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a ccrc rebuild. When I used to do Fords and Detroit Diesels every day we knew the weak points and we tried components until we found what worked. I won't bore you guys with details, but if those folks have not found a good long skirt piston, or had them made I would be surprised. With the head gaskets I bet they have found what works for them. You don't want the things coming back broken. Now that its twenty years later I can admit to you guys that we cured 289 Fords from thowing rods at high RPM by using custom rod bolts manufactured for Chevys and reaming out the bolt holes. As far as the head gaskets go I used to make my own for Nortons out of a thick copper sheet. You can O ring them or change to studs. CCRC has workd out some cures I am sure.

This was something I planned to look into and you have done all the research for me. Tonight I am going to start fitting KYB struts and new brakes. Anyone in the Bay area need some used Forester bits? Brake drums don't look too bad at all and the rotors might be turnable.

I am still sure there is a larger filter that would fit with no mods. These days I hate to do a mod to a system I might have someone else service someday. It is hard enough to get folks to put the oil in the right hole in a Subie.

you can match up. We used to have to add filters to engines like VWs and Motorcycles. I had a Pontiac filter base I cut down for my Norton and ran the oil through the frame for more capacity and cooling. When we used to hot rod engines we often had to move the filter to get it in the car. This led me to opening boxes at auto parts stores and comparing a lot. Just make sure you have the same thread, depth, and make darn sure the sealing ring is in the correct location and the correct width. When I put a Ford 289 in a Datsun Z I used a two filter remote Ford gang with the long Ford truck filters. Gave me a fair bit more oil in the system coupled with a Bronco pan and dropped the oil temp about 20%. Use a good quality filter and if it has an anti drainback valve stock I like to use one with the same features.

have them drive and take your glove off and feel till you find the draft. then plug it. This is not brain surgery. Many common problems like vent flaps not closed, bad weather stripping, sometimes even the gasket between the heater body and the firewall.

we rejected this stuff for fleet use 25 years ago. A better emergency type (broke) deal is to dump out the acid, clean the plates as well as you can and make sure nothing is shorting, add new acid and charge. I have been to a factory a few years ago where they rebuilt batteries. I am not sure they do this anymore since new batteries are so cheap and the cases do not lend themselves to replating. Most of the core batteries had shorted with residue at the bottom of the case. On many of them much of the plates had been eaten away. I see we had better get a shipment of spark intensifiers over to Scotland right away as there may be a ready market for them there.

of maintence free ones. My BMW battery that I use to power stuff in the garage and as an emergency spare had a sticker over the filler area that said maintence free. If you pull off the sticker you often find little caps you can get off with a screwdriver. Then just fill with distilled water. My 99 subaru one was dying when I got the car and I promptly gave it a new Interstate. I did not look to see if I could fill it before giving it to the recycler. I do agree that heat and overcharging are battery killers and I used to lose more to heat than cold. Sf is pretty temperate, I have had ice on the Subie windows a few days this year, and it never gets Texas hot. It seems from what you guys say that the original Subie batteries are pretty good. Keep in mind that batteries have been made smaller to save weight and be easier to recyle and the car's electrical needs are far higher these days. An eighties car had a tiny load compared to these new ones.

I never have any battery problems because of this. We have 500 busses in our fleet and use the same procedure. I also install the largest battery that I can get in the stock holder. If you lose an alternator sometimes you can get home on a good battery, and if you were to develop a marginal starting problem it might make the difference between walking and riding. The BMW board was hot last fall with the batteries all failing on the 99s. Some folks are lucky and get years out of a battery. My dad got about 10 years out of his boat battery. I think after four you are running on luck. Do yourslef a favor and change it. I use Interstates in mine as they are reasonably priced and have one for darn near everything. I like the gel batteries too, but I can replace two Interstates for one gel.

and push it out and bondo. Then just get the gate painted.

LA to SF that was a dual fuel. I started out on LPG and when the tank emptied in the valley on route 5 the only way I knew it had switched was the gas gauge went up and a light came on the dash that told me I was on gasoline. I was rolling at 80 MPH and it was imperceptible.

