WoodsWagon

I've broken more parts on my subaru w/ the wheeling I do than on all my beater rigs combined. Yeah, I still wheel the subie when it runs. I prefer to be able to say, yeah, my wagon made it through that. But I know its limitations, as it has painfully pointed out to me when it exceeds them. it has taken a hell of a beating for a car, but a truck would have had a better chance of staying together under the same circumstances. In my book, a forester owned by a kid shouldn't be turned into a wheeling vehicle. If its being used as a daily driver, hardcore wheeling should be avoided. Walking, which I have been reduced to, sucks. It takes me an hour to walk to work, and I'm not getting paid for it. Sorry to rain on anyone's parade, but I know first hand how easy it is to trash a subie in the woods. It's harder to trash a truck.

There's pics of gen 1 legacys pegging the spedo, and the 4EAT was considered faster because of the higher ratio top gear. The thing that scares me most about high speeds is the possibility of tire failure. My car has 10yr old mud terain tires with cracking rubber. You better believe I was thinking about that when I was topping at 97mph. The speed governors are often calibrated to the speed rating of the tire the car came equipped with from the factory, for liability reasons.

My advise: Keep the forester as a mostly street vehicle and use it. Buy a shibox old truck, 4x4, and use it t get your off roading urges out. Using a soob as a daily driver and hardcore off-roader is asking for trouble unless you're a really skilled driver who always picks the perfect line on the trails. As far as my experience goes, I've trash-tested a few vehicles and seen others been taken further. 198? Isuzu Trooper II. 21 miles of mayhem. severe body damage. Whole undercarriage was white with rock dust. Popped a full set (4) of tires off the beads. Finally broke rear spring and it still dragged its self out of the woods. 1992 Jeep wrangler. 4 banger, manual tranny. been rolled multiple times. jumped extensively, highest 8'. Broke slipjoint on rear driveshaft, bent front spring. Windshield broke. Starter fried. Other than that, badarse ride. deffiniately would endorse. 1983 Ford F250. 2wd (welded diff), 300 I6 automatic. weak point is the tranny, lost reverse. Major body damage, but the chasssis is rugged like you wouldn't believe. The front of this truck has spent more time bouncing off of trees, rocks, stumps, and still works fine. Insane what it will smash through. Wish it was 4wd. 198? nissan truck 4x4 w/ 240Z motor. Unkillable. my neighbors had the radiator wrapped around the block and it wouldn't die. IFS ended up bending so the tire rubbed continuously. Truck went on multiple beat runs before being retired to the J/Y. Indestructable motor. These are vehicles I can testify for. I would advise for an early 90's jeep, just because of manuverability and ruggedness. good on gas too. Always check the framerails where the rear shackles attach before buying.

I took another look under the hood of my touring wagon, just to make sure everything was still fine, and it wasn't. When I first looked at the car, All the fluids were at their appropriate levels and in good shape. Now the coolant is empty and the crankcase is twice as full as it should be. Needless to say I am bullpoop. The guy I bought it from is a worthless drunk and probably tried to start it with ether. He told me it had sat for 2 years and it had a fuel leak on the return line side, but would fire right up. I told him, "Don't bother, I'll figure things out when I get it home." I was planning to pull the plugs, add some oil. and crank it without spark for a bit to get everything nice and ready to go. But obviously he couldn't keep his beer soaked nose out of the car and used something to try and get it started, why I don't know. I assume he was trying ether because it is conveinient, and I'm wondering what all he could have wrecked beyond the headgasket. I am personnaly against ether because I shattered the piston in a 1950's chrysler I-6 marine engine with it and doomed the whole tractor. So it pisses me off that another of my engines has suffered at the hands of a can o' ether.

First quick test: pop the distributor cap off and see if the rotor is turning when the engine is being cranked. If the rotor isn't turning, the pump won't be told to run.

Mine makes crazy bubbling, whooshing noises after i shut it off. It still works good though. Is it more of a boiling, whooshing noise than gasping?

I wouldn't go to the dealership first off. That's big money and basic diagnosis could be done by a local shop for cheaper. Does the engine have to be under load, i.e. moving the car to make the squeal or can you reproduce it by revving it hard in Park? If you can, open the hood and listen while you pull on the throttle cable or a friend runs the pedal. Watch out for fans/moving bits and see if you can pinpoint the sound.

Is there a certain direction the lifters have to go in to have the weep hole in oil bath? Bear with me, I'll know in a couple of days about the lifters in my 2.2 when I take them apart to clean.

Don't just stick the air filter on the end of the snorkel pipe. I've seen more of those get ripped off and trashed by branches. If you angle it back and put a loop of bent bar in front of it, I'ts chances of survival are much better. I have used sillicone and an awl to stitch a K&N back to gether before for this same reason.

Nope, not mine, just ran across it on the internet. Mine looks nicer

follow the link.... http://www.northerntire.com/images/Resize_of_DSC00020.JPG

So whose is it?

Why not leave it dissconected? Every one of my cars has had a chime-extomy when I get the chance. The silence is beautiful. Be glad it wasn't a volkswagen. They play music that gets more annoying than a beeper after about 10 seconds. I doubt it will hurt anything with it removed.

The transmission is the weak point. If the previous owners were "spirited" drivers, you probably will have to replace it. A tranny out of a legacy will fit I believe. If its in great shape, buy it. It has odd quirks like the window within a window setup, but is a nice car. Rareish too.

