So, I've got another free Subaru. This time, I've already got it up and running in less than two weeks! The bolt for the crank pulley had come loose and the woodruff key slopped around and destroyed the crank pulley's inner diameter, it was dirty as hell, the suspension was not really there, and it needed a bunch of general maintenance. Work I've finished on it: junk yard pulley and bolt, new alt P/S belt 4 brand new struts FR sway bar link FR wheel bearing FL lower ball joint Oil change Fuel filter Air filter full interior cleaning/shampoo (pulled the front seats) bled the brakes, poorly (did you guys ever notice you have to disconnect the brake lines to do struts! WTF!?) checked the plug wires, coil pack, pcv valve, and egr valve She runs pretty darn well (for the shape it was in and the 231,000 miles, and now she goes down the road straight and stable!) here's some pics from the beginning of the work View attachment 22723 View attachment 22724
Yeah, dumb design. I think most people end up cutting the tab since the retaining clip still works after cutting out a slot.
Yup, asked the same exact question a month ago or so when working on a '96 impreza. Cut out the old and cut a slot in the new, worked great. Another subi saved. Good work on bringing her back to life.
Thanks, that's a pretty good suggestion, I'll have to get a grinder for future strut projects. Next I need to do a coolant and AT fluid flush, and check the spark plugs.
Well I've had it running for a few days now, and it's pretty great besides the heat shields rattling. I took some of them off, they were rusted pretty bad. Although, now I'm smelling maybe a bit of burn smell. Do you guys think I may be charring the steering boots? They're the only thing very near the heat shields I took off that I can imagine would start making a slight smell, although there is a lot of oil gunk caked on the underside of the whole engine area that could be causing that too.
I've ran my N/A y-pipe with no heat shields for maybe two years now without melting anything, just don't park in any long dry grass. I did have a recent smell of burning rubber/hate after driving. Turns out my passenger inner cv boot tore and was spraying the grease on the y-pipe as well as everything else.
So now all the heat shields except the cat ones are gone, I did the trans fluid change, and I just did the rear brakes. Those were a cluster!! The lip around the hub and e-brake pads was rusted enough that it grew into the corresponding slot in the rotor, which prevented the wheels from turning at all without a ton of throttle. And when the car did move, it was all metal on metal grinding howling scraping. 2 hours of grinding later, it's all smooth and the brake response has no vibrating feedback anymore!! I'm really getting to like this car (minus the slushbox) almost 3000 miles on it now
UGLACY UPDATE: Short but sweet life with me OVER 11,000 miles (that's 243,000 total) and no problems! Last Friday: a girl in a mid 2000's grand prix tried to kill me by turning left into oncoming traffic, I couldn't stop and hit her driver's corner to her front center. I'll post some pics tomorrow, but suffice it to say - fat sloppy american crapmobile : 0 backfiring chariot of DOOM! : 10 I love this car even more, but both headlights have severely damaged mounts and probably will never point straight again along with other front end damage and possible steering/driver suspension damage. Although it drove just like normal up to 35 MPH, I didn't go any faster I was on city streets. Mechanically the thing is still fine, well it was until tonight when I backed up with the door open into a snow bank, and nearly ripped the door off. It's most likely getting totaled tomorrow, i may do the buyback but I'm going to miss the old girl. I don't know if anyone is going to be looking for a good old Legwag anytime soon but it might be a mighty cheap winter rally car.
^^sorry to hear about the accident, I hate dumb drivers. and if were a manual, and the price was right, I'd consider it for a rally beater!
