Unless something changes, JMoss is going to buy it and this car will become a summer DD in Pennsylvania. Hopefully he'll keep up with the build thread on here.

Unless something changes, JMoss is going to buy it and this car will become a summer DD in Pennsylvania. Hopefully he'll keep up with the build thread on here.

 

I definitely plan to keep up the thread. This car is way too interesting not to share! Besides, it'll be fun to actually contribute on the board. I've mostly lurked and asked stupid questions up to this point 

 

As of now, my to-do list includes the following:

• Pick the car up from 9.5 hours away
• Tune the carb so it'll run smoothly
• Fix any remaining rust/body issues
• Track down the parts needed to do the 5 speed D/R swap
• Swap the tranny once the current one dies or I can't wait any longer, whichever comes first.
• Also knock off the remaining items on the Brat's to-do list...

It would be a pleasure to see the car get finished! There isn't much to do body wise. Just the rear quarter panels and wheel arches, new front fenders and the rear roll pan area and it'll be good. Possibly a new door or fix the current rear pass door. You will also need to wire in front blinkers or finish my plan of turning the corner lights in to parking lights and blinkers.

 

Cheers,

-Tom

Glad to hear it found a good home! This one really needed to go to some one who will finish what Tom started. Can't wait to see more progress.

It would be a pleasure to see the car get finished! There isn't much to do body wise. Just the rear quarter panels and wheel arches, new front fenders and the rear roll pan area and it'll be good. Possibly a new door or fix the current rear pass door. You will also need to wire in front blinkers or finish my plan of turning the corner lights in to parking lights and blinkers.

 

Cheers,

-Tom

 

I still need to finish reading through this thread in detail, so I don't know how much you've already said about the plan to convert the lights to turn signals, but I'll probably be asking for some insight on that. Electrical is my biggest weakness on cars, but I can sure follow directions well.

I will have to look thru it again, I know it involved 3 relays Lol. xbeerd drew me up a diagram of it in working order.

Matt - As the car sits now, it is missing the back half of the exhaust, and the front half that is there is the one that Tom pieced together like 2 years ago? When we spoke the other day about getting an exhaust from cali, was that the whole exhaust, or just the back half?

 

I finished reading through the whole thread, and I am unclear on 2 parts:

• Tom talked about a few different seat and steering wheel swaps, I never saw anything definitive. Is the interior stock, or swapped currently?
• Did the headlights ever get sorted out so that the outers are low beams and the inners are high beams, or do all 4 still come on?

Yep the interior is 100% stock, I don't think I retro fitted anything, but was gonna swap the steering wheel with one I have, but never bought the Boss or MOMO adaptor to do it. And as for the Headlights, yep they work fine. I tried swapping in Projector style ones from ebay and they had 3 spade terminals coming off the bulb, where as the stock Highbeams only have two spades or vica verca.

 

Just to be clear, there are no front Blinkers hooked up at the moment, so the relay is going to click very fast, but the rear blinkers still work.

 

The exhaust Matt is talking about is from the Mid-pipe back, the Header will still work as I welded it pretty solid. The header does need to be tightened up as it was hanging when I went back to buy the car, looks like someone didn't put all the studs back or they got ripped out somehow. I Heli-coiled the exhaust studs in when I did it, so no worries about stripping the Aluminum.

 

Also it got stuck in 4WD when I was driving it home before I turned around and said forget it. But I did get it back into 2WD.

 

Now, I am not trying to say anything bad about anyone, I just want to be clear on whats what when I looked at it. 

Tom - thanks for clearing those things up. Tranny issues are known and I plan on swapping it anyway. For my curiosity, why did you change your mind about buying the car back? I'm buying it pretty much no matter what, but I'm wondering what was the deal breaker for you?

 

Matt - what's going on with the exhaust studs? Anything to be concerned about?

The main deal breaker was the Tranny. I didn't want to take the chance of trying to drive it almost two hours to get it home, I also didn't want to risk burning a valve with pretty much an open head, on, I think the driver side. The motor in the car is in very good condition and I didn't want to risk any damage to it.

 

So that was why I walked away, plus I'd probably get a lecture from my folks after seeing how the GL looked when I got rid of it, and then what it was when I brought it back (Pretty much would have been the same lecture I received when I brought that Hilux home Lol)

 

I'd glad you will not be driving it in the Winter time as a DD, so it'll have a chance. It would be a shame to put this much work into a vehicle, only to see it in the junkyard.

The main deal breaker was the Tranny. I didn't want to take the chance of trying to drive it almost two hours to get it home, I also didn't want to risk burning a valve with pretty much an open head, on, I think the driver side. The motor in the car is in very good condition and I didn't want to risk any damage to it.

 

So that was why I walked away, plus I'd probably get a lecture from my folks after seeing how the GL looked when I got rid of it, and then what it was when I brought it back (Pretty much would have been the same lecture I received when I brought that Hilux home Lol)

 

I'd glad you will not be driving it in the Winter time as a DD, so it'll have a chance. It would be a shame to put this much work into a vehicle, only to see it in the junkyard.

 

What is so much different now than when you got rid of it? From what Matt said, it sounds like not much has changed...?

Its just starting to show its age again, probably from sitting.

Anything in particular?

 

New rust? Is that beautiful interior still beautiful? Mechanical stuff?

 

For the price, I can't really go wrong, but I am starting to feel a little let down that it sounds like its not quite what it was a year or two ago.

