Sweet82

...said the owner of an 82 Subaru...

Good to hear from you. I was wondering if you had dropped off the face of the universe. If you drive through SLC on your way north, let me know. I'd like to see Little Roo again and your latest project. Toyotas are a great platform for building a good wheeler. Glenn,

The only down side is if it was a Drug seized vehicle? That could explain why there was so much personal crap in the car? I wouldn't want a Drug dealer to know I was the new owner of his car, .....that he may still have keys to? That would also explain why it was at an auction? Damn 86 year old Drug Dealers anyway...

How about plan "C". Don't mount your plate? I have never put a front plate on any car I have owned ever! I have never got a ticket for not having one either. I keep the plates on board with me but don't have them mounted to the car. If your worried about it, keep some zip ties on board and put it on when your discussing it with the long arm of the Law. In 22 years, I never got bothered for a plate on this little jem. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=435&cat=500&ppuser=584 Look! It still doesn't have one! http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=10339&cat=500&ppuser=584 Oh Look, this one doesn't have one either! http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=8709&cat=500&ppuser=584 Where are you going to put one on the front of a Corvette? There just isn't a spot? They never made one. I don't worry about such things... If your going to get in trouble it will be for something bigger than no front plate. Yes, Utah has a front plate law.

Here is a Subie sporting Dualies http://www.rhinobuggies.com.au/images/stalkerdualy.jpg A highly modified Subaru...

The rear shocks were not originally coil overs. The Hatch worked fine with the regular shocks. I used the regular shocks on the buggy and they worked fine too. I put these coil overs on because I wanted a better looking shock than the rusty original 1982 shocks I had. For cosmetic reasons I put on a coil over shock. I chose ones that I could remove the coils if it was too stiff. I found the "Bug Pac" coil over to be the perfect shock. They were not expensive and they were the correct length and stroke for what I needed. I have run them with coils on and coils off. For what I do, I don't notice much difference so I leave them on for looks. Taking the coils off might give me better articulation, I'll have to test it on the ramp. But until I do they'll stay on. The Bug Pac shocks were designed for the off-road VW's. I figured similar size, weight and use vehicle? I didn't want a shock designed for a full size truck. I think your too hung up on the nose heavy thing. The weight is over the wheels. It gets great traction. Your angle of attack (40+) is more than enough for the motor/gearing/tire combination. You'll never run into a wall steeper than that. If you do, you won't be able to scale it anyway. Which brings up a point... I used DOM anywhere the rocks could touch metal. So my lower front grill supports are DOM. The tranny mounts are DOM. Anything that could meet a rock, I used DOM on. You may want to consider getting at least one length of DOM for those parts? http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=31&cat=500&perpage=12&sort=3&ppuser=584 http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=2385&cat=500&perpage=12&sort=3&ppuser=584 The "J" shaped pieces that the shackles are mounted on are DOM.

It looks new new. So what was the condition before the restoration? What's the mileage? How far did the President drive it? Did he buy it new? How long did he keep it? Has anyone else owned it? Way cool! Glenn

I used a complete 1982 Hatch. So yes I used an EA81. More power is always better. I did the one donor car thing. Didn't buy anything else. I didn't have an EJ22 laying around and didn't want to go buy one. This saved me wiring and computer problems during the build process. If you truly want a mountain goat, I'd start with a Samurai and put a tube frame on it. This buggy will not climb steep things like a D/R SUV. The larger tires take too much away from the gearing. However because of it's size length and weight, a buggy will go places an SUV won't. Before you cut or have anyone cut steel you need to look at your plans carefully. You need to move or redesign the area just ahead of the firewall. Some of the frame rail bracing will rub (on extreme angles) with a 26" tire. (26" tire measures out to 25.5) The outboard angle brace to the frame rail (part #9) is the problem. Moving the wheels forward 1" would also work but would be a ton of work to keep it consistent with the plans. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=8706&cat=500&ppuser=584 This is the best picture I could find of the brace. In the picture it is the cross brace just at the top of the tire and has a blue aluminum piece on top of it. This is the problem piece, move it backward or move the wheels forward as you will hit it. Also before you cut any steel you need to understand that the plans are for Right Hand Drive Subarus. Flipping the plans mirror image (to make it LHD) is not as straight forward as you may think. You will have problems in the pedal box area as the box is not flipped mirror image but all the mounts would be? Don't cut any steel until you have figured out this mirror image flip issue. My recommendation would be to wait until you get back to start bending tube. I think the basic build could be accomplished in two weeks working after hours and weekends. Some tubes will need to be custom aligned to other exisiting tubes. Prefabing tubes will probably not save you time. Good luck, Glenn

Buy the Tribecca and give the kids room to fight! Sure they are sweet now but give them a few years. No mans land is a good thing on road trips!