I am thinking of doing the rear wheel bearings while I have the whole bloody thing apart anyway. Anybody done them on a Forester? any thing odd to look out for? Was checking my Subaru manual last night which is one of the useless universal ones and it does not look that hard.

I had no idea who built the originals. I was kind of tempted by the AGXs but figured for Home Depot runs the 15% stiffer shocks should be fine. If a bird lands on my hood now the car bounces for a half hour so anything has to be better. My other car being a small sports roadster that rides like a truck (wife hates it) means I should keep the Forester somewhat civilized.

apiece. I also ordered 2 new rotors, pads, rear shoes and drums. Ought to keep me busy for a while.

At this point I will order them.

That sounds like one yes.

at least a phase 2, you hear a knocking sound that goes away when it warms up. I don't know if phase 1s have it as these folks steered me away from the phase 1 when I was buying mine. The slap is caused by the very short piston skirts fitted in order to lower friction and keep emissions low. I understand not all of them have it, but every darn one I have heard does.

I almost have my BMW back together as the shocks came in yesterday. This means that the Subaru Forester is next in line to get its mushy struts replaced and a bit of brakework. KYB seems to have a strut that is about 15% harder. What I really would like to do is change the struts and springs from say a 2003 WRX but I hear the fronts won't fit.

and this does hold with what was taught when I was a kid. At the time money was hard to come by in Maine and labor was cheap. People also rarely traveled long distances at high speeds. Boston or New York was considered quite a trip. After 10 years of running busses NY to SF I changed a number of my mechanical attitutes. Frankly the guy is trying to save you money using the old tried and true methods he has learned. For my money changing the water pump is cheap while you are in there and I am sure getting rid of old coolant with acids you can't see. But I live in CA and conditions are different here. As for setting the valves in those miserable suckers I am also sure he is telling you what works locally. You do get much less wear with a bucket type unit. First of all I would not own another solid lifter bucket actuated valve automobile, especially a DOHC with the cams in a truly obnoxious position. Now before all the flamers hit me I will toss in that I do quite like Subaru's SOHCs with hydraulic actuation especially if I can just keep my new head gaskets intact.

well when I had the money for that. They used to charge $10 per piston and a few times that was more than I had after buying rings, gaskets, bearings, and doing the valves myself using junkyard parts when mine were too far gone. Most of those engines made about 30,000 miles before they were so shot that oil consumption was about the same as fuel. But by then in Maine the body was a pile of rust anyway.

and having heard a heck of a lot of piston slap mine is nothing but that. I have new belts, tensioner, water pump, and the usual seals. Pistons will slap for a heck of a long time with little effect other than on your nerves. Any of you folks who have done low money engine jobs like honeing out your cylinders with new rings and bearings when you should have bored it and fitted new pistons know what I am talking about. When I was in school this was the only way I could afford to run a car. Now here I am at 53 and I get piston slap again.

the 70s during the fuel crisis. Most of them worked OK, but I never saw a Subie converted. The carb engines were very easy to convert as we had kits that adapted them. Duel fuel is also possible as we have a few busses in my agency that can run gas if they run out of LPG.

slaps till it is warm and then quiets down. In the last 20,000 miles it has gotten a bit louder. SF is a fairly mild climate but on the colder ice on the windows days we had a few days ago it got pretty loud. I am just running dealer dino.

once a month and never had any more trouble with it. While it is up it collects dirt and can corrode if you leave it long enough. Since my forester one just sits there it has no problems.

I wonder if SOC does not have the sealer because they don't have enough yet, or because they have not proven it to work for Canadian winters. It would probably be a lot easier to seal an engine in a mild climate like here in SF than Alberta. I like the idea of changing the gaskets better than the sealer, but if my last year's gaskets leak again I will certainly try the sealer. Good on your dealer for the gasket job!

has not concerned me much here in CA. I think you would end up looking like Rodney King it the cops caught you at 155 much less more. If I lived where I could run it as some of you folks do it would concern me much more. Since I have never tried it what does a Forester do top end?