nipper

Actually exhaust systems have stopped being a consumable a long time ago. If the original lasted 129,000 miles, thats not a consumable, thats just "things dont last for ever". nipper

Go to town on this puppy. DO all the seals, water pump, etc that you can. Personally i think you may have gotten the deal of the century nipper

Maybe its because the car has 193,000 miles on it. I wouldnt worry about it, aside from checking the oil level. As long as it goes away your fine. nipper

I think its fine. Go ahead and have fun. You can do it at your leaisure. Do an oil change, change the raditor for insurance, and enjoy. Of course BLu can always use a little brother, so ..... hehehe nipper

SHop around. Start at the online dealers for a baseline price. Next look up walker pipes on the net, and get prices from them. Go to JC whitney and look there (thats where i usually get my cats from). Don't buy off ebay. Also there is one really bad supplier on line, do a search here he may come up. Cats are fairly free flow, so i dont know if it will pay to get a high flow one for a sooby. nipper

You need a compression test. You have blowby. That is when the egnine rings get tired from age, compression gasses leak past the rings, (the blow by) and carry oil fumes up into the air cleaner. Even subarus get tired. nipper

You may think of two things. One is install a amp meter and a volt meter to know whats going on (thats actually a must). The second is install a second battery with the proper charge regulator. Even brand new cars will kill the batteries if stuck in a traffic jam from hell with everything on. You need to rev the engine every so often to build the system back up. ALso for extra insurance get your self a deep discharge battery as the 2nd battery. nipper

Ask the car owner if they repeatedly overheated the car. If they did not, its a simple HG job. Do both of them and make sure they are resurfaced. Resurfacing (lack of) is one of the biggest reasons that they fail the 2nd time. The auto tranny is a non issue. They will last the life of the car if taken care of. Just make sure all the tires match and are equally infalted. I am in the reverse boat. I love Blu to death, but i want something smaller for around town, so i am not picky if it needs more TLC then blu. I would keep them both. nipper

Well as long as the tow car doesnt have airbags we always used a spare unmounted tire as a bumper. Just go to uhaul and rent a tow bar nipper

The old story of you can get anywhere you want to get to get in 3rd gear applies (car will start in 3rd but wont be a smooth start), but you wont get there very fast. I have broken a cluthc cable and driven 20 miles that way (not highway) by careful timing. The car would only power shift 2-3 so it took alot of practice (and that i got). ON the highway, you could get away with it, but really tow it home, its easier on the stomach. nipper

Us sity folks have smaller chickens i guess, it has 1/4" spacong, or we have tiny mice. nipper

oddly chicken wire on the vents was my next suggestion. well get three cats, and keep two outside, get the kids a kitten. As long as the cats have a place out of the weather in the barn, and a little box, they will be fine

Thats how cats kill mice, by breaking thier necks during play. Are they attacking anything in particular in the car. Make sure there is no food in the car, as they will find it. http://www.hastingsreserve.org/Mammals/MiceInCars.html http://cartalk.com/board/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=311957&page=0&fpart=3&vc=1 SInce you are in the country with chickens and stuff, maybe its time to teach the kids that not all animals are house animals, and have to work to keep things in check? nipper

IN the US i paid around 400 for frt wheel bearing and a hub. If its been driven a while on the bad wheelbearing (violant shaking in the frt) then you can need a hub. I did that once, but the axle was fine. Axle isnt always bad even when the wheel is about to fall off. nipper

I would suspect engine seals (cam, frt main, oil pump), any or all if they werent changed at the last timing belt change. Dont forget to service the cooling system regularly. nipper

A cat, an owle, snakes (though personally ild take the mice) Where are they getting into

I had to do this quick and dirty on the street.

You Asked For Them Drive Belt Shroud to be trimmed Loose this air box bracket Air Box over engine Air intake hose Air Box Interference Fuel Lines to be extended Charcoal Canister lines to be extended

oh ok nipper

Back then thats all the technology and budget would allow. nipper

I was going to say that physicis always applies, but if somone wants to make like that i just ignore them. If it wasnt for physics the car wouldnt operate. nipper

Prbbly just as much work to change the contacts. This is a fairly common issue as the starter ages. nipper

Breaking up under load is a spark issue. I would skip the compression test for now and go right to the tune-up plugs and wires etc. nipper

So that would make it an april or may car. hrmmmm nipper

Have you asked about having a new key made off the vin number? The door sylinder only uses part of the key, while the ignition poart uses the other part of the key. The ignition switch uses break away bolts. You would need to drill the heads out and get new bolts. Talk to the locksmith again about your options. Worse case scenario is that you have a an ignition key and a seperate door key. nipper