 

Matt - Any input is appreciated. Maybe some updated pics? I figure others might want to see it, too.

The interior is still mint from what I looked at, just dusty. There is a little flash rust were the welds are on the rockers, but I never painted them that well to begin with, wire wheel and fresh paint would take car of that. I'm not sure if the grill is broke or just not in right as it was cocked a little. The cheapie weber air filter rusted a bit lol. 

 

I'm just pointing out what I noticed, that last photo isn't the most accurate. Also it has 1 new tire (At least when I looked at it) the other three were the Kelly tires that came with it when I bought it. They have good tread but and getting crumbly.

 

You are indeed getting a killer deal.

Part one of the journey was completed just over a week ago. My brother and I took the car to it's "drop point" where it will be picked up by the new owner soon enough.

 

I hadn't seen the car in just over a year. Needs some polish as mentioned but started right up and drove on and off the trailer no prob. It was a great relief that this car is staying in the Subaru community and can be appreciated for years to come.

 

 

 

A little more love on the body and some fresh decals and this car will be near completion. 

After 11 hours of driving, I just got to Wisconsin and put the car on the trailer! I'm going to take a quick nap, then I'm heading to TheLoyale's house to swap some parts, then on to Michigan to swap MORE parts!

 

I'll update with pics once I'm at home with a computer.

Thanks for the Wagon wheels, I was surprised to see 205/60/13s! Hope you enjoy your parts!

Glad we could meet up last night.

 

Tom, you did some very nice work on this car.

 

Good luck with the rest of your trip Jamie!

Jamie, I heard it was raining pretty good down here yesterday, sorry you couldn't actually look at the Subies very well. I hope you can indeed make it back this way later on! Maybe by then the Safariwagon will be finished.

Thanks for the Wagon wheels, I was surprised to see 205/60/13s! Hope you enjoy your parts!

Too bad only one of those 205s is any good.

 

I realized about an hour after I left your place that I forgot to leave your hood bumpers! They're little enough that I can just ship them. I'll send them out tomorrow or Tuesday.

So after 34 hours on the road through 6 states making stops to see 3 other members (Well, 2. Looking at you Tom!) I have the ski wagon safe and sound in PA. I had to completely rebuild my dad's car trailer to make it road worthy again, too. So make sure you tell me how nice it looks!

 

My little brother and I left at 11:40pm Eastern and arrived in Middleton, WI at about 11:00am Central. This is how I first laid eyes on it. Sitting in my friend's driveway waiting patiently for the last two weeks for me to pick it up.

 

It started right up (LOUD!) and I drove it around the neighborhood for a few minutes. If 4th gear is making a bad bearing noise, I sure has heck couldn't hear it. I loaded it up on the trailer and then took a nap in preparation for the return trip.

 

I headed straight for Tom's (TheLoyale) house, to swap some parts and check out his cars. It was pouring rain, he was out wheeling. Overall not bad though. Traded 4 wagon wheels with center caps for some NOS fenders, ea82 hubcaps, and REALLY nice front mudflaps. Thanks again Tom!

 

Next I headed to Niles, Michigan to meet up with Mechanical_Misfit and get a D/R 4 speed tranny. My brother snapped a few pics on the road and in the walmart parking lot where we met up with Mechanical_Misfit. Sorry that they're just crappy cell phone shots, but pretty colors anyway.

 

 

Jimbo got some pictures of the Desert Fox with the Ski Wagon and I suspect he will upload them here soon.

 

After talking cars for probably an hour and taking some pictures, we hit the road again. We met up with another member briefly to deliver some brat tailgate trim about an hour later.

 

Then we were bound for home-sweet-home! I pulled in at about 9am and took the car off the trailer. 2 transmissions, a few odds and ends, 2 fenders and the car are all here safe and put away.

 

I drove the car a fair bit yesterday and WOW does it need rear shocks. I'd get about 5 good bounces out of every bump I hit if I was over 30mph. I ordered KYB GR-2s last night. Next on the list is getting an exhaust made and swapping the drivers side fender. Then I'll probably just drive it as-is until I can gather the funds to do the paint and decals all at once.

 

Thanks Matt for working out a pretty seamless sale from across the country. Thanks Tom for the hard work on the car and the parts. It is sweet! Thanks Jimbo for the tranny and the smalltalk. Thanks Pete for buying the brat trim. It got me a tank of gas!

Sounds like a great trip! Glad it made it safely and glad it's in good hands.

 

So cool that this thread now spans 3 owners.

So cool that this thread now spans 3 owners.

I totally agree!

I swapped the DS front fender last night. The original was totally rotted off on the bottom and something was misaligned. It caught on the door every time I tried to get in or out.

 

 

It's still pretty clean in here. And I just noticed in the picture that it still has the adjustable height struts. 

 

Getting a little rusty here.

 

It was dark by the time i finished putting the new fender on, so I had to wait to take the finished picture today.

 

 

Bonus Picture! Ski wagon nestled all cozy between my Forester and my office assistant's Loyale. (Yes, driving a Subaru is a requirement for employment here.)

(EDIT: I forgot to actually put the last picture in the first time...oops)

Edited August 27, 201411 yr by jmoss5723

Mods: Can I get this thread title changed? "Safariwagon" is Tom's thing.

 

Can I get this instead?  "My '83 GL: The Ski Wagon"