how 'bout those 1980s subes?

[bgd73]

I saw the post here about the honda out of a junk yard going for hyper mileage (way to go "red")
This is my eco story....
My first sube was purchased in 1997. old school DL with 5spd 4wd, carbed.Already falling apart as maine is brutal. (5 years == junk pile for some)as it turns out, the car had a mismatched rear end gear to the internal front axle gears, and the belly broke after being the loudest driveline I have ever heard (sounded like bad wheel bearings grinding away). the odd part of this bad sube is... it ran for 7 years, I took it all over new england, and it got freak sprites of 50s mpg. I never did figure that out, but had a vow to someday...I never forgot that sube, after I had it hauled off...

I got another one, this time a loyale with singular point injection. must be economical... but only got it to 38mpg average (which is no big feat for a 2wd 1781cc boxer engine driveline...liquid cooled to boot) but still very good. I drove that car for 25 hours...with one nap for 1300 miles after fixing. there is not "talk" of longevity with old subes. They just do ....

My third, my favorite, a 1987 carbed sube, with dual range and 5 speed. After my learnings previous, I applied all of them, this time getting wheels called "pugs" (15x6 peugeot) with "t" rated hakkepliitas (mispelled?) tires. I removed EGR system (always step one to econo sube), replaced fuel pump before the original 21 year old broke, and yet again.... 50s mpg. I do not even need a highway to sustaiun 40s mpg....but this sube can cruise as comfortable as anything out there with the safer large high perormance tires, and the infamous gearing (infamous to us gearheads) of the little boxer sube with a cruising speed of 85.5 @ 3500 rpm. At this speed the fuel mileage maintains mythical- hence labeld "cruising speed", after that, well, its like any other little engine going into relams of high performance extremes, fule mileage isn't a concern then. I hardly go there, but it is nice to know on todays aggressive roads, I really can...for a looooong journey.

These model cars deserve more than a beating.... my decade has proven it.
Number one to nearly doubling economy was EGR system removed. Keep everything but the EGR,(ie: covertors etc), system clean, safer tires than 13 inch, and that really is about it. I do have a whole list of little things that aid in stuff most wouldn't notice...

[whokilledthejams]

Fun Fact: if you ever need wheels, and don't want to hunt down EA Subaru or Peugeot wheels, you can A) drill two extra holes each in GM and Toyota 6-lug truck wheels to fit the wacky four bolt pattern, or B) add extra studs to your brake drums and rotors to use those same 6-lug wheels.

[ttoyoda]

how 'bout those 1980s subes?

Your experience is the polar opposite of mine.

198? subaru wagon, like the loyale style, but before the loyale name was used. parttime 4wd, carb.

* camshaft oil seals leaked.
*rocker arm cover gaskets leaked.
* timing belt broke 3 times on the side that drives the oil pump(using OE subaru belts).
*rear wheel bearings wore out. Replacing them means an arbor press. The new bearings also started makeing noise later.
*car would die for no know reason at random, just driving at a steady speed in the street. After 10 minutes it would restart.
*rust from the exhaust system would come up the intake air preheat hose, and get all over the air filter.
*body rusted out.
*plastic hoses in the engine compartment broke like glass when I had to remove them to do work on the motor.
* A hidden vacuum line rubber hose cracked where it pushed onto a fitting. Made the car lose power at highway speeds. Pumping the gas constantly was the way to keep the car going. The crack was on the underside of the hose, so I could not see it.
*A piece of sound insulating fluff inside the defroster duct came loose and clogged the defroster duct on the drivers side. In winter.
*Getting to the defroster duct requiers removing the entire dashboard in one piece.
*That means removing the steering wheel as well.
*Radiator fan bearing wore out. Made loud squealing nose whenever fan was on.
*cv joint boots cracked.
*front brake rotors are held on by the half-shaft nut. That nut has a split washer under it that is cone shaped. It is impossible to get that washer out. There are also un-needed heavy press fits where sane auto makers have free or slip fits.
*front brake calipers have the parking brake built into them. Getting them apart for rebuilding them is a nightmare, so much so that I had to pay for new calipers instead of a normal car where a $10 caliper rebuild kit with all the rubber parts and 10 minutes finishes the job.
The only other mechanical thing that has beaten me in taking apart and putting together correctly in my whole life was a 3 speed schwinn rear bicycle hub. I was 12 years old when that happened.
*other stuff I have mercifully forgotten.

I gave it away to someone who had annoyed me.

[Red]

Welcome to EM glad you liked my thread

[zjrog]

This is why a friend and I would like to get a couple older dual range 4x4 Subie hatchbacks...

A guy on a local forum is prepping a 84 Subie wagon for an expedition form here in Utah to Alaska. The goal is to make it above the Arctic circle... Planned for next summer.

There is a whole community of older Subies going offroad... Here is an extreme example, http://www.subarubrat.com