heartless

yeah, i do like the GL-10 seat much better than the stock GL seat - a little more comfortable, the adjustable height thing, like the adjustable headrest too...just hoping i can get it re-alighned to work proper again - would suck to have to go back to the stock seat.

lucas - yeah, fiberglass alone would not be all that safe, but if you read carefully, i use it just as a sealing measure. altho - if fiberglass is good enough for corvette bodies....

saw and replied, connie!! you dont have to learn how to weld, but it does have it's advantages. hehe wire feed (MIG) is pretty easy, and all you would really need for body repairs such as we are talking about. good luck with Rocky!!

piece of cake to fix... step 1 - get the plastric trim out of the way (and those speaker wires) step 2 - cut out as much of the nasties as you can - get it back to solid metal. step 3 - treat existing good metal with the rust preventer of choice (por15 has some excellent reviews) step 4 - get yourself a piece or two of thin cardboard (soda cartons work VERY well for this) and make yourself a pattern to fit over the damaged area/around existing protrusions like the seat mount. step 5 - place your pattern on a sheet of metal - 18 guage works well for this sort of thing - strong, yet easily bent. mark your pattern onto the metal. cut out your patch. then make any bends that may be needed - dont really need anything fancy - a big vise & a hammer work well for tight 90 degree bends, an old chunk of railroad track works great as a forming tool as well - have two pieces here about 12 inches long each anyway, whatevery you can find to get the bends as close to what you need as possible - heck even a chunk of 2x4 can be used in a pinch. test fit, work the patch, test fit, etc, till it fits pretty well. it can be riveted in place for temporary until you can get it welded in. (or see step 8a) step 6 - treat both sides of your patch with the rust preventer of choice. step 7 - use an undercoating on the outside of the patch and surrounding area. step 8a - (optional) on the inside use fiberglass to completely seal the patch and surrounding area. it does add strength. (just be carful not to fill any holes that you may need - like seat mount holes...) step 8b - mark and drill for your seat belt mounting point. personally, i would use a heavier piece of metal on the outside (treated to prevent rust of course) as a backer plate for more strength - slightly larger than the original backing plate...spread the stress out more. lay the carpet back in place, use a large diameter bolt, backer plate, fender washer, lock washer, and nut to fasten the seatbelt mount to the new floor. step 9 - reinstall all the other stuff - plastic trim, seat, etc - good to go (just a note - while the plastic trim is out of the way, you can re-route the speaker wires into the channel under the trim piece...clean things up a bit...i hate wires showing.) step 10 - sit back and have a cold one! you earned it!

thanks Jerry, thats sort of what i wanted to hear. gonna give it the ol college try anyway - will report back on my success, or failure if that be the case...

ok, as many of you know, i dropped off the side of the road a while back and damaged my poor little Hildy - just about to get new glass installed and get her back on the road (it sucks being broke) but anyway... the drivers seat got a little torqued in the mishap - the seat back is out of whack - one side leaned back more than the other - my question is this...can i pull the seat out of the car and re-adjust the seat back so it sits properly? or am i stuck putting the old seat back in - had swapped the original for the GL-10 model, which i really like...

i am far from a mechanic by trade, but i do know a socket from a box end and know my way around my subie pretty well, altho i have not torn one down completely - yet... can pretty much handle problems on pretty much any older vehicle as well - only time i run into problems is on the newer ones with all the electronic "stuff" under the hood - you know, the boxes and other gizmos that hide the actual engine.... have found i can fix rusted areas fairly well too since learning how to use the mig welder - may not be the prettiest job ever, but i can do it - and fiberglass can hide a multitude of sins!

upon reading your original post, my first thought was bulbs, second thought was the switch under the pedal...just because it depresses ok does not mean that it is functioning properly. first - look at the switch closely in relation to the pedal in its non-depressed position - how close is it to the pedal arm? it "should" be just barely making contact with the arm - no more than say a matchbook cover of space between them. as mentioned already - check for power to the switch... i would then replace BOTH bulbs with brand new ones just to be 100% sure they are good. if that checks ok, then would be checking the wiring/connections with the assistance of a helper in the cab pressing the pedal as needed. and dont neglect to check the grounds - rust around ground locations can be the culprit in a lot of electrical issues...

i dunno - i live in Wisconsin as well, but have no issues with the heat in my car - stays plenty warm on all but the most frigid days (temps well below zero F) also to be noted, my car has 244K on the clock, and i havent done anything with the cooling system other than check/top off coolant periodically. The other half's car has had the radiator replaced, as well as the thermstat (non OEM - 180* unit) and his seems to be working fine too, albeit not quite as warm as mine - altho he does have an issue with the control setting not wanting to stay on the floor heat function (some sort of vacuum line issue with the flapper that directs the heat) sincerely hope you can get the issue resolved before it gets too frigid out there.

