Yeah, things-to-do just keep piling up now. It's so bad (or good?) now that I  can't begin putting anything back into the car until certain things are finished in a certain order. NOTHING can go back in, now, until I reupholster the headliner....so I can put back in the A-pillar trim.....so I can put the dash back in.....etc, etc, etc.

Na that's good, when you get it done the gratification will be wonderful

Replaced cabin and air filters on our 2008 OBS today.

Edited April 20, 201411 yr by aba4430

Got bored with a rattle can yesterday gave the ole gal some stripes

I always go to superbright LEDs, but the LEDs in my 91 Toyota have the same bulb and they don't dim either, so it must be the way the dimmer switch works. Is this in the brat? I wonder if the dimmer is different...

Anyway these are the bulbs I ordered..

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-wedge-base/194-led-bulb-5-smd-led-wide-angle-wedge-base/206/

Yes this is in the Brat.

Also seems like the bulbs I have aren't very bright, went with ones off eBay cause they were cheep...STUPID MOVE, for this application.

If I am going to be running 33 inch tires then I really want power steering.  So I got started on that road today.

Rewiring my radio again, my dash wiring has some mysteries I'm still solving...Turned my stock tape deck into an aux jack, only fried 2 radios in the process! 

New pads on the front of the loyale. Free pads,courtesy of advanced autos guarantee of having brake pads for your car in stock. rented brake caliper tool from autozone, made job much much easier.

Bit the bullet and got some new shoes today:) PO had the cheapest tires you could possibly buy, and they ride like poop, I think they were 155's so 2 sizes too small:(

 

Put stock size on and wow it rides so much better!!!! The other tires were so thin it would feel weird and uncontrollable on grooved pavement. Although I know a guy that has some really rare pugs but didn't want to spend the 250 for the wheels and then the tires would double in price.... Good thing is he's just going keep them in his garage so I can have at them whenever:)

Edited April 21, 201411 yr by Discombobulated

Put now blackened dash back in today. Bit of a pain by ones self, when trying to be 'careful'....

 

Got started on new rear bumper with full size spare carrier, my son Gage loves to help. I'm trying to come up with a hinge for the spare tire swing arm. I've looked into a hinge from A to Z fabrication but does anyone else have any other ideas?

 

Got started on new rear bumper with full size spare carrier, my son Gage loves to help. I'm trying to come up with a hinge for the spare tire swing arm. I've looked into a hinge from A to Z fabrication but does anyone else have any other ideas?

Looked into the same hinge. Here's an idea from Pirate, posts 9-13:

pirate4x4.com/forum/chevy/1027758-mild-wheeler-dd-72-blazer-build.html

 

Didn't want to post a live link in this case.

I ordered rocker panels and rear wheel arches for the Brat.  Will get the rockers in time for next weeks class, should be able to get them welded in with some mild work.  The wheel arches should arrive next week.  Spent most of the class last night sanding down the cracked and faded paint.  Still lots of body work but moving right along.

After the body work is completed in the next couple of weeks will be shooting it with a catalyzed epoxy primer then a two stage paint, keeping the color pretty close to factory.

Let the good times roll!

First start up of my EJ swap yesterday

First start up of my EJ swap yesterday

NICE CONGRATS...

BUCK

Nice! It almost looks like you could fit a big spare in there!

after getting a positive click, click from the starter too many times before getting a start, I chucked in the starter from my just picked clean of all goodies EA82 GLTA 4WD sedan, and its starter relay and wiring I made up to take electrical load away from ignition switch circuit. BINGO

I drilled some 15" 6 lug yota rims and had some used 235-75-R15 mounted on them. about 150 bucks on CL

 

 

- So what about that balance issue? I would think that most tire shops might refuse to service a vehicle that has such modifications, maybe not?

This sounds like a good idea, did you choose those Toyo rims because they were handy, because they looked like stock subaru rims, or because they were practically better due to the bolt holes or something in thier measurements?

 

It would great if you could post a giude on exactly how to do this, particularly getting those holes drilled right!

Edited April 23, 201411 yr by Subaruist

May I suggest that instead of asking what people have done "To" thier Soobie, you ask what they have done "For" or "With" it?

I only say this because I have a very guilty conscience about what I have done TO Subarus in the past, lol....

A day (or 2) late and a dollar short, but I managed to finally mount up my XT mirrors on the 3 door DL.  Hit em with some Krylon white paint/primer from wal mart for $4, didn't turn out too bad.  Bit of orange peel to fix, only because I was a cheap lazy arse and didn't sand/scotchbrite them between coats.

