Scoobywagon

My 83 went past 290k on the trails at WCSS on Sunday. It'll hit 310 or so by the end of the year.

NOah, sign me up for a set! I WANT I WANT I WANT!!!! 'specially the ones you shot in the gravel pit.

...and great times were had by all. I'm glad I got to meet a bunch of people. Ken, Eric, Richie, I know I said it to you guys at one point or another over the weekend, but I wanted to say it again publicy. Thanks a LOT for all the effort that went into this. I know it didn't turn out as well as was hoped (no mud bog, etc.) but it was an awesome weekend nonetheless. I know I'm probably forgetting someone, but thanks to everyone who helped make this weekend possible.

Thanks! We always like hearing that! BTW, apparently Andrew, et al. got to look at it today. It was making some god-awful screeching noises, so that motor's fried. Getting those details worked out, though, thanks to the caring and willingness to help of a couple of board members and at least one non-board member.

I need to solicit a volunteer who A) is going to be at WCSS, is traveling back home through/towards/near Laramie, WY and C) has enough room to haul an engine and some other cruft (none of nearly as big as the engine itself). Thanks, Guys (and Gals)!

BEER FOR EVERYONE!!! While she's still waiting for a tow truck (80 miles, not 18!), I think it sounds like things are pretty well sorted from that point forward. I'd like to thank luvmybrat for all the help. Sounds like he'll be...er..."volunteering" a couple other locals to help. I'll be sending some good beer along. Thanks VERY VERY much, guys. Some of you may not know how much, but those of you who are married, probably do.

Thanks for the help so far, guys! Here's the deal. She's on her way to Longmont, CO for a big dog show (go ahead, laugh. Get it out of your system). She got a hold of one of her friends and they are going to help her get the car towed into Laramie. I'm hoping that I can get a hold of one of the guys there to help. In the mean time, I'm hoping it wouldn't be too presumptious of me to have the car towed to Wyotech. I thought of that because its the only place I know of to send an ailing car in wyoming and because there are two board members there. Which largely explains why I know of that place. Anyway, she seems to be back under way, at least for small values thereof. She's gonna get a rental car in Laramie to get down to the show. I'm hoping that works out...then I can keep my plans to go to WCSS.

FOr those of you coming from out of state (Alaskans, etc.), I have some free space in the house as my wife will be in Colorado during the same period of time. Spare bed, couch, floor space. If you need anything of the sort, lemme know, I'd be happy to have you!

I'm SOOO there! Zap, what time will you and Ken be getting there? I've taken the ENTIRE weekend ("weekend" includes monday, right? ) off, so I'm available to help set up/maintain/tear down....lemme know what ya need/when ya need it.

How far up 101 are you planning to go? There are a bunch of good ones that my wife and I like all the way up, just around the corner from Neah Bay. Another good option is to go to Ocean Shores. Not too far away, and I SWEAR that place has some kind of healing effect on the human soul....its amazing.

If you guys are planning on coming up SR-16 to Purdy and SR-303 out to Shelton, those of us on the Peninsula would love to hook up with you. I'm gonna be bringing the 83 with a load of goodies for several people here. Maybe some extras for the swap meet.

I've used Evap-o-rust. Good stuff. Autozone carries it.

There are safety issues to be considered for both options. Option 1) load the bike in the trailer and make 1 trip. This option means that you will likely be driving an overloaded vehicle pulling an overloaded trailer. Having done this, once and never again, I can safely say that it is a WHOLE LOT of not fun. The trailer will tend to push HARD on downhills and under braking. If it has those little dinky trailer tires, it will want to come around on you under conditions such as a braking turn in the rain. These things tend to be a bit hard on the driver. Option 2) make two trips. This will make the first trip significantly easier, but will add on the additional cost of a flight as well as that much extra fuel. Also, you will be one SINGULARLY tired individual. OF course, there's also the safety concerns there. Having said all that, I'd say go with option one. It sorta minimizes your exposure. Even though the additional weight of the bike will cost you more fuel, I don't think it'll come out to the same amount as if you drove both. Just thought of a third option. Perhaps you could get a board member to go with you. Call it a 1400 mile meet and greet. Maybe you could spring for part or all of the flight back for that board member. Overall expense would be the same as if you made two trips and you'd be a LOT safer.

