bushytails

They're from your part of the globe!

So shiny... I'll do a writeup later, maybe this weekend if I have time.

I forgot it had electric power steering. So that's one less thing to worry about. lol 99% of the time the AC won't turn it, it's because you're low on refrigerant and the low pressure cutout switch is tripped. There's no point in doing any other diagnostics until you get a set of gauges on it and check the charge. An ER27 is a big EA82 engine, with the same bellhousing. A newer engine will need a bellhousing adapter and redrilled flywheel, unless you run a newer transmission too, which is its own whole set of adaptations. Pitch stop is the link on top of the engine to the firewall. You have to fab brackets for it for an engine swap.

On Gen II, inner and outer are the same seal.

Someone in another thread recently said they couldn't find the right driver for installing front wheel seals, so here's the random find I've been using for Gen II seals, a HyperTough 64P-14 oil filter socket, with the outside very slightly filed for a looser fit in the knuckle.

There is no back-and-forth. The mods needed to fit a newer engine are extensive - you'd need to do a lot of work to make anything repeatedly swappable, and it'd still be a big project every time. For just a small part of the list, you can start with engine mounts, bellhousing adapter, modded flywheel, starter, fuel pump and plumbing, custom radiator hoses, custom power steering hoses, custom a/c hoses, engine computer and complete wiring harness, pitch stop, radiator fans, air intake, alternator wiring, vacuum hoses to body-mounted vacuum stuff, ignition coil stuff, etc etc etc... all of which you'd have to have two sets of and swap each time with the engine...

I haven't worked on one of those engines (I'm more of a Gen II wagon fan), but those problems could just be it's time for routine maintenance... Change your spark plugs, wires, cap, and rotor, check for vacuum leaks (vacuum hoses, brake booster, stuck evap, intake gaskets, etc), clean throttle body, clean MAF sensor, check temperature sensor, clean idle air control valve, adjust idle throttle stop, change fuel filters, check fuel pressure under full load, etc. Some lifter tick is normal with that many miles - you can try various flushes and such, or just live with it. It sounds like this car is new to you, so keep a close eye on the oil level until you know just how fast it uses it - running it with no oil will make that engine swap suddenly a high priority. https://charm.li/ is good for quickly looking things up, https://project-car.net/technical-info/ has a pdf service manual, and you can google for other manuals... or ebay a full set. Will come in handy with the amount of work you plan on doing.

I think you should start with simpler projects, like CVs, ball joints, and tie rod ends, before worrying about an engine swap. Until you're confident with routine maintenance like that, an engine swap isn't even something you can consider. Then worry about suspension mods and such until you're comfortable with fab work and re-engineering things. Then you can start researching engine swaps or other large projects. Is there even anything wrong with your current engine?

My favorite way to re-grease them is to remove the drive flange, push the axle shaft in a half inch (so the cv cup is no longer in the inner wheel seal), pack the area around the shaft with grease, and slide the drive flange back on, using the drive flange inside the wheel seal like a piston to force the grease through the bearings. Repeat until grease comes out the back.

Unless you have a run-in with a drunk driver, it'll run forever...

Subaru says to repack every 60,000 miles or 5 years, whichever comes first... I don't do that... I repack them every new CV joint, which comes well before either of those! lol Did you put in new seals last time you did the bearings?

I found a $7 walmart oil filter socket (the many-sided polygon that fits certain brand oil filters) that was the perfect size for my gen2 wheel seals, and the thin wall fit around the seal lip perfectly. I've never done gen3 seals, but it's an idea you might check for a seal driver.

No, the fronts are not adjustable. If you have play, and the axle nut is not loose, you need new wheel bearings. If they only lasted 10 years, they either didn't have enough grease, weren't repacked often enough, or got water in them from bad wheel seals.

You should always hit the gas pedal at least once before cranking, to close the automatic choke.

I hate things that stick up from the center console... always hit my elbow on them. Even the raised part on the power window models is too high. I usually drink bottled water with screw caps, and tuck it between the seats - with the back seat bottom folded forwards, there's a nice cubby there for my drink bottle. But I have to make sure it leans to the right, not the left, or I still get my elbow on it. lol

The path from where the key goes to the ignition switch itself is long and not direct - smoke may escape through it, but you're not getting any liquids into the switch that way. The switch is only two screws after you take off the shroud - pull the switch and work some contact cleaner in around the plastic piece in the middle. The switch can't be taken apart, so just spray a bunch around the center plastic piece, spin it back and forth a bunch of times so it wicks in, repeat repeatedly.

Someone once was telling someone I know that you need a pair of the automatic transmission stub shafts to fit some brand of locker into the 5mt, so I'm assuming everything is typical subaru lego.

A 2-headlight GL? That's a new one for me! It's a tilt wheel difference... The correct switch is on the left side of the column, and has a maybe 9" long wire pigtail with a pink 6-pin connector on the end. The one with no pigtail, from non-tilt columns, or with a black connector, from other vehicles, won't fit. Ask me how I know. lol Thanks again!

Thanks! I just remembered that, being a DL, your ignition switch won't fit my GL, unless you have the optional tilt column.

I've learned not to waste my time trying the local dealer's parts counter. Once they realize you're not in there for a $500 oil change, they basically ignore you, then if you demand attention and get them to look up a part, they give you a price five times what anyone would pay, so you go away. I know someone who used to do a lot of work on those, and he always re-used the head bolts...

My daily driver has about the same amount of rust... the secret is mine is the dark metallic red, which hides it!

Two of your old bolts are probably crusty; just hit them on a wire wheel and re-use them.

I need a torsion tube with good outer bushings, but shipping one is difficult, and it'd make your car a non-roller if you pull it. I could use a blower motor and blower motor resistor, an ignition switch, a rear wiper motor, and the long chrome plastic trim around the rear hatch button, if it isn't broken off its standoffs like mine is. Looks like you don't have a/c or cruise parts. But, I only need those as spares, as mine are currently mostly working, so give anyone who has a broken car priority. Well, not having my wiper return to bottom automatically is getting pretty annoying... Someone posted recently looking for windshield wiper arms; you could message them. Also, someone was looking for a driver's side rear door, if yours isn't rusted out at the bottom. Struts, rear CVs, and brake calipers are all NLA and in demand, but I just ordered struts (if I actually get them, I'll be posting how!), and I already have a spare cv and a pair of extra-crusty calipers. If your radiator is nice, they're also impossible to get.

I've always done gearbox first, then engine. I haven't tried doing them together. You'd need to lower them in pretty much vertical with the car way up in the air, I'd think.

Even though I called them on thursday and they said they'd hold it for today, it had already been crushed. Wasted half my day driving there and back. $@#$@#!!!!