Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 (edited) Hi all:) As a teen of the 80’s,was occasionally allowed to borrow my dads, then new,84 Touring Wagon to take mates skiing. At the time here in New Zealand,after years of struggling on the ground in the slush and mud,it was quite the novelty to bypass the snow chain car park ,and do the royal wave as the attendant waved you uphill due to the 700 stickers on the gen 2 Subaru Touring wagon that denoted it had 4wd,wow! A few decades on,nostalgia kicked in,so after 25 years of restoring early two door range rovers,dumped that marque and went in search of a 80’s high roof touring wagon. Having driven or owned most of the later models,still came back to that unique and fun driving experience in the Gen2. Joined up on bookface to put the word out on a kiwi old school Subaru group,and after a month or two one popped up that was exactly the year and model I wanted. Bought sight unseen,had sat outside and undercover for 15 years but in the photos,looked ok,,,how naive! Anyway,thought I’d post up a timeline of what I’ve learnt and done so far. (These are the pics on bookface for sale 500km away) (The site can’t currently process a membership upgrade to increase pic data,so have had to remove some posted images to complete rebuild thread ) Edited November 28, 2023 by Westy Gen2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 (edited) It took some time ,but eventually tracked down the original owner.Now in his 90’s,this was his wife’s car,Marjory,so literally one lady owner since new. He had issues with it idling and was starting to develop some rust,so it failed a warrant of fitness check and was parked up since 2009! Some years ago, he rang a wrecker to collect it for metal scrap,the truck got lost as they were rural in the wop wops so it sat again for many years until a contractor working on the property said he’d take it,and that’s where I saw it posted up for offers. Towed back to mine using a mates custom made triangle metal frame that attached to the front towing eyes. This was the sketchiest thing I’ve done for a long time,took all the slow backroads as best I could as any hint of a corner would send the freewheeling front wheels hard over until some speed straightened them out!! Had a cop trailing me for a short time,until he hit the lights and sirens and gunned it past me to something more important,,don’t mind saying that raised the heart rate. Anyway she looked pretty good sitting on the drive back at home. Edited October 12, 2023 by Westy Gen2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 (edited) Initial Inspection walk around As you all know,,you only see the top of the icebergs… “Here Mousey Mousey” Edited October 15, 2023 by Westy Gen2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 (edited) Braking felt about 30%. Nice steady pool under right rear. On inspection one entire brake pad had detached from its metal plate ,due no doubt to the volume of brake fluid flowing out of the seized extended piston,nice. Edited October 12, 2023 by Westy Gen2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 Backfiring Even before tackling the carb or tune,a rev up from idle had this baby backfiring like a shotgun. Slightly disturbing but kinda cool. Leaned out the carb a tad which improved it a bit,then being a total newb to the ea81,trawled this forum for info. Someone had posted a similar experience and GD nailed it with his response. Unburnt fuel igniting in the Y pipes especially if said pipes had cracks being very common. That heat shield is a moisture trap as well,so bit of cutting disc action and sure enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 (edited) I soon became aware that in order to restore a complete vehicle,I’d need a source of parts. Then the realisation I may have picked the wrong car, discovering that they stopped making many of the things that wear out circa 1999,,oh joy! Add to that being down here in the antipods,very limited resource as most had dissolved decades ago. The only saving grace was the bookface old school Subaru group,an awesome group of like minded souls dead set on keeping these early cars alive down here. In a moment of kismet and karma a slightly used gen2 popped up on our version of your junglebay. Perfect solution,then there were two:) The seller was again a sole owner since new,a mowing contractor who promptly removed the back seat squab in 1983 and tucked it away,,mine was missing one,nirvana.. Isn’t she a gem.. Edited October 15, 2023 by Westy Gen2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 Rats & Regrets. My wife tolerated this beautiful specimen raining rust on the driveway,and warding off the minions from playing in it ,for fear of tetanus or worse for a month. I raided it of its very tidy interior and most ancillaries,and between my shortass wife and myself lifted the engine out with a chain over a plank of wood.Gotta love a 90kg engine and easy out design:) i called in the metal truck,he was too quick,as didn’t get a chance to pull the tight feeling gearbox ,which I regret.I’ve learnt on here,that these are difficult to rebuild easily. Mine graunched up shifting into 3rd,solution as posted on here,was Redline MT90,graunch totally gone,mint. Made the rookie mistake of turning fan motor on full bore,and received a face full of ebola coated confetti…yummy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 (edited) Front Valance. First big use of the donor was to rebuild what was left of the original lower skirt panel. blood spilt cutting both away in one piece. Cut and paste (jb weld) and eventually tack welded back into place,already paid back the few hundred spent on the donor:) Edited October 12, 2023 by Westy Gen2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayne Oxford Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Good show!