coating with oil will help for short term, but doesnt last. go get yourself some anti-sieze and slather the hub with the stuff - anywhere that the wheel makes contact with the hub should be coated. i also lightly coat the lugs. had the exact same problem with my wagon when i first bought it - it had been sitting for over a year and the wheels had rusted to the hubs pretty good. took a bit of whacking with the sledge to get one off - coated everything with anti-seize and havent had a problem since - i also recoat whenever i have a wheel off...

OMG YES!!! i know a few like that as well!! I learned to take care of my car out of need - didnt have anyone I could turn to for help, other than the odd friend way back when, and they were more inclined to help me do it myself rather than do it for me, which in my opinion was the best thing that ever happened to me. my favorite tag line: Jack of all trades, master of none. Know a little bit about a lot of things, and a whole lot about nothin'! pretty much says it all!!

personally, i dont go any lower than 10w30 in the really cold weather - run 10w40 most of the time with no problems. on really cold days it may tick for a moment or two till the oil gets moving good.

would this blue box also be the cause of "creepy" intermittent wipers??? as in comes up a little - stops - goes a little more - stops - then goes the rest of the cycle...

ROFLMAO yeah, they are 3 ton prosthetics, but i just wonder what the heck the women are trying to compensate for???? just about half of the monster vehicles are being driven by females around here. scary, aint it? just think of the dumb bimbo yapping on the phone, attempting to put on her makeup in the rearview, driving that 3 ton pile of bolts.... yeah, i am a female, but for the record i am one of the exceptions to the rule....I rarely wear makeup, and when i do it is applied at home. I have a cell phone, but rarely use it...and I pay attention to what is going on around me when i am behind the wheel. oh yeah, and I fix my own vehicles!! :-p

ok, ok...i get the point. and I hear ya on the project languishing in the background...have a couple of those around here as well... not too many beemers, benz's or Porsches around here - it's more the caddy suv, lincoln suv, and hummer crowd that cant seem to see over thier hoods & notice the little Subaru...

holy crap - and i thought we had it bad here in Wisconsin! guess i wont complain anymore! it could definitely be worse!! Daeron - get out the fiberglass and fix that sucker!!! at least fix it enough that you dont have those huge gaping holes...sheesh...

You dont wanna do that Connie, I might have to keep him a loooonnnnnggggg time to fix all that!! not that hard to do really. made a couple of attempts at welding in some of the holes, but the metal was so thin it just burned right thru even on the lowest setting, so out came the fiberglass. no, it wont last forever, but neither will the car. should last long enough tho.

well, the rust doesnt show in the pictures, so i have to take your word on that. good luck with the rebuild - in the midst of my own so I know how it is. wow, only 20K on the motor??? yeah baby! now i really am jealous!!

looks like a keeper to me!! sure wish i could find cars that look that good around here. < is jealous.

4 is nothing - we have 6! 3 drivers, 3 parts cars. and looking for more!!! decent ones are hard to come by in central Wisconsin.

thanks guys, yeah it feels great to keep the ol girl going. I knew there was gonna be rust under there, but had no idea it was as bad as it was. Still have a little more work to do before she hits the road again - replacing front fenders, and hood just because i can. need to do something about the rear quarter eventually where it got smashed in... and clean the interior! it is amazing how one cup of coffee can get EVERYWHERE when ya go for a wild spin!! oh yeah....anyone know if I can fix the back of the seat? it aparently got torqued when i went in the ditch and now it is leaned back too far and off kilter, and wont lock in position but the one it is in. is it possible to unbolt/whatever and realign?

yeah, not too shabby for a rush job in the dead of winter by a FEMALE!! LOL :cool: seriously, if you look closly you can see bumps and shallow spots. made most of the repairs with fiberglass, in the interest of saving time. Did have to cut out the worst spot on the passenger side and weld in a patch, then fiberglassed the rest. had the weather been more cooperative i could have done a bit better job...will still probably out last the rest of the car!

not generally the battery that has issues. have a set of 55w driving/fog lights on my wagon. used to use them a lot as daytime driving lights (other lights off) also used them at night in the country - speeds of 55 & up...have gone thru 3 stock 60 amp alternators in five years...

ok, here we go.... sorry for the delay :cool:

grrr - i'm workin on it, had some size issues! new camera and all...