April 26, 200916 yr Found this in a lady's yard. I payed her a hundred bucks for it. She said she ran the engine dry of oil and it now needs a new engine. I trailerd it home,drained the gas tank,changed out both fuel filters and put in some new gas. After some time cranking on it I was able to drive it around town a bit. Shifts fine and doesn't sound too bad. Needs exhaust work and the starter doesn't engage all the time. It may be a smoker but it was dark by the time I got it running and really couldn't see too much to tell. I'll be all over it tomorrow morning. Seafoam and an oil and filter change for starters. Edited April 26, 200916 yr by markjw
April 26, 200916 yr looks nice. only 2 enkies tho, the right side has a steelie and not sure on the front right.
April 26, 200916 yr Author looks nice. only 2 enkies tho, the right side has a steelie and not sure on the front right. Yup. Steelies on the right side. You can bet I asked about the other two. She said she never had the other two and went into a story about the studded tires she has for sale and how they were the original wheels and on and on. In the end,she only had the two. I asked why they were on one side only. And not on the front or back. She said it looks better that way when you park on the side of the street. I Guess I have to agree.
April 26, 200916 yr ... I Guess I have to agree. Me Too... I Know that Feelin` ... That was the Problem with my Weberized Subie... I Had Mixed Rims, so I Did the Same that the Lady Did until I Changed the Bolt Pattern and Obtained a Whole Set of Rims. Very Nice Subie, Maybe the Engine is not Damaged After All... Good Luck!
April 28, 200916 yr Author I've got her running pretty good. I'm not at home,(visiting brother in law) so,I'm having to make do with the tools I have on hand. I can't do a compression test. But,I don't believe any of the cyl. have any major issues. Doesn't seem to be a smoker.That's good! I did a complete tune up, new cap,rotor,wires,plugs and such. I have one problem that I need some help with. It is an automatic and I'm not sure how the 4WD mechanism is suppose to work. When I push the 4WD button on the shift lever,the 4WD indicator light on the dash lights up. And, I believe the 4WD is engaging. I was driving around in an alley,and it just feels like its working right. But,it won't stay engaged. In other words,as long as I am pushing/holding the button,the light is on,and its in 4WD,but as soon as I release the button,the light goes off and the 4WD disengages. I hope I'm not over explaining this. My question is,what keeps the 4WD engaged? Here's a pic of the shifter. I got a couple Hubcaps at the local yard. Edited April 28, 200916 yr by markjw
April 28, 200916 yr Man that thing is awesome!! Great find. And even better price! Sounds like you lucked out on that one!! I'm jealous again
April 28, 200916 yr Very cool! That is half the fun in looking around to see what you find. Good find.
April 28, 200916 yr Great find at an even better price! Lets hope all that sitting didn't create any problems. How long did you say it had been there? As for the 4WD stuff, it is supposed to stay engaged with one push, so if you have to hold it in, something might be broken in the shift knob. Does the button stay in when pressed? I wish I had my FSMs to check for you... Oh, and MORE PICS PLEASE! Great looking subie!
April 28, 200916 yr Author From the paper work I have found,best I can tell it sat for about 5 years. She(the seller) wasn't being completly honest with me about that part of the deal. She was reluctant to answer that very question,and she settled on two years. Doesn't matter. I'm really happy with it. I'm here in The Dalles,Ore. Thats where I found the car. Outside of town about 5 miles. I just caught a glimps of the left tail light as I was driving down a country road. You know,I didn't just stumble across this thing. I have been "hunting" ea81's around here for two weeks. Binoculars,sack lunch the whole bit. I have found about 8 of em that were potential discards/projects. There is a decent hatch in a trailer court a few miles away. I've been eyeballing it daily and it hasn't moved. But,I had a nice Hatch already. I've never had one of these. I've decided the craptachi is the best thing Subaru ever put on a ea81 car. It's been my experience that because of that POS carburetor,people give up on these cars and just park um. And thats good for us. The 4WD button doesn't stay pushed in. It returns to the "out" position as I release pressure from my thumb. I'll disassemble the shifter handle tomorrow. Maybe a detent or something came loose. BTW. She set the price of a hundred dollars for the car. Then she wanted $80 for the studded snow tires in the barn.
April 29, 200916 yr The button can be disassembled and inside you will find a spring loaded piece of metal ( kind of looks like the flint for a zippo ) odds are the end of it is rounded. I've done it on two cars just file the end flat again and reassemble. Both of mine worked great after that.
April 29, 200916 yr I have seen a number of nice Soobs in the small towns along the gorge on different trips down that way! Wish I could find them the same way nearer to home.
April 29, 200916 yr awesome find! I've always wanted to stumble upon one of those barn/yard finds myself... but usually the people have some emotional attachment or think they have a goldmine collector car...
April 29, 200916 yr Sweet car. It is a twin to my 84 4wd Sedan. Does it still have the digidash? Power windows? Yeah the 4wd sounds like just the button doesn't want to stay *in*
April 29, 200916 yr Author just file the end flat again and reassemble. Hey Bill, thanks for the tip! I actually already took the shifter apart and cleaned the track that the "flint" rides in.Reassembled it, and it kinda worked. Never thought to file the flint flat. I did that this morning and its perfect now. This one has a Ok interior. The thing about old cars around here,the metal parts are usually in great shape,but the dashboards and seats and rubber trim take a serious beating because of the sunshine 300 plus days a year. No digi-dash. Analog dash and power windows,thou. Everything works 'cept the radio. And,someone wired in a switch to run the cooling fan. I'm gonna correct that today,hopefully.
April 30, 200916 yr Mark I have two more of those wheels........I think thats what they look like anyways if you want them I'll hook you up with them Jeff
April 30, 200916 yr Author Mark I have two more of those wheels........I think thats what they look like anyways if you want them I'll hook you up with them Jeff Heck Yeah! I'll give you a call. Thanks.
May 1, 200916 yr Excellent find, and amazing price. Cool to see it wasn't in horrible shape. Definately keep us updated.
May 2, 200916 yr I think we have a match!!! Yours and.................................... Mine!!!!!!! Jeff
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now