The only stupid question is the one you're too embarrassed to ask. Depending on the actual questions, the worst you'll be likely to get around here are the standard RTFM replies, but you'll just about ALWAYS find what you need. Good luck and welcome to the board!

Hi there. Congrats on your new ride. To answer your question in specifics, we'd need to know a bit more about it. What exactly is it doing wrong? For the moment, there are some things you can do that may help, especially since the car is new to you. First, do a basic tuneup. Fuel filters (yes, thats plural...you have two of them), air filter, oil, oil filter, spark plugs, distributor cap, rotor and wires. You'd be AMAZED at the difference these basic things can make! Has the car been sitting a while? If so, try draining the fuel tank and refilling with some good quality fuel. Perhaps even add a can of your favorite fuel system cleaner. This will go a long way towards helping the car run better, assuming there are no major mechanical problems. However, remember that your car made MAYBE 80-90 hp the day it was new. you'll have trouble beating your neighbor's lawn tractor in a drag race, but the car should be darn near bulletproof in terms of reliability.

Define "Wasting".

There is a dash kit made for early 90's chevy pickup trucks that allows the installation of any aftermarket single-DIN head unit into the EA-81 cars. If anyone is interested, I can get a part number. As for speakers, There's plenty of room in the doors for a pair of 6.5" drivers. If you feel like doing a bit of fabrication, a box can be built to house those speakers and replace the lower half of the door panel. The ones I'm building are sealed, but there's no reason why you couldn't build a ported set. A single 8" sub behind the seats is probably plenty, since the cab of a Brat is too small to contain the waveform of any tone below the range of an 8 anyway. Put 5-600 watts worth of amp on it and turn the gain down (gives the amp better control of the position of the sub) and you should get some really excellent results.

Pics are up. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=697 Corky, you've got a pm.

JF2AC56B5FE239185 So says the great great state of Washington. OK...found a vin decoder and found that this car was production number 239,185. Doesnt tell me when it falls in the run of RX production. Or does it?

WOW!!! Didn't know that! How do I figure out which one this is?

Scored an 85 RX Turbo yesterday! 212 kilomiles, red, checkered black interior w/ some damage to the driver's seat. Paint is F A D E D, but I'm gonna get some rubbing compound and some wax and see what happens. Car runs strong but has a knock at idle when cold. Previous owner thought it was a rod knock, but I don't think so. Gonna change the oil and add some MMO...see whats up then. OH yeah...got it for $35. That's how much the last owner paid for his last registration fee. Pics soon

I use a red, water-based degreaser from Spurrier Chemical. Its (more or less) non toxic insofar as you could drink it and it won't kill you, though you might wish it had. Generally, I get the engine good and hot then apply the degreaser (without diluting it) with a spray bottle. Let it soak a bit, then hit it with a power washer. Axle grease and such comes off in chunks. The stuff won't eat your paint, but it WILL remove any wax it comes in contact with. I'm in the process of acquireing the parts to build myself a parts washer. It will consist of a small electric water heater and an electric pressure washer with a pickup tube. This way, I can crank up the heat as hot as it will go (should be 150+) and have degreaser in the stream. Should clean up nicely.

Generally speaking, when one of these engines overheats, the first thing to go is the head gasket immediately followed by the head itself. The bottom end on these engines is about as bullet proof as anything else. Since it is a low-mileage engine, I'd be more tempted to get a known-good set of heads and then do a complete engine reseal.

Welcome to the board. Sorry about your car. Maybe you should get your "friend" to cough up for some repair work. Anyway, it shouldn't be terribly difficult or expensive to fix. Being an 85, it is most likely a carbed engine. That being the case, you can simply go to your local wrecking yard and get another engine. Doing an engine swap isn't real hard in these cars. And if you feel like turning your own wrenches, you may be able to simple get a set of heads and head gaskets and not replace the whole engine. Definitely worth keeping if you can do your own work. If you don't feel comfortable with that, look around on the board and you're likely to find someone on here that is close to you. Just ask, there's lots of people here who are willing to help out.

I live fairly close to the show site. If some of you who are coming from further away would like to crash here the night before, I'm certain we can dig up some couch/floor space. Just try to let me know in advance, please.