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fishboy

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Posts posted by fishboy

  1. I'm thinking of getting one of these to remove a bunch of hail dings in my car (it was not insured). It would cost thousands to have them professionally removed which I can't afford, whereas for significantly less I'm thinking I could buy one of these and get most of them out myself. If I get it 80% back to normal I'll be happy.

     

    Has anyone used one of these? Is it something that a novice with access to youtube could manage?

     

    Anyone have any experience with these cheapie chinese ones on ebay? Or do you really need to spend $500 for it to actually work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Paintless-Dent-Repair-PDR-Tool-Hail-Removal-Dent-Lifter-Set-24-Pieces-/331356731965?hash=item4d26667a3d&item=331356731965&vxp=mtr

  2.  A 1992 Subaru L Series I recently acquired has an issue with the manual transmission – it is difficult to “find” the gears – especially 3rd and 4th. Usually I can find 3rd and 4th easily by just letting the gear stick come the center and then pushing it straight forward or back, but not with this car - it refuses to go anywhere if you push it straight up. You have to gently maneuver the stick around until you locate 3rd - slightly to the right of center. Even with practice I still find myself ramming it into 1st from time to time - it's really hard to locate the correct gear.

    I’d just deal with it except that I’m trying to persuade the wife to drive a stick, and this transmission is making this impossible!

     

    What is the problem likely to be? Is it going to be pricey / a lot of work to fix?

  3. I’m about to replace my alternator belt on my EA82 Subaru L Series and it turns out the A/C compressor belt needs replacing too. I never use the A/C though, so is it possible to just take of the A/C compressor belt and leave it off, and just have the alternator belt in place? Or does this belt
    serve some other purpose besides running the A/C compressor?

     

    The car has A/C but NOT power steering.

  4. So I went ahead and bought the auto-transmission L series as per this thread. Just drove it home, started looking it over, and noticed this:

     

    35m2rdx.jpg

     

    As always, the heater core has been bypassed, probably due to leakage (no problem), however the bypass hose has a great big KINK in it. You can see it in the picture. Is this bad?? If I recall correctly, you need the coolant to be flowing freely through an un-kinked bypass hose so the cooling system can do its job...correct?

     

    I'm not sure how long the previous owner has been driving it like this....is it likely to have inflicted much damage?

     

  5. I'm considering buying a 1993 GL EA82 All wheel drive wagon (AKA Leone / L series) in really good shape, but the only thing I'm not sure about is it has an Automatic tranny.

     

    I've only ever owned manual versions of this car. Are there any major disadvantages to having auto over manual? I assume it means I will be without high range/low range. I could live with this I think - but are there other disadvantages, or are they still very good?

     

    Will it impact fuel consumption on the highway?

     

    Thanks!

  6. Have looked into the Suzuki Sidekick (Vitara here) and other mini SUVs but I've got my heart set on something tiny like this - assuming I can make it work.

     

    It looks like you're all recommending larger wheels. Does this make such a big difference? I was hoping to keep approx the same wheel diameter to maintain it's on-road efficiency. Would just some more grippy tyres suffice? Or is it going to be totally useless off road with such small wheels?

  7. In pursuit of the ultimate super-efficient vehicle, I am trying to work out whether this fine beast of a machine could be made to handle a bit of off-roading from time to time. The kind of off-roading I’m talking about would be the occasional jaunt in the woods on dirt/mud/gravel sort of stuff.

    2nroux3.jpg

     

    Daihatsu Centro/Handivan - 3 cylinders / 660cc of unbridled muscle.

    Now before you laugh and click out of this thread please hear me out! J

     

    PROS:

    - Super low fuel consumption at 5.5L per 100km (43MPG)

    - Weight: a mere 640 kilograms (1400 lbs) curb weight.

     

    CONS:

    - It lacks 4 wheel drive (it is front wheel drive)

    - It’s ground clearance is not great

     

    So I was thinking, maybe I could get away with the odd bit of off-roading despite it only being front wheel-drive. I could fit some grippy tyres to it (or perhaps some snow chains or something) to improve the traction. I expect I’ll still get bogged fairly frequently but no matter – I could also fit a small (hand?) winch to the front, or even carry a rope + block and tackle in the trunk....being so light-weight it would be super easy to pull out and resume driving.

    Maybe I could even raise up the ground clearance a little (do you think such a thing might be possible on this sort of car?)

     

    I mean, I know normally many would be inclined to say “nah mate...you need a 4WD”, but I was thinking this thing is so tiny and light perhaps you could view it more like you would a motorbike than a typical big old 2WD car...

     

    Thoughts??

     

    3bhw4.jpg

    30bpuvk.jpg

  8. A random question....apologies if I've posted this in the wrong forum section:

     

    Suppose I had a two-wheel drive car fitted with ordinary road tyres. Then on the very odd occasion I wanted to take this car off road and needed some decent grip. Rather than drive around with off-road tyres all the time that would be seldom used, is there any kind of product out there that could provide temporary traction in slippery/muddy conditions?

     

    I'm thinking something kind of like snow chains, but more suited to dirt/mud/gravel. Perhaps a kind of knobbly rubber skin that could be temporarily pulled over a tyre? Is there anything like that out there?

     

    The only other option I can think of would be to carry a spare pair of wheels in the boot already fitted with off-road tyres, but I'm trying to keep the weight down.

     

    Ideas?

  9. So I'm trying to revive my old EA82 L series 1991. I replaced the fuel filter and took it for a drive but it began gasping and spluttering after about 5 minutes. When I inspected the new fuel filter it had a quarter inch of rust particles sitting it it.

     

    So does this mean my gas tank is full of rust (it has been sitting empty for quite a while)?