I've massacred the bastards with extension cords (particularly good luck and aim that day), screwdrivers, knives, stomping and traps and they still come back. Yes, they're cute and fuzzy but they cause insane amounts of destruction. The worst is when they chew wires...AARGH! The way they get into the vent system is through a hole in the unibody under the quarter panels. It has mesh tack welded over it, but not enough and there are other holes in the same body tube. the solution is to take the plastic covers around the wipers off and put 1/4" mesh over the two main air inlets. the air inlets are convieniently raised, so you can wrap the mesh over and JB weld it down. Oh, and if you have a car with auto seatbelts, under the relays by the passenger seat is a favorite nesting ground which will make the car stink without you being able to figure out where it's coming from. Pull the seat, take the trim off that side, and pull the carpet up. Took forever to find that one.

The light is code 51, the neutral switch. I know this from experience but have not yet got around to finding a solution because my car is almoast FUBAR.

I heard of this method before. I kinda think the shock loading would be worse than a solid diff. But the gears may be able to hold up. My ford beater had one of the bolts I had welded into the spider gears break off and get caught in the ring gear, and it stoped the truck dead. This does support the theory of the gears being able to handle it.

1 of 1500. thats pretty rare as cars go. Would I get more value selling the hatch and keeping the engine, or repairing the rust and selling it to a new owner?

I hauled home a 1989 red touring wagon, auto 4wd. Rusty as all get out, no breaks, except the right front, which was stuck on. It supposedly runs good, seemed to handle well enough at the end of a strap. It has 3 good tires, and one mostly good with a flat spot(trash). How rare are the touring wagons? I'm tempted to cut the roof off and rivet it onto mine.....

The big baddie of hydrolocking an engine is the potential for bent rods. Now, having hydrolocked various ATV motors and a ford probe motor without ill effects, I assumed this was a worst case scenario hell freezes over kind of ocurrance. IT ISN'T. 3k RPM and a good slug of water is DEATH to an engine. Sucking in water is not a harmless inconvienience, swap the fluids-pull the plugs deal. Don't expect to drive away from a hydrolocking. My EA82 is absolute trash after sucking in a good bit of water. I was in low range, floored, about 3-4k rpm and bwooowww-WHAM. Bent rod, knocks like an ex trying to get in the front door. Junk. I cannot advise water crossings greater than 6" deep without a modified intake. Please don't trash your engine while out having fun. The adventure aspect goes up, but the fun level goes way down.

One would think the engine wouldn't be well suited to car use. Cooling becomes more of an issue without a prop in front and the load/RPM range is all wrong in a car. constant load, high rpms are standard for airplanes. Varying load, low rpms are what cars are all about. But with 700+CID.... I think it should move a subie no matter what.

I have a 2.2l in the process of being rebuilt at school, but my parts haven't come in. New rings, bearings, seals, and paint job. Blue lettering, clearcoat brushed and beadblasted aluminum. It's looking sweet. But it won't be done for another month. I had hoped I'd make this engine last that long, but teenage impulses spoiled that the demolition trailride was fun as hel though.... seriously,it was just water. I had hit the mudholes earlier. The water was over the wheels at the deepest, so the de-snorkused intake had solid water to suck in. It was full up to the throttle plate But it restarted. My oil now looks like a frappe, but it is too late to care.The 10mi is on a 50mph winding uphill road that has no pullouts or breakdown lane people seem to have a habit of dying in that section and I don't want to add to the ranks just yet.I have a carb block, but it will need some bore honing to restart. the plugs were out and the tarp blew off. I just bought a 89 touring wagon, so the engine may get pulled in that to run this. The worst part is that the rear seat where my friend was sitting is bent back a good 5". He must have hit it so hard! He wasn't complaining about it though, he was focusing on the dent his head made in the headliner, yes he was buckeled too. Owch!

It wasn't mud, it was out and out water. I reattached the coolant hose, filled er up, and the wagon made it out under its own power. It's kinda hard to pick good lines after dark with a mud-smeared windshield, but I'm learning. The engine is fubar. Lots of internal friction and nasty noises. But it still runs. Dam their tough. Now to tow it the 10mi back home.

Well, the wagon is one step away from being junk. I took it wheelling, and got into water deep enough to suck into the engine. Lots of water. It bent a conn. rod in the process, and I didn't have any tools. I got it restarted by having my buddy givew it kicks with thte starter and letting the water leak past the rings into the case. So I get it running, and out of the pond, and it is knocking so bad it shakes the car, but I'm rolling again. I keep going down the trail because by now we are a bit past the Middle of nowhere point. Even with the engine whacking up a storm, it keeps going, untill I hit a double-whoop with a huge arse rock in the bottom. It smashed the skid plate into the oil pan so far it shorted the oil pressure sender. The oil gauge pegs and the coolant gauge drops to stone cold. WTF? so I turn the heater on, and nothing comes out. Oh snap! the block is empty! By now the power steering was gone because of something in the hole and it's a biotch to steer. It keeps going. During this whole period, water is sloshing around in the cab and draining out the bottom because of the water hole being so deep. We make it out to the power lines, dusty rider would recognize this area as across the souhegan down by Kingbrook road on 31. I decide its best not to blow the engine, so we walk. and walk and walk because nobody who drives by will give us a ride. finally we find a group of crack heads parked on the side of the road. They were scared when we showed up, mabe they thought we were the police? But they let us use their cell phone and call a ride. I don't know how bad the damage is, but I know the engine is trash. I'm going to go back tomorrow and fix the coolant hose which ripped off, fillit up with water and run it out to 31. Hopefully the bottom end won't let go. From there it's getting towed back to my house. I made a line of mistakes: Don't go wheeling without tools Don't go with only one car. Don't go into ponds without a different intake Bring a cell phone and a flashlight when wheeling in the dark. luckely I had a sweater in the wagon, 'cause bobby got pretty cold wading around in the 2 foot deep water.

Mint blue brat with white roll bar, STI hood scoop, 6" custom lift and undecided tire size. Looking to be a kickarse rig. The builder is a member, but likes to lurk. Keep an eye out for it.