curtisbad

the cams come right out nice and easy without removing the engine. i mean yeah, it'd be an easier job with the motor out , but it can be done. and i agree with you about the belt and water pump. might as well do any replacements you think you made need at that point, you know. curtis

yes , it is possible to do the head gaskets without removing the engine. i did it this way and didn't have too many troubles. the heads are actually pretty easy to get to once the engine is lifted up. you have to loosen the dog bone motor mount and of course remove the two motor mounts under the motor....the two on the cross member. once it's up you do have enough room to get in there and remove the bolts and ultimately the heads. of course , it's alot more work than just removing motor mounts. you'll certainly need a repair manual if you aren't a mechanic. it's certainly a lot cheaper than a shop. with the gasket kit,new head bolts etc. etc. the cost isn't that much. unfortunately i don't remember the total cost of the project when i did it. i did the heads , a new timing belt , t'stat , rad hoses. it was a fun little project. lots of info on the site to help. curtis

i'm a machinist and resurfaced my heads when i did my head gaskets. they looked nothing like yours. what did they use , a chainsaw??? umm , i'm seriously thinking that those are junk!! i'd certainly complain and demand my money back. that work is unacceptable. there's no way that a gasket can seal all of those gouges, deep scratches and butchery. man, i hate that for you. i can't believe that the shop you took them to allowed them to leave their shop in that shoddy condition. TERRIBLE!!!! curtis

not the most testing terrain, but a few pics from my latest trip to a mud hole. curtis

a hose clamp works perfectly. been there done that. just keep an eye on it to make sure its still tight and hasn't slid off. curtis

who's interested in doing a southeastern meet and greet? i know the idea's been kicked around a little bit here lately , but it's time to crap or get off the pot. whoever's interested please feel free to give some input.....like, when and where. any and all suggestions are needed and appreciated. i myself would love to hook up with some other SUBARU owners for some good times , wheeling, grilling.......whatever. lets plan something!!! curtis

AMEN brother!!!!!

not to step on any toes or ruffle anyones feathers , but these SUBARU's are not as finicky and frail as alot of members seem to think. i'm not running oem plugs , wires , head gaskets or t'stat and everything seems great. my 97 obw runs like a top. i mean , if you want to run oem , that's great but i really don't think it's a necessity. by the way , it has a lot of miles on it with all of these non-oem parts, so i don't feel it's just a matter of time before my after market parts start mucking up. curtis

being a machinist with 20 years of experience and a half way decent shade tree mechanic , i'd say run with it. like i said earlier, .0003 really isn't much. yeah , it's out of spec, that's without question. however, i really don't think it's a considerable enough of an amount to require changing it. if you do feel it needs to be swapped out, definately go with a used one. you can easily pick one up for a fraction of the price of a new one. it's certainly up to you though. if you feel it needs to be changed then do it. you're the one that needs to make that decision. but in my opinion , yours is fine. and yes , a machine shop could probably get that bend out of it, but it'd probably be costly. curtis

i didn't buy anything from scott but he was a huge help giving me info for my 4" homemade ej lift. all his info was correct , useful and extremely helpful. i can't imagine his product being anything but top notch. living in the southeast lifted soobs are very very rare and i had actually never saw one in person. without his help my lift would have never happened. class act !!!! curtis

that .0003 of an inch isn't really a lot. i mean thats 3 tenths of a thousandths of an inch. in my opinion its probably ok. you know,you could pick up a crankshaft at a junk yard a whole lot cheaper if you're looking to change it. curtis

almost does sound like a tire issue. of course, i would check the suspension components. it is possible that you have a ball joint going. i know of a guy whos strut actually broke once and his car had similar issues. only his seemed far worse than yours. he had constant shimmy,shake,rattle and roll,just to name a few of his problems. i'd look into the tires and do something like olnick said and would definately look into a suspension problem. curtis

just finished up the cv axle swap. i love a quick and easy fix. now, lets get down to business planning a meet and greet. anytime in the beginning or middle of may is good for me. what does everybody else think/want? i really would love to do something.....anything. shoot, even if we just meet up somewhere for a pig picking or something would be cool. a little "wheeling" would be awesome but i really aint sure what everybody else is driving. who all is offroad capable? i mean we're all in SUBARUs so......... curtis

just out of curiosity, are you using antifreeze for brake fluid? what do you use for power steering fluid? oil? LOL curtis

i need to replace my left front cv axle when time permits but other then that my rig is ready to roll. i just really need an open weekend to do a meet and greet. is the middle of may good with everyone? curtis

the very earliest i could do it would be sometime around the middle of may. my date book is full up until then. curtis

wow , i need a microscope. lol curtis

almost sounds like a vacuum leak. iacv maybe. trying checking all your hoses for leaks. if you find no problems try removing and cleaning the iacv, you'll need a new gasket of course if you do that. curtis

lol! about the trail tampon. from what little info i have gathered about the place the "easy" and "intermediate" trails are pretty tame. some sizeable holes , rocks and hills but nothing too intimadating or harsh. i guess what they call the "hard" trails are for extreme 4x4's only. like i said , i hope to make it out there soon. maybe around my birthday , the end of april. i'll have my lifted 97 OBW , my sons will have atv's and my buddy says he might tag along and take his built to the gills chevy truck. he can be our guinea pig. curtis

yeah , some of it does look pretty tough. however , i was thinking/hoping that some of the easy and intermediate trails would be doable for the guys in stock Subaru's and at least some of the harder trails would be okay for those of us with mods. if anything it would give us fellas in the southeast somewhere to meet up. its kind of central in south carolina , not too far from the north carolina border and as far as tennessee , virginia ,georgia etc etc it's obviously a little furthur. curtis

we're starting to get a nice little group going now. now all we need to do is decide on a place and a time thats good for everybody. i know i'd like to do it either before or after the hellish hot days of summer! curtis

what kind of subaru? what year? buying another assembly is cheaper than what? what parts were installed incorrectly? the entire hub? and no , you usually cannot grease them. curtis

has anybody in the southeast , or anywhere for that matter, heard of this place? http://www.gulchesorvpark.com/ i was thinking of taking my soob there soon and possibly even doing a southeast meet n greet there for usmb members. curtis

i found this place. it looks like it could be alot of fun. thinking of taking my family there soon. we'll take our honda atv's , my soob , and my wifes durango. i'll let you know how it is. curtis http://www.gulchesorvpark.com/

AMEN, to that. i love the stuff. plus , watching all that white smoke blowing out the tail pipe is a hoot!!! curtis