a 1.3L four. So did Subaru get a bored-out Metro motor or did they put in their own? And why wasn't there a 4-cyl Justy?

Why did the engine designation go from EK to EA to EJ? And what was the designation on the Justy and the FF1?

My dad's last Soob ('89 DL wagon) came from one of his colleagues who did his own repair work...Since it looked fairly decent he didn't go over it too carefully. It was only $400, anyway. The first set of railroad tracks he went over caused what was left of the door and fender bottoms (and the Bondo therewith) to descend from the undercarriage in a most unSubie-like fashion. Not to mention the ham sandwich under the hood, resting on the paper towel stuffed in the oil filler cap. That was one beast not worth saving.