Is 42mpg too low a goal?

[QuickLTD]

Try a local place once you get home. Will the car make it? They can do a locator search if they dont have one. Shipping something like that might be expensive. I wonce tried to purchase a used fender out of state for $80 and the shipping was over $100.. Soooo... I got a new one locally for less.

[Istas]

I had thought of that, but the tank's out of the car now. If he put it back in that's 6 hours of labor for naught, and then I'd get to pay for labor all over again back east, at probably more than double the rate of what I'm paying now. The tank on the site is $47, plus $100 shipping. I'm guessing the labor back east would be at least $250. So I'm spending $100 on shipping to save more than twice that on labor.

And I checked, a new tank from the dealership is $360.

[QuickLTD]

6 hours to get the tank out? holy cow that thing must be mounted as if it was in a sherman tank

[Istas]

You have to take off the exhaust pipe and the rear suspension to drop the tank.

Thanks Subaru, for your thoughtful engineering.

[evolutionmovement]

That's only on the AWD. Pretty standard. The alternative is hanging it behind the rear axle where it allows it to be sandwiched in an accident and increases polar moment of inertia when full.

[Istas]

I've had both a good general mechanic, and earlier a Subaru specialist, say they needed to take the rear suspension off to remove the gas tank. Maybe I had a different tank than stock in there to begin with, or a different rear suspension support.

[Istas]

I have the tank ordered used from that website, ETA is Friday-Monday.

I've got the foam pipe insulation cut in half and the previously-applied adhesive pulled off that half. A test piece of foam I glued directly to the sheet metal seems to have adhered quite thoroughly, so I'm all ready to apply it when I get Car back (the mechanic is an hour away from where I'm staying).

[evolutionmovement]

No, the only difference in tanks is the AWD version has a hump for the driveshaft to pass through and a secondary fuel pump to keep fuel near the main fuel pump on the right side. I'm probably wrong about the job. It's located in front of the crossmember, but maybe part of it goes under it or it's just easier to drop it instead of trying to work around it. Well, they can't all be quick jobs, I guess. Hope the new tank works out.

[QuickLTD]

I think it just the way Subaru builds cars.. I had an 88 Justy 3cyl 4WD. Old school 4WD button on the stick. That car was amazingly tough.. The car had thick metal protective sheilding around the important underbody bits.

[Istas]

Okay, I have Car back and it doesn't smell of gasoline anymore!

I have applied the foam pipe insulation to the bottom of the airdam.


Should hold quite nicely, judging by the test I did before of gluing that foam to this sheet metal with Goop.

I'm trying to make turbulators, but the gorilla tape isn't easy to cut with the pinking shears I acquired. I don't know if they're dull or misaligned, or what. I tried putting it in the freezer for a bit thinking it would help make it more brittle, but it seems to have made it even more difficult to cut. I don't think I'm going to get a significant amount of it applied before the trip home (starting tomorrow morning around sunrise).