I live in Georgia right now, and Subarus are really not very common down here. At least, not the older models. As such, most places won't touch my cars other than general maintenance (and 90% of the time I do it better than they can or are willing to, so there's no point in taking it anywhere unless I absolutely can't do it myself).

 

The question: Does anybody have any shops to recommend in this area? The closer to Macon the better, but I don't mind a bit of a drive for expert service. Really, they don't have to be Subaru specific, just really good at a particular thing, like porting heads or repairing driveshafts (especially replacing the staked-in U-joints).

 

Also, I have an XT that I'd like to take to an excellent body shop that will strip everything (including the fixed glass), sandblast the old paint and rust off, correct the rot, rustproof, repaint, and reassemble the car. Most places around here are the mask-and-spray type; I need a place that offers full restoration and won't give me too much grief for bringing an '80s Japanese car amongst their classic American steel.

I'd do it myself, but it'd be a huge learning curve since I've never treated large sections of rust before and my rented house doesn't have a garage, the lack of which would make the whole process exceedingly aggravating.

 

Thanks!

The driveshaft shouldn't be any big deal for a reputable driveline specialist.

 

Head porting and such I would put the heads in a box and ship them somewhere like Delta Camshaft if they do porting or Jerry DeMoss is a user here you could message.

 

At a minimum I would strip the body of all the trim and bits myself and then take it to a bodyshop. Ask around at parts stores you might find a guy at a counter that knows a shop like you are looking for locally. The CV axles you can order thru my shop if you want FW enterprises axles.

I'm going to be ordering a set of cams from Delta, so if they can hook me up with better valves and a p&p job, I'll have them do all of it. Summit Racing has a retail store in Atlanta, so maybe they can help me out too.

 

I'm not well-read on aftermarket CV axles; are FW better than others? I was going to buy some Cardone ones or whatever from Autozone since most places either don't seem to carry the rears or they're also random aftermarket pieces.

I share shop space with the builder of the FW Enterprises axles and have just seen enough junk come thru that I won't use anything else. He doesn't slap his stuff together like the other stuff I have seen. And I like that its a little guy being supported instead of some huge corporation with its facilities overseas.

Shawn--is "FW Enterprises" Marshall Wolf?

Yes.