It would be cool to have another one in the US. I'm feeling somewhat lonesome. Many folks have plans but no one is in building mode. How and what you want your buggy to do is a big factor in building it. If you have in mind flying off dunes that's one thing. If you want to crawl up rocks that another, If your looking for a trail buggy that different again. How you envision using your buggy would be the first thing to settle, the build will follow. If I was going to crawl, I'd start with another platform. If I was going to fly off dunes, I choose a different kit. As I see it the Rhinobuggy series is more adapted to trails/hunting/recreation. All the Rhinobuggies are built off the same chassis. The differences in the kits are only cosmetic in the body design. The basic chassis was designed for the EA81/DR combo. With this as a donor car there is nothing to modify nothing to buy. The EA82 is wider and the 5 speed has a two piece driveline. Both of these could be accomidated for in the build process but would require some re-engineering of the basic chassis design. Horsepower is always good. Too much is a realtive term? I'd prefer the pep of my 2.5 Forester in the buggy but with the Carter/Weber and not much body weight, it gets around. Fuel injection can be swapped onto just about motor. Summer looks nose heavy from certain angles. I changed the front just a bit to allow a better angle of approach. Unfortunately there is not much you can do if you are using a tranaxle in the classic configuration. The motor/tranny combo was built for a car. It puts weight over the drive wheels. This is good. The radiator could be moved up several inches by changing the frame. The radiator could also be relocated elsewhere? For my purposes? I don't intend to Jump Summer, so I really don't know (or care) if it is nose heavy. It stops great, has incredible traction. If your looking for a trail buggy, I think it's fine the way it is. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=8708&cat=500&ppuser=584 At this point in the build I could lift the back end off the ground. Good Luck, Glenn

Looks great, What did you make them out of or where did you get them?

In the 24 years I've owned Subarus, I've never sold one! Still have them and they all work great! None have had any engine work. Some have changed a bit... (due to rust issues) They just keep going... Glenn 82 SubaruHummer 84 GL Mad Max 01 Forester

There are any number of companys that will re-install that type of stuff. The Hot Dog cart repair/building companys could easily set it up like the original again... It's only money... There is a brochure out there somewhere showing the vending cart setup.

Way cool site, Bookmarked! I thought the Forester was Ugly! What were they thinking? Now if they'd only sell the D/R transmission in the US again...

Great pics. Pic 1. Don't think of them as dents, think of them as "Character".:cool: Pic 2. I was looking for a chalk out line of the crime scene. I didn't expect it to be green. Let he who has not spun out his Subaru cast the first stone... I almost lost my back end on the freeway in the snow...boy did all the cars around me back off:lol:

I'd bet it's cracked tubing. I had the same issue. Be careful the plastic gets brittle, don't break any fittings...

Pictures? How do we really know you slid off a road in a Subaru? That is kinda hard to believe you know...after all it is a Subaru!

I'm not big on the historic Subies, but that car is gorgeous! There just are not many like that still left. Kinda looks as though it should be on a sales brochure from the past... Truly a great collectors item.

I've been looking for that pic for years. I think it's in Hawaii. That EA81, looks modified.

It's sure purdy, what is it? I can't quite make out the letters on the block....

WoW! You just lucked into a half price sale!!! It pays to be in the right place at the right time:lol: This looks like something "Scott in Bellingham" would be interested in?

My pan gasket was the first to go... Replace the pan and the valve covers. Isn't a clean driveway worth the price of 3 gaskets?

Way funny, I did the same thing looking for the design I wanted. I made a pickup version which was cool, but it was a two seater. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=13320 The reason I made the XTerra roof line was because the rear passengers heads will sit above the stock roof line with no protection. The rear XTerra braces must be almost vertical to allow passenger room in the back without stretching the chassis. The stock slope angle will not work. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=13322 The final Photo shop proto type. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=13321 I'd recomend dropping the front nose 8" for better visibility. (snoop nose) The very front area your looking at chopping will not make any difference in your angle of attack and cause major structural revisions. I cut/angled it slightly different at the bottom from the plans. The firewall area can't be shortened. THere are some hidden problems with that. You'll run into clearance problems with your motor/radiator, tires/chassis. I'd recomemd (STRONGLY!) putting an extra 2" in that exact spot to allow for tire travel. I've had to revise that area twice! In the rear cab area lengthening or shortening is easy and will not cause any major problems. If your planning on 4 seats lengthen it exactly where you put the lines to make a comfortable rear seating area. If you decide to shorten it you'll have to do it further back where all the tubes are parallel. I would not make the Bandit any shorter than it already is. If it gets too short, I think you'll loose stability on steep and sideways angles. Rock Crawler frames are long not short. One more note, I'd put the gas tank back to it's original location (above the diff). It will fit fine and still be out of harms way. Doing this will allow easier adapting & using the stock filler tube & gas cap. It will also give you 8-9" more depth for storage in the back. Keep going!

That should really do the trick. I second ESH.

Your mileage will always go down when the cold weather hits? How long ago was this 18? Was it cold then? Around here they also change the blend of gas for the winter season?