Red92

Thanks! I'm pretty sure all of the windows were closed on the cars in the junkyard, so I'll write down your directions and take 'em with me next time I go.

Thanks everyone. So what would be the recommended process to fix this, given that at the moment, I would have to do it on the curb side or a borrowed driveway? I'm looking at the '92 FSM, and it appears as though the caliper can swing out for pad replacement without removing it or the caliper bracket? It also looks like you only have to remove the caliper bracket to remove the discs, correct? Basically, I'm wondering if I can check the "easier" stuff first - pad wear, slide pins, and possibly caliper pistons, without fully disassembling everything or disconnecting the brake lines. All of my previous brake rebuilding experience is with drum brakes. Thanks for the parts offer, Miles. I do have a set of Outback 15's that will be going on the car for the winter, but I'll probably keep the LGT 14's for the summer tires. If I end up needing parts, I'll definitely let you know.

Oh yeah, and the dash vents weren't a very good design. I've fixed one of ours, and will need to fix another shortly. The linkage behind them likes to pop off, so all you have to do is get a hook around it and pull it back forward to make it click into place on the slats.

Yeah, I actually cut the pans out of mine in preparation for dropping them. At 6' tall, I had to recline the seat to a pretty extreme angle to be able to close the door, otherwise my head would hold it open. On the NB, that actually all sounds pretty normal. The lifter tick on the 2.0's is very common (ours has had it intermittently for what, 60k miles?)... they're picky about their oil, so if it is low at all they will tick, and they will tick more if the oil is too thick (when cold or the wrong type) or when they need an oil change. I can understand the oil pan too... these are pretty low in the front, and the "skidplate" is just a piece of plastic that generally doesn't last too long. We've bottomed ours out a few times on bad roads, diagonal speedbumps, road debris, etc. Never destroyed an oil pan, but I could understand it if they did. But yes, if the top end noise is worse than a lifter tick, then they very well could be related... Curb rash, radio, etc, are all fixable. If you look around on the early NB's, about half of them you see on the road have the broken latch on the gas filler door. The latch breaks, people get desperate and pry them open, and then have to pay $$$ to get the latch replaced, or more if they happened to break the door prying it open. Most people (us included), elected to not fix it. It's a very common problem, and unless you really need to protect your filler from thieves/vandals, it's only cosmetic. I have no idea what he means by the accident chip though. Just curious, how much were they asking for it?

No problem! If you end up purchasing one, let us know how it works out!

So I was doing a test fit of some different wheels on my '94 Legacy GT today, and was somewhat surprised at what I found when I pulled the rears: Right: Left: Judging by the condition of the rotors (rusty, pitted, and not shiny on the braking surface), it looks as though the right rear isn't doing anything, and the left rear just the smallest bit of braking. I had to use the flash to make any of the rotor wear show. :-\ Has anyone seen them get this bad before, to give me any tips on what I'm up against? I didn't think to check the condition of the pads, it was getting dark and I wanted to get out of the street. Is this most likely the result of the calipers binding up, or just extremely excessive wear on the pads? I'll need to replace the rotors and pads for sure, but will I need to replace the calipers as well? The joys of used cars. :-\

We have two stalls at the house, a 2 1/2 stall storage garage, and another single storage garage at the moment. Pretty much all packed full. The kit car is an A-model 917, believe it or not. :cool: I haven't touched it in about 10 years though. :-\ Which molds were you going to buy? 46k is extremely low mileage for a '98 NB! In what ways was it beat? They all have their characteristic problems, but our '98 has done very well in terms of maintenance/reliability, at almost triple the mileage of that one.

Mostly air-cooled... several garages worth and counting. Beetles, a dune buggy, a kit car, etc. Oldest is a '65, newest is a '74 Super that has been a project for years now. I'm not sure I need any parts for 'em right now... unless you sell time. Have any New Beetle parts by chance though?

I just had this done today. Before, I had three keys: * Drivers door * Ignition * Trunk lid (*unlock only*) ... and no key for the passenger door. So which old key does the new key match? Well, it happens to match the trunk lid key - the one lock which is easiest to change (doh!), and which I would have least expected it to match. But as a bonus, the new key (which is noticeably "thicker" than the old worn down one) will also lock the rear lid (which the old key would not), and it will also lock and unlock the passenger door! So in the end, until I get it re-keyed, I *STILL* have to carry three keys. But I can do more with them now.

Just got the car back from the shop this morning - had the steering rack boots replaced (both were shot!), and they replaced an inner tie rod end while they were in there. Plus a full alignment (all four wheels), since this car had had a bad suspension for so long. It isn't huge, but it actually does drive a bit better now. It still needs a lot more work, but it's starting to come together.

Check out the skid plate on this one.

I bought some parts from a guy out here who was parting out an Outback... The engine had blown a head gasket, and had already been sold. I asked him how much he sold it for, and he said $400! I was pretty surprised. They must not be in as high of demand in your area though... What kind of VW parts do you have?

I'm not sure if we're talking about mechanical or electronic systems... but for the mechanical systems, they make little boxes that have a small set of gears in them that change the output speed. You just hook them up inline with your current speedometer cable. Here's one example: http://www.transmissioncenter.net/speedometer_calibration_______va.htm To find them, try doing search for "speedometer ratio adapter". You should get quite a few results, including the electronic type.

That was my first thought too. It would be a shame to tear apart and scrap so many engines and accessories if there are any usable parts on them... :-\

Durania - I did a double take with that license plate. This car here (jake15 on Legacy Central) is probably my favorite pre-facelift Legacy. http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=40174

They look good! What size are they? I've been going back and forth on which winter tires to get... the Firestone Winterforce gets good reviews, but the General Altimax Arctic (a rebrand/remake of the discontinued Gislaved NordFrost 3) gets good if not better reviews. The Winterforce seems to be a better deep snow tire, while the Altimax Arctic seems to edge it out on ice. Either way, I'm also trying to decide if I should go up a size or two for some extra ground clearance, or keep 'em the stock width so that they cut down better. I think you can go up one notch in height on the Winterforce (185/75/14), but that's it. I've been looking for snow tires with an 80 profile, but it seems as though nobody makes them anymore. :-\

zzz Inspiration from another thread: ... and another picture I found:

I found another picture of it. http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43345 http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?t=21330&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=25 There are some videos in both of those threads, but I'm not sure if any of them have the Subaru in them. Someone with more time than me will have to check 'em out. Apparently, it was entered in an off-road 4x4 competition and came in "not last". But that's also ahead of all the vehicles that didn't finish, so "not last" is actually pretty good.

It really doesn't splatter at all, especially when doing it by hand. If you were careful with the sponge/cloth, I'm sure you could do the headlights without taping anything at all if you wanted to. I think that the white on the radiator support was from when I squeezed some water on there to clean up some of the dirt. I probably should have washed the sponge a bit better. But it is such a mild abrasive, I'm not too concerned. This definitely isn't a perfect paint car.

Found some "inspiration" today. http://autospeed.com/cms/title_RS-Kicking-Wagon/A_2656/article.html

http://autospeed.com/cms/title_RS-Kicking-Wagon/A_2656/article.html

What kind of lights are the Hellas? Driving lights, fogs, etc? The stock lights might not be very good, but they sure are much better when they're cleaned up!

They're a favorite of mine too.

Thanks, that's a great video.

The tone rings are buried in the hubs, right? Do I remember correctly that you have to pull the wheels and the brake rotors to be able to see them?