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thesmith

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Everything posted by thesmith

  1. thesmith
    Yep, pinch bolt is totally out. I tried the lower control arm method to no avail. I'm going to try the above mentioned wire brush cleaning of all mating surfaces with new ball joints.
  2. thesmith
    That's what I was afraid of, good thing the parts themselves are pretty cheap. Unless of course you call Subaru and ask about genuine parts... Carter Subaru's parts department quoted me $108 per ball joint?!! Totally insane.
  3. thesmith
    Tried setting the weight of the car on it to no avail. Ended up removing the whole knuckle with the axle attached. Was able to get the ball joint in with some encouragement from my medium BFH, but now I can't get the castle nut off the ball joint stud! It doesn't look like I damaged any threads while installing, but the stud spins around in the joint while I try to remove the nut. Did I damage the ball joint if it spins/moves like this? Doesn't have any up or down play but it does move more freely than when it came out of the box.
  4. thesmith
    Consider it an educational experience. These cars are a great way to learn basic auto skills, cheap to buy and parts are cheap (mostly) too.
  5. thesmith
    Cool. I'm going to try using a c clamp style ball joint press on the knuckle and see if I can get it in. I'm nervous to sand the ball joint unless absolutely necessary so I don't encourage extra play in it once installed.
  6. thesmith
    You could be missing a head bolt. If there's coolant on the plugs it could indicate a blown head gasket. How does it run? can't be good for the ol' air fuel mixture if coolant is getting into the cylinder like that
  7. thesmith
    Hey all. I'm in the middle of doing the ball joints and CV axles on my 1988 ea82 4wd wagon. Getting them out wasn't hard, and one side went in like a charm (with some hammer persuasion), but the passenger's side will NOT pop into the steering knuckle. I've tried PB blaster, lightly wedging the pinch bolt open with my pickle fork, lithium grease, BFH treatment, and last but not least installing the new joint into the control arm first and wedging the knuckle down onto the ball joint with a breaker bar. Anybody have any tips for getting the new ones in?? for the record I'm using ACDELCO ball joints from Rockauto, they are both identical and seem to be the same in all critical areas as the old ones.
  8. thesmith
    Hey all, been a while since I've posted here. Busy times. Recent work on the Doobaru: -Hacked in a new manufactured ACDelco 1991 Maxima alternator with some help from Autosport Seattle. I didn't feel comfortable grinding down the pulley spacer with the tools I had, so I took both alts, new and old, to Autosport. They did an amazing job, the Nissan alt almost looks like it came that way. I can't recommend them enough for machining work, and the attitude there is great. Love the shop, too, bits of MGs and Triumphs all over the place... but I digress. Since the swap, I occasionally get some belt squeal, but I've tensioned the belt with the alt to what feels like appropriate tension. My guess is that the squeal is coming from a leaky/otherwise unhappy PS pump... thoughts? I still haven't done any of the bushings or suspension work, I haven't had much time to work on the car these days. Oh well, still drives and runs pretty well! Here is my car next to a less fortunate GL wagon of the same color: [edit: for some reason I can't upload one of the pictures for this post, I keep getting a 403 error... ?]
  9. thesmith
    Rear discs went on this weekend, what an improvement! The fluid leak was coming from the inside of one of the drums, what good timing for the swap. Unfortunately my buddy and I noticed that the bushings on my control rods are worn out, and my shocks are toast too.
  10. thesmith
    Any members near Seattle that have dry space to do a brake overhaul and could help out? I'd be happy to pay for the space and assistance, I just want to get a second opinion and make sure I do my disc swap and overhaul right the first time. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
  11. thesmith
    Joined the 100k+ club a month ago. Still running strong! A couple issues have popped up recently: The brake fluid light comes on from time to time. I check the master cylinder, usually put a tiny splash of new brake fluid in, and it turns off. But I think this is related to the fact that it's time for a brake job. AC doesn't blow cold at all. Not that I care for now, given that it's cold in Seattle, but it sucks in the summer. Given the complexity of retrofitting the whole system to run on r134, I might just get rid of it until I go for the engine swap. Also, my power steering pump looks leaky. Anybody know where to get a reseal kit? Work done recently: Driver's side valve cover gasket New Optima Redtop battery w/ Military spec terminals routine oil/filter changes Still waiting to do the rear disc swap until I can rebuild the old calipers and change pads/rotors.
