Ratty2Austin
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Posts posted by Ratty2Austin
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well the worst part is, I actually worry less about getting the wagon back, it was the contents of the trunk that hold a much higher value- ALL my tools. without them I can't do any work, can't fix anything, can't make money.
sure hope it's a joy ride and that whoever took it doesn't check the junk in the trunk... wishful thinking I know..
police report was filed at 4am today.. so, who knows if they will have any luck.
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I was at a party tonight in Fremont, (36th and Fremont ave N) and when I left the party around 2am my wagon was missing!!!
Maroon 1990 legacy L 5spd, has an aftermarket rack on it, cargo area full of all my tools!!
this is the only pic I have of it, before roof rack and I have removed the hubcaps...
license plate is
446-ZLH
if found or sighted please call me at 206-856-7797
or call police, (i have not filed a report yet as I just found out, going to very shortly here)
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Maybe IN... Gotta find me some snow tires, or chains or.. wait, I've never had these things before and gotten out ok
Eh. I am sure I will find what I need before then... -
Hi everyone! I know a lot of you here, especially if you have been around since ez-board was used (yeah, it's been a while!)
"Austin's Mobile Subarus"
This is my first posting about my business, which is just starting, so please be patient with my lack of organization or missing information on services- as I am still "building" my menu of offerings
About:
Since my early days of working on Subarus (my high school car and almost every one since then has been a Subaru) till now, I have learned a lot about working on them and modifying them for off-road and distance travel. I have worked at 2 Subaru dealers for a collective ~8 years, mostly as a parts driver, but some shop work as well. However, these days I have moved around and tried to restart some aspects of my life and I have found myself in a position where I am starting up my own business! Since I have a tight budget myself, and realize that there are people out there who sometimes can't afford or don't want to afford what most shops or dealers charge- or maybe need something done during odd hours of the day, or are too far to limp a damaged car in for repairs. This is where I come in. Or rather, come to you! For the past 12 years I have been repairing, rebuilding, modifying and driving a wide range of Subaru models, with a very high rate of success in my workmanship I might add!
My offering:
Service- on site repair, maintenance, inspections, minor body work, modifications (lift kit installs, engine/transmission swaps, etc) and, extraction from off-highway breakdowns. I can also do long-distance deliveries (example, buying a rust free Subaru from over in the PNW? want it delivered to the East coast? Make it worth my time, and I will make sure it gets there safe and sound! (I can also inspect before purchase, if needed!)
(Specializing in 1980-2004 Subarus)
Negotiable prices- My current "going rate" is approximately half of what the typical shop or dealer charges! (Dealer labor price around here is about 100/hr flat rate, so my price would be 50/hr flat rate!)
Prices for custom work is completely based on what all is to be done, contact for more info there.
Parts choice- Since I am not a parts provider, nor can I offer any warranty at this time, I can use a wide range of parts- OEM new, aftermarket new, or used/junkyard! All based on your needs!
Training during repair- I am willing to teach you what I know! Same shop rate applies, but you get to learn how it's done (I know, not good for repeat customers, but who else offers a class for this price?)
Location- I am operating out of the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle, Anywhere within the city limits I have no extra charge, but I can travel anywhere in the PNW, with an approximated fuel charge (based on miles from 98107)
I am working on a facebook page, along with business cards and some "package" prices
So, any interest, questions, or suggestions?
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Ratty2Austin will be there if his car is running! (Of course it is).
haha, not under my car, it does run! I am starting my own mobile independent Subaru repair thing now :cool: I will tell ya more on Sunday
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I might stop in, if I am not stuck under a car trying to fix something
It will be good to see everyone again,
especially since I am back in the game, again :cool:
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I might be there... :cool:
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Cool- I will have to meet ya when I get down there.
My moving dates have changed, I should be arriving in Sun City by the 3rd or 4th of June!
See you guys soon :cool:
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Heh, I am actually going to be moving to AZ coming this July- yeah, right in the heat of the summer! I will be in Sun City for a while helping gramma out, and then I plan to re-relocate to the Flagstaff area...
So, see you all down there
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I still have a EA81 rear tortion bar assembly (which has been dissasembled and has no brakes on it) with stub axles, removed- all unbolted and removed to make it easier to transport, etc...
I need it out of my garage, so if anyone wants to trade me a beverage of choice at the show, I will be glad to bring it along! (as long as I don't have to bring any of it back home with me)
and these with it...
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Im up for a convoy- not sure when my buddy is gonna pick me up, he is driving the OBW since I sold the Brat, but I still want to come to the show-
we will be leaving from Shoreline (exit 177 on I-5) sometime on Friday... after work presumably...
shoot me a message if you want to meet up here with us
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Well, looks like I will not be bringing my Brat, as it just sold last weekend!!
So, I will be riding with my buddy Carl, in his 01 OBW
I think we're gonna make a run to VooDoo in PDX before arriving at the show on Friday night... Anyone want to convoy with us Friday evening from Seattle to the show?
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And thats the show when I first started meeting people was WCSS5:banana:
I came across some old pics from it a few months ago and it brought back many memories. I remember you had a white XT turbo that you later sold to a guy in the midwest and MilesFox's trek across the country in Trashwagon 3 I think it was....
Yep! I still have pics from that too... although, thats when I still shot in FILM! (35mm) so... they are not online yet...
