Giant

I'm in need of a front passenger side exterior door handle if you're willing to separate it from the rest of the door.

Try this: http://repair-manuals.blogspot.com/2011/06/subaru-1600-brat-1978-wiring-diagrams.html It's for a 78, but should be similar if not the same. It's the same diagram that is in my Haynes manual.

I cleaned the slow idle jets (primary and secondary) out yesterday, and it seems to have solved the problem. I didn't actually see anything in the jet holes but i sprayed the cavity out with carb cleaner real good too, so maybe there was something down there. Thanks for the help!

Drove my '78 DL 250 miles round trip to the ski mountain today and for the last 50 miles of the return trip the engine would stall whenever I put the clutch in. Cruises just fine @ 60mph but as I slow down (coasting in 4th) I can hear a popping noise from the tailpipe. Acceleration is fine, but it won't idle at all. Cranks back up no problem as long as I give it some gas. From what I can find in this forum, the likely culprit is one of the 900 vacuum lines connected to the carb (which I'll be checking tomorrow) or I need a rebuild. Is there anything in the idle circuit I can easily get to and clean without a complete teardown? I'm supposed to drive the car to the Oregon coast next weekend (~1000 miles round trip) and would love to have this taken care of by then. I know someone will suggest ditching the stock carb in favor of a Webber, but that's not an option unless someone is willing to donate a carb! On an hopefully unrelated note, does the small vent tube from fuel tank serve any purpose other than emissions? Mine is disconnected the tube is rock hard so it would be a bear to hook it back up.

Check with the parts store for a rubber plug. They make them for replacing the oil pan drain plug when it gets stripped out. Would at least get you back on the road.

I'm in need of an ignition lock assembly for a 78 wagon. Need the whole deal: keyed cylinder, switch and bracket. Looks something like this (pic courtesy of subaru3)

I finally completed the purchase of my 78 wagon, after having it for almost a month! Driving it around I've noticed a bit of noise in the engine, might be valve slap. Is the adjustment process about the same as a Chevy: while the engine is running loosen the nut, tighten until it stops making noise and then give it an extra 1/2 turn? I can only imagine that the horizontally opposed banks make a mess with the oil doing it this way. Any tips on avoiding lubing the rest of the engine compartment?

FWIW I checked the VIN you originally posted against this site: http://www.vehicleidentificationnumber.com/vin-decoder/subaru-car.html and it looks to be a '76 1400 sedan.

Checked under the cap and it has points. The Haynes manual gave the impression that it would be breakerless, maybe some other model from that year. I did a little research on condensers and found that they basically keep the points from burning up from too high a current. Guess I should put a new one in before the points burn out.

Idasho- we might need to set up a weekend to play around with the welder. I'd love to mod my seat so it goes back a bit further too. I did this on my old mazda and it's pretty easy, just weld some bar or angle between the mounts and the seat to move it back a few inches. Its a PITA to work a clutch in this car when you are 6'7"! bonvo- Yeah, same wagon that has the smashed in hood. Didn't even consider that the two could be related! I'm thinking 1/4" plate would be a bit overkill since its still only attached to sheetmetal but otherwise thats pretty much what it would take to fix it.

While poking around under the hood I noticed the wire between the condenser and the coil was broken. Doesn't the 78 DL have breaker less ignition? How does the condenser affecthe ignition without points?

Total blow out of the metal around the mounting brackets. I think the pivot froze up and someone forced it. Too bad I don't have access to a welder any more. Wonder if fiberglass would work?

When opening and closing the hood on my 78 DL 4x4 wagon the hinges don't seem to be attached to their pivot anymore. I have to pull outward on the hood while lifting to keep it from catching on the wipers. Anyone have some insight onto how this assembly works and how I go about getting access to them.

You gave me an idea: use google. Came up with this: http://www.vehicleidentificationnumber.com/vin-decoder/subaru-car.html It indeed is a 78 DL 4x4 Wagon. Good to know. I wasn't sure if the previous owner was correct because he also had it listed on CL as a Legacy (and had it registered as such).

A67L-031356 My insurance agent thought it was really strange that it was only 10 digits.

So I've been poking around on the car and have been noticing a lot of things that say "1977". The owners manual is copywrited 1977 (cover is missing), the door stickers says that the car conforms to all safety regs for 1977 and the reverse lights are embossed 1977 (brake lights say 1976). Do I really have a 1977 or is all this because the 78 model year would have been produced in 77? What are the major differences for the DL wagon?

I've managed to fix everything in the dash except for the fuel gauge, which is fault of the sending unit. The pin contacts from the harness to the circuit board were loose and soldering them back fixed the lighting issues. Turns out the speedo needle was bent and dragging on the black plastic in the cluster not allowing it to turn. Thanks to biffanyus for suggesting that fix. I was able to rewire the heater switch, which someone bypassed because the ground went bad. Also found a questionable wiring job on the fuel pump and reconnected it to the original wiring harness. I'm thinking the wiring harness that I posted the picture of used to be for the radio and the aftermarket one doesn't use it. Everything is looking real good on this car and i think this is the first project i've had that involved more time than money to get it fixed up. I'm still in need of a ignition cylinder w/ key and a combination switch (high beams and blinkers) from the steering column if anyone has a spare they would like to part with.

Yeah I think I'm going to have to pull the sending unit. Luckily it looks like it can be done without dropping the tank just need to run it low on fuel. I've been working on the wiring some more trying to get my dash to light up and have been running to all sorts of MacGuyvered wonders, including the fuel pump being re-wired for no apparent reason. Anybody recognize this pigtail? it comes from over the heater controls and doesn't seem to connect to anything. My initial thought was some accessory that my car doesn't have but the entire thing is removable from the connector at the top of the photo, so why bother installing it if it's not needed. I have the wiring diagram but its like reading latin for me.

PM sent biffanyus i determined earlier today that the voltage regulator is internal to the fuel gauge and is working properly. I just went back out side after writing a huge post detailing what I checked and tapped the tank real hard and now have no resistance reading from the tank. grr. i guess my sending unit is bad, hence the edit. I'm thinking i need to try the instructions in this post. Also checked the speedo out and as far as i can tell there is no electrical connections that run it. I guess the magnet in mine is just fried. But like i said, I have an app for that

Good choice of song on the compilation. My dad has a friend that really did that while working for Excalibur's R&D department in the 80's. He's finally assembling it now. What is the 3 wheeled vehicle you're hauling around?

My kind of shop. I moved here for grad school and miss having one plus most of my tools are in storage. I had heard there was a shop in Moscow that did a lot of work on older imports, was wondering if that was you. I'm going to open the instrument cluster back up tomorrow and check the gauges more thoroughly. From what I can find about gauges on other cars there might be a separate voltage regulator somewhere on the circuit board that controls the fuel/temp gauges. Thanks for the compliment biffanyus. I got my first "What year is that... cool" comment today. Makes me miss my 68 El Camino less (also in storage with the tools.)

What should I check exactly? The odometer still works so the cable must be doing something

Yep that would be the one. Turned out the car was parked in Moscow but the seller lives in Kamia. What is the name of your shop?

Thanks for the offer Idasho. My aunt lives in Moscow so I'm over there quite frequently. I may need some help sorting out the speedo not working. Not terribly worried about it though because I just got a smart phone and there's an app for that Everything else seems to be coming into working order pretty nicely. BTW found a great resource for wiring diagrams: http://repair-manuals.blogspot.com/search?q=subaru+1600

Is the main voltage regulator the same one that controls the gauges? The manual gave me the impression that it was something separate. How can I test it? I know how to jump the terminals on a Chevy and check the alternator output. Similar process here?