1stsubbyever

She's a manual transmission (4 speed, 4wd), and almost ready to get inspected. All the fluids have been replaced, new belts and hoses, new battery and tires. The most expensive thing to replace is going to be my ignition. The key is so worn down, that I can't turn off the ignition and end up pulling the fuse out to shut it off. Effective, but not convenient. Subaru is quoting me $200 for that piece. Guess it'll have to wait until next payday. I just have to replace the windshield wipers and she'll be inspectable! She's a lot more zippy than I first expected, and the gears are interesting to navigate through, but I am very pleased with my purchase.

update - I picked up the car last night. It's in excellent shape, no chewed on wires, interior is as close to immaculate as a 20 yr old car can have. The paint job doesn't have any major issues, just a little oxidization...looks a liitle orange, but should be red. It starts, but squeals loud enough for neighbors to complain. I'll be changing out belts and hoses tonight hopefully. I'm looking forward to playing with grease! The brakes are somewhat rusted and feel loose, so I'll have to take a look at those a little closer. Thanks for all the advice!

Thanks, this is all great info. Good to know and I'll follow all ya'lls advice. I have a mechanic friend that was totally flabbergasted when I told him the EA81 doesn't have timing belts. Now he's on a mission to find out how car can run without timing belts. I'm kind of curious also. I won't have the vehicle for another day or two, and I know it's a silly question, but if anyone could explain in laymen's terms how the system can work without timing belts...or chains from what I gathered, I'd appreciate it. I plan on doing all the work on this vehicle myself (very few mechanics that I trust) so I'm trying to learn the technicalities on this vehicle. I will be buying a book on the subject also.

Thanks, the distributer info is good to know..it'll save me time (and $). I'm in the Dallas area, so I'm not really sure if that would be considered humid or not...guess I'll err (sp?) on the side of caution and go ahead and replace the brake pads.

I know...it's a heck of a bargain. From all the research I've done, I shouldn't have major problems with it for another 100k or so (and maybe not even then). The guy can't believe I want to buy it because it's "ugly"...I'm more interested in reliable, and shadetree mechanic ability. So in your opinion, do you think the brakes haven't deteriorated over the last 20 years?

I understand there are 90k total.

I am new to this site, but have spent some time looking through this forum and have found many answers to my questions, but here's the lowdown. I am buying a 1984 Subaru Wagon this weekend, I'm pretty sure it's a GL, but wouldn't swear on it. This vehicle had an issue with the engine at 60k, and the engine got replaced. The new engine has 30k on it...I know, not even close to being broken in, however, the vehicle has been garaged for at least the last 5 years. The only owner (bought new, not willing to let it go until now) drives the vehicle around the block once a week. This is the question...I'm going to replace the battery, oils (gear box also), flush the radiator, change out the distributor and spark plugs, replace all hoses and belts, change out the filters (air and oil), O2 sensor, and replace the rotor...which will be interesting since I haven't worked on a car in 15 years...and that was limited to changing out the distributor and plugs. I was wondering if there's anything else that time has affected negatively that I'll need to replace...I was thinking along the line of the brakes. Any information would be greatly appreciated on other things that will need replacement.