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted October 12, 2023 Share Posted October 12, 2023 Yeah mate it’s looking good! How long have you been working on it so far before you dropped it on us? Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 Ta,Still a work in progress ,started in Jan this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 (edited) Excavation.. Delayed the enivitable,now it was time to remove the glazing and begin archeological dig. Anyone viewing this will already know where they dissolve. Every picture I’ve seen of this gen and age ,all seem to go in the same areas. Pillars,lower windscreen corners,lower tailgate frame,wheel arches,A pillar uprights,door sills,etc Did have a moment of despair uncovering this lot…these being just a sample of delight. Edited October 15, 2023 by Westy Gen2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 12, 2023 Author Share Posted October 12, 2023 (edited) This kind of repair exceeded my limited capabilities for sure! Hidden behind a post office, with no signage,years prior had discovered two young guys that had setup a metal work shop,you wouldn’t know they were there and they don’t advertise.Often the way huh. Immediately hitched up the the death triangle and towed it down.They didn’t blink,well maybe a bit,but ripped into it. So far this was a very cheap exercise,but happy to pay for their ninja skills. Edited October 16, 2023 by Westy Gen2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 Yeah man! Doing about the same with a 79 and using a 78. Looking good! Cheers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88SubGL Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 Nice work! I never thought of New Zealand as being a rust prone area. Shows how much I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 Fair effort mate! I reckon that black crumbly rust is one of the worst types to work with - so much more needs to be cut out to find good material to work with. I’m loving those rust repairs in the lower A pillar - something I need to do too that I’m not looking forward to. How far along are you now, still chipping away at it or have you got it completed already? Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 15, 2023 Author Share Posted October 15, 2023 (edited) GoldDust. Sporting its original paintwork,the car up close resembles a crazed Chinese vase,so started stripping it back for a new coat of subaru “Gold Dust”. 40 years of dings and creases on that thin metalwork dealt to,but I missed a lot on first pass. Sand Blasted the surprisingly intact hole free intact unibody underside. Wasn’t keen on slathering the underside with rubberised gunk,so used an epoxy primer and a tinted epoxy topcoat,should be hardwearing,turned out looking pretty sharp. My mate “Rocky” who is 4’2”,has setup his utility wagon as a mobile spray platform,so at the cost of $500 cash and a box of corona, got him to come spray the wagon in my open carport. Picked the worst day possible with driving rain and howling winds,so much of the paint ended up on the nearby trampoline;) Considering the conditions and environment,a few dry areas and challenging to get even coverage in 40kt winds,but we had a fun day,and turned out not too shabby in the end:) Edited October 15, 2023 by Westy Gen2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 15, 2023 Author Share Posted October 15, 2023 (edited) The Fun Bit.. Surface rust removal and a quick spray had the engine bay tidied up. After hours reading posts on here with trials and tribulation getting the hitachi carb to play nicely,it became apparent that much of that angst is due to all the extra vacuum and emissions stuff that you guys in the americas got landed with. Down here we lucked out,as back in the day we were delivered this generation in its most basic form,at least my version is. Manual choke,no asv,no carbon canister,catalytic stuff,no emissions control,etc. This definitely makes things easier when you only have hoses to the air filter from the rocker covers and pcv,add vacuum from dist advance and the fresh/circ vacuum line,that’s about it ,as delivered new with the dcx328 hitachi carb. So I fully understand the frustration and effort put in on this forum dealing with emissions delete and Weber upgrades. Saying that,having rebuilt the two carbs i swap around into the wagon multiple times now to get it running right,they are 40 years old,and their