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I should be there.. if not, it would be the first show I have missed since I started going, (been going since wcss 5)
the soob I will be in, unless it sells before then, (if not, it will be there, for sale!) will be the black 84 Brat I've been shining up!
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Yep. A few people can help here... Did you search for lift kits? It sounds like that's what you are interested in buying.
Last I checked, (and since I helped make the prototype for that exact model of subaru lift kit with Scott) I would have to recommend the SJR lift kit! There are others out there, and they are probably very comparable, but I have tested mine out a little bit on a long road trip and some offroading, and it keeps it a very drivable car.
He has them listed for $600 bucks on his website, and trust me, the amount of work needed to do it yourself, it's worth the money
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the EJ22 is a great engine the way it is... adding EJ25 stuff to it (like said before) is only good if you are doing turbo mods or something similar-
If I were doing what you are doing, I would just go find a good cyl head to replace the damaged one, and put new OEM gaskets in there, and call it good! if all goes well that engine should run great for many miles after that repair
good luck!
Oh, and pics of this beast would be awesome! I am curious to what it looks like
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Ha nice!!! Hey, did you know that a year ago, before the lift kit- I took waterwagon to Long Beach and did the same thing!!! on Valentines day! (look when you posted these pics) Did you do this to keep up tradition?
Glad you are having fun with it!
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Do you mean, running just the suspension lift, without the cross member lift blocks?
If that's what you meant, then you would not even be able to install the lift blocks without breaking the axles just to make them even fit-
the reason, is that when you put lift blocks in the struts, you are essentially "lowering" the wheels away from the body, and if you install all of the appropriate blocks, then your axles stay about the same angle....
When you don't install the cross member blocks (x-member+trans member, etc) you get too steep of an angle on the axles, and you most likely won't even be able to install them due to the fact that you would be past the limitations on how far the axles can bend (at the joints, of course)
And, even if you could barely get those blocks in there and get the axles hooked up, they would be running such a steep angle, that they would break the moment you tried to drive anywhere....
best thing to do, would be just get the whole kit, or 2" max suspension blocks (2" seems to be an ok amount without the x-member blocks, from what I have seen)
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I didn't get too many pics, I was busy drifting around in the snow that did not last very long
But, I did go have fun the other night...
It's weird seeing snow on the freeway in these parts
(and it looks like the gallons and gallons of salt they dumped all over the place did not realllly work...considering it was still sticking even at 31F )
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Another pic of the Waterwagon3 in the snow, this was from the Hatch Patrol "Greenwater Xmas tree run"
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Well, after today with the Hatch Patrol and the xmas tree run, I have discovered a few more things that will be changed soon...
along with a short hill climb I did after the tree run along the highway, and I re-decorated my exhaust by backing into the ground (ditch)
You can see the tire tracks in the grass from where I went off course, and backed up into the ditch and rammed the muffler into the ground.... (behind the car)
Oops!
Yeah, it was scraping each time i hit a bump, all the way home- and it was pinched... so I went to the auto parts store, and hacked it off with a hack saw right in the parking lot.. so until i can figure out how to mount the new one (sidepipe?) it's open exhaust just forward of the x-member!
and this is what's hanging out in the back seat for now...
time to do some welding!
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Had fun today, got to see some old friends, and take Waterwagon3 out for it's first actually challenging day off pavement
(wouldn't have been if I had decent tires...) But anyway- here are all the photos - http://ratty2austin.smugmug.com/Cars/Hatch-Patrol-Tree-Hunt/14932972_5arSL#1114876940_v28EU
Thanks for the fun time everyone!
more pics in a little bit....
Oh, and along the way home I went offroad on a little hill climb, and sorta bent up my exhaust system... it was... uhh... dragging on the ground whenever I hit bumps or dips in the road all the way home, so when I got to my neighborhood auto parts store, I crawled under the car and hack-sawed the muffler right off and took it in to size up the pipe for a cherry bomb and adapter fittings! (although, need to re-arrange things under there so it fits without hanging down so low this time..) so I have open exhaust for now till its fixed! haha
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Snow tested and approved! Ready to go
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Well, the 27's aren't much bigger than the stock outback tires, so if you have the Outback AWD trans, it has the 4.11 (I think...) but the Brighton has a 3.9, just like the GLs... I rarley use the low range, as it is actually pretty low... the acceleration difference with the larger tires is noticeable, but not horrible...
Chux- is the 1986 D/R trans really have a 1.6 to 1 ratio for the low? I thought it was only a 1.2:1
Emergencey: Stolen Legacy Seattle!
in Meet n' Greet. Your USMB Welcome Center
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well, i dont have many photos of the tools themselves, here is a photo of the back of the wagon when i was loading tools up- so you can see the boxes. The tools are mostly all craftsmen, metric, and there were a few random other kinds in there too- i had a snap on metric wobbly 3/8 impact set (the only S/O tools i had) and a brand new 12v bosch 1/4 impact/ drill driver set. there were also 2 jackstands, a black metal/vinyl creeper, misc wire wheels, an old makita angle grinder, a fluke 77 multimeter with yellow sleeve, a set of metric gear wrenches, crafsmen 1/2 torq wrench, old bolt cutters, a valve spring compressor, misc gear/wheel pullers, and an assortment of little screwdrivers and bits....
here is a shot of the car with the cell phone, kinda blurry, but this is what it looks like with the hubcaps off and the roof rack installed...