January 22, 201016 yr Well finally got the 74 outta pugatory and back to my place to begin it's resurection. Gotta thank Paul for hooking me up with this increadibly clean classic...and Charlie for keeping it outta the weather for awile Well here are a few current condition pics....enjoy.
January 22, 201016 yr Author The interior is not as bad as it looks, just needs a little cleaning up and a dash........my oh my...what to do about that dash?
January 22, 201016 yr Author So first order of buisiness was to get it running. Blew out the fuel line to the tank, put some gas in it, smacked the carb with a hammer and it fired right up. Runs pretty good too, with the exception of what sounds like a rod knock But it runs, the tranny shifts tighter than most 90's Legacies! Clutch is strong, steering is tight and the brake pedal goes right to the floor! Well since i have to keep it running and mobile untill the bodyshop gets redone im gonna concentraite on getting everything else set up the way i want it before stripping it down to get it painted. So i started messing around with one of the first things that visually bothered me about the car.. this..... Saftey bumpers. Huge, heavy, and sticking a foot out in front of the car. So i was thinking this would look a bit better... May just set up the stock bumpers closer to the body, or try to find some from another model that would look good.
January 22, 201016 yr Author I hate to say it but i kinda like the look of the back of the car with no bumper.....but there would be alot of stuff to fill in to make it look really good, plus the back of the car is already a bit shorter than the front, so this will also be an area i will need to make a desicion on and perhaps check out some other style bumpers....
January 22, 201016 yr That looks to be a fine starting point! Surprising (to me) how different the sedan is from the coupe as far as interior and trim. What are the plans? Clean up and drive or restore or ??? As for the dash, there are a couple companies that can restore the pads to new. Not exactly cheap to go that route, but since yours is not that bad, you may want to try to fill in the cracks with plastic bumper repair filler and top it with truck bed liner and flat black paint. (saw it on a couple different sites and the results look good!) Mark
January 22, 201016 yr Author That looks to be a fine starting point! Surprising (to me) how different the sedan is from the coupe as far as interior and trim. What are the plans? Clean up and drive or restore or ??? As for the dash, there are a couple companies that can restore the pads to new. Not exactly cheap to go that route, but since yours is not that bad, you may want to try to fill in the cracks with plastic bumper repair filler and top it with truck bed liner and flat black paint. (saw it on a couple different sites and the results look good!) Mark Thank you, it is a very good starting point. The plan is sorta a resto-mod thing. I want a nice summer cruiser with a cool vintage look and reliable enough to take trips in if i want. I will have to investigate that dash idea. I wonder how much it would cost to get it redone? It's a very small dash!
January 22, 201016 yr Author Gonna be going with these wheels. Get the lips polished back up and the mesh part powder coated black. I know there only 13"s but i like em and think they will look cool on this little orange thing.
January 22, 201016 yr Gonna be going with these wheels. Get the lips polished back up and the mesh part powder coated black. I know there only 13"s but i like em and think they will look cool on this little orange thing. You do realize that those are rare aftermarkets, right? http://www.indysworld.com/80s/general/wheels/wheels.html About halfway down the page and you'll find this: I wouldn't do anything to those wheels other than restore them. Twitch
January 22, 201016 yr If you can find them, I bet 73' and earlier bumpers would be an easy retrofit. Last I checked, it was like $500 to restore a larger padded dash, so a smaller one may be cheaper? I wouldn't worry about powdercoating the wheels. They could always be stripped and repainted to original at a later date if you ever changed your mind. Not an irreversable modification if they are a rare wheel. Mark
January 22, 201016 yr Author Shhh. Dont let the guy im buying them from know that! Well how rare are they? I mean if someone wants to give me like $5 grand for them i will leave them alone, otherwise i will probly destroy them to my likeing.
January 22, 201016 yr Author If you can find them, I bet 73' and earlier bumpers would be an easy retrofit. Last I checked, it was like $500 to restore a larger padded dash, so a smaller one may be cheaper? I wouldn't worry about powdercoating the wheels. They could always be stripped and repainted to original at a later date if you ever changed your mind. Not an irreversable modification if they are a rare wheel. Mark Yeah, thats what i was thinking, but the 73' and earlier bumpers are very thin. I was thinking that the later 4WD bumpers would look good. Still have the same shape but alot lighter without the impact crap in them. Just gonna find a strait set. I will have to see how well the wheels clean up, if they really need restoring i will do them how i want becouse either way they would need redone and it's not like i would be destroying the original finnish or anything.
January 22, 201016 yr Nice to see another 1400 sedan. I think I have the only rd worthy 1400 sedan left in Canterbury.
January 22, 201016 yr :-\ What else can I say? I'll talk to you soon. Right now I have to clean up the puke. :-\ Man I hope my "next vintage projects" come along as nice as this one. Gonna have to abuse you for way too many favors down the road. Seriously though, I'm glad you have it now. I'll talk to you about possible bits and pieces soon. Just wondering about your situation with the kids and all. Our condolences once again. Keep the "source" a secret,please. That pic of the wheels reminds me of being there. And that hurts - but you're in the know now so that's a plus. I'm guessing you won't see this untill tonight so give me a call as you can.
January 23, 201016 yr Author Nice to see another 1400 sedan. I think I have the only rd worthy 1400 sedan left in Canterbury. Thats funny....I also live in Canterbury.
January 23, 201016 yr Author Things are working out pretty good with the kids and stuff, well as well as it can under the curcumstances. Thank you. As for the source.....what source? I informed the general of what i was doing with those wheels and he told me that when i get it done to bring it by and he would buy it from! I felt like asking him "why? So you can stick it in a storage container never to be seem again?" lol.
January 24, 201016 yr Senility setting in good,he's about to CrAcK !! God bless the old bastid. Call me tomorrow....was at Charlie's today - turbo wagon coming along. VERY glad to hear that it sounds like the kids are fairly stable. Much blessing their way - and yours too.
February 17, 201016 yr Author OK, progress has been a bit slow. Mostly working on getting it apart, but at the same time i need to keep it mobile for now. Only some surface rust on the floor, no problems there, just got to figure out what i want to treat it with and recover it with. We have also been redoing the interior peices bit by bit im just to lazy to take those picks right now. But as i stated they are all waiting in my bed room.
February 17, 201016 yr dang,can't view your pics from work. Working 2nd gig today, won't be back on here untill ??? I'll try to scan the rfont linkage so everyone can compare to EA81's , Loyales.etc...
February 18, 201016 yr OK just peeked in...very cool. Hey,see if you can hook up with Charlie again this week,please. Talk to you soon.
June 23, 201015 yr Wow,really coming along! We stopped in and saw it this past weekend. Droooooool baby, drooooool ....
June 27, 201015 yr Author Yes, just gotta get some new pictures up soon. Now that where back on line. Aaaaaannnnnd, a motor
June 28, 201015 yr Alright already ..... I should be done with my day gig project this week and I'll be going nuts at storage. ..... now that its 90 degrees and 95% humidity ....
June 30, 201015 yr It's funny there seems to be an abundance of 1974 Subarus! Love what you are doing/planning to do with yours Subafreak. One of these days I will have to put up photos of my '74 sedan. Edited July 1, 201015 yr by Leeroy
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