$600 L series Wagon

griffodean · Post by **griffodean** » Mon May 25, 2009 7:46 pm

Hi Guys,

I am new on here, but a long time Subaru fancier. My first car was a 1976 wagon 22 years ago.

Anyway, my family and I look like we are going to be spending two years on King Island in Bass Straight in 2010/11 and so I was on the lookout for something cheap that we could use on Island that would be good for the sandy tracks and beach that make up most of the Island.

I thought about an old Landcruiser, but decided that it would be to expensive to fix if something went wrong while down there, and for the money I was looking at they were to expensive, to just have rust away in the salt air. Then I realised that the perfect machine would be a L series with some 14 inch rims and a bit of lift.

Enter the beige wagon below. Saw in trading post and thought I would give a call. Advertised at 1500 bucks. Got on to the guy last Wednesday who indicated that yes it was still for sale with rego due and him heading back to Norway on Friday. No rust he says, mechanically good, never let him down etc etc. OK - I'll give you 600. Done, come down on Saturday and give the money to my neighbour. Righto, you fill out the paperwork and all is good.

Get down to pick up on Saturday afternoon. Not as good as pictures. Five speed single range - bummer. Dusty bird crap covered body. Hey its been resprayed, not what I wanted - bog - yep. Pretty straight though, and interior really good. Base model means vinyl floor and hard wearing everything. All good and perfect for what I need. Windscreen perfect. Two new front tyres.

Open bonnet. Came belts replaced 20k ago. Coolant in radiator. 240k all up. Some oil leaks but nothing major. All good. Has air but no power steering.

Start her up. Noisy lifters - check. Sloppy gear change - check. Too much clutch pedal free play - check.

OK we are away. Clutch is ok, change gear and then clunk through the steering. Almost like it has a missing engine mount but I can feel it through the steering. Right thats gunna need some investigation.

Everything else OK. New CD player works, but aircon no. A bit clunky in the suspension, but still this steering thump and crash. Still after a stop 2km down the road for fuel (he'd left almost a full tank) and a wash we are heading the 150km back to Ballarat. No great drama. Stop at a dirt road, and push button 4wd activation works a treat. Sits on 110 with no drama's. Intermittent lifter noise drowned out by cd player. CV's seem good.

Get back to my place and its dark. But I can see that there is a bit of bog and some rust coming through in the rear wheel wells, nothing major but its there. Everything is pretty straight though and it does seem like I could be onto a winner. I decide to have a better look the next day.

Sunday and I have a couple of hours to play. Paints faded so do a 1/2 hour cut an polish - comes up sweet. Then put her up on stands to work out this steering issue. OK, left hand steering rack bush has slipped out of the bracket meaning steering rack has about an inch of movement on that side. That explains it. Bush is still there and looks OK. 5 min to put back where it is meant to be. OK now things are looking up.

Run some flushing compound through the engine for 20 min and drain the oil. Put in some new oil I had in the shed. Lifters better, but not great. New oil filter and magnetec next weekend.

Jobs to do. Bled brakes. Some suspension bushes. Drain and refill cooling system. Adjust clutch. Fix gear shift. Already sourced a set of Pug 505 rims with large centre hole, through my puggy mates.

Total cost so far - $606. Budget - $1000. I'll keep you posted and look forward to being one of the gang.

Subafury · Post by **Subafury** » Wed May 27, 2009 11:33 am

haha nice score mate. sounds like you have exactly what you need - bar a d/r gbox

jim · Post by **jim** » Thu May 28, 2009 10:11 am

yeah good one, does sound like you got what you needed for a couple of years, by the way how does an L series go on the sand with a family, 14's and no low range? just curious.

also i have heard some bad things about magnatec oil, it holds the microscopic metal particles in the engine and doesn't do it any good, but anyway good luck with it

griffodean · Post by **griffodean** » Thu May 28, 2009 6:02 pm

The oil question is an interesting one. My research has brought up a lot of different opinions for the ea82 engine, particularly with respect to noisy lifters. I know that am most likley going to need to do the oil pump seals, but I am thinking that I will try a new filter and oil change first. I generally just use castrol GTX2 in my older engines, but it seems a thinner oil is preferred for these.

As for the sand and no low range - well we will see. I might keep an eye out or a dual range box, but I think it will be fine, but obviously likely to mean you are harder on the clutch. Mainly it will b driven on sandy tracks rather than full on sand so I think it will be ok. The 14" wheels are to just give a bit more clearance on well made tracks rather than any full on off-road stuff.

jim · Post by **jim** » Fri May 29, 2009 12:11 pm

should be cool for sandy tracks, i only use GTX2 in my L series, i only ever use castrol products in my cars as they have been round a long time and there a very reputable company, but i have been told by an engine builder that the engines they striped down that had used magnatec were pretty bad, kinda scared me off it. i think you'll always get noisy lifters in all worn EA82 engines.

cheers

jim

griffodean · Post by **griffodean** » Sat May 30, 2009 7:46 am

Thanks Jim,

I will run some GTX2 through with a new filter and see how I go. The lifters do sem to have quietened down a bit so maybe they just need a good run to pump them up a bit. I will do the oil pump seals at some point as well. but thats not urgent.