Red0ktober

We have a pressure washer / steamer at work and I have ramps. Convenient.

Where should I start in addressing the oil leak(s)? It drips on the exhaust and I'm not a fan of that.

And pics:

If it weren't so damned ugly, it'd be a great little car! Could use some more power and a 5th gear though. I think I'll convert it to EFI and free up the exhaust, hopefully that will pep it up a little bit. That's after I take it to a body shop and see if it's even worth saving. The engine only has about 30k on it. Lost oil somehow around 40k and blew the engine, crate or rebuilt long block was installed at that time. Decades ago.

I think everyone has lost interest at this point, but I got the car home without incident.

I have it, title in hand. A mere 77k miles and running great, but the car is pretty weathered. It was repainted with tractor paint or somesuch and it's not looking pretty. Some rot on the body. I don't think it's worth doing much with. But, it'll get me home!

Still on the train. Should be trying to start an old Subaru in a few hours. If be there already, bit the train was delayed in spokane.

Ok, it's on. I'm leaving tomorrow evening.

Yeah, the 3.4L is a heck of an upgrade from the 2.8L. Mostly a bolt-on install too. If the EA doesn't have a ton of miles on it, I'll probably just convert to EFI and run it. The donor car that I might be able to talk a friend out of has 170k miles. It's a '93 Impreza.

Thanks Dan (I'm assuming), whereabouts are you in MT? Mind dropping me a message with your contact info in case I get in a pinch?

I have friends in Spokane, I was planning on stopping or staying there actually. This car is a reconstruction from front end damage, but that was early on, 25 years ago or thereabouts. Hopefully it doesn't come 'round to bite me. Either way, this is basically a mercy buy to get my uncle some cash. But I've had my eye on this car for a while so I hope it isn't too bad. I'll have my guys look it over and see if it's worth fixing up. I'm a hobby mechanic and I let friends borrow my cars when they're in need. This could be a nice little loaner if nothing else. Keep them out of my BMW.

It's in Havre which is where we'll be getting off Amtrak, then we'll drive it to Great Falls. It was running fine when it was parked, so it aught to fire up without too much trouble. I think I'm going to be headed up there next week but I don't know for sure. Still waiting to hear from the folks. I have some friends in the auto body business. I'll get the rust cleaned up and possibly a spray. I was thinking a metallic gun-metal gray. Apparently the windshield was leaking on the passenger side. Hoping that didn't do much damage to the interior with it sitting so long. :/

Here's the actual car. But this would have been taken a couple years ago. I didn't ask my cousin about posting him on the internet, so I just took him out.

That looks about right. I called the salvage yard here and they think they have a set of 4x140 wheels for my snow tires (leftover from my '81 Isuzu I-Mark LS Diesel).

The 3.4 came from a '94 Camaro. Parts are no problem, they're still very similar to the 2.8 and 3.1L versions of that engine, which are the first generation most parts are interchangeable. They are pretty inefficient though. The engine I have on the stand now is a LX9 3500 from an '05 Chevy Uplander. Same bell housing and similar external dimensions, but it's the 4th generation of that engine family. Much more modern. More efficient aluminum heads, roller valvetrain, improved oiling, cross-bolted mains, etc. But the LX9 is only used in FWD applications so there will be a bit of fabrication work to get it installed in a Trooper. Full multiport injection conversion too. I did originally run my 3.4L as multiport, but I was having wiring issues and ended up reverting to TBI (which I could do since everything was interchangeable with the 2.8L). Of course I figured out the problem later, so now I'm thinking of reinstalling the multiport. It was just better. I'm a fan of fuel injection. That and the extra horsies are why I'm interested in the EJ22 swap. I have access to a donor car too. I'll have to see how I like the EA81 first though. It could still have a lot of life left in it. I used to have an '81 Isuzu I-Mark Diesel, so I'm used to a little car with little horsies.

Will do. Still not sure when we're going. Could be a week or could be a month. Pretty soon though. [edit]Sounds like we're probably going next week.[/edit]

The red/maroon one in front is mine. The silver one in back is probably going to be mine again, it's engine just blew and we towed it back to my house. Strange coincidence that we're having this conversation now... It was $450 a couple years ago, so I still count it a fair value. I'll fix it and probably sell it again.

Would an '81 have round headlights or rectangular? I have not seen the car person or picture in a long long time. My memory is saying they're round, but after looking at some pictures I'm really not certain. Seems rectangular is more common.

Hey now, no need to rag on Isuzu's (this isn't a Jeep forum is it?). Isuzus are understated but pretty darned good. My folks bought one in new '89 and I bought mine about nine years ago. It's never let me down. The ones I've worked on have had a GM V6, not most advanced engines, but solid (GM makes some crap cars, but some good engines). I swapped my 2.8L for a 3.4L voluntarily and ended up reusing my old 2.8L in a friends Trooper. All of the ones I've bought or worked on in the last few years have cost between $250 and $500 and are now go-anywhere daily drivers. You can't argue with that value (the repairs, even the engine swaps, were not expensive). I'm excited to get the Subaru, just something different to fiddle with. I'm probably not going to replace the BMW with it or anything.

Hello all, I don't have it just yet, but it looks like I'm going to be the next owner of Grandma's Subaru. It's a GL 4wd Wagon, an '81 I think. My grandma had it as long as we all can remember, so that would go back to the early 80's. Been passed around the family a bit in recent years though. My uncle may be mistaken, but he thinks it only has about 80k miles on it. Been sitting at my other uncle's place for a year and a half, so I'm going to take my turn. Could be a gem, or could be trash, but I'm counting on it to drive 800 miles from Montana. We'll see. I'm a hobby mechanic that's become known for rescuing old Isuzu's. I've wrenched on mine and my friend's quite a lot. Three engine swaps in Troopers under my belt so far. Between my friends and I, we have five of the 1st Gen Troopers cruising around here. I don't figure I'll be able to keep from fiddling with this Subaru. Already looking into upgrading to an EJ22. I have a friend with a '93 Impreza laying around that I might be able to talk him out of. First things first, gotta get the car. I've never had a Subaru before, never really expected to either. I've had several '89-91 Isuzu Troopers, an '81 Isuzu I-Mark LS Diesel, and my latest is a '99 BMW 328i. I only currently have a '90 Trooper LS (engine upgraded to a '94 Camaro 3.4L V6) and the BMW. I'm not actually sure what I'll do with the GL, I just know that I want it.