BrianAbington

Yesterday I bought the car. Today I had the oil, transmission gear oil, and rear differential oil changed at the local Firestone. The car has great records from the date of purchase up through 6-7-97 and after that it shows a tune up in 2004 and a muffler replacement in 2006. I figured it was a safe bet that the routine work was still done as needed but these 3 things I wanted to do just to be on the safe side.

Thought I might tell a bit more of the story behind this purchase As my wife started her new semester of grad school we decided we needed a new car. We sold our F-150 we used to make the move across the country to Washington State, because we needed something that averaged more than 16 MPG hwy. We started looking weeks ago and nothing seemed like a good fit. Saturday night we drove through the parking lot at Union Gospel Mission Motors. (as an aside: UGM is a local homeless shelter that also owns a used car lot. The profits from the car sales support the shelter.) In the lot we saw this Subaru. It had just been donated so they had no idea if it needed any work and had no idea of what the price would be. I called first thing monday morning and told the manager we wanted to know what it needed and wanted to come buy it that day. He said they had a ton of vehicles donated just before the end of the year for tax time and there were actually 90 cars ahead of the Subaru. He talked to the shop and they jumped it to the front. We went back that night and when I walked in there was a customer talking to the sales mgr about a vehicle that died while doing the test drive, needed a new ignition, needed tons of other work and the 4x4 didn't work. My heart dropped because I thought they were talking about the Subaru. I was so relived to find that the customer was asking about an F150 that had been donated. I took the car for a drive and as soon as I left the lot I knew it would be ours. It runs great, shifts great and looks brand new inside and out. Last night, I was talked to by a Loyale wagon owner, a gas station atendant, and the guy at the shop said everybody there was checking it out because its rare that they ever get an old Subaru this nice that come through. I would occasionally get people talking to me about my '69 continental 2door, however I feel that I am entering a new sort of brother hood. I feel so blessed by this car.

Sounds like a weber would be a good idea for overall efficiency. That may be a spring/summer project for me. Do the Weber's need to be adjusted between winter and summer driving? or are they set it and forget? I filled up last night and I look forward to seeing what sort of mileage I am getting. I had the oil, transmission gear oil, and differential gear oil changed today and the shop said it has some carbon buildup on the trottle plate and inside the manifold. This may be the first car I run some sea foam through Looking through the manual the exhaust was replaced when the car was about 10 yrs old and again in 2006...and thats after a several year gap in the records so it may have been done another time or two over that 10 years. Factory replacement exhausts makes no sense to me because it just rusts out again and you can put together a nice setup for less than factory replacement. I may go for a more efficient design when I get a new carb. My wife is not working while in grad school so unless I get an amazing price on a 5 speed that will have to wait a while.

It has the EA81... I did some google research on the car before buying and I found a website that had specs for these cars...all the dimensions and units of measure for fluids...etc... it said EA71 on it so that is what I assumed it had in it. The car runs great at this time...however if it needs a new carb a Weber is definatly going on. It may sound weird but the only car I've ever owned that has looked new inside and out when purchased is my wifes '06 Kia Spectra. It was only a year old when we bought it. So I would really like to kind of do a restoration on this car and I'm not sure if I want to have a transmission swap included in that process. If gear #5 dramatically drops RPM's at highway speeds I am open to considering it.

sorry guys...this was kind of a continuation of a post from yesterday. I guess I should of explained more but I failed to do so. It is an 86 GL hatch back with 163K on it. Body and interior are nearly perfect and engine runs great. I looked in the owners manual to find a lengthy list of oil changes and other routine maintenance.