  12. thesmith
    Hey all. I keep finding JDM EJ22 motors on Ebay out of Legacy LSi's with about 40k on the clock. I'm wondering if there are marked differences between USDM and JDM blocks that would make parts hard to find? Thinking this could be a great candidate motor for a swap. http://www.ebay.com/itm/94-98-SUBARU-LEGACY-2-2L-ENGINE-JDM-EJ22-LEGACY-LSi-Engine-EJ22-Automatic-4wd-/371159568581?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item566ad590c5&vxp=mtr Years available generally look to be from 94-98. Thanks! W
  13. thesmith
    Hey all, Been a while since I've posted here, busy times. Recent work: -disty cap/rotor -spark plugs (NGK iridium IX) and wires -oil changed to GTX 10w30 conventional, new Mobil1 filter. -front bumper swapped for all black Loyale bumper -new air filter -replaced oil drain plug with Fumoto Qwikvalve -installed RAM mount cupholders (essential!) Work I'm waiting to do: -rear disc swap, full brake system overhaul -ordered Optima battery I have all the parts needed to do the disc swap, but I'd like to install fresh new rotors and pads all around when I do it.
  14. thesmith
    Buyer covers shipping. I can meet pretty much anywhere in Seattle.
  15. thesmith
    The parts i ordered, turns out, are for a hatch. Anybody need some rotors? I'll sell them cheap, since I can't return them after I attempted to install them.
  16. thesmith
    Great, thanks for the input folks. I'll see about that oil pump and if that hasn't taken care of it I'll check out the HLAs.
  17. thesmith
    Good to know, thanks all.
  18. thesmith
    So my '88 GL EA82 is ticking, but what puzzles me is that this car has had most of the usual fixes done to it in the last ~15k miles and it still ticks. I bought the car with 83k original miles on it (I was stoked!) and had the engine overhauled- new head gaskets, main seal, valve cover gaskets, oil pan gasket, rebuilt oil pump, timing belts, etc. From what I gather the lifter noise is usually due to a lack of oil pressure- but this car seems to push plenty of pressure, and I change the oil every 3k religiously with GTX synthetic blend 10w30 and Mobil1 filters. So what could be going on here? (I tried 10w40 on the last oil change, still the same tick.) I just put in new spark plugs, wires, disty cap and rotor, and fuel filter, and still the tick persists. It isn't a catastrophic, engine destroying knock from what I can tell, but it doesn't exactly sound healthy. I do have plans to EJ this car in the future, but I'd like to keep this engine running until I can devote the time and money to do it right. Do I need to replace or adjust the lifters, and if so, how should I go about this? I'm new to working on cars but the ea82 seems a fairly accessible platform.
  19. thesmith
    So I've been weighing the idea of EJ swapping my GL for a while now, and have spent plenty of time eBay window shopping for motors and transmissions. It seems that there's a glut of EJ20s and EJ20T/TT engines from Japan that make their way to the US through JDM importers, and far less EJ22s. Now a part of me wants to use an EJ20 for lighter weight (and lower cost of putting an STI spec motor in this ol' wagon), but I wonder about parts availability. That said, what about dropping a newer STI EJ25 in? I guess the factors at play are: reliability, parts availability, cost, and difficulty of installation for these three engines. Opinions and advice from the wise modders of USMB?
  20. thesmith
    Just wondering: Are the mounts for the struts the same on all 4WD EA82 bodied wagons, or did Subaru change them from 86-87? I'm just trying to get an idea of what parts are compatible with what years.
  21. thesmith
    Well, I ordered some Centrix rotors from JCWhitney but they didn't seem to fit correctly. I put them on, but the depth of the part that slides on to the axle was too deep and the rotors touched the backing plate. I put my old rotors back on for now, but does anybody have a part number for a set that fits the front of an 88 GL? The ones I ordered were JCWhitney part # CE121.47002.
  22. thesmith
    Thanks, ordering some Centrics. Looks like JCWhitney has free shipping, too!
  23. thesmith
    I'm trying to buy some good new front rotors for my '88 GL 4WD. RockAuto has ACDelco part no. 18A279A, which it says should fit all EA82 GL wagons... But I'd rather buy from somewhere with free shipping like Amazon. That being said, Amazon has ACDelco part no. 18A279, which they say fits most EA82 GL wagons... EXCEPT for 1988. Is this really the case? From what I understand the brake and hub design didn't change from year to year and they should be compatible? And should I be looking at another brand? Advice would be greatly appreciated, since nothing sucks more than ordering the wrong part. Links: http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-18A279-Rotor-Assembly/dp/B000C9HBBK
  24. thesmith
    I'm thinking about buying some 15" pug alloys for my unlifted ea82 4wd, what size of tires will fit with no mod (if any)?
  25. thesmith
    After an oil change (switched to Castrol GTX synth blend & Mobil1 filter) it seems that the gauge is operating closer to the way you describe. I think the car just likes the new filter and oil. Also, it seems that the mechanic that changed the oil before me neglected to put a gasket on the drain plug, and as such removing it was a total pain. Bought a new one with gasket and all is well.
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