     

    If this is the case - should I just flush it out with fuel a few times and replace the filter, or do I need to remove the tank entirely and do the old shake-around-with-bolts-in-it trick? If so, is it just a matter of removing the 6 bolts holding the tank on and sliding it out from under the rear axle, or is it a fairly big job?

  10. I did find this writeup here:

     

    Ok, to start I can't find any pics of an EA 82 to show you, and I sold my GL wagon in the spring, so I don't have the car to use as a reference. I also tend to makeup names for things when I don't know what they are called, but I'll try and be as descriptive as possible.

    Things you'll need:

    1 gallon anti-freeze

    1 set intake gaskets

    Deluxe multi pack of vacuum plugs

    2 3in x 3in x1/8 in pieces of aluminum

    1 3in 10mm length of allthread

    1 can or tube of RTV

    3 pennies

    1 air box top from the J.Y.

    1 plastic elbow plumbing fitting from the hardware store

    1 12pack of Old Style or some other cheap beer

    Black Sabbath Volume 4 (you can sub with any early Sabbath album)

     

    Now I'm assuming that the car has a Hitachi carb and is non AC. Also you may want to remove the alternator to give you more room.

    Crank up the Sabbath!

    Jack the car up, block the wheels, etc, etc. Take off the air box and disconnect all the lines and hoses, chuck that but keep the top part and wing nuts.

    Next disconnect the fuel lines, master cylinder vac line, the heat selector vac line, the chock/vent solenoid wire connecter from the carb, upper radiator hose, throttle cable, along with the temp gauge and oil gauge wires (and anything else that connects to the intake).

    Unplug all of the wires going to the little emission solenoids.

     

    Now you can start tearing all the lines off, remove all the 3 million brackets and vac lines from the hard lines on and around the intake, dump the vapor canister vac booster, all that crap!

     

    Ok, from under the car at the exhaust manifold you'll see a hard line coming off right above the exhaust pipe on each side, I call these the sideburns, I'm not sure what they are really called but it doesn't matter because they're history! Unbolt them but save the bolts and the gaskets (I think there's gaskets, I can't remember), you'll need them later.

     

    Now pull the intake manifold, and remove all of the hard lines, I think it's like two or three bolts.

     

    Pull the rest of the sideburns out from above, and whatever is left. This is a good time to plug the heads clean the block, I like to use oven cleaner.

     

    Crack your first beer.

     

    Once you've got everything cleaned up and the hard lines off of the intake, bolt that bad boy back on with the new gaskets.

     

    Using the aluminum plates, fab up cover plates for the holes where the sideburns came off, and bolt them on.

     

    Crack second beer.

     

    Reconnect the master cylinder vac line, and fuel lines. Connect the vacuum advance on the distributor to any vac port on the manifold. Do the same with the heat selector vac line.

     

    Run a hose from the driver side rocker cover to the PCV.

     

    Plug all of the ports on the carb except the vent solenoid valve. On my EA 81's I run the large port on the back of the carb to the manifold. I don't think I did it on the EA 82, but you might try it.

     

    Plug the EGR valve on the back of the intake. I've also removed the EGR on mine and made a cover plate for it. Seemed to work well.

     

    Reconnect the radiator hose, gauge wires, choke wires, and throttle cable.

     

    Start it up! If it starts and won't idle or idles ruff, check that all the manifold ports are plugged. If it idles but stutters or stalls when you whack the throttle, check the ports on the carb. Pump the brakes to make sure your getting vacuum boost works. Turn on the heater to be sure you have vacuum to the selector. Check for exhaust leaks at the sideburn caps. Readjust the idle and fuel mixture accordingly. Top off the coolant.

     

    Crack your third beer.

     

    For the air cleaner, or air box as I like to call it, take the lid from the J.Y. and cut a

    2 3/8in diameter hole in the center (the outer diameter of the mouth of the carb). Using the RTV glue a penny over the hole on the right side (looking at it from above and reading SUBARU left to right). Hog out the left hole and install the elbow fitting, this will allow you to run a hose from the bottom of your air cleaner to the passenger side rocker cover. This will be the bottom plate of the air box.

    On the other lid, glue pennies over the left and right holes, leaving to center one open. Remove the center bolt from the carb, and replace with the allthread, you might need to put a lock nut on it to hold it down on the carb. Place the bottom plate on the carb, connect a hose from the elbow piece to the pass side rocker cover, put on stock air cleaner, place lid on top, and using Subaru factory wing nut, tighten into place.

     

     

    Thats all I can remember, but I'm sure I'm missing some thing!

    Hope this helps ( and makes sense!)

     

    Any comments on the above?

     

    I can follow most of what is said but have a couple of questions:

     

    1. The "air box top from the J.Y." - What is this? Is he talking about getting another air cleaner assembly and if so what kind...from an earlier model subaru? Why can't I just use the exisiting air cleaner and plug up some ports or something?

     

    2. In this case does the Hitachi carb still use a vacuum secondary or is it implied that he has converted to a mechanical secondary?

  11. I'm trying to simplify the vacuum hose setup in my 1991 EA82 L Series - along the lines of what is suggested in this 2008 thread. Trouble is i've tried to follow the suggestions but can't easily relate them to my current setup (for instance - I don't seem to have an EGR, just a hose running from the spot where it should be to an Anti-Backfire Valve).

     

    I've photographed my engine bay and labeled as many parts as I can find based on the schematic and pictures that is in my manual for my model car. I've followed all of the hoses and they seem to be pretty consistent with the schematic.

     

    Can anyone help with what I could remove in my case to make the whole thing as simple as possible?

     

    2hzjxnq.jpg

     

    dr71oy.jpg

     

    jztonp.jpg

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