Thanks for the little bit of help everybody. After much discussion my wife and I decided that even if the engine needed to be rebuilt this car would be worth the work because it practically looks brand new inside and out. I wasn't even worried about a compression test because it runs great. The tach shows 1500 while idling at 800 and bounces around while driving...the speedometer pegs at 85 while driving about 30-35 mph. I'm not yet sure if the speedometer showing almost 3 times faster than your actual speed makes the odometer turn faster...if they are connected in that way it may have much lower mileage than what it shows. Beyond that and a few minor leaks to chase in the spring and one last year of emissions testing and brakes with 50% left on them this car does not need much work. . It is dark already, so if I can't find a well lit parking lot tonight I will post up some pictures first thing in the morning

thanks guys, My parents had a subaru wagon when I was a kid. I was only 5 or 6 but I remember I loved riding in it through the snow. That is part of why I'm so excited about this car. I grabbed a brochure about the new Outback at the dealership yesterday and I think my wife is falling for Subarus now as well. We were discussing it last night and I think that even if the engine is shot and we pay only a couple hundred dollars for the car and then rebuild the engine it would still be totaly worth it. I'm at a point in life that I am no longer concerned with making my cars as fast as possible. Any work will be to take it back to its original glory.

the EA71 was my assumption. All the google searches I did on these cars pointed to the 71. I am pretty handy with cars, I have always had to fix stuff my self. This is just the first time I have not had a place to do it. The only other car I have ever had with a carbeurator was my 69 lincoln continental 2 door...it had a brand new Edelbrock 750 on the 460 so I never needed to adjust it. I can easily learn about this car...but I find that enthusiasts are a great resource to learn about quirks to look for before buying.

Hey guys, As popular as Subaru's are in the pacific northwest I have had a hard time finding info on the car I am looking at buying. I have been told to have a compression test done on the engine and have the carb checked out. Let me give you a bit more info about the car and you tell me if there is anything else to watch for. I found a car at a local dealer: 1986 Subaru GL 2 Door Hatch back EA71 Carbeurated Engine, 4 speed manual, and 4x4 Just over 161,000 miles My wife and I drove through the lot last night and I was in love. I went back in the day light and was very impressed by it. It is the shiny maroon color I honestly think a good cleaning and polishing would do amazing things for this car. The body only has a small pea sized dent on the top of the drivers side fender. The rear bumper is dented in the middle, but the body itself only has a small dent behind the bumper that I can cover with half of my thumb. I looked at the roof and it looked like a rather flat finish...I thought maybe the clear coat was gone. I brushed my hand across the roof to see if the surface was rough and I brushed away a thick layer of dust to reveal a shiny surface underneath. This tells me it has sat in a garage for a loooong time. Before I looked at the interior I noticed on the upper right part of the windshield was a sticker from the Factory that stated that it is illegal to drive the car with the plastic seat covers still in place. Thats impressive that a sticker as simple as that survived this long. The left bolster on the drivers seat is worn and shows the foam...it looks like an elbow and palm was frequently pushed against it to help somebody stand up. I didn't check it to see if just the seam split or if the fabric is ripped. That is the only problem I could find with the interior. Beyond that the fabric on the seats look brand new no other wear or fading. The dash and console both look new, all other trim looks new, the carpet looks new. I didn't have time to dig around in the hatch but the rear window was pretty fogged up so I think it may have a leak in the back. The condition inside and out tells me this was probably a grandma/grandpa car that was always parked inside when it was not being used. And when they took it to church/the grocery store it was never in direct sunlight for very long. The brakes, and calipers look rusty and the original white wheels have some surface rust spots. I didn't see any leaks from the brakes but I plan to take it to Les Schwab to get the calipers checked just to be on the safe side. The engine looks like it has an oily layer on the bottom so it does have a leak some where, I couldn't squeeze my head past the skid plate to see were exactly but it looks like its concentrated towards the middle so I'm thinking oil pan gasket. I had my son with me so I didn't take the time to look under the hood or start it up yet. So that will still be the deciding factor when I go back again on monday. As I stated before I plan to have the carb and compression tested. I was also told that the older EA series engines do feel a little rough/vibratey at idle and while driving but if it feels like its moving around a lot the engine mounts may need to be replaced. If I it compresses good and has no serious issues I plan to get an oil change right away so they can change that oil pan gasket and will also have the transmission oil, and differential oil changed. I also plan on doing a tune up as well but need to wait for a chance to use a friends garage because our apartment complex won't let tenants do even simple work in the parking lot. Any other thoughts? Thanks, Brian