 

Still need to wire them up for power, and I'm going to have to pull them off and ream out one of the mounting holes on the inside of the door frame (bottom hole had to be reamed out/slotted on the outside about 1/4") and put a bolt in, but I dropped the bolts into the inside of the door panel lol.

 

I must say though, they look phenomenal, really moderns up the car a bit more and flows with the body lines better than those ugly black blocky things they call mirrors from the factory.

 

Also put some new NGK v power's in, and she runs much better.  Old ones were still ok, but way over gapped at 0.48" and the insulator was glazed yellow on bank 3 and 4 (probably explains why the car has been running like spoob, and may have also fixed my cold idle issue once and for all).  While I had them out, I ran a compression test.  Cyl 1 and 2 gauged in at ~120, and Cyl 3 and 4 came in around 130 psi.  All cylinders held pressure though

 

Took her for a highway run yesterday and brought her back today.  335 miles on just under a full tank of fuel at an average of 75 mph for 275 miles.  If it weren't for the vibration that starts at 60 mph and gets worse, finally vibrating my eyeballs at 80 mph I'd have pushed her a bit harder lol.

 

Next on the list is to replace the O2 sensor, get new tires and an alignment, and throw the new tail light lenses on once they show up

Continuing on with the color-change, blacked-out theme, bit the bullet and burned up my last can and a half (give or take) of the vinyl and fabric dye on the carpet. Brushed in while still damp, then vacuumed off again once dry. Looks surprisingly good with just that can and a half (+/-). Whereas before it was that odd bluish mid-gray faded and stained up by the PO with who knows what (whatever it was, nothing could remove it from the carpet....) after the initial session with the satin black dye it looks like a slightly faded black and the stains are no longer visible. I think some of the faded look it has with the dye now comes from the fade that was already present in the OEM color. We'll see, I need to restock on the Dupli V&F and then I'll give it another cans worth. 

 

Things to note: brushing it in is vital to get it down into the nap, and when done that way one doesn't get the 'crusty' problem that I've read about on some....lesser forums, as done by lesser peoples. Also, once dry (only takes about ten minutes, I gave it an hour) no color rubs off onto hands, clothes/cloths, or when licked by tongue. Okay, I made that last one up. Maybe.

Went to the scrap yard and picked up a 4ft x 8" section of sheet metal to weld in behind the rear bumper.  Cost was under 4 bucks.  Will be getting the new rockers tomorrow and the rear wheel arches next Wednesday.  The current rockers are rusted through pretty good, will take some pics before cutting it out.  Should be getting close to paint in the next several weeks.  Glad to have access to a real air supply as my 30 gallon Harbor Freight compressor doesn't have the beans to run the DA sander for very long.

I've been wearing a whole lot of rubber off it's tires, and scratching up my bed with everything slamming up against one side and then the other, and then against the cab or tailgate - and that's just when I'm looking for a parking space! lol.....

That does sound like fun,I understand the excitement. However, you must remember most public roads are tools for safe, efficient means of transportation.

 

They are not race tracks. If you want to "drive it like you stole it", please be aware of your surrounding have the respect for your car and others around you.

 

This is simply a reminder. Have fun!

Edited April 26, 201411 yr by 81EA81

Gave it a good cleaning and finally got the drivers rear as good as it's going to get, it's ok I think I can deal with it:)

 

 

 

 

Still need to re paint my wheels and find the plastic trim on the drivers side little window but it's coming along:)

 

And here is my other vehicle, not a Suby but equally as neat:). Have a good weekend guys!!!!!

 

Edited April 26, 201411 yr by Discombobulated

So my GL has never had a speedo cable, since it has bigger tires the speedo would read wrong anyway. So I'm solving it the hard way! I'm gonna put a VSS in from an EJ in the trans (because they thread right in). I'm gonna swap the guts from some speedo into the GL cluster (shouldn't be too hard), and to top it all off I have a digital readout. It will show mph, an odo.

I can feed calibrated data to the speedo, so it should read right. It has another screen for tripA and tripB with mileage exact to the thousanth for TSD races, and of course a calibration screen.

In the pic the LCD looks kinda crappy, it's actually really readable with nice contrast.

Also I'm not using that gigantic 40 pin chip, there's a code compatible 18 pin version that's on its way. In 2 weeks when I'm back where my GL is currently living, I'll throw it all together, calibrate it, and enjoy the awesomeness

 

I'm just feeding it test data that should be fairly close to what the car will give it driving down the road.

 

 

 

I'd also like to note, for all you nerds out there. No, I'm not using any floating point numbers, it's all integers

Edited April 26, 201411 yr by 987687