New to the game

[Soobaru]

My name's Eli, and I live in the PNW, in the north eastern part of Washington State.

I'm new to the ecomodding scene, I recently picked up a 1983 Subaru wagon for 480 bucks with no exhaust and some electrical problems, but it's now roadworthy. It only has 93,xxx miles on it. FWD 5 speed, EA81 engine.

It still needs some things to be efficient, like an O2 sensor as it's currently running without one and idling at 1500 rpms. I've gotten over 150 miles on just over a quarter tank, which is a lot better than my other wagon does. I'll get a real MPG number when I use a little more gas.

I've been commuting 25 miles to work each way(and every day), and I have every intention of ecomodding it up on this wagon. Paid straight cash and I don't care about the resale value.

Definitely want to do at least a partial kammback and skirts as soon as I get some decent materials. I may just use cardboard for starters, but the weather here has been crazy lately.

Pictures soon. Lots of mods soon, too.

Has anyone here modded an old Subaru?



Eli

[Tesla]

Not me, but Welcome on board
No one here has ever done anything on my model either and I'm moving forward steadily and getting some good improvements.
Go for it,
But do heaps of study and reading to try to get your head around how it all connects together, in my short time here I would say i've done at least 100hrs actual reading and searching & probably same again just measuring, sitting and looking at the vehicle to get an idea on how to put it all together.
Usual starter for most is the Grille block & maybe an air dam, get your head around that one first, and don't forget the Hypermiling, just changing the way you drive can reap immediate rewards.
Good luck, see you around.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Soobaru

Has anyone here modded an old Subaru?

I can't recall anyone working on one of the older wagons. (But I don't catch every project thread...)

Welcome to the forum - looking forward to seeing what you do.

[Soobaru]

Cool that I'll have the first aeromodded Subaru. I didn't find one on here or on Google. There's a lot of Subarus around these parts, but I'll be sure to have the weirdest looking one. There were some nice flat wheel covers on my friend's Subaru Loyale RS liftback that he decided to roll(he's fine) a month after he bought it, but the mounting tabs were pretty broken when we took them off.

Apparently, I need to have a post count of five to post pictures or links. I'll get on that then.

[Soobaru]

MetroMPG, I love the boat tail. I would like to build something like that when I get a little more time on my hands. I don't know if it's been suggusted yet, but a rear view camera with the like 5-7" display could be an option. My friend's Toyota tundra has one and it's pretty nifty, and they aren't terribly expensive or heavy.

Thanks for the welcoming guys! It looks like there's a lot of fun stuff on this board, I got addicted a week or so ago. o_o I've always been a fan of efficiency, and improving things.

[Soobaru]

Oh, I've also been trying to keep my foot out of it. The 5 speed is pretty fun to drive, I've been pretty easy on it though. Except for 2 occasions on the way to work, I kind of passed people at ~90mph and just generally wasted fuel in a rush to get places. It's amazing that 73 horsepower will actually get to 90 that quickly, I'm used to a 3 speed slushbox with 84 horsepower that takes forever just to get to 70.


The wheels that are on it sit in to the wheel well about an inch more than stock. As long as I don't replace the front brakes with new pads, this won't be an issue. Should I keep the inset wheels or go back to stock if I'm going to put flat wheel covers on it? I suppose the inset helps with making skirts easier to build.

Sorry about blowing up the thread, I just wanted to get some picture up

[Soobaru]

Front end is out of alignment, looks like the driver's side front tire is pointing left. I'll try to fix the toe in ASAP, as that's probably not helping much in the MPG or tire wear departments.
Yesterday I did a partial roof rack delete(I took the cross and end bars off) and took off the spoiler, as well as the driver's side mirror. I got some convex mirrors off a junkyard car a while ago, just need to make brackets to stick them on the inside.

I want to make a grille block and plexiglass headlight covers soon. It has managed 400 miles and it's still got about an 8th of a tank. I'll find out the MPG when I fill it up in the morning, it's getting the exhaust fixed in Sandpoint, ID. I hope the O2 sensor gets here soon, that should be a big improvement.

Anyway, pictures:
I slapped duct tape over the holes and sprayed the area with paint. now it looks better than the rest of the car. >.>


Right after I got it. I sanded the quarter panel a little and sprayed it back. The previous paint job is going to be hard to cover up, it's uneven, cracked and lumpy. But that's not what's important here.


This dent in the door was making lots of wind noise in the cabin, so I took a hammer to it. Also, this thing is going to need some fenders, unless I replace the bottoms with fiberglass. New ones would be nice though.


I think I'll ditch the lights on the bumper. Maybe put them on my 87 wagon, and install some small chrome teardrop lights I have on this one, as they are more aerodynamic.


I think I'll ditch the side trim, too, and replace it with a paint stripe. Wheel covers, and whatever I can make out of corrugated plastic are coming after payday(8 days) Until then, it's just weight reduction and mechanical fixes. Also replacing the gear oil with synthetic soon, and possibly the motor oil.


More pictures once I get a USB cord for my phone, sending them to photobucket takes forever, and my 14 year old laptop doesn't like photobucket, it took me 20 minutes just to get the links for these pictures. >.<

I think there's more in the album, and you can actually see something in the full size pictures. MOAR pictures/bigger pictures

More later,



Eli

[Sporty Modder]

Nice looking scooby! I just picked up a old celica myself and planning to do some mods esp areo.