Well, my friend and I finally finished the strut conversions on the XT6 over the past 24 hours. Sadly, I can't drive the car at speed yet because I failed to check the struts when I took them from the J/Y, and it turns out the left front was pulled off a car that had collision damage on that corner. The strut is damaged, and the front left tire's top leans in towards the engine quite badly.

 

At this point, since the "hard" work is done, I think I'll just take the car to Smart Service and have the strut replaced with a new one.

 

On the bright side, it appears the radiator on the car is good. I fired it up and drove it around the block many times and at speed, the car cools down to a reasonable level, but it rises up again when the car slows back down to 1st gear speeds.

 

The fan still is not coming on. We're fairly certain this is the radiator sensor (assuming that it has a high and a low position, and the low is out).

 

Didn't have time to rebuild the steering pump, but I at least have the brushes now. I also need to bleed the brakes. Stopping might be nice.

 

I took a few pics with my friend's digicam, and he will email them to me sometime in the next couple days. The ride level on the car is actually pretty good... the rear is too high compared to the front, but the difference is small enough that flipping the rear mounts doesn't actually look like it would be worthwhile. I will say this... the car rides HIGH... on ALL corners.

 

Edit: Oh yeah, we broke one impact wrench, and the air compressor's regulator assembly isn't working right now...

You probably have a thread on this somewhere.. but what struts / coils did you use in the front / rear?

You probably have a thread on this somewhere.. but what struts / coils did you use in the front / rear?

 

Rear shocks and coils are from EA82 4WD wagons.

 

Front struts and coils came from a '95 Impreza FWD.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=11597&cat=500&ppuser=14593

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=11596&cat=500&ppuser=14593

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=11598&cat=500&ppuser=14593

 

Pics of the "completed" suspension project.

Edit: Oh yeah, we broke one impact wrench, and the air compressor's regulator assembly isn't working right now...

nice

also looks great

Thanks. I like how it sits now. Will probably like it better when I get a new strut and register it.

I just converted my 87 T-Wag suspension last month. The air suspention finally crashed. It rides much better now. I got lucky and found an RX at the J-Yard and got the front springs off that, which give the wagon a stiff, sporty feel on the road. I used springs from a regular wagon for the back, though this fall I might try the front springs from an 87 - 89 Accord, as they are supposed to give a wagon an extra inch of lift.

From what little I was able to drive it, the suspension felt good... a little better than any of my previous XT's (in that there was no odd back-end rattle). I really can't wait to get her back on the road.

 

But first I have to get my Kia out of the shop... she's got some electrical gremlins (driving my wife's Tucson today because of it).