NickNakorn

Hey Opus, I have that trouble with glasses too - especially when under the car - hard to get the right distance away to focus; it sems the depth of field for reading glasses is pretty spoob..

Hi, 'the smoke (steam) is coolant,' are you positive that the smoke is coolant/steam because every exhaust will have some condensate - how much water are you losing in (say) a ten mile journey? Have you also ruled out worn valve-stem oil seals?

If you took a timing belt kit to the car you could fit it and then drive the car home - better than scapping it surely?

Sorry to hear about your back - I has a disc 'pop' in my neck once - most painful bloody experience - but a few days in a support collar and some heavy duty relaxants sorted it out. For a back disc problem I think you have to wear some kind of corset to keep it steady for a while. Anyway, let's hope there's no serious harm done. Know how you feel about single garage; me tpo. Parking fines here are a (bad) joke and the trafic wardens must be on some kind of bonus scheme.

Glad to know you're OK; as much as we love our cars, they're only things in the final analysis. Once all the panels are off, you'll be able to see what's what. But I tend to agree with others here that it doesn't look too bad though the passenger side looks as if the crumple zones have crumpled - the currugated horizontal beam underneath the top of the front wing - sorry, fender - . But judicious use of a hydraulic puller might un-crumple it.

I found flushing made TOD worse than before. I've only had TOD on one of my 4 (I used to buy an old one, wait for it to turn to rust then by another) EA82s since 1993 - all were high mileage when bought.

Thanks Tom, but the funny thing about repair work is that the better it's done the less people will notice. I'm just pleased to be able to get it back on the road - well, if it fails thed test it won't be for anything major - so hopefully I;ll be taking it for a spin at the weekend.

I sincerely hope I won't be doing many more repairs to old red'n and that my posts will soon be of driving adventures in wild places! (Above) Remember what it was like? (Above) That's better! More pics and text at.... http://www.nagara.co.uk/frontwing.htm Best wishes all - anyone want a nice low mileage Honda CRX?

Many thanks for the info - are any of the lsd units from later cars interchangeable at all?

Hi, though I've owned EA82 wagons for 20 years, I've never looked inside the diff and I'm utterly ignorant concerning interchangability of parts. So forgive my basic questions: Where do the LSDs come from? Another L-series based vehicle or from later Imprezzas, Legacy or Forrester? Here in the UK one only really ever sees the later cars in the scrap yards because pretty much all the older ones have been scrapped/crushed by now. Can I take and LSD from a later car to fit my '91 EA82 L-series? Also, are the whole diff units (assuming correct ratio) transferable or do they require custom axles/drive shafts and/or propshafts? Hope you can help guys

Always good to see the back of a job - well at lwast light at the end of the tunnel... Some filler over the joins... loads of sandingf and some primer, a bit more filler.. I could have spent ages with little profile templates to get ris of the ripples and undulations but getting it done is now more important than getting it perfect... Then some more sanding and a coat of high-build primer... After some more sanding.. some colour...

Ha! Love it! - but only the Brat would work in middle-earth; seeing as there's no tarmac.....

Seems a shame to break a perfectly good XT when there are loads of rusty Legacies and Forresters and Imprezzas to use as transplant doners... I'd think it would be better to restore the classic cars and use the plentiful moderns as doners or soon there'll be few classics left.

I use my car for mild off-roading and have found that stock suspension is fine; I've improved ground clearence with 80% section tyres and I've recently rebuilt the struts (spring-damper units) at the rear with new dampers and bushes, new coaxial bump-stop and new suspension bump-stop. I think I've posted stuff on most of those tasks here and/or on my website if you need pics and so on.

Hey oldsubfreak, I absolutely agree - I've been buying tall 80section tyres for years - van tyres: last for ages, very smooth ride, better fuel consumption, slightly more relaxed cruising due to higher gearing, very good grip (UK van tyres are somewhere between a summer and a winter tyre) in the wet - better ground clearance for mild off road work and cheap, cheap cheap..

(Below) Here is set fitted to the spring-damper unit, (Below)...used in conjunction with a bought Powerflex 60mm coaxial bumpstop. As I've also replaced the suspension arm bump-stop, the rear suspension will hopefully feel a lot more planted than before. Previously the car tended to 'float and bounce' too much on undulating fast roads. As for the longevity of the bushes, time will tell.

You could always make some.. see my 'how to' thread.

yes... but the cap does not come with the RAD... we're only trying to offer help...

88warcaroo, Yes, but not on this car. I've decided to keep this car pretty standard and to build an off-road (but street legal) lifted car based on another L-series I have in storage. But that won't be for another couple of years as I've more pressing business projects in the queue! But, certainly, a lift kit would not be difficult to make.

Also, the radiator cap might be letting coolant out into the expansion tank but not letting it back in on cooling/contraction so you'll keep loosing water - is it the correct radiator cap; if the original was lost you might not have the correct cap (different caps operate at different pressures).

Peacewise, what kind of upgrade are you thinking of, street or mountain?

Ensuring that the stock parts are all in good condition makes a huge difference; dampers/shocks, bushes/bushings, anti-roll/sway bar and tracking alignment. I've never had a problem with springs on my wagons but they have all been younger. Depends too if by 'upgrade' you mean better street handling or better off-road ability - do you want less roll or more articulation?

I guess it all depends on the temperature drop you can achieve. If the charge air is up around the temperature of the inlet manifold and engine compartment and you can get it closer to ambient then you will see an increase in density - here's a site that shows the calculations: http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_109789/article.html

You're right, cheap is always good. Here's enough for either 2 sets of rear spring-damper units (1991 EA82 Wagon) or (I don't know if they're the same) perhaps two front and two rear? And the mould is still ok - so more will be very cheap!

Thanks guys! To be honest, I didn't even bother to see if complete replacement panels were available; I was keen to practice using the MIG as I'd only ever used oxy-acetylene before. I needed to see if my skills would come back after many years. I've a new project I'm currently designing and wanted to make sure I was able to do it.