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Riley's 1987 GL!


Moosen
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Just bought my first car. Of course it was a suby. Unfortunately when your in high school, you can only afford so much. I Bought this 1987 Subaru GL 4wd 5 speed manual Wagon! It's not that pretty but hey, it has 4wd, 30 mpg, and it runs! I guess I plan on doing stuff to it. I don't really know what yet. Here is a small list.

 

  • Decent sound system in it
  • Weber carb in the near future
  • New wheels (don't know how big I can go?)/ Xt6 5 x 100 conversion
  • Change interior panel colors
  • New suspension and a small lift maybe

 

subarugl3.jpg

 

subarugl2.jpg

 

subarugl.jpg

Edited by Moosen
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O.o

 

Whoa. I was gonna say... Moosens whyd you change youre name... but youre not Moosens... haha you're Moosen...

 

Hmmm... Whyd you choose this name?

 

Nice scoob. Whered you pick it up, Im afraid I didnt see it on craigslist and Ive been searching. Looks very clean!

 

Wheres Big Sky? I see it has Oregon plates :)

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Nice car!

I like your mod list, modest, reasonable and you'll get good gains from all that.

 

Some kids come on here with these cars and want to do EJ swaps and 4 feet lift right off the start. And then complain when they don't know how to do any of it.

 

I want to find a body in nice shape like that so I can swap all the stuff from my lifted sedan into it.

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O.o

 

Whoa. I was gonna say... Moosens whyd you change youre name... but youre not Moosens... haha you're Moosen...

 

Hmmm... Whyd you choose this name?

 

Nice scoob. Whered you pick it up, Im afraid I didnt see it on craigslist and Ive been searching. Looks very clean!

 

Wheres Big Sky? I see it has Oregon plates :)

 

It's my name on another forum, and it's kind of an inside joke between some friends and I.

 

I'm living in Vancouver, WA right now. Picked this up on craigslist like two or three days ago. However I am moving to Big Sky, MT (hour south of Bozeman) on Sunday.

 

Thanks I love this thing. Only problems are the drivers seat is a little shot so if I can find one that drops in real easily i might do that. Do any of the newer subarus seats swap in easily?

 

And the carb seems a little old, has trouble ideling when first starting up and accelerating from the first couple stops in the morning is chugging. But once she warms up its good.

 

Also has a clunking from what i think to be the suspension in the back right? Is that normal? My friend has a late 80's Mercury Sable wagon that does that sound as well?

Edited by Moosen
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  • 4 weeks later...

Looking pretty nice.

 

As for your seat question, you could try finding some out of a First gen Impreza. I saw one at a Junkyard with very firm narrow seats (Very simular to the EA82s) You could still use the EA82s seat track and swap the new seat onto it (I've done that with my Legacy)

 

Welcome to the crew.

 

-Tom

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Update! I freaking love this thing. I think my gas mileage is a little low. around 24 ish. is that average? I feel sooooo underpowered and clumbing hills is slow. Would a weber carb help? I really want to do it but I am 17 and don't know much about cars. You think i could do it? I replaced the spark plugs about a week ago and that helped a little. Starting it takes about 10 sec sometimes when it is cold and has been sitting. But it is a sick little car. Also how hard is the xt6 hub conversion? Where would i even find one and is there any way to get the 5x100 bolt pattern?

 

Pictures!

 

Sorry that this one is blurry. i will get a better one tomorrow with the sick basket.

 

302568_2262742619839_1586670041_2260273_634084657_n.jpg

 

0921111728.jpg

 

0921111729_0001.jpg

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Swap in the XT6 5-Lug hubs is straight forward (You might need to make a hybrid axle) as I think the CV spline count is different then the GL/Loyale. The hardest part about all this is, finding all the parts without spending 2 legs, a left nut and an ear... The XT6 are 5x100. So you could run any 5 lug Subaru wheel and countless other brands.

 

As for your lack of power, try a full tune up, NGK BPR6ES-11 plugs and NGK wires if you want. New cap and rotor, Fuel filter, Air filter, Clean out all your PCV hoses (Ones running from each Valve cover) Clean the MAF, run some Seafoam through the brake booster and in your fuel. That'll give it a good start.

 

Its an EA82, 1781cc Carb'ed Flat-Four, how much power do you want? Lol. You make about 85hp and a 101ft.tq At least you have a 5spd. Try my 3AT ;)

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Swap in the XT6 5-Lug hubs is straight forward (You might need to make a hybrid axle) as I think the CV spline count is different then the GL/Loyale. The hardest part about all this is, finding all the parts without spending 2 legs, a left nut and an ear... The XT6 are 5x100. So you could run any 5 lug Subaru wheel and countless other brands.

 

As for your lack of power, try a full tune up, NGK BPR6ES-11 plugs and NGK wires if you want. New cap and rotor, Fuel filter, Air filter, Clean out all your PCV hoses (Ones running from each Valve cover) Clean the MAF, run some Seafoam through the brake booster and in your fuel. That'll give it a good start.

 

Its an EA82, 1781cc Carb'ed Flat-Four, how much power do you want? Lol. You make about 85hp and a 101ft.tq At least you have a 5spd. Try my 3AT ;)

 

I already popped in new ngk plugs. i dont think i will do the wires? where are the hoses i should clean? i ran lots of carb and choke cleaner into the carb which seemed to help. i need to order all those other things you said though. cap, rotor, fuel, and air filter.

 

But all i am saying is that going up a moderately steep hill in second flooring it i can't get above 35 mph...

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As long as your wires aren't cracked, you'll be alright. Crackage, will lead to arcing and poor ignition responce.

 

Here are the PCV hoses I am talking about, You will see a 3/4" hose running from the top of the Valve cover (per side) and running torwards the Carb to the PCV valve. Remove each hose and clean them out with Carb cleaner, they tend to get a build-up of oil gunk in them. Also, check your Vaccum lines and replace them as needed, 1/8 inch vac line will work for all the little ones.

 

brum_4.jpg

Edited by TheLoyale
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The weber probably will help.

 

I can honestly say that hills are NOT a problem for my EA82 with a Weber. GD had it before I did, so I wont take credit for the way that it runs... Ill just brag about it :grin:

 

In all seriousness though, the stock hitachi is junk. I had an EA71 in my 1984 DL and that was just... a nightmare. We put an EA81 in there with a weber and it hauled.

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Welcome to the board!

 

I also will say that the weber will definitely help your hill climbing. I had one on my 86 wagon, really helped climbing grades. After the carb upgrade, look into opening up the exhaust with a custom 2" cat-back - that'll help the engine to breath better with the bigger carb.

EA82 cars have alot of personality, you'll find a very strong attachment to them. Before you know it, you'll be treating the car as family.:grin:

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  • 2 months later...

I love my subaru when it worked. The FI version seems to have better manners but when you put lift and big wheels on it kinda boggs itself down with the xtra weight. What i did and what lots do is a pretty simple 2 inch lift with 27 inch tires. Its not bad on the cv shafts and the weight isnt to bad for the engine. As far as a system i dont really understand that. These cars dont really acoustic well with the light material the doorcards and the metal is. I would personally just put in 4 6 1/2 speakers and a decent head unit in it and call it a day.

 

Mine Before

picture.php?albumid=138&pictureid=1143

 

Mine After

picture.php?albumid=235&pictureid=2317

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  • 3 weeks later...

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