design was flawed to deliver the best driving experience. Actually really enjoyed learning the quirks of the hitachi carb,but no matter what I do,each one has its own personality,bipolar and schizophrenic usually;) Edited October 15, 2023 by Westy Gen2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 16, 2023 Author Share Posted October 16, 2023 (edited) Fun Bit Continues.. Glazing back in,Interior soundproofing and new carpet. Drivers seat cushion had lost most of its cushion,so you looked like a low rider gangsta styles.. Some firm foam and underlay tucked under spring base improved the ride height. Once again the donor to the rescue,my oil pressure gauge was low off the scale,likely in the past had earthed out and ruined the spring inside the gauge. New oil pump seals and a new sender unit didn’t change anything ,so instrument cluster out,exchange gauge,that’s fun! succes tho. Same deal on the fresh/circ vacuum actuator,behind glove box,original was a vacuum leak with its diaphragm gone. No heating to cabin,suspected the heater core blocked after sitting idle for 15 years. Too lazy to pull entire dash so attacked the side of heater housing with a dremel,extracted said core,and had decent flow through it,so put it back in,not the issue?? The heater hot/cold cable driven valve inside engine bay was working,so was stumped for a bit until as part of the refresh changed the waterpump,think I found the answer! Rock hard calcified coolant plug… Edited October 16, 2023 by Westy Gen2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 16, 2023 Author Share Posted October 16, 2023 (edited) Who stole my wheels! Nice rough rumble from front end during cornering at cruise speed,so jacked up front end and spun each,right front had vibe and gravel when spun so wheel bearings replaced that side. The guy that wrote up “How to keep your Subaru alive” document is an absolute legend.. Discs machined,new brake pads all round,new KYB rear struts.Had the fronts tested and results were fine ,so back on,just as well as no one makes those adjustable height ones these days. Adding to the wicked backfire from cracked exhaust y pipe,a harmonic rattle had started up in the collector muffler,so a little surgery found the baffle plates floating around and semi restricting the flow I’d say.welded up both and alls well,even a hint of rasp to the exhaust note now. Compression test all even around 170,which is unreal for a near 40 year old engine,bit of blowby from the oil filler pipe,but doesn’t blow smoke on accel or idle,so all you could hope for really. Lots of idling while faffing around with carb,but plugs look ok ,if a tad lean maybe.. Edited October 16, 2023 by Westy Gen2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 16, 2023 Author Share Posted October 16, 2023 (edited) The wagon is now my daily driver,such a fun drive My 9 year old daughter has already reserved it as her own,and I’m under strict instructions to keep it until she can get her licence in it at age 15.. After 15 years in a field and destined for the wrecker,it feels good to keep some 80’s history on the road. Weirdly its not the oldies that stop to chat at the petrol station,more so the sticker on the cap youth,that either have never seen one before or follow hoonigan;) Lots more to post here as continue to document,learn,tune,fettle,but out of data onsite for images,cheers Westy Edited October 16, 2023 by Westy Gen2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 Looks awesome Westy! That’s a top effort! I was meant to ask earlier - what did you do for the fixed side rear window seals and the tailgate window seals? Mine on our Leone wagon with a similar story to yours minus the rebuild are completely shot. You can put a finger in the gaps where the rubber has split! Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88SubGL Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 Awesome job! No wonder your daughter wants to claim it in 6 years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Gen2 Posted October 17, 2023 Author Share Posted October 17, 2023 (edited) Howdy Bennie,Your ozzie sun is likely crueler on the rubber than here,my side windows were decent. My donor was likely closer to what yours is like ,as tried to remove tailgate seal on that one also,but was too far gone and ended up ripping it,as too brittle. Possibly worth leaving insitu,and try this stuff,I used it to reseal where I had sliced the seal in a couple of spots,can’t even tell. It does say you can sand it to shape when set,so may be worth a go,cheers Westy Edited October 17, 2023 by Westy Gen2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 Thanks Westy. I’m wanting to remove the rear window to repair some rust that’s just in its early days in the bottom right hand corner. The strip down isn’t far off doing a respray but not having a shed and plenty of dust from passing trucks puts the brakes on that for now. Anyway, I’ll check out that product and go from there. It’s a slow burn for our Leone and not a priority atm. Cheers Bennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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