Syonyk

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=37 is the "Parts wanted" section of the board. As for IDing parts, I think they're mostly interchangeable, but I'm not 100% sure on that. Wait for someone else to chime in. -=Russ=-

Drifting on some winding park roads last winter, I hit a corner a bit too hot & slid off into a ditch in my '87 GL. My friend was in his pickup in front of me, saw me slide in, and started to slow down to come & give me a ride, figuring I wasn't going to be able to get out. Pop it into 4-Lo, blip of throttle, and I was up & out of the ditch by the time he got the truck stopped. They're just all around awesome cars. -=Russ=-

Post in the WTB section, you should turn something up. ... how did the nut break the cotter pin? -=Russ=-

http://www.cruzinperformance.com/ is a place that cleans injectors. The RX-7 guys love this place. He does the reverse flow ultrasonic cleaning & bench tests the injectors before/after. -=Russ=-

The EA82 wagons are beautiful. Angular, well designed, distinctive, just very sharp looking vehicles. -=Russ=-

Fix it, sell it, buy a Subaru? I'm addicted. I'm on my 3rd EA82 wagon (having sold the others for close to what I put in them after many, many miles). Nothing else I've owned is quite the same blend of easy to work on, fun to drive, and good looking. -=Russ=-

Ok. And pulling the driveshaft & halfshafts is pretty straightforward? I've done a halfshaft before, and had to unbolt a good bit of the suspension to get clearance to pull it out - if the transmission is loose & I don't care about the halfshafts, is it easier? -=Russ=-

I'm pulling parts from the blown 'GL tomorrow, and I realized I have no idea on the best way to get a transmission out of an EA82 with normal jacks/jackstands/etc. Is putting the car up on jackstands, disconnecting everything, and dropping it out the easiest way? Also, how far does the engine have to be disconnected/moved to get the transmission free? Can I do it with the engine still more or less bolted in? Thanks! I may try to take pictures for those who have to do it in the future. -=Russ=-

I'm snagging an older dual range 5 speed this weekend from a car I used to drive, and it was OK, but not great. The synchros were a bit weak, it had 150k miles on it, and just is a bit worn out. Definitely driveable, but... eh, just kind of old feeling. I'm thinking of taking it into a transmission shop or Subaru dealership to have it rebuilt before I swap it into my Loyale (hopefully with an EJ series motor attached). How much would this likely run me? -=Russ=-

It was in my case. -=Russ=-

It sounds like a rear main, or one of the wrist pins plugs on the back of the engine. Also, check your PCV system - if the valve is bad, crankcase pressures can build up at highway speed & cause it to blow oil, when it won't at lower RPMs. -=Russ=-

It sounds like the motor is good, if it works with a manual switch. There may not be a relay, but every cooling system I've run across has some form of fan relay. -=Russ=-

With the thermoswitch, it may be a bad relay preventing things from actuating. -=Russ=-

I had to move my brother's minivan at one point in the driveway, and I commented afterwards that it seemed to have the turning radius of a Mississippi river barge. He wasn't particularly amused. I thought the van was just amazingly bad at turning, but I think it may be that driving the Subarus for a few years now, I'm used to being able to bite my own tail. -=Russ=-

Talk to your local auto parts store & explain what you're looking for. You're looking for the store that has the old guys who've been wrenching on cars forever. If the store has a full machine shop attached, that's a good sign. If they don't have anything, they'll very likely know where to get stuff. I needed to build an adapter for some fuel line, and one of the stores was able to point me to a little hole in the wall pipe supply shop in town that had exactly what I needed. -=Russ=-

Talk to your local auto parts store & explain what you're looking for. You're looking for the store that has the old guys who've been wrenching on cars forever. If the store has a full machine shop attached, that's a good sign. If they don't have anything, they'll very likely know where to get stuff. I needed to build an adapter for some fuel line, and one of the stores was able to point me to a little hole in the wall pipe supply shop in town that had exactly what I needed. -=Russ=-

I was driving a group of people in my car this weekend, and we had to go through a few gas stations/drivethroughs/etc (long drive). At almost every place, people in the car commented on the turning radius (how small it was). I suppose I've just gotten used to the fact that my car can turn around and pretty much bite it's own tail. Parallel parking is trivial in it. Also, there are some wider residential streets I park on occasionally, and leaving is really easy - crank the wheel, turn around in the width of the street, laugh at those doing 3 point turns. Anyone else surprise people by how tight your wagon can turn? -=Russ=-

Hm. 38mpg would be damn nice, I apparently have a lot of work to do :-) How much do the iridium plugs run? -=Russ=-

You can get just the clutch disk for $80 or $90, but unless you have a good reason to just replace the clutch disk (say, a failed rear main seal repair that soaks your brand new clutch with oil), you should really do the pressure plate/throwout bearing/pilot bearing while you're in there. -=Russ=-

I change the spark plugs in my motorcycle every 2500 miles or the gap increases enough that I get misfires under WOT. I change the plugs in my RX-7 (when I'm driving it) every 5000 miles because it eats plugs for breakfast (they all do). I change the plugs in my Subarus every 20k miles or so. It's wonderful how long it goes between changes. I just put the cheap NGKs in & figure I'll replace them in a year or so. -=Russ=-

Interesting... I may have to try those out. -=Russ=-

The first few snows of the winter, I always go out & drift the **** out of my cars in safe areas. By getting used to (and relearning) how it handles in the slick, sideways, I'm able to handle unexpected slick conditions a lot better. With 4WD, at least, if it starts coming around, power is the usual answer. It just pulls straight. I drove my 2WD DL for a winter, which was interesting, especially on the highway during an ice storm with bald tires (5th gear, 35mph, spinning the tires), and it was pretty solid, but nothing like 4WD + snow tires. Once nice thing about the lack of a center differential is that you can't lock up one end of the car - it forces the front & rear to keep spinning at more or less the same rate (yes, the open differentials can let things shift a bit, but it's close). -=Russ=-

In my research here before buying snow tires, I discovered that a lot of people complain about the Blizzaks not holding hard cornering/etc very well wear-wise - if you're driving hard, the Nokian Hakappalitas apparently hold up a lot better. My Blizzaks look fine, but then again, if the roads were dry, I drove my motorcycle last winter. So they were literally snow/ice/slush tires all winter. With maybe 1000 miles on dry pavement all winter, they didn't wear much at all. -=Russ=-

Hm. I think mine needs some work, then. :-/ -=Russ=-

Well, apparently is is possible to blow EA82s spectacularly. A friend of mine with my old '87 GL had the engine die (it's apparently blowing oil smoke clouds out the front, spiking the temperature gauge, and barely turning over). It has the dual range transmission, SPFI, and... that's about it. 4 channel stock stereo, and snow tires. How much is the dual range worth on the aftermarket? And is it a bolt-in swap to a Loyale (I miss my D/R)? I was thinking of snagging the map lights from the front, since I miss them on my car. Is the wiring there on a Loyale, or will it be a PITA? Anything else I should pull? -=Russ=-