August 12, 201213 yr I guess I should join the ranks and post a "members Rides" thread of my own. November 6th 2010 marked a very special day for the automobile stables at my place. It was the day I brought home my very first Subaru. Currently going by the name "Little RU", this is the story of my 1984 Subaru GL Wagon. I was surfing Spokane Craigslist that evening, casually looking at 8-10 year old Impreza wagons and legacy wagons. Then I came across this one.... Not very good photos, but it was very clear that it was pretty clean, and low mileage (130k) It was already getting late, but I called on it anyways. Then I made the drive up to Spokane that night, looked the car over in a Safeway parking lot, and drove her home. And the rest... as they say, is history! As she looked when I brought her home. more to come...
August 12, 201213 yr Author Just getting into November, and knowing that our winter snowfall is VERY close, the first order of business was to fit the Subaru with proper snow tires. The car was running great and quite honestly had very few needs to sustain one winter. The e-brakes were sticking and the motor was a leaker. Both things I could worry about later. At this point, we needed a winter duty car. One of the main reasons I purchased it! So I fitted the car with some studded Hancook Zovac tires on some junkyard steel wheels. Then proceeded to check out the 4wd. Had to make sure it worked!
August 12, 201213 yr Author About two months later I find myself with a whole weekend to my own. X-mas No company in town, wife has her own thing going on, so I retreat into my shop and get some work done. My first ever Subaru motor pull. I was determined to stop the leaks. New seals installed, new trans mounts, rebuilt oil pump, etc.,,
August 12, 201213 yr Author After everything was back together I found that my primary leak was actually very fresh, very clean gear oil. So the trans was removed and torn down to replace the infamous input shaft seal. I also spotted another leak. Lucky me, the PO overtorqued the case bolts Guess Ill let that one leak for a while!
August 12, 201213 yr Author Once back together, the Little RU took us on a light snow wheeling trip to close out 2010 and welcome 2011! And it did great! And soon after the Little RU made a successful trip to the slopes with a TON of gear and peeps Edited August 12, 201213 yr by Idasho
August 12, 201213 yr Author Springtime brought a wash, wax, and vac Then back into the shop for a rear cargo stowage box and sleeping platform. Then of course, we had to go camping!
August 12, 201213 yr Author And soon enough, it was time for a road trip down to CA to visit family. Unfortunately, this is also the trip that resulted in a tow back to Idaho.... The Hitachi carb killed the vacation, so it had to go. Bring on Weber.
August 12, 201213 yr Author And since the Weber aircleaner is an absolute joke, I retrofitted the factory air-box tot he weber.
August 12, 201213 yr Author And the front bumper guards and fog lamps were removed in favor of a push bar and pencil beam off road lights I also went junkyard shopping again, and found a matching tire on a matching rim, to work as a full-size spare! Modified hold down.
August 13, 201213 yr Beautiful car, my friend! I really do love how you have managed to gain some storage space under the hood, and adapting the original air filter assembly to work with the weber was a GREAT idea. I, personally, don't much like the look of the stock weber filter either. Nice ride!
August 15, 201213 yr Author Thanks guys. One of mt main goals is when performing mods, to do them in a manner that look as OEM as possible. Next up was my solution to the lack of an aux input for the radio/sound system I worked out the wiring on the factory radio, and wired in an aux in. At the same time I installed an oil PSI gauge and driving lamp switch. Thread on the forum for this mod is here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=127418 All worked into the ash tray slot. Unfortunately, I am very unhappy with this particular gauge. I picked it up for the green backlighting, but it is way too dark to see during the day. I hope to replace it with a green digital gauge soon. Like this one:
August 15, 201213 yr Author Next up was a zero mileage rebuild of a second hand ea81 Hydro motor. The motor in this car runs real well, but it has issues I cannot ignore. So Im running it until I have the time to swap it out. In the mean time, Im building a new motor for it. Thread for the build is here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=132000 And here are a few photos...
August 17, 201213 yr Love this car. You have done an amazing job on it! Also having just driven in Northern Idaho you live a beautiful state as well! I had quite a bit of fun on some of the sections of 90, even if I was in a beat old Volvo!
September 18, 201213 yr Author Okay, back at it, FINALLY with an update. Sooner or later this motor and 5-speed will be in this car Ive been collecting parts... and Im just about there. new Empi front axles New rear axle CV boots. Strange, made in USA???:-p New radiator hoses Various parts. New OEM front and rear main seals, new OEM intake manifold gaskets, and a fresh set of NKG plugs New INNOVATE Digital Oil PSI and Temp gauge. This will replace the crappy gauge I had installed in the console. Expensive, but should be well worth it. And finally, new EA82 clutch kit, large version EA81 flywheel, and all the goodies. New TOB and pilot bearing. Just need to have the flywheel turned and machined to the proper thickness. More to come Edited September 18, 201213 yr by Idasho
September 18, 201213 yr Author Ah, and one more pic... Had a chance to do some junkyard hunting. Came home with the proper shift linkage and rear 2-piece driveshaft Only downside is that it will need u-joints. Oh well
September 18, 201213 yr You've got yourself a gorgeous car. You must have really done some research when doing all this being your first subie. Sweet car, Sweet build, cant wait to see more
September 18, 201213 yr . Fun stuff. Come down to Asotin & I'll show you a cool soob friendly trail just up the creek a ways. .
September 19, 201213 yr Take the driveshaft from the car and have it lengthened. Getting the center carrier bearing in the old 84 style body is usually hard to get dialed in right. I just measure the 4spd trans and the 5spd trans and have them put the difference in length into the driveshaft. I am sure the length is also posted here too.
September 19, 201213 yr I'm still trying to fix my 5-speed driveshaft woes, and I have both a 2-piece driveshaft and a custom new 1-piece driveshaft! In an '86 Brat. The 1-piece had issues, because the angle seemed slightly altered and so the rear diff was not quite parallel with the tail shaft of the transmission. Possibly if I was able to alter the mounting points of the rear diff, I could fix problem by tilting it's angle and securing in a new position? With the 2-piece driveshaft, I'm having some of the same problem, noise from U-joint harmonics at different speeds I think. Problem with my 2-piece is I had to mount the center section not-quite-in-line more off at a steeper approach/departure an angle from the center section (my just-fabb'd exhaust was in the way). So, I need to cut-out a center section of my exhaust, change the driveshaft center mounting to a more centralized location, then re-weld my exhaust together in some space that is available. I think this will fix my driveshaft noise/vibration issues.
September 20, 201213 yr Author Im pretty well set on using the 2-piece. Ive heard people having problems with both, but Ill give the 2-piece a try first. We do not have a driveline shop in town. So at the very worst, with the 2-piece installed I can at least drive the thing to a town that has a driveline shop and have them lengthen my original driveshaft.
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