bushytails

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. $@#$@#!!!!

I think there's about a whole dozen of us still working on old gen subarus...

https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/186723-junkyard-82-84-gl-wagon-2wd-parting-out/ If this hasn't been crushed, and they haven't caved it in moving it with a forklift, do you want me to pull you a door? If so, what is the minimum condition you're looking for? Perfect, minor dents and rust, anything that will fill the gap between the hinges and the striker,...? It looks clean in the tiny picture I got, but there's not a lot of pixels...

Yes, I know there's a forum just for these posts, but I think this one is more likely to be spotted by people in the very limited fimeframe... Through a friend-of-a-friend, I got word of a old gen getting towed to a near-ish junkyard earlier this week. If they haven't crushed it yet, I'm going to head there this saturday morning to pull parts. I don't know anything about its condition other than one text that's been forwarded too many times to have any pixels left. They close early on saturdays, and I'm working 66 hour weeks and can't go there any other day, so I'll only have at most a couple hours to pull parts. Anyone want anything? As I said, very limited time, so nothing complex. I also don't know what they'll charge - I've never been to this junkyard before. From what I've heard, they'll probably crush it almost immediately. If you want the whole thing, let me know and I won't go and strip it, or if you're genuinely committed to a major part (engine, trans), they'll probably wait to crush it if you give them money.

I do have a door, and I think it's fairly straight, but if I remember right, it's rusted out along the bottom. I'm working 12 hour days until next year, and won't be able to dig it out until then.

Good used 40 year old boots won't be good much longer... lol. I tried the ones O'Reilly sells, and they cracked almost immediately. The ones when I got a rack rebuilt by Phoenix Rack And Axle lasted six months. Have been once again driving with open boots...

Do you have good boots for power steering racks, that have the vent line fitting, AND last more than a year? Both of the last options I tried cracked in six months after install.

The factory option bullbar is impressively flimsy. It would not provide any protection against hitting anything larger than a flying squirrel. I assume it's to keep weight down. I broke mine using it to pull myself up from a kneel... The plastic clips holding the trim on are likely very brittle. Be careful removing them.

I have a driver's side rear door I pulled off someone's parts car a while back. I can't remember which part I needed out of it now. lol. Metallic red. It has some rust and probably isn't a good pick for a clean low mileage car. I wouldn't be able to ship it until next month, or even get at it to take pictures. But, if you can't find any other options, it's here. Body shops have networks of junkyards and such that can find parts, if they're going to do the work. The insurance company is going to tell you the car is worth $2. You'll need to find ebay etc listings of super clean ones going for $6000. This may involve showing them to a judge. Insurance companies suck.